Lincoln City’s big win at Cardiff was certainly a day to remember, not least because of a tremendous travelling support that sang for 90 minutes.
Cardiff City fans were even impressed by the vocal support the Lincoln fans provided, but the biggest plaudits surely come from inside our own fanbase. Usually on the Stacey West podcast, we’re a little reserved, analysing the game rather than doing the crowd-pleasing ‘how good are the fans’ bit, because it’s expected.
We’re expected to have a decent following, we expect to be a bit loud, but this weekend in Cardiff was like nothing else. We took a minute on the podcasts to explain exactly why it felt so special to get just another three points, worth no more than Wigan away or Burton at home (just for Michael Skubala, that was).
“I was spending a lot of time recording the Lincoln fans,” I said on Episode 453, out now. “I would have given anything to have been in there, but I also feel really privileged to have been able to just look at it because it was like the whole corner.
“At one point, everybody was jumping, and I’ve often looked at bigger away ends and always thought I’d love to see our fans like that. I’ve seen nothing like that at ours. When a team comes to us, I’ve not seen anything like that from a visiting team. Wrexham, when they went up on the last day of the season, I didn’t see anything like that.”
I was watching from the press box, and I never make a thing of filming supporters, not usually. Football is an in-the-moment experience, not a ‘look at this on my phone’ experience, but Saturday was different and witnessing it externally was one thing.
However, podcast co-host Emily was right in the thick of it and enjoyed it just as much, if not more.
“I found it a little bit emotional, actually,” Emily said.
“There was just something that just kind of washed over me. When you go to football matches, we’ve got the 617, they’re bouncing, they’re singing, they’re drumming for nearly 90 minutes every single week. Then you’ve got the clappers, people who clap along, people who chant along, people who chant and clap.
“You’ve got the kind of people who fist pump. You’ve got people who shout. And then you’ve got people who sort of sit quietly, and you know, this is not a criticism of how different people watch football, but they take it in in a much kind of quieter capacity.
“I was looking around, and I’ve got my dad next to me and Nick, who comes with us and sits next to us at the football on one side. I can see Ben (from the podcast) in the distance over there. I can see Charlie (from the podcast) a bit further down. I can see somebody that I went to school with in the row behind me.
“My mate that I sit next to week in week out who I don’t really know his name so I just call him my mate but we’ve sat together for years I could see him across the other direction.
“I just looked around, and I just thought these are my people, this is my community, this is my people, and everybody looked so happy…”
There is no doubt that, while it was one game of 46, a game where nothing was won or lost, it epitomised why we are football supporters. Out in Cardiff the night before, every pub had Lincoln fans in, people I’d expect to bump into in Lincoln bars were popping up in Wales, like we were all on some sort of day out.
Football isn’t always like this, granted, but when it is, it reminds you of why we do it. I’m pretty sure not everyone actually enjoys the game (Chris aside). We enjoy the tribal elements, the togetherness, the passion that makes us argue more vehemently with fans of our own club than those who support another, but that also brings us closer to those same people when we’re doing well and aligned.
Right now, we’re doing well, everyone is aligned, and these are the days. Let’s hope Exeter don’t rain on the Lincoln City parade tomorrow evening.
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