After The Love Has Gone

"For a while, to love was all we could do
We were young and we knew
And our eyes were alive
Deep inside we knew our love was true

Somethin' happened along the way
What used to be happy was sad
Somethin' happened along the way
And yesterday was all we had"

Earth, Wind & Fire - 1979

Usually, around this time each year, Bolton fans are eagerly anticipating the start of the new season. Some view this time with a fair amount of trepidation and others are busy preparing their bedsheets with the usual "[insert current Manager's name here] Out!" messages. This summer has so far proven less tedious than usual, what with all the excitement in Brazil. The World Cup came and went in a hotbed of goals, diving and injuries. Stars rose and dimmed and big names had their last appearance in a World Cup Finals - some with a whimper and others with a bang.

With the beautiful Brazillian sunset having fallen on Germany's 4th World Cup title, attentions have returned to the League footy - and in our case, our latest attempt to leave the Championship for a return to the Promised Land that is the Premier League. With every season spent in the Championship, it becomes more difficult to successfully return to the Premiership. Agents whisper in the ear of so-called "Premier League quality" players, promising them the lure of playing with and against some of the brightest talents the world has to offer and the delights that follow.

The stark reality, however, is that the average Championship club cannot afford to pay Premiership wages. This results in big names leaving for greener pastures or being released in an attempt to cut costs and young and supposedly lesser players taking their place. The quality of players you can attract then begins to fall - followed by a reduction in quality football, smaller gates and even less revenue to buy players. Somewhat akin to a Catch-22, but with a gradual overall decline.

Situations such as these can lead the less hardened fan among us to jump ship - even for more attractive lower league football (Chorley, anyone?) or to give up and pick a Top 6 club to "have always been a fan of". The question was recently put before me - "What Would Stop You Supporting BWFC?". The easy response would be nothing. Why is this so, though? People pledge to love, honour and obey 'til death do us part and get a divorce two years later, swearing to hate, disgrace and avoid. Family disagreements make siblings turn their backs on each other for several years. What then is this magical connection that makes Bolton fans suffer along with the club year after year?

If you had a job that paid marginally better than unemployment and gave you grief on a weekly basis, and a better job that paid handsomely was available in a neighbouring town, wouldn't any self-respecting individual pack it in and go off in search of a better life? It's fine if you support a small club that routinely butts horns with the big boys of the Premiership as we did a few years ago - but when you struggle to defeat the mighty Doncaster Rovers and loan players from Millwall, isn't there something dreadfully wrong?

Is supporting Bolton becoming a chore? Something we do because "we've always done it"? Clearly that's not a good reason to do anything - but here we are. Has the love gone? What happens next? I can't speak for you, my fellow long-suffering fan - but if Bolton does not qualify for the Premiership this coming season, I'll be here next year spouting truisms and grasping unto the smallest sliver of hope that this next season will be the season it all comes good. (Sigh...)

Author: Keegan

i wouldn't class it as a chore but last season wasn't fun and this season doesn't look like being any different.

The love definately hasn't gone, i still spend a lot of time on here talking and reading about the Whites, i even say to the wife i am nutsing (a phrase i invented, feel free to use it!) and have a season ticket for this season and i can't see that changing in the near future.

The love may have cooled slightly but it's still there!

Another negative thread before the squad has even been fully assembled and the season started.
Incredible.

I find it incredible that you think this is a negative thread.

I was born on Chorley new Rd, went to school in Heaton and dreamt of playing for Bolton Schoolboys (was never good enough though), I was a season ticket up until 1999 when I came to South Africa. I always have and always will support my local team. If Bolton ceased to exist I wouldn't support anyone.

JohannesburgWanderer wrote:I was born on Chorley new Rd, went to school in Heaton and dreamt of playing for Bolton Schoolboys (was never good enough though), I was a season ticket up until 1999 when I came to South Africa. I always have and always will support my local team. If Bolton ceased to exist I wouldn't support anyone.

That's the spirit! Are Powerlines, Lusitania and Arcadian Shepherds still going strong?

If the love hasn't gone, you have every reason to support your club, spouse etc. If it has, you need to re-evaluate. Questioning your support in and of itself isn't being negative.

I don't love BWFC - it's a football club ffs!

A business entity that doesn't even put football first imo.

It's a hoby, an entertainment.

After all thses years for me its probably a habit and an addiction too.

I'm happy when we win and pissed off when we don't but that's as far as it goes for me.

It's not my religion.

I don't want to harm or abuse people when we are doing badly.

I don't feel as though I have a say in how the club runs because I've spent money on it. I spend money at Tesco's, BP, Marks and Spencers, Courage brewery, my Building Society and Bank, etc, etc, etc and don't feel I should go and shout abuse at them and tell them how to run their business when they get things wrong - so why the fuck do so many people think they have the right to do so at a football club???

Football's fucked up enough as it is - players can't manage on £200,000 plus a week - and feel disrespected if the boss doesn't buy them a birthday cake - the world's gome mad!

It's a game.

That's all it is.

A bit of fun.

I enjoy BWFC but I've never ever loved it.

Sluffy wrote:I don't love BWFC - it's a football club ffs!

A business entity that doesn't even put football first imo.

It's a hoby, an entertainment.

After all thses years for me its probably a habit and an addiction too.

I'm happy when we win and pissed off when we don't but that's as far as it goes for me.

It's not my religion.

I don't want to harm or abuse people when we are doing badly.

I don't feel as though I have a say in how the club runs because I've spent money on it.  I spend money at Tesco's, BP, Marks and Spencers, Courage brewery, my Building Society and Bank, etc, etc, etc and don't feel I should go and shout abuse at them and tell them how to run their business when they get things wrong - so why the fuck do so many people think they have the right to do so at a football club???

Football's fucked up enough as it is - players can't manage on £200,000 plus a week - and feel disrespected if the boss doesn't buy them a birthday cake - the world's gome mad!

It's a game.

That's all it is.

A bit of fun.

I enjoy BWFC but I've never ever loved it.

 yet you are still an admin on a BWFC site and have posted over 6000 times, if that doesn't imply love then i don't know what does!

Norpig wrote:

Sluffy wrote:I don't love BWFC - it's a football club ffs!

A business entity that doesn't even put football first imo.

It's a hoby, an entertainment.

After all thses years for me its probably a habit and an addiction too.

I'm happy when we win and pissed off when we don't but that's as far as it goes for me.

It's not my religion.

I don't want to harm or abuse people when we are doing badly.

I don't feel as though I have a say in how the club runs because I've spent money on it.  I spend money at Tesco's, BP, Marks and Spencers, Courage brewery, my Building Society and Bank, etc, etc, etc and don't feel I should go and shout abuse at them and tell them how to run their business when they get things wrong - so why the fuck do so many people think they have the right to do so at a football club???

Football's fucked up enough as it is - players can't manage on £200,000 plus a week - and feel disrespected if the boss doesn't buy them a birthday cake - the world's gome mad!

It's a game.

That's all it is.

A bit of fun.

I enjoy BWFC but I've never ever loved it.

 yet you are still an admin on a BWFC site and have posted over 6000 times, if that doesn't imply love then i don't know what does!

Not it is not love.

BWFC is a hobby, an interest, a distraction from real life.

It isn't an all consuming passion, a desire, a want, a need. It's a bit of entertainment, fun.

Sometimes enjoyable, mostly these days not.

It's a bit of wanting to belong with others I guess, a bit of that tribal feel.

I certainly never set out to be an admin on a site I part own, in fact I'd probably still have been happy modding away on Burnden Aces if the owner had not sacked me for no apparent reason.

Me and two others simply set started this site for a bit of fun, not because of our 'love' for the club.

If it ever had have been love between BWFC and I, then we would have long sinced divorced!