By Jim Hartley
October 19 2006

After Sunday’s debacle I know a lot of us are questioning why we put in the emotional commitment we do to the club. Looking back on Sunday and the long drive up the M4 I can’t ever remember when going to watch Quins has depressed me so much. The mood even carried through into Monday and I am sure those that work with me would tell you I wasn’t at my best on the Monday. I went to the game with my cousin and his friend, both are Bristolians and frankly I was embarrassed with the display, they even stopped taking the piss in the second half out of sympathy.

At times like this we all question why we support the club and certainly the message board on CAW, more than any other teams board usually provides an insight into the mood and temperament of us all. It is a testament to the fantastic job that Prof does in keeping us all informed about the club and what is going on.

At the end of the day (nice sporting cliché there) everyone’s reasons for going to the games and giving the support that they do will be different and it is up to each if us to decide how much commitment we are willing to put in and what we expect to get out of it. Perhaps by explaining my own reasons people will find some common ground as to why they go themselves and also if they want to continue supporting their club.

Any sports team, and especially a pro sports team is made up of three main elements. The players and support staff, the management/owners of the club and the fans who turn up to watch and provide financial and emotional support. All three elements change but the relationship of the fans with the club is possibly the most difficult to explain. Players come and go as do management and owners and whilst some fans change their allegiance generally most fans will be attached to the same club for life. Therefore many fans will have seen times that the players and management will have not, they will have seen the club change and evolve, they will have seen the bad times and the good. In terms of emotional attachment we are way beyond the other two elements.

I support two teams. Harlequins FC who I first went to see when I was about 12 and Portsmouth FC who I first went to see when I was 8. My parents lived roughly half way between the two clubs on the Surrey/Hampshire border and Saturdays afternoons would be spent at one or the other. In those days as most of you know the Stoop consisted of the old West Stand, some grass banks and a cinder running track. But you could usually get close to the internationals of the day which as a youngster was priceless.

Once I started playing rugby and school/university and jobs intruded I didn’t go to the Stoop for a while. As the injuries started taking the their toll later on in my playing career I would come to a couple of games a season, the game was now pro and suddenly turning up on a Saturday afternoon to wander into the ground became harder. Once I stopped playing I bought myself a season ticket and have been a regular at home games ever since. I have been to some away games but I am certainly not a regular traveller, mostly due to financial reasons but also because there are sometimes other things that need to be done with a weekend. However, come game day I can’t do anything without knowing whether my teams have own or lost and I followed several games last year on CAW and GCQ updates.

Over the years there have been a few highs (European Shield Cup) some massive lows (relegation) and in between a mass of rank mediocrity. In between Portsmouth and Harlequins I cannot remember a season when one of “my” teams or usually both haven’t been fighting relegation. Portsmouth’s form this season has been the opposite of Harlequins’. Last season it was reversed with Pompey fighting relegation, a bullet which they managed to avoid yet again. In short I am used to suffering for my teams, perhaps it is something I need and that if both teams were sailing along I would find life boring. I cannot answer that as it has yet to happen.

When we were relegated I traded in my two tickets in the North Stand and upgraded to one ticket in the Lexus stand. Last season I went through a particularly nasty break up with my fiancée and in the run up to those events coming to the Stoop on Saturday was about the only thing that kept me sane. It helped that we were playing great rugby and winning but to be out of the house away from all the spite and vitriol, cheering on the team and shouting at the ref was a truly cathartic release and made me realise how important a part of my life going to the Stoop was. By the end of February the split was final and I started meeting more people at the Stoop and enjoying the beers afterwards. At some point you go not just because of the game but because of the people you have met and chance to have a laugh and beer with them on a Saturday.

In so many ways the club and stadium we go to now has changed beyond all recognition. The stadium is one of the best to watch rugby in. Kick off is at 3.00 on a Saturday afternoon, in this day and age a priceless rarity, long may it continue. The advent of professionalism has swept way the absurd blazer and tie duffers with their ridiculous rules about who could be a member of the club or not depending on what school you went to, what regiment you were in and whether you had a “proper” job. Those days are thankfully gone and now the fans come from all walks of life. I am sure the duffers are still about but they have been taken over and out numbered by the unwashed masses wearing replica shirts come match days.

The one area where we haven’t improved is on the pitch. This season is a carbon copy of the season we got relegated other than the fact we are now not picking up bonus points with what is on paper a stronger squad. Lose to Newcastle and Worcester and the chances are we could be down and out by Christmas. What I cannot understand is why the lessons haven’t been learned. I understand the salary cap must be kept to but looking at other squads makes you wonder how serious a concept the salary cap is. The principal reason why I cannot understand it is because first and foremost it must be bad for business. If we have 10,000 turning up to watch us loose every week, imagine how many would come if could win.

Of course the reason us mugs turn up is because the Harlequins are our team, the one we have supported for whatever reason since we were young and because we now we go to watch the game and meet our mates because they will be there too. I will be at every home game for the rest of the season supporting the team but also exercising my right as a supporter to point out if a performance on the field falls below expectations. I would prefer to be writing about the fantastic play we have seen from our team this season.

Still. Once you have a team you stick with them through thick and thin. I appreciate that times have been hard on the field for a number of years and we can only hope the squad and the management are going to sort this out and quickly. Whilst I fear the worst I will also hope for the best and I will be behind the team for the rest of the season and beyond.

Jim Hartley
Lexus, Block FF, 155