Oh dear - this I’m afraid
I’ve been going through the turnstile since 27 September 1970 ,had a ST since 1975 and my 2 kids had one too until they developed an ability to make their own choices.
I have said to my group of friends who go to the match together that if utd don’t go up ,I won’t be going again . And I mean it .
I haven’t attended any of the cup games and won’t be going tomorrow because I refuse to give them any more of my money . And I can, thankfully, afford to go so I’m one of the lucky ones .
Reason?
Don’t like the football we play , which seems crazy considering the pile of crap we have turned out over the years - I find it so frustrating and beyond belief that we have been hanging on in so many games .
Joint firstly
The ownership and running of the club . How we have been allowed to enter into an embargo after being in the prem 2 years ago , and for 2 years ,is beyond me - how that impacted on us not being able to strengthen the squad to take us over the line when we had such a lead is criminal and unacceptable leadership to me . How this behaviour and mindset can be remotely justified considering the security that could be achieved through promotion is beyond belief and demonstrates a complete lack of interest and consideration for so many loyal people who’s heartbeat is following the club .
Hecky to be fair has done a good job and deserves my support which I continue to give when I go - which is to every home league game .
So
Add the above together and that’s why I for one will not go again
I completely sympathise with your view.
I started at the Lane a couple of years before that wonderful 70/71 season and have been hooked ever since.
But I have rarely felt as detached as at the present.
Which is weird when you compare today's position to the heartaches of tumbling to the 4th , all the defeats in playoffs & cup semis , the bent relegations of 94 & 07 etc etc.
There is something about the ever increasing malign influence of money in the modern game , which taints one's enjoyment.
Look at the PL & how many London & southern teams predominate for a crude example of how money doesn't talk but swears - FFS Brentford riding high on City cash & algorithms.
Our recent PL experience was initially brilliant , then excruciating.
The very fact that our owner can't wait to get rid of us , despite us having a decent chance of promotion , is appalling.
And the financial predicament is now confirmed by Bettis saying that we are deliberately paying suppliers late - this is embarrassing.
To have been so profligate with our 5 years of PL money , that we are now almost broke , despite good crowds , leaves me cold.
So promotion to the PL is now not a "great adventure" but the only way to avoid oblivion.
How can you get excited about that ?
Then there's the utter waste of a 14 point gap , allowing Boro to gain the momentum & initiative over us.
Signing Archer in January , who should have come to us.
This is not bad luck.
This is sheer financial incompetence by the club.
So no wonder I am not going tomorrow, despite having been a ST holder for decades , and not having lived in Sheffield since 1976.
I am furious with the club I love.
It is a very strange feeling indeed.
If we throw away promotion this year , I will not be able to point to bad luck or fraudulent activities of other clubs (Hans Segers & Tevez) or COVID or anything but the sheer stupidity of my own club + the farcical attempts by its owner to jump ship.
Bloody hell , if the owner can't be loyal , why does he expect me , the paying supporter , to keep being a mug ?
