Staying in love with Spurs

I remember when when I first met her, in fact my Dad introduced me to her in January of 1987. An FA cup game where Crystal Palace were beaten 4-0. I can still feel the emotion and sensory overload of the first meeting, the look of the pitch, the smells of food in the air, the first goal a penalty from Clive Allen and the sound of the crowd. It was amazing and I was falling in love.

It was a forbidden love that had to be worked on as I grew up in an area where you should love West Ham, but that was never going to work for me. West Ham was so inferior to my love in every way. Sure West Ham had her admirers but they didn’t have Glenn Hoddle and Clive Allen and those shirts were not that brilliant white which contrasted perfectly against the green of the White Hart Lane pitch. Plus, I could never tell my Dad I was going to be involved with anyone other than the one he introduced me to, the one he had loved for decades before I even showed up. I was given a hard time by my mates about my chosen love but I learned to live with it becoming more vocal about my passion year after year.

[linequote]There was a lot of heartache and my love let me down more often than not but one good week could easily make up for the previous bad four she put me through[/linequote]

By the 90-91 season I saw her every week. We’d go every where together, all over the country and I’ll never forget some of the dates we had that year. Finally my Dad would let me see her without him. Me and a small amount of friends from my area (some of which I converted) that also loved her would make the short train journey across London and nothing could beat it. We met others who used to see her every week and our group became bigger. My love was cemented that season and the highlight of our relationship to this day probably remains April 14th 1991. The invincible Woolwich taken apart at Wembley by my love and all made even sweeter as West Ham got thumped at Villa Park by Forest.

Although I remained loyal, still turning up every week our time together became more difficult over the next few years. There was a lot of heartache and my love let me down more often than not but one good week could easily make up for the previous bad four she put me through. That was the thing that others didn’t get about her. Everyone just saw her faults. People who talked about her on the TV or wrote about her in the newspapers just didn’t understand her, they didn’t know the reasons why I loved her. If they just took the time to understand her then they would get it.

As I got older work came between us and I didn’t see her as often as I used to. It didn’t mean I loved her less, actually absence can make the heart grow fonder. The times I got to see her in person actually became that more special and more of an event rather than the routine we had got ourselves into. She continued to bring me joy and pain on our emotional rollercoaster as she did things like beating Liverpool away in the quarter final of the cup only to lose to an inferior Everton in the semis. It was heartbreaking but familiar and she knew I would come crawling back no matter what she did to me.

In April 2008, I saw her in person for the last time. I was moving to the United States and although I was going to maintain a long distance relationship with her, it was not going to be the same. She couldn’t manage to put herself out for me even on that last meeting just managing to draw with Bolton but it didn’t matter, I still loved her.

[linequote]She continued to bring me joy and pain on our emotional rollercoaster as she did things like beating Liverpool away in the quarter final of the cup only to lose to an inferior Everton in the semis[/linequote]

After I moved it was if she felt she had to show me what I was missing to keep me interested. She didn’t have to of course, after all if I was still seeing her after the way she treated me the majority of the 90’s then she should have known I would never truly leave her. She was amazing the next few years and I was so proud of her. To be honest she hadn’t been that good the entire time we were together. There was some jealousy as others got to see her in person on the Champions League nights but I was there in spirit watching on TV thousands of miles away, admiring her and wishing her the best even though I was not able to touch her and smell her like I once had.

Things are a little rocky once again but I have hope. I have always had hope during this relationship. I see the positives about her and believe she needs me to see the positives and support her through the hard times. Without support through the hard times then the good times are harder to achieve together. Granted paying overpriced TV subscriptions, getting up at crazy o clock in the morning, annoying my American wife as I scream profanity in front of our kids because of the game isn’t as big a sacrifice to the relationship that others put in but it is something.

To those of you that are lucky enough to still see my love in person, remember why you love her, support her and stay in love with her because one day she is going to turn around and surprise you and you will be so glad you did.