How has your life been affected by the decline and fall of SAFC?


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I am 58 yrs old. I saw my first match 50 years ago. Have been an exile for 30 years. Coming back to UK this year. Footballing wise, the worst time to come back I know. We have won one real trophy in that 50 years. But loads and loads of great memories, and the club has enriched my life to a monumental degree. No need to dwell on the individual moments, you all know what they are. Not trophy-laden then, but there was always hope - whether in old Div1/Premier, or the lower tiers - that it would not take that much to make us successful. But it appears that without a huge injection of cash, that seems far away now. It could take many years to get back to a position where we can challenge again, if it happens at all.

I check these pages every day, a lot of gallows humour, and a lot of anger. Rightly so. I am not pointing the finger in this post, too many others for that. I just wanted to explore the great sadness that so many people will feel at the moment. Those that have followed the club for decades, those a lot younger. It is the lowest ebb. Far worse than Lawrie Mac days.

For someone like me, who is getting on now, it is bitter-sweet. We have experienced the highs and the lows. We have also experienced what life has to throw at us, and know that time runs fast. Football as the years go by becomes less important. It's just the way it is. Other things to worry about. And for sanity's sake, it would be suicidal to keep worrying about the club, when you have yourself, family and friends to think/worry about. But there is no denying the sickness in the stomach when the mind currently turns to SAFC. One of the most important things in my life is going down the drain, and there seems no way out of it.

Sorry for the depressive nature of this post, I am normally a positive guy when it comes to SAFC. Coleman gives us some hope, but he is not a miracle worker. I just hope someone buys out Short sooner rather than later. With the cash to save us.

Good luck at Boro lads. Fans and team.

great post Major, i am a similar age and i cant bare to see us struggling like this, so many fantastic fans and this is happening to us, its very sad. If you recall i met you in HK years ago, we discussed our team and we were really upbeat, now its just so depressing. I don't get these players, I don't know them, i don't even recognise the kit, it all gets to me I can't help it. Here's to better days and welcome back to Blighty.
 
Again not about how much money we spend just look at the last 10 years, Short is finally doing what he should have done years ago, always worried that Bain didnt prune hard enough over the summer

All these should haves, would haves are pointless, lets focus on now and the position we are at and where do we go from here? You cant run a football club these days on a show string
 
What is apparant from posts here is that the fans have not fell out of love with the club, but that the club has mistreated the fan base over a long period of time.

It is only since CC arrived that one element of the club is trying to reverse the decline and give back to the suppporters. Really hope he can keep us up as I like the bloke.

Appears to be a genuine fella who actually cares. He my full support for what it is worth and no happy clapping, come to do a job and trying hard.
 
great post Major, i am a similar age and i cant bare to see us struggling like this, so many fantastic fans and this is happening to us, its very sad. If you recall i met you in HK years ago, we discussed our team and we were really upbeat, now its just so depressing. I don't get these players, I don't know them, i don't even recognise the kit, it all gets to me I can't help it. Here's to better days and welcome back to Blighty.

I do indeed remember it Herts. I also hate the strip, I know insignificant in the scheme of things, but it seems symptomatic of the decline. Look at the pics of Defoe in that smart kit. what were they thinking of. Hopefully these loan youngsters will give the team a boost.
 
I don't want to be melodramatic, but the real impact has been on the quality of the time I spend with my son. Loves football as much as me, he started with a season ticket at the age of 4, loved it, and times like the early days of O'Neill (eg Ji Dong-Won), the derby wins, the Wembley run, the Poyet great escape, were really enjoyable.

He's now 13, still loves football in general, but thanks to Ellis Short's destruction of the club, is totally apathetic about SAFC, and about going to the match, and often bins it. He certainly doesn't want to go to any more away games. I suspect when he goes it is as a bit of a 'favour' to me, and looking ahead, he certainly won't be going to watch us if he goes to University or gets a job or gets a girlfriend or whatever.

It's the lost generation of SAFC fans that is the worst bit of what that cunt Short has done to the club.

This is spot on marra in terms of the impact it has on things other than footy itself. I've got two sons, one who very soon is almost permanently away after uni and travelling, he used to come to the games with me. The other is 19 and lives with his mam. We get on fine, but SAFC is pretty much the only thing we do together. Via the humour of the gallows we still manage to have a laugh about things, but Christ does it feel like a slog, the last couple of seasons in particular have been grim .We don't ask for much. A scappy one nil win over Fulham had us buzzing all week, but the 2 home games since have been dire. I am a fully paid up happy clapper but I really fear how far this decline might go.

That all said, to answer the OP, apart from the above issue, I try to compartmentalise it and don't allow it to spoil any other bits of my life. I have learned to become very good loser, but on the rare occasion it happens an absolutely intolerable pain in the arse when we win.
 
I gave up my season ticket a couple of seasons ago due to work commitments, now I'm a full time engineering student so SAFC aren't as high on my priority list as they once were.

However seeing the old Facebook statuses from new year when Ji scored against Man City, it hit home how progressively and latently detached I've become since then. Some games I only ever look for the full time result and read the match reports.

I've got many great things going on in my life that I've got no time to make an effort to indulge in something I've fell out of love for. It's my life that's changed, and SAFC no longer directly affect it.

I will return, but by Christ I'm grateful to have bigger things to worry about right now!
 
Not a day goes by without an STFC thought.
No doubt it will continue this way.

I went to watch Banbury Utd v Weymouth just before Xmas and the takeaway thought was even if the mighty Swindon were to fall this low I would still get the enjoyment out of it. As a start we would big the big bollocks at this level. Filling grounds were ever we go. Drinking beer whilst watching the game, less miles to travel and of course the start of another rise up the football ladder.

You are going to be alright Sunderland.
 
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