Football’s back.

I say I won’t look at the Wolves game, but in the end I can’t help following the live updates online. The journalist thinks it’s a pretty lacklustre first half. But then there are no fans there to pep things up.

Dad would have hated that. It would have brought out his contrary side. He wouldn’t have seen the point in them playing if you couldn’t be there and would have refused to engage on principle. Me and Mum would have got really annoyed with him about it.

The last game I saw live was Boxing Day a few years ago. We went to the pub beforehand – my dad, my uncle, my boyfriend and me. It was freezing and my dad and uncle complained the whole time that they were definitely going to lose – right up until they won two-nil. It was the resilient mindset of the perpetual underdog. Of lifelong fans used to disappointment.

But they’re not underdogs anymore. New management and new money mean they’re up the top of the table. And their success was one of Dad’s greatest joys. So of course he would have got over the principle. Of course he couldn’t miss a game.

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