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    The Away End
    The Away End
    The Away End
    Ebook109 pages1 hour

    The Away End

    By Dean Mansell

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    About this ebook

    The universal language of football has provided fans all over the world with memories to cherish for the rest of their lives. Football fans are really one of the same animal, that being a devoted die hard bunch who follow their team through thick and thin, one day hoping for that glorious moment that will live with them forever. This book is a collection of over 50 humorous stories written by the fans themselves. Author Dean Mansell has marshalled these stories from right across the land in the cause of creating this richly entertaining volume. A wide variety of real life tales are told by fans in their own special way. The ‘away day’ trip is the one that normally brings with it an adventure or two. The events surrounding the actual game, such as the journey to the ground or the tipple in the pub beforehand, often outshine the game itself. Football is about much more than watching your heroes on the pitch on a Saturday afternoon. It’s about sharing the misery of defeat on a cold wet Tuesday winters night, and the camaraderie that is born by ‘being there’ for your team with your fellow supporters. This is a proper football book written by the supporter, for the supporter and reminds us all why we love the game of football so much.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDean Mansell
    Release dateSep 7, 2012
    ISBN9781301727599
    The Away End

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      Book preview

      The Away End - Dean Mansell

      Foreword

      They used to call it terrace humour. Now - as for many years - most fans sit down to watch their football.

      But the banter is as rich as ever, so stand up and take a bow all those supporters everywhere who have contributed to this book.

      Author Dean Mansell has marshalled stories from football fans right across the land in the cause of a richly entertaining volume. What stands out is that, whatever their favourite team and however intense the rivalry, these folk are really one and the same animal.

      They are all crackers on the game, for starters, and nearly all susceptible to the same human weakness - I call it a strength, actually - for pints of ale.

      There's the camaraderie of supporting one team, the enmity - but for one day only in most cases, you hope  - towards the opposition. The wisdom, the wisecracks, the shared experience in joy and suffering.

      In fact, it's the latter that inspires most warmth. Nothing beats shared misery for inspiring togetherness and humour against all adversity. But this book is about a lot more than banter.

      It's to do with every aspect of an away game. The journey, the missed bus or train, the missed goal at the start or end of a game, the getting pissing wet through, the getting pissed off and the getting gloriously pissed up on those rare days when it all ends in triumph. Or defeat for that matter!

      Real fans of football - and there are millions of you out there - will identify with many of the stories in this book. Those of us who are lucky enough to follow the game for a living tend to get institutionalised by the neutrality of the press box. We find it hard to express our feelings in those confines, not that it would be exactly encouraged.

      But every football journalist worth his salt is a fan of one club or other. It's always the starting point for a career that, first and foremost, demands enthusiasm and a natural feel for the game.

      Like the author, I happen to be a supporter of Chesterfield F.C. Occasionally I get to see them in civvies, as it were. That's when all impartiality goes out of the window. I'll never forget reliving the excitement of being purely and simply a fan during the club's epic run to the FA Cup semi-finals in 1997.

      I surprised myself by shedding tears after the quarter-final win over Wrexham at the old Saltergate ground. Then, during the roller-coaster of a 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough at Old Trafford, I bear-hugged a complete stranger after Sean Dyche buried a penalty to put the Spireites into a 2-nil lead.

      During the kafuffle a middle-aged bloke near me lost his glasses. They just flew into the air. He made a brief search and then just happily wrote them off, so engrossed in the game that he couldn't take his eyes off it however blurred his vision.

      That's how football gets you. It takes you beyond all reason and logic. There is no known antidote to this affliction. Thank goodness!

      Alan Biggs

      Kick Off

      As a football fan, there's nothing quite like an away day. Planning the trip, the journey to the game, the banter with the fans, the ninety minutes of football followed by (if you've lost!) the long journey home. All these things add together to create the stories and images that live long in the memory of a football fan.

      A few years ago, I created a website for football fans to share their stories from watching the beautiful game. The website is called 'Away End', hence the title of the book. I chose the name as the majority of my own memorable times watching football have been on away day trips watching my team, Chesterfield FC. This book contains the best stories submitted to the website from fans of clubs all across the country.

      My own love of football began before I could even walk. My parents still say a football was never far from my feet while I was growing up. Being a half decent footballer at school led me to playing for the youth team at Chesterfield FC. Being lucky enough to be around the football club as a youngster meant my affiliation started early. I was a ball boy at one of the home games and remember a shiver running down my spine as the team ran on to the pitch. The buzz and excitement of the crowd as they welcomed their heroes was unforgettable.

      I didn't quite make the grade and still like to think I was the one that slipped through the net! The disappointment of not making it to play for my home town club lasted a couple of years before I was once again drawn back to the team I love. Fast forward a few years and I now live away from the town, bringing up a family in a North Lincolnshire village. The short distance however has only strengthened my feelings for the club and the opportunity of introducing my two sons to the life of a football fan has already begun.

      The experience in a modern day away end is not quite like it used to be in the good old days of football. The majority were uncovered, concrete terraces selling cold meat pies and running out of Bovril before half time. In the new stadiums of today, the menu on offer for the football fan is that of a night at the theatre. You can watch the game on a flat screen TV while you buy your hot dog if that's your thing.

      Thankfully the lower league still provides opportunities to experience a game at a 'proper' football ground. Sadly though the numbers are dwindling as clubs are forced to move to new purpose built stadiums that not only provide income from football, but also from conference and banqueting to boost the balance sheet. As good as the facilities are in these new stadiums, a soul always seems to be missing. Maybe that soul will return in time as memories grow in the new surroundings.

      Football is such a wonderful game and memories come from both following your team home and away or even watching a game on television with your mates. On occasions I would

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