From Sofa to Seat 114 - The John Smiths

It feels like it’s been an age since I last went to the match. I guess in a sense it has. I missed the Stoke game because of family stuff which means it’s been a whole three weeks since I last took my seat at row FF.

I’m still not quite sure how I feel about the John Smiths. Seeing it loom into view through the trees, all blue and white curves, I’m drawn in by its seductive late 20th-century vision of what a modern football stadium should look like. Yet I can’t help but feel, from the outside, that it lacks a certain something.

Thank god then that the inside is a different story. It feels unique - there’s no mistaking the John Smith’s for anywhere else - and I love the idea that this is my home away from home for the next 42 games. Framed by the trees on Kilner Bank, it has an Alpine quality to it that gives the ground a real sense of place. I can only imagine what those branches have seen down the years, peering in over the top of the East Stand, rooted to the best seats in the house.

I wonder what those trees made of the West Brom match? Well, first things first, the atmosphere in the ground was much better this time round. Town starting on the front foot really lifted the crowd from the off and going two goals up inside the first 45 minutes certainly helped. I thought Tino was immense. Like a fridge on rocket skates, he busted West Brom’s lines again and again, sending panic through their defence whenever he got the ball. His first goal (and mine, more to the point) was pure balls and confidence that had me and the old lady next to me out of our seats singing his name. It’s a shame then, having gotten into that position that it always felt like West Brom was going to get back into this game. Kesler-Hayden looked bright in the first half, but once he’d changed his boots, he never really got forward. Again, the midfield looked a problem with Russell too static and the early promise of Rudoni fading as he was forced to sit back and park the bus. It’s a shame really, as we showed that Albion was there to be got at but instead we retreated into ourselves again. This turned what on paper is a good point, into something that felt closer to a defeat.

Screw it, I still had a great time. It was nice to see the people sat around me again and catch up on the football I missed. I think I even made a new furry friend outside the ground! I know it doesn’t look great right now but I think the lads had enough about them to suggest that we’ll start picking up a few results soon. Roll on next Sunday. Up the Town!