Motherwell fans have experienced a roller coaster of emotions since the stumbling loss to Llanelli way back last July. We celebrated as a team of boys scored eight against Flamutari and felt that we had unearthed a gem when Jim Gannon took us on a fine run at the start of the league campaign. By the end of October we were fourth in the table and a month later the record showed that we had lost only one SPL game in thirteen. From that high spot we tumbled into a losing streak and parted company with the manager.
Let's have a party!
The New Year revival under Craig and Archie has put us in reach of another Europa League adventure and a win at Fir Park will seal it. It is a game that should fill the ground. Long queues should be forming early at the turnstiles as eager fans anticipate the climax to a long season. The reality is likely to be different.
The midweek game is live on $ky and the club has had to resort to a welcome price cut to encourage interest in a game that would have had the terraces packed in years gone by. This season’s attendance statistics make worrying reading, the highest SPL crowd at Fir Park was 9,355 and our average is 5,252 (38% of capacity).
This game is a reward for the core support who pay their dues and turn out week after week through the good times and the bad, for those who watched in the sun when our pitch was green and froze in the shed at Aberdeen in January. The cheap entry will help to boost the attendance and lend some atmosphere but this one is for the regulars.
We had a terrific end of season party in May 2008. That emotional season was celebrated with the team in Europe and the players sporting Uncle Phil shirts. There were tears and cheers as the giant replica shirt was paraded around the pitch and the sentiment was ‘We hope we made you proud’.
A win on Wednesday might not have the same heartbreaking theme but it will be well worthy of a party!
More pictures from ‘We did it for Phil’ here.