Ah, Oakwell, been there a few times with varying degrees of success.
I used to enjoy away games and have done more than my fair share - think I got to 72 away grounds all in all. You are right that there's a great feeling of being "in it together". I have fond memories of some crazy away wins, including doing the conga round the away end at Swindon that got Steve MacMahon sacked, and witnessing Richard Johnson volleying in from so far out he was in another postcode at Ashton Gate. Oddly, for as much as it's vaunted as the promised land, I think the Premier League seasons ruined it for me. The away games in the then Division 1 and Division 2 felt more honest, more real, but in the Prem we were generally sneered at with an air of "YOU'RE not supposed to be here, you're a small club", by both fans and, more annoyingly, a lot of the pundits. There were exceptions to that mind you. May well be a cliche, but the Liverpool and Newcastle fans were great, easily my favourite sets of away fans. I used to love the really daft away trips, Plymouth on a Tuesday night in the old division two for example. 500+ mile round trip, it rained, we all got soaked but we won with a goal in the 85th minute, then smiled and tooted our way back up the M5. Pulling into Gordano services at gone midnight for a coffee and exchanging grins with fellow fans was great fun. I miss that part of it, but sadly mortgages and an increasing dislike of the tribalism involved meant I drifted away from going to games, and I think the spell has been broken now. Still get to the odd few each season, but there isn't the same draw for me now. I'm tempted to knock up a list of all the grounds I've been to now :-)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-12-29 02:26 pm (UTC)I used to enjoy away games and have done more than my fair share - think I got to 72 away grounds all in all. You are right that there's a great feeling of being "in it together". I have fond memories of some crazy away wins, including doing the conga round the away end at Swindon that got Steve MacMahon sacked, and witnessing Richard Johnson volleying in from so far out he was in another postcode at Ashton Gate. Oddly, for as much as it's vaunted as the promised land, I think the Premier League seasons ruined it for me. The away games in the then Division 1 and Division 2 felt more honest, more real, but in the Prem we were generally sneered at with an air of "YOU'RE not supposed to be here, you're a small club", by both fans and, more annoyingly, a lot of the pundits. There were exceptions to that mind you. May well be a cliche, but the Liverpool and Newcastle fans were great, easily my favourite sets of away fans. I used to love the really daft away trips, Plymouth on a Tuesday night in the old division two for example. 500+ mile round trip, it rained, we all got soaked but we won with a goal in the 85th minute, then smiled and tooted our way back up the M5. Pulling into Gordano services at gone midnight for a coffee and exchanging grins with fellow fans was great fun. I miss that part of it, but sadly mortgages and an increasing dislike of the tribalism involved meant I drifted away from going to games, and I think the spell has been broken now. Still get to the odd few each season, but there isn't the same draw for me now. I'm tempted to knock up a list of all the grounds I've been to now :-)