Team for Me

Mike Smith

Description

Does your life revolve around your football team? Does your team's result on a Saturday make or break your weekend? Would you leave your wife on the day she's due to give birth to go to a cup final 140 miles away? Or miss your daughter's fourth birthday because you're in Madrid for a UEFA Cup tie? If so, this book is for you. The Team For Me is a personal reflection of the joy and heartache of football from a fan's perspective. Written by a Hearts supporter of 50 years' standing (and occasionally falling over), its tales will hit home among fans of any and every club - from the Saturday-morning feeling of anticipation to regaling your children with what it means to follow your club; from pre-match rituals to hammering your arch-rivals in a cup final. Fans who grew up in the 60s and 70s will also revel in memories of half-time scoreboards, dashing to the local newsagent at 5.30pm on a Saturday for a copy of the ink-stained 'Football Special' edition, and of collecting football cards to swap with your pals.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Central Scotland
• Memoir

Informations

• Publié par: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 01 août 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785314674
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2018
Pitch Publishing
A2 Yeoman Gate
Yeoman Way
Durrington
BN13 3QZ
www.pitchpublishing.co.uk
Mike Smith, 2018
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.
A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library
Print ISBN 978-1-78531-427-8
eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-467-4
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Contents
Foreword by Jim Jefferies
Acknowledgements
1. Saturday Mornings
2. Going to the Game
3. Grounds I Love Going To
4. Grounds I Would Rather Not Go To
5. Browsing Through Old Football Programmes
6. Seeing a Player Away from the Game
7. Passing on Tales of the History of the Club
8. Collecting Football Cards as a Child
9. Seeing Your Team Win a Trophy
10. The Despair of Losing
11. Leaving a Game Early
12. The Post-Match Pint
13. Seeing the Same Faces
14. Travelling To Away Games
15. Badges and Scarves
16. Watching Your Team on Television
17. Watching Old Games on YouTube
18. Arguing About Games From the Past
19. Reading Saturday Evening Sports Papers
20. Half-Time Scoreboards
21. Waiting For the Fixtures in June
22. The Wee Red Book
23. Transfer Windows
24. Beating Your City Rivals
25. Beating Celtic and Rangers
26. Flirting With Another Team
27. Reading a Match Report You Disagree With
28. Football Chants
29. Checking the Progress of Former Players
30. Crying at Football Games
31. Being a Team Mascot
32. Playing Subbuteo
33. Away Fans
34. Watching Football Results on the Teleprinter
35. Big Team, Wee Team
36. Aw, C Mon Referee!
37. Signing a New Player
38. When Favourite Players Leave
39. Club Owners
40. In the Snow, Wind Rain (and Occasionally Sun)
41. London Hearts and Memory Lane
42. European Ties at Home
43. European Ties Overseas
44. The International Break
45. International Self- Interest
46. Penalty Shoot-outs
47. Selling the Jerseys
48. Breaking the Ice
49. Meeting Your Heroes
50. For the Love of the Game
Foreword by Jim Jefferies
O NE of the biggest misnomers you will hear is that football is only a game . For millions of people across the world it s much more than that. It s a way of life and their association with their team can be as strong, if not stronger than relations with some of their family.
My association with Heart of Midlothian FC stretches over five decades from signing for the club as a 16-year-old raw recruit in 1967 to managing the club from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2010 to 2011. Winning the Scottish Cup in 1998 was one of the greatest moments of my career. I have enjoyed my spells managing other clubs such as Berwick Rangers, Falkirk, Bradford City, Kilmarnock and Dunfermline Athletic. And when Hearts asked me back for a second spell as manager at the beginning of 2010 I couldn t say no.
Most of my football life has been spent at Tynecastle and I take considerable pride at having captained and managed the club. The Scottish Cup triumph of 1998, which ended more than three decades without a major trophy, will live with every Hearts supporter who witnessed it. The scenes in Edinburgh that weekend will never be forgotten, and it summed up exactly what being a Hearts supporter means. Many of the tales in The Team For Me hark back to a different era. The author began following Hearts the year after I signed as a player at Tynecastle and the memories this book invokes are fond ones, despite Hearts obvious struggles on and off the field when I started playing.
One thing that hasn t changed over the years is the passion and commitment shown by generations of Hearts supporters. This has never waned, even during the dark days when the club was relegated on more than one occasion in the late 1970s and the even darker days when there was the real possibility of closure in 1981 and again in 2013. The fans refused to let a Scottish football institution die and the club will forever be in debt - if you ll pardon the description - to those who support them with such pride and no little determination.
But this book will resonate with not only Hearts supporters. Thousands of football fans across the country will relate to the match day routine, the superstitions, the heartbreak and occasional joy football brings. No matter which team they follow they will recognise the commitment - mentally, physically and financially - that comes with the territory of being a football fan.
The Premiership may grab the headlines, but I still see such commitment in my present role as sporting director at Edinburgh City. There are many people involved with City, just as there are at the other clubs I ve been at, who work tremendously hard and sometimes for little reward. Their love for the game does them huge credit.
It s the love of the game that keeps supporters coming back for more. This book reflects the passion Hearts fans have for their club, but it could apply to any club in the land. When they look back over the years they will say with a huge amount of pride - this is my team.
The team for me.
Jim Jefferies, July 2018
Acknowledgements
W HEN I wrote Hearts 50 Greatest Games (Pitch) in 2012, I declared - to the delight of many, I suspect - that would be the last from me in terms of writing books. So, true to my word, here I am six years later with another.
I was inspired, if that is the right word, by a fellow author, Daniel Gray. He has written many books, some about football. Saturday, 3pm (Bloomsbury) is a brilliant short collection of footballing tales and Daniel writes in a style I can only aspire to. He is also a Middlesbrough supporter so where his creative talent comes from is one of life s mysteries.
Running my own hypnotherapy business ( www.mgshypnotherapy-services.co.uk ) and writing a book has been very demanding and there are several people I wish to thank.
I wish to thank Jane and Paul Camillin and Duncan Olner at Pitch Publishing for their support; Davy Allan and co. of the excellent London Hearts website www.londonhearts.com and the huge database of information that is a boon for people like me who write about Hearts; Graham Herriot, whose ceaseless encouragement of my writing style is hugely appreciated; Gary Copland (a Hibee but who is mentioned in this book); Graeme Baxter, for his role in the Joe Smith tale; and Phyllis Stephen, editor of The Edinburgh Reporter, for her support.
Thanks are also due to former Hearts player and manager Jim Jefferies for writing the foreword for this book and to Eric McCowat for the use of photographs.
However, I would not have been able to write this book without the support of my daughters Laura and Michaela and my truly wonderful wife Marion who is also my inspiration, soulmate and best friend.
I dedicate this book to my grandchildren Jack, Hannah, Ava and Max and to the memory of my late father who was one of the few people who encouraged my writing many years ago.
Finally, thank you to you for buying this book. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.
Mike Smith, July 2018
1.
Saturday Mornings
D EPENDING on what you ve been up to the night before, Saturday mornings are the best time of the week. Unless you work Saturdays, of course, in which case you ll be thinking I m talking absolute nonsense.
For football fans, no matter which team you support, Saturday mornings are sacrosanct. True, in this age of satellite television with games being switched to Sunday lunchtimes, Monday evenings and, more recently, Friday evenings there are some Saturdays during the football season where this may not apply.
But this only usually affects top-flight clubs. When I m not watching the famous Heart of Midlothian, I may be at Ainslie Park in the north of Edinburgh watching either Edinburgh City in League Two or The Spartans in the Lowland League. And these weekend games are invariably on a Saturday with the traditional 3pm kick-off.
Generally, Saturday mornings are a time of hope. It may have been a tough week at work; there may be family issues to contend with; the cat may have been sick on the carpet (again) and the hangover from last night s drinking session may be refusing to budge. But it s the time of the week when you wake up naturally - no alarm screeching at 6am demanding you rise from your slumber for another day of torment.
As I rub the sleep from my eyes my conscious mind kicks in. I stretch, I yawn, I look to see if my wife Marion has arisen (she usually has) and I contemplate whether Harry Cochrane will be in the Hearts team that afternoon. These considerations (and not always in that order) are undertaken before I push my stiff limbs out of bed.
Hope is a good thing to have but it can also be a burden. It can occasionally be accompanied by expectation (although not often if you re a Hearts supporter) and these feelings are enhanced if your team is at home that day. Grunting as I push myself out of bed, I have a quick look at the time and a quick calculation as to how many hours it is until kick-off.
Now while Tynecastle is my temple, Saturday is the one day I can get away without having a shave. I can relax, dress casually although, if I recall correctly, Hearts won 4-0 the last time I wore a particular pair of socks so it s a quick rummage through the sock drawer. Damn, they re in the wash. I do hope this won t affect Kyle Lafferty s fragile confidence.
Match day at Tynecastle on a Saturday lifts the mood (befor