 The Old-Fashioned Approach to Supporting the Blues and Saving Some Cash!Written by nitroblue1970 on Tuesday, 21st Aug 2012 13:01 First time blogger, long time supporter! Rather than go over the same hot topics, that my fellow Town fans have done over the weeks, questioning Paul Jewell’s tactics, man-management or choice of 'coaches', I thought I would share my recent experience of the Supporters Club. I have always been a bit of a rarity of a supporter I suppose, living nearly all my life in Norfolk, I was actually born in Norwich but please, gentle reader, don’t hold that against me, just yet. It was my Granddad that got my into the Blues as a very young boy, he took me to watch the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool, St Etienne, Grasshoppers, Manchester United, Leeds, Nottingham Forest, so you see it wasn’t a hard decision to be a Town fan, certainly more exciting than anything the Turkey Farmers up the road could dish up at the time. Back to the here and now, I have recently moved into Suffolk (about time) but actually further away from Ipswich! I was living in the Diss area and just made the 30-minute punt down the A140 in my car to get to matches, easy! I now live just outside Lowestoft and was now faced with an hour's journey in the car, to get to home games, along the worst piece of trunk road in the known universe, the A12 (north). This means extra expenditure on petrol, wear and tear on the car, getting stuck behind tractors, caravans and horse boxes on single carriageway roads and inevitably, smashing my suspension to pieces in pot holes the size of a small town. Then there is parking. So not much change out of £25 plus the extra stress incurred by having to shake my fist at the aforementioned slow-moving vehicles as I’m growing more concerned about missing kick off . I looked at the train - expensive, took just as long and would cost more if the missus tagged along. Buses - Good god no, even slower, dirty, unreliable, noisy, too hot, too cold and expensive. I considered using the Park and Ride at Kesgrave as well but seemed a little ridiculous to drive 40 miles in the car then get on a bus for half an hour, so to prevent myself from being admitted to the closest mental hospital as a certified loony, I needed another option and quick! I then had my Epiphany - Lowestoft used to have a Supporters Club! I had a look online to see if the Lowestoft Supporters Club was still going, maybe they would have some ideas, car share maybe? To my unadulterated joy it still exists! I contacted them via the info on TWTD and got a response within a few hours: “We run a coach to every home game, please come and join us, be glad to see you!†Perfect! So there I was outside the Tramways pub in Pakefield on Saturday with six or seven other fans waiting for the coach. It duly arrived and we piled on. I was greeted by the branch chairman who made me feel most welcome, it was a pleasant journey, we listened to Radio Suffolk’s pre-match build-up and we arrived at Portman Road 25 minutes before kick-off, dropped off within a few yards of my entrance to the Co-Op stand. More than enough time for a pie, a pint and to laze around in the sun on the practice pitch, day-dreaming of smashing Rovers off the pitch, playing like Brazil (before the Olympics obviously) and maybe Delaney coming on as a late sub and scoring a perfect hat-trick (one off the back of his head, one off his left shin and one off his arse). I was obviously suffering with sun stroke by this time so I got up and took my seat. To watch the game. By 17:15 we’re on our way back home, again listening to Radio Suffolk’s post-match analysis, followed by general chit chat among the supporters. Who played well? Who didn’t? Why are Rovers supporters so miserable? Why was JET so out of sorts? Will Hyam get dropped again soon? Will we break this bloody Watford hoodoo on Tuesday? Why when Jewell shouts instructions at the players in that high-pitched squeaky voice does it make all the dogs in the area go nuts? This was followed by a whip round for the driver and me being safely dropped off in Pakefield by 18:30. The numbers using the coach are dropping due to the team’s struggles on the pitch over recent years, but no doubt, it’s a brilliant service. I urge all you Lowestoft supporters to use it, it’s ideal for the single traveller! It's run by a handful of town diehards and supported by a hardcore and loyal following (mostly 55 plus, at 42 years old I was one of the youngest on the journey). A thoroughly enjoyable experience, excellent service, good banter, no joining fee and all for £12 return! It’s very rare these days you get real value for money. Use it or lose it! Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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