R
RoyalBlueStuey
Guest
<blockquote><blockquote>I keenly remember my first English rugby game....well actually I don\'t remember it because I stood on the sidelines drinking pint after pint absolutely loving every second of it then staggered home to a slightly cremated roast dinner.
That was 4 years ago and very quickly a load of my mates were tripping down to Waterloo as a neutral matchday experience for us partisan footy obsessed Scousers....at least that's how it started. As I've said before "Did Waterloo name an unchanged side?" almost immediately became "Did we name an unchanged side?". No-one minded...we were ushered into the clubhouse like old friends to drink real ale in that rarified linament soaked atmosphere...the only frowning reproach being if you ever put your pint on the shelf underneath one of the war memorials (quite right too). Waterloo got promoted, then relegated, then did okay....they way clubs of their size do. We had caught the tail end of a great Waterloo team that and these things eb and flow.
The one things I do remember through the Cains and Deuchars haze was standing on the sidelines on the 5 metre line and looking over to my right at the massed ranks on the terrace thinking "I wonder what you have to do to get a spec there". Now you can stroll along the entirety of it. Okay, the team aren't doing well but they deserve better.
A trawl around the forums seems to point to a bit of politics, great former players getting snubbed and moving on, fans taking it to heart, foreign players coming in, the links being broken.
Excuses, excuses. If you are going to grumble about a sports team you do it from the terrace...if you vote with your feet then you might be thumbing your nose at the encumbants but what will be left? The supporters are probably the only truly great thing about any club. The word club in itself is the clue although you have to laugh when you hear the word club applied to the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and *gasp* even my beloved Everton. Waterloo survive on people getting down to the game....You're rugby club needs you.
I can't comment on the likes of Leicester Tigers or Wycombe Wasps but I can't imagine they have the same togetherness as a club like Waterloo or Marine (Liverpool's much beloved amateur footy team). The link between player and fan must be wider because their's just so many fans and so few players. As match going Premier League footy fans it still strikes me as weird when after the game you find yourself drinking next to the players....it's something really special. They've been out their getting slammed for us and we've been snarling and backing them all the way. I know Waterloo isn't unique, there's 100s of other wonderful clubs but this is mine......and it's looks like it's going to the wall.....and it looks like not a lot of people care.
I'm not sure why I'm writing all this down.....I always preach that sport should be a meritocracy so things should be allowed to find their natural level I suppose. It just annoys me that some ******** who's only been going 4 years is left wondering where all the stalwarts are.
Well anyway rant over, rage against the dying of the light. What a melodramatic blert I am. It's just weird that something so ace as that great, great little club that just reaks of history and heritage and real ale and linament should be so under-supported.
If anyone reading this is in the Capital of Culture then get on the Northern Line and get off at Blundellsands Station, beer and rugby and a boss, boss laugh guaranteed.
http://www.waterloorugby.com
or mail me at [email protected]
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Rampage Waterloo, RAMPAGE!
That was 4 years ago and very quickly a load of my mates were tripping down to Waterloo as a neutral matchday experience for us partisan footy obsessed Scousers....at least that's how it started. As I've said before "Did Waterloo name an unchanged side?" almost immediately became "Did we name an unchanged side?". No-one minded...we were ushered into the clubhouse like old friends to drink real ale in that rarified linament soaked atmosphere...the only frowning reproach being if you ever put your pint on the shelf underneath one of the war memorials (quite right too). Waterloo got promoted, then relegated, then did okay....they way clubs of their size do. We had caught the tail end of a great Waterloo team that and these things eb and flow.
The one things I do remember through the Cains and Deuchars haze was standing on the sidelines on the 5 metre line and looking over to my right at the massed ranks on the terrace thinking "I wonder what you have to do to get a spec there". Now you can stroll along the entirety of it. Okay, the team aren't doing well but they deserve better.
A trawl around the forums seems to point to a bit of politics, great former players getting snubbed and moving on, fans taking it to heart, foreign players coming in, the links being broken.
Excuses, excuses. If you are going to grumble about a sports team you do it from the terrace...if you vote with your feet then you might be thumbing your nose at the encumbants but what will be left? The supporters are probably the only truly great thing about any club. The word club in itself is the clue although you have to laugh when you hear the word club applied to the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and *gasp* even my beloved Everton. Waterloo survive on people getting down to the game....You're rugby club needs you.
I can't comment on the likes of Leicester Tigers or Wycombe Wasps but I can't imagine they have the same togetherness as a club like Waterloo or Marine (Liverpool's much beloved amateur footy team). The link between player and fan must be wider because their's just so many fans and so few players. As match going Premier League footy fans it still strikes me as weird when after the game you find yourself drinking next to the players....it's something really special. They've been out their getting slammed for us and we've been snarling and backing them all the way. I know Waterloo isn't unique, there's 100s of other wonderful clubs but this is mine......and it's looks like it's going to the wall.....and it looks like not a lot of people care.
I'm not sure why I'm writing all this down.....I always preach that sport should be a meritocracy so things should be allowed to find their natural level I suppose. It just annoys me that some ******** who's only been going 4 years is left wondering where all the stalwarts are.
Well anyway rant over, rage against the dying of the light. What a melodramatic blert I am. It's just weird that something so ace as that great, great little club that just reaks of history and heritage and real ale and linament should be so under-supported.
If anyone reading this is in the Capital of Culture then get on the Northern Line and get off at Blundellsands Station, beer and rugby and a boss, boss laugh guaranteed.
http://www.waterloorugby.com
or mail me at [email protected]
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Rampage Waterloo, RAMPAGE!
Its horrible seeing your team through hard times but it is a duty of all loyal fans to do so even if it hurts and you want to just roll up in a ball and cry. 
