We buried both my parents today

Mum never cared much for football, but she always wanted Norwich to win - apart from anything else she knew that the atmosphere in the house would be terrible in the house if we lost. She met Malky, Iwan & Neil Emblen once and liked them. Occasionally she would rib me about my idolisation of Big Dunc.

For my Dad, Norwich City was the thing that he and my brother, and I and later on my son did together. Norwich City was the glue that held us together, meant that we always had something to talk about.

During the wonderful first half of 2004 it seemed that my son. my Dad and I were constantly on the road together. Wonderful times really - all of us together and City winning week in week out. Hard work though, we'd drive up from Cornwall on Friday evening, stop over in Dorset and then do the game and back on the Saturday, and then back to Cornwall on the Sunday.
Dad's health began to fail but he was at Fulham when there was a Wrath meet -up, but once I left Cornwall we didn't do so many matches together.

For a while it looked like the Roeder fiasco at Plymouth would be his last match, but we managed to get him to Yeovil for the league game. That last - minute Yeovil "winner" broke my heart - so that's why the Doc's goal will always be so special to me.

About 18 months ago we were about to set off for West Brom when we got the call that he was dying. On the trip down, listening to the radio, it became ever more important that we held that lead. When we got there he was totally non-responsive but when I told him City had won he squeezed my hand. It's fanciful I know, bit I like to think that City played a part in giving us these extra months.

He'd been to all the Wembley finals, and Cardiff but of course he didn't make it this year. He'd have loved it. But he saw the goals and for him City will always be a Premier League team.

I sometimes think that Norwich City are too important in my life, but today I see so clearly how wonderful supporting a team can be, how it ties the generations together.

Posted By: Winged Eel Creosote on August 3rd 2015 at 23:32:45

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