east_midlands_skyblue
Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,
Been reading this forum for years, but I'm generally quite lazy and haven't posted before as a result! Anyway... here goes.
I first began watching the city just over 20 years ago, as a 7 year old kid. I loved it. I owned Coventry City everything, my life was Coventry City. I watched VHS "end of season reviews" religiously, most Saturday mornings. However - there was a problem. I lived in Derby, and my parents could not afford for me to go to matches more than 5 or 6 times a season. But every time I went, I loved it - the bug was there and remained throughout my time at school.
Fast forward 10 years- and I'm off to University in Sheffield. I was skint, even further away from Coventry, but still - the bug remained. Every chance I got to watch the Sky Blues, I did. To get my football fix in the meantime, I sometimes went to Hillsborough with my then housemate - an Owls fan. They're in League 1 at the time and the standard of football isn't great, and I can't feel anything like the enthusiasm I do for City, but I still went. It was alright but they weren't my team, my beloved Sky Blues.
After leaving University, I moved to Birmingham (unfortunately) but this was much, much closer to Coventry and for the first time I can afford to buy myself a season ticket. I sit in Block 19, where my Great Aunt and Uncle (in their 80s) sit - the same people who took me to my first games as a kid. I love it - I kick every ball, and rejoice when the news of our takeover by SISU filters through the BBC website I've been checking all day instead of working. We buy some decent players, and look a half-decent team - but then these players began to get sold off cheaply. Contracts weren't renewed. The club was being ran in a manner which seemed at best amateur, and at worst criminally. I began to get irritated - players didn't seem to be putting in the effort required, and most didn't have the ability required, to begin challenging in the Championship. But the bug was still there. I renewed each year, certain that this year would be the one.
I lose my job, and move back to Derby. Unable to afford a season ticket, or the travel, my city supporting life descends back into the bad old days of watching the TV highlights and saving up to be able to afford to sit in the away stand at Pride Park once a year. I begin to play hockey on a Saturday (never been much of a footballer, sadly) and then move to Exeter to do a teacher training course. I move to Northampton (oh, the irony!), then back to Derby, then to Leicestershire - the closest I've ever been to Coventry. But I didn't buy a season ticket. The bug, the habit, the burning desire to see every match possible, had gone.
I still love City. I spend hours reading arguments about "ACL v SISU" and think to myself - "this is why I don't go... the football became less important than the shite off the field." But I still listen to the games on the radio. I still get excited when we score, it still makes my weekend when we win, it still puts me in a bad mood when we invariably lose.
Today, we won 5-4. Probably one of the best city games, in terms of excitement at least, in years. Four goals were scored by kids brought through our academy! Four! I'm ecstatic. But will I buy a season ticket - no. We're in Northampton. Will I buy a season ticket if we're back at the Ricoh? Or if SISU go? No. Probably not. Because I've lost the habit. I still play hockey, and would go to games midweek around work commitments, but I can't see myself commiting to it.
Now to my point (apologies for the long winded first post...) How many City fans, like me (albeit for a different reason) will during this season - or however many seasons we stay in exile in Northampton - simply lose the habit of going to the match on a Saturday? Start a new hobby perhaps... have a change in priorities maybe - but never get another season ticket again. It's heart breaking to think that the club, the team I supported through years of ups and mostly downs, has had its life blood (the fans) ripped apart by these owners.
I look forward to having my own kids - this will be the time I return, and hope my own kids like me get the bug. I pray to God that SISU have gone by then, and that we have new, responsible owners who provide a team my own children can grow up supporting without needing a degree in accountancy to follow.
Been reading this forum for years, but I'm generally quite lazy and haven't posted before as a result! Anyway... here goes.
I first began watching the city just over 20 years ago, as a 7 year old kid. I loved it. I owned Coventry City everything, my life was Coventry City. I watched VHS "end of season reviews" religiously, most Saturday mornings. However - there was a problem. I lived in Derby, and my parents could not afford for me to go to matches more than 5 or 6 times a season. But every time I went, I loved it - the bug was there and remained throughout my time at school.
Fast forward 10 years- and I'm off to University in Sheffield. I was skint, even further away from Coventry, but still - the bug remained. Every chance I got to watch the Sky Blues, I did. To get my football fix in the meantime, I sometimes went to Hillsborough with my then housemate - an Owls fan. They're in League 1 at the time and the standard of football isn't great, and I can't feel anything like the enthusiasm I do for City, but I still went. It was alright but they weren't my team, my beloved Sky Blues.
After leaving University, I moved to Birmingham (unfortunately) but this was much, much closer to Coventry and for the first time I can afford to buy myself a season ticket. I sit in Block 19, where my Great Aunt and Uncle (in their 80s) sit - the same people who took me to my first games as a kid. I love it - I kick every ball, and rejoice when the news of our takeover by SISU filters through the BBC website I've been checking all day instead of working. We buy some decent players, and look a half-decent team - but then these players began to get sold off cheaply. Contracts weren't renewed. The club was being ran in a manner which seemed at best amateur, and at worst criminally. I began to get irritated - players didn't seem to be putting in the effort required, and most didn't have the ability required, to begin challenging in the Championship. But the bug was still there. I renewed each year, certain that this year would be the one.
I lose my job, and move back to Derby. Unable to afford a season ticket, or the travel, my city supporting life descends back into the bad old days of watching the TV highlights and saving up to be able to afford to sit in the away stand at Pride Park once a year. I begin to play hockey on a Saturday (never been much of a footballer, sadly) and then move to Exeter to do a teacher training course. I move to Northampton (oh, the irony!), then back to Derby, then to Leicestershire - the closest I've ever been to Coventry. But I didn't buy a season ticket. The bug, the habit, the burning desire to see every match possible, had gone.
I still love City. I spend hours reading arguments about "ACL v SISU" and think to myself - "this is why I don't go... the football became less important than the shite off the field." But I still listen to the games on the radio. I still get excited when we score, it still makes my weekend when we win, it still puts me in a bad mood when we invariably lose.
Today, we won 5-4. Probably one of the best city games, in terms of excitement at least, in years. Four goals were scored by kids brought through our academy! Four! I'm ecstatic. But will I buy a season ticket - no. We're in Northampton. Will I buy a season ticket if we're back at the Ricoh? Or if SISU go? No. Probably not. Because I've lost the habit. I still play hockey, and would go to games midweek around work commitments, but I can't see myself commiting to it.
Now to my point (apologies for the long winded first post...) How many City fans, like me (albeit for a different reason) will during this season - or however many seasons we stay in exile in Northampton - simply lose the habit of going to the match on a Saturday? Start a new hobby perhaps... have a change in priorities maybe - but never get another season ticket again. It's heart breaking to think that the club, the team I supported through years of ups and mostly downs, has had its life blood (the fans) ripped apart by these owners.
I look forward to having my own kids - this will be the time I return, and hope my own kids like me get the bug. I pray to God that SISU have gone by then, and that we have new, responsible owners who provide a team my own children can grow up supporting without needing a degree in accountancy to follow.