Born, not manufactured

I’ll never forget the first time I saw Everton in the flesh. Away at Man City. Dad took us into the away end and we had to pretend to be City fans. Everton won 3-0 if I remember. The next game was a home match at Goodison. Norwich City the visitors. Dad took us and I’ll never forget that first visit. Seeing the pitch for the first time with the towering Main Stand and the hordes or people singing on the Gwladys Street end. Watching the likes of Steven, Reid, Ratcliffe, Sharp, Heath, Southall warming up. I’d be in the ground as soon as it opened having hung around the car park to get their autographs. Every time we’d go, we’d see attacking football. It was better than Christmas Day whenever my dad said to my mum "Can I take ’em to Goodison?" Really happy days... but I never took defeat well.

I can remember the cup defeats in ’85 and ’86 being like a death in the family and crying my eyes out when Dave Bassett’s Wimbledon prevented our annual trip to Wembley. ’89 felt like we were playing against the whole nation. I never would eat my tea when we lost a game (which meant I was a pretty skinny kid during the Colin Harvey regime). It didn’t matter though in the great scheme of things. We were Everton. We would come good again. Wouldn’t we?

Like all of us, I crave the slightest bit of success again. I get wrapped up in forward thinking on the back of two or three wins. I’ll start thinking that we are going to be back to where we belong again because we’ve beaten Man Utd at home. One thing persists though. We are ALWAYS let down when it matters.

To this day, the first thing people find out about me is that I’m an Evertonian. I play every Tuesday and Wednesday in an Everton shirt. I’ve never missed following a match, if I can’t be there. My weekend is ruined when we lose. I’ll never watch highlights when we have lost. I do tend to still eat my meals though.

My dad passed away in 2003, just into the Moyes regime. He was a clever bloke and knew about football. People laughed at him when he said 25 years back that Wigan would reach the top flight of English football and the rugby league team would suffer "because there’s no money in rugby league". He always said that the way forward for Everton was to produce our own. Wayne Rooney had just burst on the scene and he felt vindicated. He liked Moyes as a bloke and loved his People’s Club tag. This man would lead us back to the big time. Surely?

Dad brought us up on the great Everton teams, Brazil in ’70 and ’82, the superb Dutch team in ’88. Football was more than just a game. It was an art form. Throughout the 90s Everton didn’t sit with his philosophies. He’d defend them to the hilt but inside him he knew we were signing mediocre players and playing more and more kick n’ rush football. We’d slumped to an average team. I often wonder what he would think of Phil Neville in midfield. It’s against everything dad ever said or believed in. An anti-footballer with no technical ability whatsoever. It’s not the Everton Way.

I write this, doing what we all do. Reminiscing about the good times which get ever more distant. I’m at a complete nadir with my love of the Blues. My 2-year-old son has learned to say "Come on you Blues" and is showing an interest in kicking a ball around. Do I subject him to a life of endless disappointment and false dawns though? I’ve lived in the Midlands for 17 years now and we are surrounded by glory grabbing Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea fans. I’d never want him supporting one of those teams but I would like him to at least eat his tea more often than not! He will support Everton because it’s in the blood but what can he seriously hope to look forward to?

How can I convey to him what it means to support Everton? To belong to something that will run through your whole life based on the presumption that one day we will come good again?

I’d like to think that we could start by getting a manager who believes in playing the game the way that I believe it should be played. To get rid of the one-up-front mentality and to get players who are comfortable on the ball in as a top priority. To banish the KITAP1 philosophy that has produced the odd good run of games but ultimately is a losing one. I feel sorry to say it because I genuinely like the guy and he should be thanked for taking us to a regular top 8 team, but that man is not David Moyes.

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