Sometimes, when I share my love for Plymouth Argyle with the general public, especially those not acquainted with this crazy sport we call football, they perhaps overestimate the extent to which my technical knowledge of and obsession for the sport dwarfs other fans.
Don’t get me wrong – I’ll argue my opinion with the best of them and I like to think I can spot a good player but I’m not one of those who can accurately spot an offside at a thousand paces away. Equally, no more so can I rattle off the starting eleven of each team in the 92 and beyond.
I absolutely enjoy watching football, a Sunday afternoon watching back to back games can be very relaxing. But ultimately, the actual technical aspect of the sport isn’t the primary motivator for me. It isn’ t the main reason I fell in love with the game.
Since I first rocked up at Home Park on an unseasonably cold March evening in 2002, I’ve always been drawn by the sense of community and togetherness almost above and beyond any other factor.
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Over the years, this intangible has been exemplified. It’s the small things: seeing the same people at away matches year on year and getting the occasional head nod from fellow travellers. It’s knowing the exact voice and intonation of the 50/50 seller in the Devonport End and (in my adult years) it’s a pint after the game to either celebrate or drown sorrows.
Comedy Own Goal
These factors are more than any the answer to the question: ‘why on earth are you travelling all the way to Austria for a pre-season game?’ Well, the 90 minutes are, as I’m sure you’re aware by now, only a tiny part of the equation.
There really isn’t much to say about the game itself, that took place on Friday against Eintracht Braunschweig (a 2 Bundesliga side). It was, being blunt, mind numbingly dull. Neither side had much of a shot on goal and the difference between the two teams was a comedy own goal from our trialist keeper.
After a pretty tame back pass, he, facing away from goal, managed to somehow slice it into his own net. The best thing I can say about it is that if he tried to do it a hundred times again, he couldn’t. Argyle will surely want to take a second look at him before committing to any contract.
There were spells in the first half where we tried to play out with a range of impressive passing rotations. The full backs got forward and overlapped to allow the attacking players to move more centrally.
Brendan Wiredu also dropped into a back three when this happened to protect the defence a little more. This shows a degree of tactical flexibility that is encouraging. That said, we looked sluggish and some individuals who I won’t name looked wildly off the pace.
What made the trip special wasn’t the Friday evening detour to St Tirol. It wasn’t even the open training session which, for all the best will in the world, was only attended by about 15 people.
That’ s not to denigrate it – club officials were fantastic and made us feel very welcome. I got to briefly chat to Tom Cleverley and the new signings seem a cracking bunch of lads (albeit often still strangers to each other at this point, never mind us).
But‚ what made it special was the people – I travelled out with a great group of close friends and we left Plymouth at 10pm on Tuesday evening. We arrived back feeling very bleary eyed at about 4.30 Monday morning after three days in Innsbruck via Munich.
Sheer Beauty
If any of you are looking for a last minute holiday, I can assure you I’m not being paid by any tourist board to say you may well find Central Europe far more satisfactory than a Mediterranean beach break.
Open water swimming in a lake in the foothills of the Alps. A Bavarian beer garden with currywurst and the sheer beauty of waking up in the valley town of Innsbruck and seeing mountains on either side. Two of my friends even managed a five hour hike up the mountain which I wasn’t able to accomplish but I take my hat off nonetheless.
What I’m really saying is this: Football is, as well as being usually a pretty entertaining game, also a wonderful excuse to visit places and meet people you never otherwise would. It’s a game of intergenerational friendship and of memories for life.
It’s something that can always fill the hole of conversation at awkward family events. The new season approaches and nobody really knows how Argyle will do. What I do know is that if you’ve never been to a game before, turn up and give it a chance where you can. Because football isn’t really about the football.
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