This week I’d been thinking about the situation facing supporters of Bury FC, the ever shrinking squad size at Bolton Wanderers, and the amazing set of circumstances which could see part of the Former British Steel Corporation being acquired by the pension fund for the Turkish Armed Forces!
An excellent article on Bury can be found online here where the writer, Thomas Pickup, concludes with, “So the next time you think about complaining that your chairman isn’t spending enough, or that your manager isn’t playing exciting enough football, spare a thought for fans of clubs like ours that simply want to watch our local team play on a Saturday afternoon. With Bolton and Coventry also on life support and many others on the brink of collapse, this is a problem that isn’t going away – even if the Shakers manage to survive to live another day”.
Thought provoking words – and haven’t we been in those exact situations?
But then something happens and thoughts about matters such as football – and what is left of BSC – become insignificant
And so it was when the news broke about the death of Natalie Crichlow, mother of our very own Romoney Crichlow-Noble. Whatever happened on that beautiful island was terrible and one cannot imagine the pain that Romoney and his family must be feeling.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀
What has been great to see has been the outpouring of support, including financial help to return her to the UK, from the club, players and supporters. The club has also mentioned how quickly Romoney returned to training – I am sure that his Mother would have been so proud of him.
Add to this the news that Emiliano Sala was probably poisoned by fumes before the terrible plane crash in The Channel and one can’t help but think that football isn’t really that important after all.
The club has made mention of the fact that several other players have faced family bereavements in recent months and that made me wonder if we, the Terrace fan, are guilty of sometimes forgetting that the players in Blue and White (and the opposition for that matter) are just normal folk – like us – with their own challenges and concerns – and it is just a bit of good fortune that lets them get paid for doing what a lot of us would like to do? Guess that’s obvious really.
Anyway, I think I’ll stay quiet tomorrow when Bromley visit Fortress Vic – unless a certain midfielder takes every dead ball – but, to quote a poster on ‘Down at the Mac’, the Huddersfield Town fansite, writing about Romoney, “Maybe a moment to stop the anger and focus on supporting one of our players”. Fair point. So, I’m just going to quietly enjoy the game tomorrow, and will think about how lucky I am – and will spare a thought for those followers of the likes of Bury and Bolton, and those steelworkers who worry about their futures.
John