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An Open Letter To The Players Of Barnet FC
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Please...
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By:
Eric Hitchmo
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28/04/2010
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More On Grimsby Town
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"I'm not entirely sure where to start with this. It's fair to say that I will be making a few assumptions here, but they are all based on my perception of your performance and attitude. If you ever read this, that is. Or bother to get to the end of it. Bear in mind that I am just one supporter and my feelings may not necessarily be mirrored by the rest of the fanbase. One thing that I am pretty sure of though is that we all feel let down. Some feel angry. Some are disappointed. Some have not a good word to say about you.
Does it worry you that the people who pay your wages think this of you? Does it make you question your performance as professional footballers? I'm sure you've heard all the abuse before. I'm sure you've heard people say ""oh, look how many people would love to be in your position and play football"" before. So why don't you stand up and do what you are paid to do, for once?
That's the thing though. I'm just not certain that it worries you that much. It does not seem strikingly obvious that you care about the club I support. It doesn't appear that you care too much about the fans. I don't see all that much appreciation of the vocal support we give you, which on occasion has been very good despite what has been on offer on the field. I have been supporting Barnet for close to ten years and I can comfortably say that this squad has the least dedication to the club that I have seen. I've always felt a rapport with the team, like they really care about the fans and that there is a real connection. I just don't feel that with this team. Should that not make you question your attitude as a footballer?
You have got us into this mess, and it is upto you to get us out of it. You are the reason that for the whole of today, and most likely the next two days, I have been fretting at my desk. Not about my job, but about this livelyhood that for some unknown reason I hold so dear. I'm not the only one, rest assured. This feeling of fear and apprehension is most likely shared by every true Barnet fan I know. I hope you feel the same. I hope you are bricking it. I hope you realise the mess you have caused, the grief you have imposed upon us and maybe it will click that a little bit of commitment and passion will give us a better chance of escaping this hellish situation we find ourselves in.
So Saturday then. Grimsby away. Saturday should be the biggest game in most of your careers. You might have played in title deciders, or cup finals but if you lose one of those, you're most probably going to get another go. When you're in a game as crucial as this, there is so much more riding on it. If this club gets relegated we are fucked. If we lose, we'll have one more chance. Against Rochdale. That team in second place. Let's not leave it until then, eh? Let's not put ourselves through another week of torture. Let's just get the job done on Saturday and close the book on this horrendous season that you have delivered us.
I'll be there. I'll be a bag of nerves but I'll be there. An 8 O'Clock start on the train may help ease some of the anguish on the long journey but what should have been an enjoyable day out with a large group of mates could well turn into a nightmare. People who have been disillusioned and stayed away from away games will suddenly be sprung back into life and get themslves to Grimsby out of the importance that this game has now taken on. There should be a half decent turnout up there for what is an absolutely crucial game.
It will be full of people who have had this situation dawn on them in the last few weeks. People who have been so disillusioned by your lack of commitment that they have themselves thought that if you can't be bothered to perform, then why should they part with their hard earned cash and waste a Saturday to go and watch you? I'm not trying to speak on their behalf, but this is certainly something that I've been feeling, and people who I have spoken to have expressed a similar such feeling. All you need to do is look at the numbers that have backed you home and away this year. They started reasonably but have fallen away steadily. Just under 1,900 watched the crucial game with Rotherham. Only 338 travelled round the corner to Dagenham. People have had their passion for this club drained away from them by your continual failure to provide the minimum as a footballer.
If by some miracle you decide to buck your ideas up and get the result we need, we'll be happy, don't get me wrong. We'll be pleased that you have managed to keep us up by the skin of your teeth but don't go expecting me to pour some new found adulation on you in your achievement and suddenly turn round and say I've loved you all along. You'll have just about done your job. Football is fickle, we all know this. I suppose that if you do it on Saturday then I will be get carried away in the moment and say that all is forgiven. Perhaps it will. Long way to go yet though.
I hope that if you are reading this, if you have got this far, that you are seething. I hope you have the desire to go and prove me wrong. Go on. Go out there and fucking prove me wrong. I hope that you feel that what you have read is a complete load of bollocks and you do care.
I hope you care as much as me. Because you are dragging me through the fucking dirt with this. People like me are the reason you play football. Because we will stick with you to the death and follow you. Without supporters, you would not have a game to play. People pin their hopes, their dreams, their happiness squarely on your shoulders. I hope you realise just how much this means to me and so many Barnet supporters. You have let us down so many times. You built us up and you knocked us down. I guess that's just football. But now you have the chance to stand up and stay strong. I am offering one last desperate plea for you to do so. Relegation does not bear thinking about.
Everyone needs to get themselves to Grimsby. Just go. However much it costs. This lot need one big show of support to get them over the finish line. This is a massive game, its importance barely parallelled in recent years. So whatever you're doing instead, cancel it. If it's gonna cause a ruction with the Mrs. (or Mr.) then appease them with some sort of gift, i.e. pay them off. Just go to Grimsby. See you there."
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