Will I go to the football on Saturday?

  That is a question which, in the past, I would never have asked myself. If I wasn't working it was....into the car and go, go, go. Home and away since league election I have travelled from Peebles in the Scottish Border country.............a commitment of a whole day and some considerable expense. Now, I feel , things are slightly different this year.

Week after week I hear radio commentators describing the fare on offer at home as dire,scrappy,even boring..................in short.................lacking in ENTERTAINMENT.

Entertainment and value for money has always been what I'm looking for. I may be wearing rose-tinted glasses but I don't see on the park nowadays what I used to see. I am in a small minority, I know, but I would happily be in a lower division (I do miss those days) watching a ludicrously high-scoring end-to-end game .....even if on the end of a beating. AND, I don't need goals galore either. My two favourite games were a tense-as-you-could-possibly-get  top-of-the-table  clash with Clyde (30/11/02) when we had to wait until the 80th minute for Barry Robson (oh to have a player like him!) to break the deadlock with a delicious curling free-kick. The other game that springs to mind..........and I remember raving on about it to incredulous work mates.........was a 3-4 defeat at the hands of Falkirk ( on Feb 8th (!) 2003). We were sunk that day by an Owen Coyle hat-trick if memory serves me, but the ENTERTAINMENT factor was unsurpassable.

Due to work I have missed the following games in Inverness this term. 0-0 draws with Hibs, D Utd and yesterday with Hearts , and the 0-1 defeat at the hands of Falkirk. What have I Actually missed? According to the media and this forum...........very little!

Now its easy to get nostalgic for all those classic games under Pele, the comebacks, the visits to homely little grounds where anything went (**** I even took my dog into Gayfield on a couple of occasions). No plastic seats,great craic,no officious stewarding, half the price.

The price of progress has been high indeed.............we can't slip backnow...............it would be a financial disaster for the club.

I still love watching MY club..........I don't think that will ever change................but when it comes to getting into the car at 9.30 and pointing it in the direction of the A9 there is a new factor involved......................will I be ENTERTAINED????

I agree, these heady days of SPL football are a onderful bonus and will not last for ever.

Let's relish the experience while it lasts.

Ever the optimist Kingsmills?

And why shouldn't they last forever???

i believe... :021:

For me the entertainment starts with the drive up the A9. The scenery, the nutters, waving my scarf out the car window at the County and Huns buses heading south. Maybe even stopping for a chat with a friendly Sneck traffic cop :008:(as happened last sat :008: :008:) The pre match activities in the Innes or Social club. The final journey to the stadium full of expectation. Pies, people, screeming my lungs out and then, win lose or draw, the aftermatch banter and the philosiphying about what might have been. Alcohol in abundance. And, if I'm staying over and still sober, the stars of the day who drop into the Heathmount. Well worth every penny. :021:

However, we live in the now so, next Thursday evening we will head south 95 miles to London to catch the overnight sleeper train to Inverness (550 miles ?). On Saturday I will go to the game against Motherwell and I will be entertained, we'll win 6-0 and on Monday night we'll come home.

Oooh feck it!  :019: :019:

Could have been worse, you could have been out walking the dog up the top of a steep hill in the rain at three o' clock on Saturday :walking02: :dog01:

Enjoyed my walk on Saturday. Resisted the temptation to come back on this thread (admirably I think). I'm not here to gloat now. This is an increasingly worrying situation don't you think?

I will be present and correct for all of the years remaining fixtures......Mrs Naelifts to put in a festive appearance!!!!!!

BTW.........I don't have a yappy little heilin' dog........but I enjoyed your art work Don