Why I now glory hunt

To some it may be glory hunting, to me it's lethargy.

For the game I grew up loving. . . For the ground I always wanted to be in. . . .  For the team I could not bear not to watch. . .  I do not like it!!!!!!

I lay the blame for this solely on ALL SEATED STADIUMS.

I used to love going to Fir Park, firstly standing there with my dad, then my pals as I got older. As a 6 year old at Fir Park, the football was usally the sideshow for me. I was transfixed with the noise and atmosphere coming from the 'Cage' and over the years I managed to persuade my dad to stand closer and closer so I could soak this up.

Those who have been to Fir Park, especially in the away end may snigger at such suggestions of atmosphere and noise, but that's what I remember from the 80's and 90's.

Think back to your own grounds though, remember the roar that used to come from your own Cage, Shed, Enclosure or Jungle. It didn't matter if it was a miserable Wednesaday night in Novemebr against Partick Thistle or Dundee. It didn't matter if the terrace was half empty. It didn't really matter what the score was half the time. It mattered that you were standing there with your mates, standing in your wee bit of terracing, beside other people, there for the same reasons as you. A wee sing song, a wee jump about and to shout abuse at wee boys, just like you from some other town.

To me that was a big part of going to the football. The atmposphere that was created on terraces up and down the country is what kept a lot of us going, even when the football was rotten, even when the grounds were dumps, and even when the pies were honking, there wasn't much else apart from the blind loyalty that clubs still rely on today.

That's why I'm now left seeking out what tiny shardes of glory that find there way to Lanarkshire.

An end of season European push brings in the crowds, the atmosphere gets cranked up and the hairs rise on the back of your neck, that's when you remember what it used to be like every week. European qualification has graced Motherwell of late and there is obviously plenty of glory there for a Well fan. Travelling abroad to see your team goes beyond glory,  for this Well fan anyway.

The Scottish Cup holds a special place in many hearts and with crowds increasing it leads to reminders of the past, no more so than the final, still too fresh in my hazy memory. Away trips to lower league grounds are special as you see there are still fans of smaller teams who still follow football the way we all used to, on a smaller scale but far more bloody enjoyable I bet.

These may all be glorious and a pleasure to attend, but there's only one type of game that can get my pulse racing like it used to and it doesn't get any less glorious; A RELEGATION BATTLE. The atmopshere at these matches is nothing short of electric and takes me right back to the mid 80's, to the football I loved.

Thankfully it's been a few years since we've flirted with the drop, or reconstruction as we call it, but being a realist I know it will be here soon enough and while I obviously hope we stay up, I look forward to the battle, the atmosphere and the GLORY.