Thanks for the comments, it's a question i get asked a lot... Why Wycombe?
Malone, I'd love to buy those people a pint if I ever seen them at a match (not that I'll recognise any!) Or do a similar thing for another youngster wanting Wycombe memorabilia.
@ryan_w_kirkby said:
Thanks for the comments, it's a question i get asked a lot... Why Wycombe?
Malone, I'd love to buy those people a pint if I ever seen them at a match (not that I'll recognise any!) Or do a similar thing for another youngster wanting Wycombe memorabilia.
I'm sure the knowledge that they've signed up a lifetime supporter would be more than payback.
Superb.
Little things can tie people into clubs.
I went to Hereford v Barnet on the first day of the 95 season, visiting family friends just over the border into Wales.
I'll always want them to do well just based on that tenuous link!
Have only been back to Hereford once since - the place not even the ground, but would like to get to another game at some point when geography/timings somehow work out.
Wycombe are my one and only. Born a Booker/Sands boy. Moved to Bourne end at around the age of 12yrs 'till 21yrs.... From there, Wendover briefly, Bourne End again for a couple of years, Micklefield for 5 years and now Chinnor for the last 4 years or so. Nowhere I ever move to, near or far will ever stop my love for the Chairboys!!!
Wycombe were my only team growing up, although I did occasionally catch the 372 over to The Meadow to watch Chesham.
I left for university in 2001 and have lived around the West Midlands almost ever since. I quickly discovered how much I enjoyed going to different grounds and seeing different teams play. It has become deeply unfashionable to follow a number of clubs but it is ultimately what I have done.
I had only been at university for about a week when Aston Villa offered tickets against Fulham in the Holte End for a fiver for students. I went along and Villa eventually became my second team. I used to go quite a bit, but nowadays one or two games a season is my usual. My last game watching them was last season's League Cup Final.
These days (well, until the pandemic and parenthood hit) I travel to new grounds a lot, and am not far away from completing the 92. I watch a fair bit of non-league as well in the top four steps.
I regard myself as a Wycombe supporter first, Villa second and other teams in the West Midlands and South Bucks after that.
Unfortunately I suffer from anxiety and have found over the last decade that Wycombe games were no longer escapist for me - I found that I found them too stressful. So the last Wycombe game I went to was the 2-1 win at Forest Green on New Year's Day 2018. I hope to be able to go again.
@ryan_w_kirkby That's probably my favourite Wycombe supporter origin story ever. @Platform_3 I've known a few people who ended up finding going to games too stressful and stopped for a while, most eventually went back with a view that the football (and the result) wasn't actually the thing that they were really going for in the first place. That sense of belonging can sometimes actually help. Hope you find what works for you.
I wonder if the feelings of extreme anxiety some feel, and which I've felt on occasion, have been in large part due to the precarious situation the club has been in for the last decade.
It's not really 'just a game' when the difference between staying up or getting relegated, or not winning promotion, could mean insolvency and no more WWFC.
If the Couhigs can get us on a sustainable footing I suspect those feelings might subside a little bit.
@ryan_w_kirkby said:
Wycombe are my 2nd club, never lived outside of liverpool so was brought up and took the games from a very early age supporting Everton, was around 9yo when I went my first Wycombe match.
Growing up I wouldnt miss an Everton game, but when we didnt clash I'd try my best to get to a Wycombe game.
Over time I've got to more Wycombe matches and I've enjoyed the highs the lows and some random games.
My eldest who's 5 has been more Wycombe games than Everton and I'm hoping to have my little son as a virtual mascot tomorrow if it's not to late and someone gets back to us over it.
This is the closet I've came to seeing my 2 teams play each other, would be brilliant if it happened.
We met at Morecambe once and you shared your story which I thought was amazing. I too am an Everton1st man - or as Howard Kendall said when he returned to GP after a spell away - I have always been married to Everton the other clubs were just affairs. Oh for it to happen that they share the same pitch - came close when we played a late afternoon FA cup game at AP against Bradford ,Everton had won and Bradford beat us. The next day the draw pitted them together.
Yeah I remember woodlands, thanks for the info on the Bradford game, funnily enough I went the Everton v Bradford game, Chris Waddle lobbing Big Nev from about 35 yards out.
Yes, @EwanHoosaami I saw very few games as a kid in the 70s and 80s as my Dad had no interest and the way back from town from the City Ground seemed to be rife with street fighting post-match...My brother in law was in the know, but knowing who to keep an eye on and who to avoid even amongst your own fans was too exhausting! Started going again late 80s when I was in London and when I went home as it seemed less oppressive. I have to say, though I like the atmosphere of a big game I have found Adams Park to be a great place to watch the footy. Wasn't QPR the scene of the famous dart in the face photo that did the rounds of the tabloids back then...
@ryan_w_kirkby said:
Yeah I remember woodlands, thanks for the info on the Bradford game, funnily enough I went the Everton v Bradford game, Chris Waddle lobbing Big Nev from about 35 yards out.
@Wendoverman said:
Yes, @EwanHoosaami Wasn't QPR the scene of the famous dart in the face photo that did the rounds of the tabloids back then...
It was indeed @Wendoverman, (possibly v West Ham?) and about that time was when I realised the risk reward factor ended my interest.
Funnily enough it was away to Nottingham Forest that I witnessed "old style" policing. Was a complete section separating the home crowd and QPR fans. I was watching a Forest fan spending the majority of the match staring at me and gesticulating through the steel railings, (may have been ordering two pies, though not sure), which I found uncomfortable. Eventually a policeman came down the terracing, unnoticed by said madman and yanked him by the arm pinning him to the rails by the face, until a couple of colleagues on his side of the fencing came and took him away! I found it funny at the time but then was worried that his mates may have sought retribution. After that I stopped going to away games.
Strange how stuff sticks in the memory as that would be about 40 years ago!
That’s a very interesting perspective @OxfordBlue. I’ve thought for a long time that the recurring episodes of AF/tachycardia that I’ve suffered at the ground in recent years must be triggered by subconscious stress/anxiety.
The occasion that stands from the other episodes occurred on a lovely sunny day on 21 September 2019 (WW 1 Portsmouth 0). I was due to have a pint with several fellow Gasroomers and, in case I was persuaded to have a second pint (!), mrs micra agreed to drive me to the ground. As I walked towards the Chairboys Village I became aware of an irregular heartbeat. I found a seat and, after a few minutes, started chatting to a young couple. Almost immediately, the tachycardia started (150 bpm) and “long story short” I was eventually whisked away by ambulance to CSRU at Wycombe General Hospital, a quarter of an hour before kickoff.
I was able to listen to commentary on my iPhone and, after the usual monitoring procedures and having ‘self-resolved’, I was discharged in time to get home and cook the evening meal.
The lasting legacy of these episodes (from which I usually recover within an hour or so) is anxiety and nervousness in the couple of hours before kickoff. Once I’m settled with mates in the Woodland (now Honours) Lounge I relax. Probably need a couple of what my late brother used to call his happy pills. It’s all in the mind, you know. Well, mostly!
@OxfordBlue said:
I wonder if the feelings of extreme anxiety some feel, and which I've felt on occasion, have been in large part due to the precarious situation the club has been in for the last decade.
It's not really 'just a game' when the difference between staying up or getting relegated, or not winning promotion, could mean insolvency and no more WWFC.
If the Couhigs can get us on a sustainable footing I suspect those feelings might subside a little bit.
Apologies everybody. I got so caught up in the cricket that I had a large gap between starting and finishing my 12.57 post and I didn’t realise that a lot of comments more relevant to the thread had been posted in the meantime. Anyway that’s @OxfordBlue’s post that I was responding to.
I just couldn’t remember which Gasroomers I was expecting to meet that day @drcongo (my birthday!) but I do remember suggesting a particular fixture that you thought sounded promising so that may have been the one. I did briefly meet @BlueBoy and his dad @Slaphead who sit behind me in the Frank Adams stand but I was already in trouble and they kindly went to get the first aiders and medics. @ValleyWanderer and his good lady would have been there. I’ve known them for a few years and there were a couple of other Gasroomers there that they’d pointed out to me on a previous occasion but not to speak to.
Comments
Lovely story, and superb work from whoever those Wycombe "missionaires" were.
Thanks for the comments, it's a question i get asked a lot... Why Wycombe?
Malone, I'd love to buy those people a pint if I ever seen them at a match (not that I'll recognise any!) Or do a similar thing for another youngster wanting Wycombe memorabilia.
I'm sure the knowledge that they've signed up a lifetime supporter would be more than payback.
Superb.
Little things can tie people into clubs.
I went to Hereford v Barnet on the first day of the 95 season, visiting family friends just over the border into Wales.
I'll always want them to do well just based on that tenuous link!
Have only been back to Hereford once since - the place not even the ground, but would like to get to another game at some point when geography/timings somehow work out.
Wycombe are my one and only. Born a Booker/Sands boy. Moved to Bourne end at around the age of 12yrs 'till 21yrs.... From there, Wendover briefly, Bourne End again for a couple of years, Micklefield for 5 years and now Chinnor for the last 4 years or so. Nowhere I ever move to, near or far will ever stop my love for the Chairboys!!!
Wycombe were my only team growing up, although I did occasionally catch the 372 over to The Meadow to watch Chesham.
I left for university in 2001 and have lived around the West Midlands almost ever since. I quickly discovered how much I enjoyed going to different grounds and seeing different teams play. It has become deeply unfashionable to follow a number of clubs but it is ultimately what I have done.
I had only been at university for about a week when Aston Villa offered tickets against Fulham in the Holte End for a fiver for students. I went along and Villa eventually became my second team. I used to go quite a bit, but nowadays one or two games a season is my usual. My last game watching them was last season's League Cup Final.
These days (well, until the pandemic and parenthood hit) I travel to new grounds a lot, and am not far away from completing the 92. I watch a fair bit of non-league as well in the top four steps.
I regard myself as a Wycombe supporter first, Villa second and other teams in the West Midlands and South Bucks after that.
Unfortunately I suffer from anxiety and have found over the last decade that Wycombe games were no longer escapist for me - I found that I found them too stressful. So the last Wycombe game I went to was the 2-1 win at Forest Green on New Year's Day 2018. I hope to be able to go again.
@ryan_w_kirkby That's probably my favourite Wycombe supporter origin story ever. @Platform_3 I've known a few people who ended up finding going to games too stressful and stopped for a while, most eventually went back with a view that the football (and the result) wasn't actually the thing that they were really going for in the first place. That sense of belonging can sometimes actually help. Hope you find what works for you.
I wonder if the feelings of extreme anxiety some feel, and which I've felt on occasion, have been in large part due to the precarious situation the club has been in for the last decade.
It's not really 'just a game' when the difference between staying up or getting relegated, or not winning promotion, could mean insolvency and no more WWFC.
If the Couhigs can get us on a sustainable footing I suspect those feelings might subside a little bit.
We met at Morecambe once and you shared your story which I thought was amazing. I too am an Everton1st man - or as Howard Kendall said when he returned to GP after a spell away - I have always been married to Everton the other clubs were just affairs. Oh for it to happen that they share the same pitch - came close when we played a late afternoon FA cup game at AP against Bradford ,Everton had won and Bradford beat us. The next day the draw pitted them together.
Yeah I remember woodlands, thanks for the info on the Bradford game, funnily enough I went the Everton v Bradford game, Chris Waddle lobbing Big Nev from about 35 yards out.
Yes, @EwanHoosaami I saw very few games as a kid in the 70s and 80s as my Dad had no interest and the way back from town from the City Ground seemed to be rife with street fighting post-match...My brother in law was in the know, but knowing who to keep an eye on and who to avoid even amongst your own fans was too exhausting! Started going again late 80s when I was in London and when I went home as it seemed less oppressive. I have to say, though I like the atmosphere of a big game I have found Adams Park to be a great place to watch the footy. Wasn't QPR the scene of the famous dart in the face photo that did the rounds of the tabloids back then...
Both of us lost to Bradford that year. Stay well.
It was indeed @Wendoverman, (possibly v West Ham?) and about that time was when I realised the risk reward factor ended my interest.
Funnily enough it was away to Nottingham Forest that I witnessed "old style" policing. Was a complete section separating the home crowd and QPR fans. I was watching a Forest fan spending the majority of the match staring at me and gesticulating through the steel railings, (may have been ordering two pies, though not sure), which I found uncomfortable. Eventually a policeman came down the terracing, unnoticed by said madman and yanked him by the arm pinning him to the rails by the face, until a couple of colleagues on his side of the fencing came and took him away! I found it funny at the time but then was worried that his mates may have sought retribution. After that I stopped going to away games.
Strange how stuff sticks in the memory as that would be about 40 years ago!
That’s a very interesting perspective @OxfordBlue. I’ve thought for a long time that the recurring episodes of AF/tachycardia that I’ve suffered at the ground in recent years must be triggered by subconscious stress/anxiety.
The occasion that stands from the other episodes occurred on a lovely sunny day on 21 September 2019 (WW 1 Portsmouth 0). I was due to have a pint with several fellow Gasroomers and, in case I was persuaded to have a second pint (!), mrs micra agreed to drive me to the ground. As I walked towards the Chairboys Village I became aware of an irregular heartbeat. I found a seat and, after a few minutes, started chatting to a young couple. Almost immediately, the tachycardia started (150 bpm) and “long story short” I was eventually whisked away by ambulance to CSRU at Wycombe General Hospital, a quarter of an hour before kickoff.
I was able to listen to commentary on my iPhone and, after the usual monitoring procedures and having ‘self-resolved’, I was discharged in time to get home and cook the evening meal.
The lasting legacy of these episodes (from which I usually recover within an hour or so) is anxiety and nervousness in the couple of hours before kickoff. Once I’m settled with mates in the Woodland (now Honours) Lounge I relax. Probably need a couple of what my late brother used to call his happy pills. It’s all in the mind, you know. Well, mostly!
Apologies everybody. I got so caught up in the cricket that I had a large gap between starting and finishing my 12.57 post and I didn’t realise that a lot of comments more relevant to the thread had been posted in the meantime. Anyway that’s @OxfordBlue’s post that I was responding to.
I was hoping to finally meet you that day @micra. One day.
I just couldn’t remember which Gasroomers I was expecting to meet that day @drcongo (my birthday!) but I do remember suggesting a particular fixture that you thought sounded promising so that may have been the one. I did briefly meet @BlueBoy and his dad @Slaphead who sit behind me in the Frank Adams stand but I was already in trouble and they kindly went to get the first aiders and medics. @ValleyWanderer and his good lady would have been there. I’ve known them for a few years and there were a couple of other Gasroomers there that they’d pointed out to me on a previous occasion but not to speak to.
One day indeed!
I was typically late so missed you, but did get to meet @ValleyWanderer and @HCblue for the first time, as well as a few others that I already knew.