In 48 hours the football season returns for me and the motley band of supporters who flock to watch football in the Championship.
My poison is League One’s Tranmere Rovers and despite the perpetual cycle of optimism, denial and ultimate disappointment this season I find myself with an unusual dilemma.
The question is this – Should I attempt to brainwash my niece or nephew, who is expected in the next week or so, into the bosom of the Prenton Park faithful.
There are a number of considerations. Firstly, is it fair to condemn a young child to a life of pain and dismay punctuated by tiny pockets of unbridled joy and the constant sound of elderly people, as we all will be by then, moaning about the fact it was much better in the early 90s when we won a playoff final, the Leyland DAF Trophy and got to the brink of the Premier League.
Also, said tiny person will be living with its parents, as they often do, in Birmingham. Dad is an Aston Villa fan and a good egg all round, even taking into account Mark Bosnich’s heinous cheating which knocked us out of the League Cup in 1994 (all Villa fans are to blame for this, obviously). But He appreciates the value of supporting a smaller team making an approach feasible.
So while it may be a long trip for each home game and despite the fact it will make them an outcast at their school 100 miles away, I think I will dust off the old hypnotists pocket watch and give it a go. Besides, if I have to suffer…
Sounds very familiar