Chocolate, wine and a bath - my way of coping with defeat!
Sunday morning and I’ve treated myself to breakfast out. Scrambled eggs on toast, coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice. I am listening to my favourite songs and people watching – things I love doing. In the last 24 hours I have bought ridiculous amounts of chocolate, drunk wine and had a long soak in a bath. All telltale signs that I am not in the happiest of moods. So what has caused that? One word – football. Let me explain.
It all started with a trip to Highbury to watch Arsenal when I was a kid. I couldn’t tell you who they played, the score or who won. The vivid memories I have of that day relate to my 76 year old Gran, a long standing season ticket holder who was out of her seat screaming for more effort from her team. I could not believe it. My polite, calm, gentle Gran shouting? The world had clearly gone mad. That day my Gran provided the entertainment but a seed had been sown and I then went to as many matches as I could get tickets for.
Moving forward when I moved to Devon and a friend invited me to watch Exeter City I needed some convincing . Pay to watch a lowly league 2 team? Really? I was a confirmed football snob. The promise of a trip to the pub after meant that I agreed I would go.
That game was 5 April 2003. An important match against Bury and we started with Steve Flack and Sean Devine up front. The crowd were on the team’s back and although Flackie scored, we lost 2-1. A turning point for City as relegation out of the football league beckoned a month later. And for me as football, and this time specifically Exeter City, were back under my skin. I kept going, watching us lose more than win during our Blue Square Premier wilderness years, eventually even getting a season ticket.
To non-football supporters this may seem peculiar. I struggle to understand it fully myself. I love the atmosphere and being able to shout and scream your support for your team, part of a crowd, jumping up and down, thrilled at the skills of our (sometimes) conquering heroes fighting back from the brink of defeat. There is little as good as the excitement of watching a carefully crafted series of passes leading to a spectacular goal. And yes, this does happen at Exeter. I just wish it was more often.
But why does it get under my skin so much? Psychological studies have found that fans experience ‘hormonal surges’ during games. Self esteem measures amongst fans were found to be higher if their team had won, and further studies showed they had lower levels of depression than non-sports fans. The University of Illinois even found that the physiological changes (such as heart rate, brain activity and perspiration) found among supporters during games were comparable to those experienced when looking at erotic images! I guess that may help to explain it then!
So Exeter City is a firm fixture now in my life. And whilst I hate it when we lose (as you may guess this was written after an Exeter defeat) I will take that every day for the sheer exhilaration I feel at each and every goal I see my team score. You should come down to St James Park and experience it for yourself . If you do though, you may find there is no way back!
Now. Where’s my chocolate?
By Ali
