βUSA, USA, USAβ the Magpie rabble chanted in honour of Mason Cox, whoβd played out of his skin to carry the Pies to victory. Iβve only recently stopped hating him.
Of course, my lovely Collingwood friend would not have knowingly upset us with the ill-timed βGo Piesβ text.
Loading
I go to home games in a reserved seat, take in training a few times a year and on Tuesday headed to a live taping of the Richmond Talking Tigersβ podcast, but I have friends who go the extra mile. The merch, the dog memberships, helping with the banner and much more.
One friend sits down when the fixture is released and plots the flights, loyalty points, accommodation and leave she needs to follow her beloved Demons around the country. She was devastated when lockdowns robbed her of the chance to see the Demons win the 2021 grand final.
Or my other friend, whose family has long supported South Melbourne and the Sydney Swans and was shell shocked after their performance in last yearβs grand final. I had wished her luck at the start of the game but gave her space for a few weeks after.
Supporting your footy team is supposed to be fun. I sat at Marvel in round three as St Kilda beat us by 82 points and thought of the million other things I could have been doing. Sorting the sock drawer would have been more entertaining. And yet we come back for more.
Weβre driven by hope, faith, resilience and something bigger than ourselves. When Iβm in my bay at the βG I sit near a couple of long-term friends and new friends. Iβve loved watching the little babies in front morph into toddlers. When things are bad, we chat. When they are really bad, I head out for a vegetable pastie.
I used to be a great hater of rival footy clubs and by extension some fans. I didnβt like Collingwood, didnβt think much of Carlton, laughed heartily at the skiing and cheese-platter Melbourne jibes and found Hawthorn fans in your face during successful times and not seen for dust when they were struggling.
But after Richmond won three flags in four years, I changed my tune.
In 2017 the run-up, the day, the game and the aftermath are among the most exhilarating times of my life. To have that again in 2019 and 2020, albeit we were locked out of the game due to the pandemic, was bliss.
I want all football fans, especially my die-hard St Kilda friends, who show up every week, to have that experience. (Not Gold Coast Suns. Itβs complicated for some Richmond fans to see a coach instrumental in our three flags quit mid-season, say he was βstaleβ and sign with the Suns, leaving us a basket case.)
Loading
Itβs business for the footy industry and not everyone can be a one-club player, but supporters stick fat. Itβs a lifelong if not generational commitment. For many, devotion to a footy team outlasts their wedding vows.
While there is rightly concern about the mental health of the players, there is less about the suffering of fans. Lifelong Philadelphia Eagles supporter Dr Patrick McElwaine wrote in Psychology Today about how his mental health has been βdeeply intertwined with my teamβs performanceβ.
βWhen the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2018, and again this year, I was on cloud nine, feeling an almost surreal sense of euphoria that lasted for weeks. But when they lose, especially in a heartbreaking fashion, it feels heavy, as if Iβve personally suffered a loss,β he wrote earlier this year.
He says sports fandom is more than just entertainment. Itβs a deep emotional connection. Rooting, as the Yanks say, for a team provides social identity, a sense of belonging and reduces feelings of loneliness. While wins release feel good dopamine, losses can activate areas of the brain associated with pain and disappointment, he says.
Tune into Welcome to Wrexham and see how the improving fortunes of the Red Dragons soccer team has buoyed the working-class Welsh town.
If your team isnβt going well, there are better strategies for coping than microwaving your membership cards, dumping chook poo at the club as one disgruntled Tiger supporter did in 2001, or scrawling βSack the Boardβ on the walls, as one Carlton fan did at Princes Park last month after their teamβs 50-point loss to Port Adelaide. Experts suggest fans try to take a step back and put a loss into perspective.
And, if like me, your team isnβt figuring in the September action, itβs time to book a holiday far, far away. At least you will have something to look forward to.
Claire Heaney is a Melbourne writer.
The Opinion newsletter is a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. Sign up here.