From Sofa to Seat 114 - Treachery at the John Smiths?

Jamie Taylor, Writer.
Twitter: @hellojamie_t

“Doesn’t that make you a bit of a traitor?” And so it finally happened. It was an autumnal Wednesday in Warrington and I’d just scattered my grandma's ashes. My uncle drove me to the station during which time I’d told him about my new season ticket. “You can’t change football teams, it’s not allowed” he reckons. “What if Huddersfield Town played Liverpool? Who would you want to win?” It’s a question that stumped me. “Well, I think if I was at the ground, definitely Huddersfield but if I was watching it on telly, probably Liverpool.” I’ve been thinking about my answer for a few weeks now and I’m not sure if I really believe it myself. With just under half the season gone, honestly, who would I want to win?

That it’s taken someone so long to question my loyalties has surprised me. I always expected there would be some sort of backlash from my nearest and dearest. Be that my mates who I’ve been through the wringer and back with watching Liverpool down the years to my brother who never misses an opportunity to have a dig. Yet none of them has really questioned what I’m doing or why. Maybe it’s a misconception on my part about the strength of tribalist feeling in football or maybe it’s just not that much of a big deal but it’s been a relatively easy transition so far from mighty red to blue and white army. I think that it’s Huddersfield Town has made it easier. I mean, no one can accuse me of being a glory supporter.

That both Liverpool and Huddersfield are having bad seasons has complicated matters. I have watched only a single Liverpool game this season and that was the Forest game a few weeks back. Bar the City game (which I was busy for), I’ve had very little urge to watch Liverpool. I think part of that is going cold turkey, unhooking myself off Premier League football and jumping headlong into the Championship. If I’m being honest though, I still don’t like to see Liverpool lose and there’s been a lot of that going on recently.

Watching Town has equally been a strange, slightly detached experience at times. I’m still finding my bearings and where I belong at the John Smiths. I liked my seat in the Core Stand but sitting where I was, surrounded by a crowd who had obviously been going to the match since the Leeds Road days, I just felt like I’d wandered into their living room and sat down uninvited. I know that’s all in my head but it didn’t really feel like what I was looking for.

I’ve already written about my game in the family stand but I think, being by myself and not having kids, it’s not really the place for me. Having discovered how easy it was to change my seat, I’ve been on a bit of an odyssey. For the Hull game, I sat (stood) in the Cow Shed. Again, it wasn’t really my cup of tea. I enjoyed the boisterous nature of it but I’m just not at that level yet. Despite putting in the homework, when it came to it, I just couldn’t remember most of the words to Smile A While and had a creeping sense of being taken for a fraud as I shouted ‘We’re Yorkshire’. When we scored I really didn’t know what to do. As the guy next to me came steaming towards me, I thought he was going in for a hug. Turns out he was just trying to get past me to give the away fans the double Vs.

Preston up next and the Kilner Bank Stand. It was a long way round but once through the turn styles, I knew this was the place for me. The long concourse where fans mingle was much more what I think I was expecting from a match day experience. Once sat down, the single steep bank of seats made me feel part of something. The noise was totally different to the Core Stand, with the fans here providing the beat while the Cow Shed stepped up with a song. It was just a shame that the match was the worst thing I’ve ever seen grace a football pitch. Just nothing, no desire, no joy, no entertainment. I left feeling… nothing.

And that bothered me. I’d spent months trying to feel something but here I was leaving the worst game of the season not angry, not upset, not arsed really. And I couldn’t work out why. Was I not trying hard enough? Was I being unrealistic to expect myself to be all in after seven matches (probably)? It struck me that I’d not really had any reason to love Town yet. There’s no bones about it, we’ve been shit this season and that’s all I know of this team. No beauty to speak of, nothing to grab hold of, nothing to fall in love with. Until.

“Here’s Nakayma, where’s it going this? My word, it’s gone straight in. I’m not sure he meant it but Yuta Nakayma has given Huddersfield Town an early lead at the John Smiths Stadium.” Oh my god did I feel something then! The Millwall game was the first time I think I something really stirred in me. Some joy, some love, some connection. There were heroes out there who I could finally get behind. The football still wasn’t amazing but it had moments, close calls and shots on target. All basic stuff but things that had been largely lacking from Town’s game up to that point.

I missed the Sunderland game as I was away with work but I actually really missed it. I wanted to be there even if we did get mugged off 2-0. This Saturday’s game against Swansea felt different. I was actually excited and in my new seat (coincidentally also 114) I felt much more at home. It was one of the most boring sporting spectacles I’ve had the misfortune to witness but nevertheless, I got really into the backs-to-wall performance the lads put in. Every finger-tip save, every ball chased down, every massive header, I was there for it. Something inside me had definitely changed.

If I’m being honest, I’m still not sure I’m in a position to answer my uncle’s question. There’s definitely a connection with Town beginning to happen but there’s just not been the highs so far to really produce that depth of feeling. I love going to the match (most of the time) and I enjoy being in the stadium but the football hasn’t really been the most seductive. While I think I would probably want Town to win, I’m not sure I’m ready to tell my mates that just yet. Here’s hoping we don’t draw them in the cup.