ARCHIVE: Stay With Me Baby!

The phenomenon of the 85th minute itch. Chorley’s NICK GREEN has his six penneth!

I just don’t understand some Wanderers fans. Cast your mind back to the end of last season and its nail-biting climax. Only a victory over Wolves will give us a chance of making the play-offs, and with three minutes left we’re leading 2-1. So why were some of you leaving?

Anything could have happened in those remaining three minutes, another goal for either team, a sending off or two, even a 22 man punch-up. The Wolves game is just one of many games where people were leaving well before the final whistle, whatever the state of the game. Apart from the fact you’re missing the most exciting part of the game you also block everyone else’s view when you slowly head for the exit. But some “fans” don’t care, they are more interested in missing the inevitable crush at the end of the game or getting a head-start in the traffic queues out of Horwich than the outcome of the match.

But why? What is the point of spending upwards of £15 only to miss the end. Would you go to the cinema and leave before the film had finished? Would you buy a book if the last page was missing? Do you always open a fresh packet of biscuits without finishing the last one? No you don’t, so stop being so pathetic and stay until the end of every match and give the team 90 minutes support. It’s usually the last few minutes when that support is most valuable anyway, as we’re normally clinging to a narrow victory or searching for a winner or equaliser.

First appeared in Issue 31 of White Love in autumn 1999.