Keeping the Pride in the Passion

Frank Sinclair will lead the Clarets out into the tense atmosphere on Sunday

Few sporting contests can inspire emotions like one of football’s genuine local derby days. And as a Burnley fan, I’m always rather proud to tell anyone who listens precisely how intense our rivalry with Blackburn Rovers is.

Supporters of either club who can honestly say that they wish the other well are a rare breed. I’m always pleased to see Rovers lose, take a satisfaction in any misfortune that afflicts them, and will be delighted should they ever be relegated. If we can turn them over in the cup, it will be sheer euphoria; defeat will hurt like hell.

That the rivalry can still capture the imagination after over twenty years of relative inactivity, and still hold a claim to be one of the biggest in the country, seems to me to be testament to the traditions of the two clubs: this is a rivalry which has endured for longer in professional football than almost any other. The two towns are traditional football hotbeds – I suppose I’m predisposed to the notion that Burnley is more so – and are fiercely independent in character, yet separated by barely ten miles. No-one should underestimate the meaning ascribed to this particular fixture.

But I’ve never understood those fans who can come off the Turf having witnessed a wretched Burnley defeat, hear the news that Blackburn have lost too, and say, ‘that’s alright then’. I’m a Burnley fan first and foremost, and dislike of the lot from Ewood is purely incidental to that.

Nor can I place the attitude of those whose hatred of Rovers is laced with an intimidating, aggressive, bile. That seems to take it, to my mind, a step too far, beyond the realms of passion that even as raw a game as football should reach.

I have good friends who support Rovers. I take great delight in making the most of any disappointments which befall them, and I imagine they do likewise. It may not be the world’s most original topic of conversation, but it has kept us amused for plenty of hours to date, and doesn’t seem to be wearing thin quite yet – I doubt it ever will.

Yet I don’t, and frankly couldn’t, hate someone purely because of their football allegiance. If we do lose on Sunday, I don’t think I’ll coming out of the ground looking for a fight with one of their lot, and I can’t imagine the mindset of someone who would. It doesn’t make sense; it loses all sense of perspective.

I’m not in any way suggesting that the atmosphere at the game on Sunday shouldn’t be intimidating, or hostile, or even a touch aggressive. Indeed, it should be all of those things. Once football loses that basic dimension, it will lose the very elements of its character which give it such a powerful appeal to the greater part of society. It would be much the poorer for it.

And it isn’t realistic to expect fans to suddenly lose that pent-up feeling the minute the final whistle blows. A football match is a tribal occasion, and it appeals to instinctive human nature. That doesn’t suddenly disappear with the final blow of the referee’s whistle. Fans leaving the ground will either be on an enormous high, or absolutely gutted. There will be no middle ground.

But at the same time, every sane fan must hope that doesn’t translate into trouble. All that does is give both clubs a bad name, and lead to increased policing costs for future games. We can’t afford either to come to pass.

It shouldn’t, in all honesty, come to the point where any game between the two clubs is talked of as a potential flashpoint. It’s a great shame that Blackburn fans coming into Burnley will have to travel on escorted coaches, or else feel they are taking a risk. Or that fans of either club will opt for the box simply because they don’t feel safe going to the game itself.

Contrast with Rugby, a game which can inspire plenty of feeling of its own. When England played Wales in Cardiff last week – a fixture which, take it from me, stirs up the locals like no other – fans of either nation sat in the same stadium, engaged in a bit of banter, sang their songs and left the ground together, all without any need for segregation. Why it is that football must be so starkly different I don’t know.

Burnley versus Blackburn Rovers should be a game which makes the headlines for being one hell of a football occasion, which makes the football public sit up and take notice of one of English football’s most determined derbies, and makes me proud to be a Burnley fan. It ought to serve as a reminder to the nation at large of the traditions upon which football is built, even in this era when the game regularly ignores its heritage in search of another cash-cow to milk. It shouldn’t make the headlines because a minority went too far, and caused embarrassment and shame for everyone connected with either club. It shouldn’t lead to a situation where people dread the next occasion that the two clubs meet.

So no-one should underestimate the power and importance of this game. Yet nor should anyone overestimate it either, and lose all sense of proportion. Amongst all the passion, there is a place for common sense and reason. Hopefully it will be found next Sunday.

Oh, and hopefully will beat them too. Now that really would be sweet.