I don't care that this is the second blog of the day. What I do care about is that Huddersfield Town beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 and reignited my love of them to the point I'm seriously considering giving up entirely on women and just proposing to my club.
Do I care that Town are prone to doing daft things against poor teams? Does it matter that we never live up to expectations? Have I not learned from years of false dawns? The answer to all three questions is no. I don't care about any of those, because Huddersfield Town are my team, the club I love with all my heart, my first and greatest love.
Almost 17 years have passed since I first went though the turnstiles at Leeds Road. In that time I've seen promotions, relegations, administration, more dross than I could care to think about, moments to make me laugh, moments to make me cry, things I'll remember for the rest of my life for good or ill. I've seen the whole spectrum of football life, short of Premier League football in earnest. I've experienced victory the massive clubs home and away. I've also seen humiliations at sides so far below us even John Motson's never heart of them.
Yes, I do regret that I've never seen Town lift trophies and will probably never see us in European finals while romping to league titles. But does that affect my love of them one bit? No, it doesn't. Give me my club, a side with rich history and tradition but retaining its fundamental soul, over some franchise in all but name like Manchester United any day. Those at the very top don't get what fans of clubs like Town get. They don't get their unique club with its personality going through the full spectrum of emotion: pride, joy, relief, anger, frustration, misery, all accentuated by the fact that we know it might be years before our next success and the dark times might be just around the corner.
Winning all those soulless pots and pans for the trophy cabinet? Who cares? I don't. I'd rather spend my time with my club watching as we do something very silly at home to some side from the Conference North in the FA Cup a week before we go to top of the table Southampton and stick six past them, feeling my connection to them.
Tonight's win reminded me of the passion, the grit, the determination, the belief of the best Huddersfield Town sides I've seen and fallen in love with. The promotion side of 03/04 that never gave up. The other promotion team of 94/95 which battled to the last. The team under Jacko that escaped the drop in '98 through application of hard work and pure passion for the club.
That's why this is the club I love. Town 'til I die.
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