One of my favourite TV shows is "Ted Lasso". I love it for many reasons, it makes me laugh, I identify with Ted, I love the characters, the heart of the TV show and the fact that it's about a football team that doesn't always win, but always goes out and fights, because in the words of Dani Rojas, "football is life.'
Football has been a major part of my life for many years. I first developed a love of it during the 1990 World Cup. My mum was a huge football fan, she had been since she was 5 years old and had gone to watch Nottingham Forest play with my grandpa.
In our house Brian Clough walked on water and saying the words "Billy Bremner" was akin to swearing. My dad sort of liked football and would tell the story that he'd been captain of the football team, but he'd been 5 years old at the time, everyone got a turn and that was basically the end of his footballing prowess.
Anyway, in 1990, I had a bout of glandular fever and was off school ill. This coincided with the World Cup and my mum told me in no uncertain terms that it would be football on the tele in the lounge and that was that. I was hooked. I fell in love with Gary Lineker's thighs, Gazza's exhuberance and Stuart Pearce's spirit. Even after the glandular fever had gone, I'd rush home from school complete with my panini stickers I'd picked up from Mr Wells newsagents to watch the footie with my mum and work out what swaps I needed the following day.
Mum was slightly disappointed when I swerved life as a Forest fan for the amber and blue of Mansfield Town, my theory was it was closer to home and yellow was my favourite colour.
When I got my job at Mansfield 103.2, part of my job was to go to the football, talk about the best job ever! This meant I was surrounded by people who loved the stags, wanted to talk about the stags and I could talk to the stags! Being on first name terms with the managers, players, backroom staff and everyone that worked on the ground was pretty special.
Football has given me many things over the years, it's broken my heart, getting relegated from league one in 2003, then falling out of the football league completely in 2008. There was something very sobering about being in the conference and going to a game on a cold Tuesday November night and being able to count the 7 away fans that had made the trip from Eastbourne.
There was the trip to Cardiff in 2004 for the playoff finals. I got to broadcast from the pub around the corner from the stadium prior to the match and it is still one of the best radio shows I have ever done. I know people talk about electric atmospheres, but this was on another level, as soon as the doors of the pub opened it was full of a swarm of amber and blue shirts, fans who were there to cheer on the team they loved. Sadly we lost in a penalty shoot out and it was a long trip back!
There was the high of being promoted in 2002 to League 1, even if I did end up breaking my ankle later that night.
Then there's the friends I've made. You hear players talking about the fact that they've made friends for life and that they're a team of brothers, but that happens to the fans too. Once you're bonded in football, it's a bond that's hard to break. Being a Mansfield Town fan has led to me meeting some of my favourite people, I've formed lasting friendships with people, so even if I don't see them for ages, when I bump into them, it's like I saw them yesterday.
So, on Sunday as I made my way to the One Call Stadium to see my team celebrate the fact that we'd been promoted to League 1, I was so proud. The stadium was awash with a sea of amber and blue shirts, flags, chants of "yellows". I made sure I took every second of it in and took a moment to remember my Stag friends who are no longer with us, I know Matt and Steve were there in spirit.
We celebrated our 9-2 win over Harrogate, our incredible uneaten run, every goal we scored, every goal we saved, Nigel Clough's unwavering calmness and the sheer determination of the Radfords and everyone associated with the club to make this happen, make this the season that we'd dreamed of.
Just as Brian Clough walked on water for my mum, his son Nigel does the same for me.
One of our former manager's Keith Curle once said, "there's a right way, there's a wrong way and there's a Mansfield Town way"and this season we most certainly did it the Mansfield Town way.
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