Jack the Lad: Every run comes to an end

As the Swans get set to face Manchester City, supporter-turned-blogger Jack the Lad reminds us that football is a game of good times and bad.

Here’s hoping Swans fans won’t be feeling ‘blue’ after facing both Manchester City and Everton during the course of the next week.

There’s no doubt the fortunes of our favourite football teams can have an emotional effect on us fans.

Win, and we’re on top of the world – for a few hours at least.

Lose, and the cat had better run for cover until the disappointment has eased (only joking animal lovers).

Many of you will remember images of the Manchester City fan apparently in tears at the end of the match here at the Liberty in 2012 when the Swans won 1-0.

The young man later denied he was crying, claiming he was frustrated rather than upset.

More recently, images were broadcast of a young Wales fan sobbing following his country’s defeat at the hands of the Republic of Ireland, a result which ended Welsh hopes of breaking their 60-year World Cup jinx.

To be fair, he looked far too young to remember, or grow hardened by, any of the previous umpteen World Cup disappointments since 1958.

The success at Euro 2016 would have been still fresh in his memory and he probably thought that supporting Wales was all about playing at big championships and reaching semi-finals. How wrong could he get!

Hopefully, the latest disappointment will just be a blip in his fledgling life as a Welsh football fan, rather than another in a long line of near-misses the rest of us older Welsh followers have learned to live with.

Just as the images of the Manchester City fan were splashed across the media, the young Wales fan found his photo at the centre of attention following the match at Cardiff City Stadium.

TalkSport’s controversial presenter Adrian Durham asked listeners of his drivetime show whether it was wrong that he found the sight of the youngster’s distress on TV to be funny?

Now I don’t always find myself in agreement with Mr Durham’s opinions – I’m sure he’d be hugely disappointed if I and other listeners did always side with his viewpoints. His show thrives on people disagreeing with his often inflammatory opinions.

But on this occasion, although I thought laughing at the youngster was harsh, I found myself agreeing with him 100 per cent when he said fans should not allow their overall happiness to depend on the success of the football teams they support.

Every club endures a poor patch at some time or another, so it’s not a good idea to depend on them for our long-term happiness.

Manchester City may be flying high on the back of a record-breaking winning run in the league at the moment, but it’s not so very long ago they were down in the third tier of English football.

No matter who you are, winning runs will come to an end eventually. Fingers crossed City’s will come to a halt tonight!

And no matter how much we emotionally invest in our teams, It’s always worth remembering for us supporters that football is just a game, a passtime for our enjoyment and entertainment – even if it doesn’t always feel like enjoyment or entertainment when you're losing!

What our teams can do is provide us with unforgettable moments of unrestrained joy and a passion to follow throughout our lives, just as they can provide us with moments of bitter disappointment.

But without the lows, we wouldn’t enjoy the successes half as much.

Last Saturday’s win against West Brom tasted all the more sweet because of the run of results the Swans have recently experienced and the importance of the three points.

While defeats are disappointing, there’s always the next match to look forward to, along with the hope that your team can get back to winning ways soon, just as the Swans did on Saturday.

C’mon you Swans!