As a Denizen of this grimy city and bottle's throw from the Britannia I am firmly in the go on Stoke Camp.
Many of my friends are Potters and the City itself is awash with Cup Fever which as we all know brings a unique feel good atmosphere and boy does this place need it.
As Im sure many can empathise with the Potteries has suffered a lot in recent years .. All of it major industries have either gone or greatly reduced . The Pits and the Steel works have all closed and the thing very thing that made Stoke, the Potteries have all but gone, the manufacture is predominately done off-shore with only a few specialist artisans remaining.
The fact that the only reason I moved here was because I couldn't afford to live anywhere else speaks volumes
So any kind of cheer is good and quite uniquely football can provide this.
What cheers me most about Stoke's recent resurgence is the affect on the outlying areas. The city itself will always draw in the hardcore of supporters. Home gates of 20K plus in the old 3rd div proves that point. It's the smaller villages and towns where green shoots are appearing. Where before, you would be awash with Man UTD, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea shirts these are now being outnumbered by scores of red and white stripped (and bizarrely their new Inter Milan away strip) Stoke Shirts. You could accuse these of being fairweather fans and you might be right but a lot of these shirts belong to kids who would have otherwise done what kids have done since the days of Liverpool's dominance and that is support whoever is winning at the time.
Ok Stoke can play ugly but they are playing to their strengths , they aren't a rich club but they are founder members with a long history and their support is growing. This for me is a good thing as it flies in the face of the medias wish to only have four English clubs who's support will keep growing and swallow up all before them.
Fair play to you Stoke and I'll be in the local soaking up the atmos...
Many of my friends are Potters and the City itself is awash with Cup Fever which as we all know brings a unique feel good atmosphere and boy does this place need it.
As Im sure many can empathise with the Potteries has suffered a lot in recent years .. All of it major industries have either gone or greatly reduced . The Pits and the Steel works have all closed and the thing very thing that made Stoke, the Potteries have all but gone, the manufacture is predominately done off-shore with only a few specialist artisans remaining.
The fact that the only reason I moved here was because I couldn't afford to live anywhere else speaks volumes
So any kind of cheer is good and quite uniquely football can provide this.
What cheers me most about Stoke's recent resurgence is the affect on the outlying areas. The city itself will always draw in the hardcore of supporters. Home gates of 20K plus in the old 3rd div proves that point. It's the smaller villages and towns where green shoots are appearing. Where before, you would be awash with Man UTD, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea shirts these are now being outnumbered by scores of red and white stripped (and bizarrely their new Inter Milan away strip) Stoke Shirts. You could accuse these of being fairweather fans and you might be right but a lot of these shirts belong to kids who would have otherwise done what kids have done since the days of Liverpool's dominance and that is support whoever is winning at the time.
Ok Stoke can play ugly but they are playing to their strengths , they aren't a rich club but they are founder members with a long history and their support is growing. This for me is a good thing as it flies in the face of the medias wish to only have four English clubs who's support will keep growing and swallow up all before them.
Fair play to you Stoke and I'll be in the local soaking up the atmos...
