I'd also add that not only the cold, the less convenient Tuesday night rather than Saturday afternoon, the expectation when they can just go to another game soon (eg Accrington) and the price. For the casual fan £25 to watch L2 football is pretty ridiculous when you add in parking, programme, food and maybe even more than one family member, then it's not a cheap night out in the cold for potentially very little entertainment.
This is it really. While people like me can give it the Billy Big Bollocks for roaming around the country getting pissed in all of these God-forsaken Northern hell-holes, there’s a lot of people who have to pick & choose their games and days out based on loads of factors including cost, competing commitments and if they can be actually be arsed to pay £25 to watch Cambridge United on a freezing January night when they can save £85* and watch Cambridge Uni on University Challenge on TV for free in the comfort of their own homes.
Up until a few years ago, I spent most of our failing Championship to Northampton seasons being very picky about matches because I’d got married and was renovating our home so money was tight.
Last night there was a bit of banter with mates as one has been to two matches this week after being a more casual fan recently but the guy has got married and had a kid so piss-taking aside, I’d be a very, very casual fan too in his situation. Why waste time/money on a potentially average (at best) experience when you can save it for the big one?
As Kev Monks – the person who’s probably the yardstick for Cov fandom – would say: true fans are the ones who commit as much as their circumstances allow.
Some of us want to go for the occasional, big day out, others want to grind our way around the country in some bizarre test of will, transport availability and liver function.
If you’re a Cov fan, you’re a Cov fan. That’s all you need really. We can’t be fussy about who is mad enough to support us can we?
* £85 last night made up of train fare (£25.50 + £12), taxi when the rail replacement bus didn’t show at Nunny Town (£16.50), beers and food (£15), season ticket (£16). Travel back from London included in my train season ticket. No programme, no kids in tow, no pie or bovril. Football, even in L2, is not cheap anymore.