A view from.......

One of the advantages of living a very long way from Aldershot is that to clients, colleagues and friends a trip to the Recreation Ground sounds exotic…..

And for the game with Port Vale, it was the turn of a long time friend to take in the delights of Hampshire. Now, Elaine should know a bit about football as she is an adviser to government on all matters sporting, her dad played first class rugby and……oh yes, she supports Hearts.

In her words this is how the world of Aldershot looks from Edinburgh.

‘‘They say that writing a second novel is much harder than the first. But then they also say that all Scottish ‘keepers’ are useless and women goalkeepers are worse!

The preparation for my return visit to the Recreation Ground had not gone to plan - the demands of work left me with little chance to listen to Radio 5 and when I did have the time to prepare for the game with Port Vale, my mind drifted to the memory of Edinburgh’s great victory over Cardiff in the other football code.

Despite these set backs I travelled to the Rec carrying with me the same feelings that I experience when Scotland start a World Cup qualification campaign, or indeed the ‘6 Nations’…. the inevitability of a win securely wrapped up in a blanket of whisky fuelled optimism. Yes, I was really looking forward to the game and my second trip to watch “The Lads”.

I was picked up bright and early on Saturday morning and just knew that I was not going to be disappointed. The trip down to Aldershot was accompanied by a discussion on the topic for the 'Blog'. I had a few ideas, but ‘Shot from Wales’ seemed preoccupied by a ‘web discussion’ that had taken place on the Shots message board earlier that week. The thread was in relation to women’s sport, and with ageing misogynists in the ascendancy the comment that all women footballers are lesbians was never going to be far away.

By the time we stopped for coffee at Membury my mind was full of the pathetic insults that rain down on footballers and officials up and down the country every week. And I’m sure you will agree with me when I say that unfair criticism of one’s ability to do ‘the job’, to be judged a poor performer when this is quite clearly a contaminated opinion, is the worst insult that could be thrown at anyone. And I have no doubt professional sports people feel just the same.

So as I sat in the La Fontaine pub, raising my glass to ‘The Lads’ and the sadly missed Jimmy, I resolved to watch the game through the eyes of a ‘psychologist’. And with such detachment from the passion of the game I hoped to reflect on the impact that any comments directed towards the players, officials and management might have.

On the whole the North Stand tirade was performance related. A torrent of abuse questioning skills or decision making. But then as the final whistle approached, and Aldershot battled to score a winning goal I registered an increase in more personal comments - including those relating to sexuality. Now, I am a bit of a 'saddo' when it comes to checking on evidence. And despite a full and thorough search could I find any research that linked sexuality to sporting ability? No, but I did uncover an interesting article that established that in most cases having sex will not impact negatively on sporting performance - unless both were attempted at the same time – perhaps this is taking multi-tasking a bit too far!

As paying spectators we have every right to criticise players when they turn up poorly prepared for the game, lacking in fitness, commitment or skills – these are the basic requirements for the job, but beyond that…? I guess Jimmy Greaves would say, ‘prejudice is a funny old game’.

And finally, my memories of the day. Glorious sunshine. A fantastic pre-match pie. Thank you Marilyn for the glass of wine. Reassuring pre-match rituals and a noticeable emotional power of the fans that I’m sure cannot be found in the ‘palaces’ of the Premiership. The shots at goal kept on coming and the tension was unbearable. Aldershot Town 1 v 1 Port Vale……. and this Shot from Morningside loved every second.

To the Lads and Jimmy.’’