Does the Winner Really Take It All?

Football is a funny thing – we get ourselves all convinced that our team is going to win, and then – shock horror! - they don’t.

For some, the disappointment of watching their team lose is too much to bear. You see the faces of despair in the crowd, looking as though their lives have suddenly lost all meaning.

I am writing this from the perspective of someone who is married to a lifelong Bradford City supporter, as I sit watching them play at Wembley getting (in the 51^stminute at least) comprehensively beaten by Swansea. Lifelong BCFC supporting husband is in the crowd and has just called me to lament the half-time position.

I thought my role would be to pick him up and try and help him to see that it was only a game (I have never managed this yet and it was unlikely that I would get my point across today but I was ready to try!). Instead of talking to someone downbeat and defeated, I found him to be cheerful and matter-of-fact.

Apparently, the atmosphere is incredible and whatever the result, he wouldn't have missed it for the world. Genuinely. He is happy just to be there.

So, it strikes me that the moral of todays blog post is simple – it really isn't the winning that is important.

We should never turn away from something for fear that it might not go our way, be it anything from a football game for the sports fanatic through to an interview for the nervously ambitious. If we don't try, we will never know.

The true joy is in experiencing the atmosphere and being a part of something extraordinary.