Just to make a brief point for those few people who are interested.
My self-imposed boycott of Bristol Rovers is over now that the banning order handed out to my friend over three years ago is no longer of any concern to him. Life, as they say, is too short to fret about what cannot be changed.
It’s a somewhat unsatisfactory end to a long period of disagreement at BRFC, but the arguments really are over for good now and no one can be sad about that. No one comes out of the near 10 years of division with any great credit, least of all the man who banned a supporter on the grounds of “consistent criticism”, chairman Nick Higgs. But when no one wants to back down, no one wants to compromise; well what can you do?
Much has happened since I last went to a Rovers game, including relegation to non league football and then an immediate return to League Two. With any luck, the club will soon be in the division it’s supposed to be in if Darrell Clarke can perform another managerial miracle.
Whether I actually go to a game in the near or distant future, well that’s for another day. Mr Higgs has made it clear that I, at least, am welcome to attend games again and I thank him for that.
It’s no big deal, I know that. I’m just someone who believed – still believes – a wrong was committed and it hasn’t been righted and now never will be. But by choosing to stay away, I have remembered that, actually, there is a world beyond football. And as the years rush by, where once they passed by gently, I am reminded of my mortality and the need to do so many things before my number comes up. One of these may once again be at the Memorial Stadium but right now that is one of a number of possibilities, not the only one.
I’m of the view that I’ll take a look at things at the end of the season and see how I feel then. There is no hurry.
Do not mistake this blog as being a statement of self-importance, it isn’t. In the grand scheme of things, my presence or otherwise at the Mem is a monumental irrelevance, but as it’s my blog I’ll write what I think, thank you very much.
Whether my lifelong love affair with Irene can be rekindled, I have no idea. I’ll let matters take their natural course and see where we end up. Whatever happens, I’m happy it’s all over.
Finally, I would counsel against anyone trying to bring about positive change at a football club unless they are confident they have the means and support to carry it through. Many of us made that mistake at the Rovers, not really understanding that the vast majority of people actually preferred things the way they were. That’s why I am not a successful businessman. I don’t understand the customers!
But that was then, this is now. Maybe it’s not quite Goodnight Irene just yet and it’s just a trial separation that’s gone on a bit and may well go on quite a bit longer.
