My relationship with football

Tomorrow Hubby and I go to Doncaster to see his beloved West Ham play.
And to see this beautiful man...

I think it's fair to say we're both a little obsessed with Scott Parker (and this is my favourite picture of him so apologies if you've seen it a hundred times already). He really is an amazing player though, and a very beautiful man...

 I'm not a born and bred Hammer, but I like to think I'm getting there, since I don't have another team anymore... I've avoided talking about it up until now because, honestly, I was too upset. But the truth is, my football team, the one I've supported since I was about 9 years old when we used to go with my Granddad and have tea and biscuits and the team I saw through 2 promotions, 1 play-off final at Cardiff and er, well, numerous shall we say, relegations, Rushden & Diamonds of Irthlingborough town, are no more.

When our fancy man chairman left a few years ago, things started to go down the pan somewhat, what with the outflux of money to spend of bringing in new players and maintaining wages of the current players, but we held it together for a while, and even put on a reasonable display last season. However the club was essentially run into the ground and people needed paying and there was no money... So after a lot of court hearings and deadline extensions and "we-just-need-a-bit-more-time/money", (during all of which we were kicked out of the league and our ground was leased out to our local rivals!) it was eventually established that there was no money, and the club ceased to exist. 

All this is of course heartbreaking for me, but my real problem is, well, now who do I support? Like I said, I like West Ham and I'd be gutted if/when Parker leaves (just like I was gutted when Zola left), but they don't really feel like MY team. Not yet anyway. They're Hubby's team and I'm happy to go and watch them with him (although I would never, not ever, support his other team, Yeovil Town - fierce rivals of Rushden). 

Football is something I am SO passionate about, I feel at a bit of a loss emotionally without a club, especially now the season's starting again. I imagine that maybe one day, I maybe could feel as passionately about West Ham as I did about Rushden, but that kind of relationship is so many years in the making, and there's so much personal history and memories tied in that I just don't know - and that makes me so sad!

For now at least I guess I'll just have to fake it - Hammers are a pretty passionate bunch so I best get on with practicing my 'I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles' and hope that maybe, one day, I will be... (ee, cheesy!)