So here we are. Third from bottom, out of all the cups and it’s not even Christmas yet.
My last blog was on the 19th of October, yet again another doom ladened, sad piece of literature more suited to the letters page of the Daily Mail than for fellow Terrors. But now I’m finding things seen to have gone even further backwards since fingering my keyboard back then. A deserved win against Bedfont Sports being the only highlight. Our home form is still mind blowing, we’ve lost to teams who have been shite but still managed to take all the points from us. I hate to say that some of the matches this season, have been some of the worst I’ve ever witnessed. Some very sad faces on the Bog End at full time.
Away from Fortress Imperial. The game against local “Rivals” SCR was plain awful. A defeat to a team that probably won’t have an easier game all season and who I’d be very surprised would finish higher than mid table. I watched fellow supporters laughing with some kind of gallows humour to try and keep away the tears as the second half came to an end. SCR players celebrating as if they’d won the Champions League showed how much they wanted to put one over us.
A handful of fans managed to get over to Walton and Hersham to see a much-improved side play possibly their best performance of the season so far. But too many players switched of during injury time after a quite baffling free kick was given against us and players were having a go at the match officials allowing W&H to score their winning goal in a game, we should have at least left with one point. A bitter pill to swallow after many had made the journey across Surrey on a day when the trains were on strike, some long bus trips and hefty cab fares paid out. But compared with other trips down to that neck of the woods when I’ve seen the travelling Toots outnumber the home fans on several occasions a very low turnout.
Basingstoke, again defensive mistakes leading to in my opinion three of the four goals against us. Yes, we seemed to have two perfectly good goals disallowed and two penalty shouts turned down along with the two well taken goals scored. The heart-breaking thing was that when we got a goal back to make it 3-2 with about 5 mins to go, after getting a free kick which I think should have been played straight up field, somehow, we gave the ball away after messing around allowing Basingstoke to score from a penalty after their player was brought down…. How from an attacking option we ended up conceding another goal from a situation all of our own making? Players switching off. Last year about 70 Terrors possibly more made the trip, this year about 30 turned up.
Now for the bin fire at Binfield. Three goals conceded in 7 minutes when we were already 1 nil down pretty much sums up what a bin fire this season has been so far. I class myself as being lucky not to have been there and only following on social media, which dear reader was bad enough.
I am totally at a loss what has gone wrong. It has rightly been pointed out that we have not had a chance to build up any momentum as we have missed playing on a couple of Saturdays. Once due to a tragic accident outside the ground but the other occasions have been due to us going out of the two FA competitions leaving Saturdays free as the clubs, we were due to play progressed into the next rounds.
A couple of wins could see us move up the table, but with our form at the moment, it’s hard to see where they will come from. A mid table finish is looking like the best option at the moment, the other option doesn’t bear thinking about.
My main worry and what the main part of the Blog is about is supporter morale. Along with the long-time fans of Tooting and Mitcham. We have to be honest and say, a lot of our fan base both home and away, we’ve borrowed from other clubs. Supporters from Palace, Fulham, Chelsea Arsenal, Grimsby, Lincoln, WBA, Norwich, Man City, Liverpool, Hartlepool, Newcastle, Leeds, Man United, Tottenham, West Ham and QPR can be found in the stands and on the terraces at Tooting Games.
Many now watch us like me after becoming disillusioned with the modern game and many due to the cost of watching league football.
Throw in the geographical nature of the local population that people simply can’t get to see their home teams after moving to South London. Tooting and Mitcham has become their new footballing home. Very easy for them to go and watch one of our many local neighbours. I’ve seen a few Terrors in the crowds at RPV and Carshalton games on the “free Saturdays” and I know of a few others who now go ground hopping for their football fix.
One of the big reasons to go to games is to meet up with friends and have a laugh and socialise with everyone. I’m under no illusion that Toots will win every game, but it’s also about watching your team or adopted team play well, I’ve seen Tooting lose loads of games and thought that they were unlucky but at least they tried, and I’ve gone home feeling optimistic about things. These last two seasons since the London Senior Cup win have been hard to watch.
It worries me that a lot of the fans who I used to see no longer turn up for games. This isn’t some organised boycott. People just can’t be bothered anymore. People talk about life in the Combined Counties and wonder if the club would still be able to get the crowds we get now.
I’ll be at the game Saturday as I have some important Supporters Club business to deal with, but in truth, I could quite happily miss yet another crap day out watching us play. Even a win on Saturday must not allow people to think that things have changed, and we have turned a corner. Things need to change, and they need to change sooner rather than later.
Up The Terrors !!!!
