More than a game

Saturday promises to be a great day. Not for the reason that brings us all together as a group of fans but a much, more important reason. Myself along with approximately 500 others will be walking from the DW Stadium to the Reebok in aid of The Emma Hoolin Appeal.

The idea, conceived and worked tirelessly on by fellow 12th Man Columnist Barry Worthington has captured the imagination of many Latics fans and is promising to raise a terrific sum of money for a family who desperately need it.

Personally it’s just the fillip I need after a long hard season defending my football club in the press and the internet and putting up with some awful football, terrible refereeing and heartless performances. It’s also a very potent reminder that football is only a game and the gift of life is a much more important basic right than three points.

It would of course be nice to pick up three points at the Reebok and wipe a little bit of smugness off Owen Coyle’s face but I suspect defeat will also lift a bit of weight off people’s shoulders. As John Cleese once said ‘The despair I can live with, it’s the hope that kills me’.

That hope came bursting out at the seams on the 76th minute on Saturday as Tim Howard fumbled a weak shot only for it to be taken away a few minutes later with an Everton equaliser. Story of our season: heartbreak never seems far away.

I love my football as much as ever but these are testing times. I’m sick of Suarez, bored with Barton, tired of Tevez and had enough of Harry Redknapp. What better way to restore a bit of faith in the beautiful game than hundreds of Latics fans walking together in a show of unity for a little girl who needs our help?

First published in the Wigan Evening Post 12^th Man Column, Wednesday 8^th February 2012