'Mood Index'

After too many years of following the Shots I’m a long way past the point where results really matter…..when a scruffy 1 v 0 win in front of a small crowd at a bleak and windswept Recreation Ground sends me back home down the motorway singing our manager’s praise.

Now, I have commented on a number of occasions that despite his obvious charm, I didn’t really like Terry Brown, and 'promotion back to the League' Gary Waddock was just our manager….and current boss, Kevin Dillon would not feature in my top 100 people to invite round for dinner. But then really these feelings matter not a jot when I get in my car and set off on the 12000 miles each year in support of the Shots.

And any performance appraisal of our manager plays only a small part in my own ‘mood assessment’, a status that is determined by so many variables.

So what factors affect my mood?

Of course our results do have an impact on my wellbeing and how we play is important too – the power and pace witnessed just about every week in our conference promotion winning season was memorably exciting. Then there is the electric buzz in the crowd that will lift the spirits, not forgetting that I meet my family in the pub before every home game – this is such an important aspect of my obsession with the Shots. But then roadworks on the M4,5,6 etc will frustrate and the behaviour of our players and management team must be exemplary. And the actions of our Club towards spectators and ‘employees’ always impact on my feeling of identity,….and so it goes on.

It is therefore a complicated mix of factors that affect my mood, and to lay the blame or credit at the door of Kevin or Gary or Terry or even Len Walker is I’m afraid missing the point.

So here is my own ‘mood index’ established at 100 on Sunday May 16th 2004, the Britannia Stadium, Stoke – Aldershot Town v Shrewsbury Town, Nationwide Conference Play-off Final.

Index low: 40 – Monday April 17th 2006 Aldershot Town 0 v 3 Grays Athletic

Index high: 120 - Tuesday April 15th 2008 Exeter City 1 v 1 Aldershot Town (the Shots are promoted back to the Football League)

Current index: 60