Today is the day. I know Swansea started their Championship season last weekend away at Middlesbrough. and I know we’ve had a 2 games at the Swansea.com stadium, a friendly against French Lige 1 side Lorient and a cup match last Tuesday against EFL League 2 side Crawley, but today is the day the season becomes real.
What a beautiful day!!!
You would have thought that as a grown man I would be able to put this into some sort of perspective. After all these years of being a fan I know that football is a cruel mistress. I know that for every game ending in ‘What a Beautiful day’ there will probably be many others where I spend the rest of the weekend slightly miserable. But I am hooked, and I don’t think there is a cure.
Because it’s a game with winners and losers it should be all about the final score… but for those of us who love the game it’s about so much more.
In the Vice Presidents Suite with Esme Allchurch. No tie? I’d have been in trouble for that!
For many years I was a member of the Vice Presidents Section of the stadium. In years gone by this group of mainly male Swansea business people had supported the club financially through some of the darkest days. They would raise money through dinners and raffles or simply by putting their hands in their pockets. As the club’s status grew following the move to the Swansea.com Stadium and as the finances of football moved beyond the reach of most normal people their role as financiers started to fade. However, their role continued to be recognised by the club with a special room and a special section of seats set aside.
The financial responsibilities for the club had long left the Vice Presidents when I joined their ranks but their pride in the club and their appearance was still evident to be seen. Every year the Vice Presidents would design their own new tie, they would have their own Player of the Season awards, and at every game the VP’s hierarchy would make sure standards were not allowed to slip. I remember taking one of my sons with me to one of the games where it was pointed out firmly, but respectfully, that jeans should definitely not be worn in future.
Wearing a suit and tie for Cliff Jones
But for me these rituals go back much further in time, back to my days on the North Bank and the Vetch Field. Now we didn’t wear 3 piece suits back then, but we did have a uniform. Jeans were allowed, usually flares. They would be just long enough to at least cover a portion of my platform shoes. My coat of choice was a tartan lined Harrington jacket that my mum had bought for me in Swansea market. Finally there was the black and white scarf to top it off.
Having made sure I looked the part the next part of the ritual was to get to the Vetch in plenty of time. My brother and I would catch the bus from Brynhyfryd Square and head for town with hours to spare. We didn’t need to get there as early as we did for logistical reasons. In those days there might have been some queues at the turnstiles, but it didn’t take long to get in. In fact I remember being slightly resentful once we had reached the promised land of Division One in the 1980’s that you actually had to get there early to get in at all.
Another season and another tie with Neville Southall.
Anyway, back to the good old days of 3000 fans in the 4th Division and you made sure you got there early to get your programme and meet up with the rest of your school mates. Football in Swansea was very different in the 1970’s. Open banks with people standing, crash barriers and a TV and commentary position above the North Bank that meant the BBC commentators had to get there early to climb the ladder to their posts before the North Bank got too crowded.
Yet another new tie for Les Ferdinand
We had our favourite section of the North Bank, so we knew where to go to meet all of our mates. There was a section at the back of the covered terrace for the North Bank Boys, but I was no skin head, which is ironic if you look at me now, and anyway I preferred my platforms to Doc Martens.
As with most football clubs there is a preferred way of playing for the home team. At the Swansea.com our preferred way is to play in a North to South direction. If I’m honest I can’t quite remember which way we played at the Vetch. I think it was from the East terrace towards the Double Decker, but I could be wrong.
Off duty so no tie with The Prime Minister
Anyway this was accepted as being the natural way to play football. Even if the away club won the toss they would usually allow us to play the Swansea Way in the first half. In fact in the unlikely event that the away team won the toss and actually insisted on making everyone change sides we knew these guys were bad actors!!
My job is to welcome away supporters including Swansea born Cerys Matthews who supports Luton.
With that in mind in the days of very small crowds we would actually follow the action. We would start at one side of the North Bank in the first half and then change at half time to make sure we were getting all of the Swansea attacking goal mouth action.
These days I actually look after the Centenary Suite at the Stadium on match day which means I wear a suit and tie but just as in those Vetch Field days I still go through my ritual the night before a game to make sure I have everything in place. Last night I got my suit and tie ready on the bed to make sure it was all in order. This morning I ironed my shirt.
Now I went through this whole ritual earlier this week for our Carabao Cup game, but I made a grave mistake. Last Tuesday was incredibly hot. I was amazed by the number of people who were impressed and commented on my commitment to looking smart because I kept my jacket on even in the extreme heat. What they didn’t know was that like most men I only iron what you can usually see, in my case as I wear a suit jacket and waistcoat I just do the collar and cuffs. I didn’t dare take off my jacket otherwise they would my scruffy un-ironed shirt!!!
Today feels like Christmas Day. After all the excitement of the build up over the last few weeks it’s finally arrived. I just hope I’m not too disappointed at 5 pm.