The Perils of being a Fan

By: wan | August 31st, 2008

If you are wondering why there was no preview of Betis’s opening game or any post at all regarding football in general, it was because I was in mourning.

I cannot believe that over the course of two days I moved from being in euphoria to despair and this with regards to a footballer whom I don’t even know personally. Betis fans will know that I am referring to the failure of the club to clinch the signing of Nery Castillo over a disagreement of some 500,000 euros.

For the powers that be, this is really chump change when we see some of the figures that the club’s been throwing around for some of the players. Sometimes it makes me wonder who are the idiots running the club and whether Betis is the classic case of being penny wise and pound foolish.

The signing of the Mexican was more than just the addition of a player; it was meant as a signal that the club was once again serious about making a commitment to success and for us fans, Castillo was supposed to be the new saviour, the man who brings new hope. Now, not only have we lost Castillo who would have been a perfect fit for the club, we have also foolishly allowed Caffa to move to Real Zaragoza without any replacement in sight. And this after a whole season of Chaparro lamenting over the team’s lack of firepower!!

This is really a case where the people that run the club are totally disconnected with the people who love the club. Most fans don’t follow or support a football team because they want to be winners or because they want to feed off the aura of winning. If that was true, we would all be Real Madrid followers.

People support football teams because they buy into a hope, a hope of happiness and of better things to come. They buy into the romance and to the excitement that it can bring to their lives. For 90 minutes at least, people want to forget about their troubles and to immerse in something simple yet beautiful – that of a man or men chasing and doing tricks with a ball. The beauty of a nutmeg and the thrill of a dribble is what I live for and players who can bring that to the terrace are worth their weight in gold. Why do you think that people support and love Maradona or Zidane rather than Cannavaro or even Sergio Ramos? All are World or European Champions but who would you pay to watch?

Castillo was supposed to be that person, the one shining light amongst the doom and the gloom. Now there is talk about Betis chasing after Zaragoza’s Sergio Garcia whom I rate quite highly as a player but its just not the same, is it?

Now if they allow Edu to leave, there would be mayhem…