From Sofa to Seat 114 - The Kids Are Alright

Jamie Taylor, Writer.
Twitter: @hellojamie_t

I don’t really understand kids. Not having any of my own, it can sometimes be a bit confusing having them around. Like, what do they eat? Why won’t they keep still? How come they’re awake already? These, and many other questions I pondered as my friends and their 5 year old boy, Joss, came to stay at ours for the weekend.

I’m not completely clueless when it comes to kids. For example, I know that kids like sausage rolls. I also know that kids like dogs and I’ve observed that they also like making a lot of noise. Most of all, I know kids are suckers for bribery. As such, it was relatively easy to convince Joss to come to the match with his dad and I. After a quick stop at the pub for some chips to sweeten the deal, we told him all about how brilliant going to the game is. "You can shout as loud as you like" I told him. "And at halftime, everyone gets a snack" I promised. "Best of all" I said "You’ll get to meet Terry the Terrier!" His eyes lit up. This was almost too easy!

Things started to go wrong almost as soon as we got to the stadium. After making a big deal about meeting Terry, when we got to his deckchair, he was nowhere to be found. After skirting round the car park and the cinema we had to break it to him gently that we didn’t think Terry was actually here today. "He must be on his holidays" his dad told Joss. The crushing weight of his disappointment was palpable.

One thing I know about parents is that they don’t like swearing. As someone who swears quite a lot, this has gotten me into trouble in the past. Where I usually sit up in the Core Stand, the language can get pretty tasty at times so I switched tickets and got us seats in the family section. I really enjoyed it up there. From the guy on the turnstiles who made a fuss of Joss to the stewards who helped us find our seats, everyone we met was fantastic. Letting the kids in for a quid meant that it was packed. When Jordan Rhodes scored after eight minutes the place erupted and from then on the end was bouncing all match.

Yet it wasn’t quite enough to keep Joss happy. After about 25 minutes he was asking when we were going home. "It’s alright" I kept telling him. "If you can just make it through to half time we’ll get you a vegan sausage roll." With 45 minutes gone, we waited in a massive queue to try our luck. "Three vegan sausage rolls please." My heart sank as the server returned empty handed. "We’re all out I’m afraid". Shit. What was I going to do now? With Joss getting more agitated by the minute we waited in a second queue. Suddenly our saviour arrived. Clipboard in hand, he suggested we go back to the first counter where the queue had died down. After explaining our predicament, he disappeared behind the hotdog stand and returned with an armful of sausage rolls and a bottle of pop. "How much do we owe you?" I enquired. "Don’t worry about it, these are on us." Turns out not all superheroes wear a cape.

Sometimes they do wear Huddersfield Town shirts. I’m not going to go overboard on this, as this felt like this was a good performance rather than a great one but I can certainly see that there is enough in this squad to get us out of the relegation zone. Everything just felt so much more comfortable. Gone was playing out from the back which meant Lees and Nicholls didn’t have to lean into a skillset they just don’t have. I know it's already been written about but what a player Etienne Camara looks. It seems fitting that on family day, it was one of the youngest players on the pitch who ended up bossing it. Coupled with Kasumu, our midfield suddenly has everything that it’s lacked all season - energy, passion and positivity. It is of course too early to say but I think we’re going to see a lot more of Jon Russell signing autographs outside if these two stay fit.

Full of quorn, pastry and pop, Joss settled into the second half much better. Happily clapping along, he picked up a few of the chants and even started booing the referee. 90 minutes done and three points in the bag, we all left our seats happy. As we made for the turnstiles, who should be back off their holidays - Terry of course! Joss was made up to finally meet him and after a few quick pictures and a high five we set off for home. As he scootered off into the sunset, I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d look back on this day as the start of his own journey in the blue and white. We can but dream.