Chronicle Article 3 March 2000

"A Chester City fan is for life, not just for crises" or so says the latest ISA car sticker. Life has been one long crisis for the past two seasons, apart from short-lived bursts of optimism. Despite not getting the results we deserved and still being bottom of the league, optimism was in the air preceding Saturday's visit of Brighton. It soon evaporated due to a combination of goals and contentious refereeing decisions, none of which were in our favour. When you're down, everything seems to go against you and this was again the case. And the BBC Knowledge crew recorded it.

Anyone with Internet access might have been heartened by the encouraging messages from Brighton fans. Despite the vast distance between the clubs, there is empathy between supporters who have suffered similar experiences. Perhaps the kindest words were that "some team had it coming but sorry it was you".

Most of the members at Monday's ISA meeting hoped Saturday was the proverbial one-off. It has to be. Guest speaker and Chester City fan Charlie Lambert enjoyed being with us and members appreciated his long distance concerns. The March meeting features the closer views of Neil Turner. It was also decided that we should sponsor members' coach travel to boost support for the final run in, starting with Halifax (April Fools Day!)

Contributions are invited for the next Newsletter. In a past edition, the feature "I wish I'd been there" bizarrely referred to a 2-5 "home" defeat by Darlington at the Moss Rose. The logic was that after witnessing a thrashing, success of any description is much sweeter. We finished that season with an unlikely away win at Stoke, which ended their promotion hopes and ensured our safety from relegation. It felt OK (understatement).

The author of that wisdom is now geographically challenged and couldn't savour Saturday's experience for posterity. (Nor did he actually want to hear any details). Right now a win of any description, starting at the other St James' Park, will seem equivalent to winning the FA Cup. If we achieve the Great Escape it will be better than any treble. If it's a funny old game we've got nothing to laugh about, but survival will create emotion beyond compare.

Frankly, I'd forego it all for the opportunity of the boredom of being stuck in mid table. And we still have thirteen games left, plus injury time.

Les Smith ISA chairman

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