AMAZING: WHEN YOU ACTUALLY ENGAGE WITH THE OPPOSING SUPPORT

Mon Sep 03, 2018 10:34 am

Have to say, I found most of their support yesterday to be 'okay' and not without humour. Most were a little shell-shocked by the resistance City put up, as they had come here expecting a goal fest; just not the one that ensued with City giving them a bit of a scare!

An interesting (to me at least) thing occurred post-match was when I had a great conversation with one lady Arsenal supporter (Maria) outside the ground on Sloper Road. She was 79 years of age and had been supporting the Arsenal since the early 1950's

Maria was a former school teacher from the Barnet area and loved Cardiff. She had been evacuated here as a toddler during WWII and thinks she was housed either in the Splott or Bute street areas. She had some great stories about her vague memories anode her return to London after the Blitz

She has since been back many times, including all of Arsenal's 10 (yes 10) appearances at the Millennium Stadium between 2001 and 2006 whilst Wembley was being re-built

Full of praise in general for a good Cardiff performance, she was only concerned that City supporters appeared to be against her favourite player Aaron Ramsey

"Nothing could be further from the truth!", I told her. "Rambo is loved in these parts and the reception he received before and after the game showed that. He's a local boy, he's class as a player and a person. We all believe he will one day come back here to play. But for 90 minutes he was just an opposition player; albeit a very good one!"

"I'm glad to hear that and apologised", she replied

I'm sure some will think "So what?" but that is to miss the point. Football is/should be about the rivalry but when all is said and done and the game is over, there's no reason for respective supporters to engage and give each other a little respect. Usually (clearly Jacks apart :laughing6:

) we will find that they're tidy people and no different to most of us :thumbright:

Note: As an aside, I just want to say "Thanks for nothing!" to the Arsenal supporters who promised Maria (who had trouble with her walking) a lift back to her hotel and then left her sat on Sloper Road for over an hour without returning. Thankfully, my own car was close by, so I gave her a lift back to collect her belongings and then took her to the train station ensuring she and her bags got on the train safely

Hopefully, she had a safe journey home and will come back again when we play them at the CCS next year!