It's been over three months now since Darlington won the FA Trophy in the best way possible, a winner in the last minute of extra time at Wembley for the first piece of silverware since 1991. After the near misses of previous playoff final losses, the craziness of the George Reynolds era, two adminstrations, relegation from the football league and very nearly going out of business, this was a sweet moment for all the Darlo fans who kept the faith. More generally, a reward for the basic concept of sticking with your local team, rather than switching allegiance to one of the big clubs. This was the moment of rare alleviation from the lifetime of misery and struggle that is the very slogan of this blog.
So why's it taken me so long to write about it? There should have been plenty of posts by now revelling in the moment, what it means to me and what it means to the future of Darlo, all that sort of thing. I've started and scrapped those posts, and now here I am, 3 months later, no posts at all and the new season about to start.
I was never going to write a match report, I wasn't there and stuck in Canada, I couldn't even watch it on tv or online, instead stuck just with the radio commentary. This is the video of the goal, with that magnificently, unashamedly unimpartial radio commentary laid over it.
I figured I'd have no problems with an emotional, what it all means, and how I earned it, kind of post though, and yet I have. If you want that kind of story, you should go to the 'Virtual Feethams' forum section of Darlo Uncovered, where there's lots of that sort of thing that is well worth reading, amongst many many threads started after the famous win.
Why the writer's block? I've been thinking about that, and have come to the conclusion that I haven't actually earned it. I earlier mentioned 'stuck in Canada', but I'm not, airplanes exist, there was over a month between semis and final, sure it would have been expensive but if I'd wanted to, I could have gone, it was very much my decision not to go.
Back in 1996, Darlo made the playoff final just a couple of months after I first moved to Toronto, I'd been going to games all season, travelling all over the country from university in Leeds and with some financial help from my Dad, I made sure I went to that final. I spent a night in Paris airport, which included being woken by security guards with guns pointed casually at me, as part of the last minute travel plans. If we'd won that game, I would have earned it.
Since moving permanently to Canada in 1997, I've seen about 6 or 7 games in 14 years, and this was the second Wembley final I've decided not to go to. My efforts to follow games on the internet are half arsed at best, and the results very rarely affect my day in any meaningful way. In a similar way to how Darlington quickly eclipsed Liverpool after I started watching them live, I now get to watch Toronto FC games live and that's become my main team, and by far my main blogging focus.
So would I really call myself a big Darlington supporter any more? I know if I heard anyone with a similar record to what I just described but for Man United or Liverpool describe themselves as a big fan, I'd roll my eyes and inwardly dismiss them, so I think it's time to downgrade myself to 'interested observer'. Seriously, the season's about to start, and I doubt I could name one new player we've signed in the off-season.
Also, since there's really only so much good nostalgia involved with being a Darlington fan, there's plenty of other better blogs about the lower leagues, that actually have the advantage of being in the country to follow teams and watch games, and I've got somewhere else for me to write about Toronto, it's probably best to say that just under a year after starting it, this will be my last Cruel Geography post. As a final act, a farewell tour and repackaging of the greatest hits if you will, I've updated the 20 years ago page, and have all my 2011 FA Trophy writings together in a page now as well, both accessible from the top of the page, two little archive collections that might hopefully justify this site's infinite continued existence in the web.
I'm ok with all of this, my whole footballing belief system is about supporting your local teams, wherever you are, and for me that's now Toronto and Canada. So sincere thanks to all who've stopped here and read anything or taken the time to comment or talk to me on twitter. Thanks also to those bloggers who've had kind words to say, included me in their blogrolls or allowed me a guest post. That was at The Two Unfortunates, along with The SeventyTwo are the best Football League blogs out and there and great promoters of other Football League blogs as well.
May Darlington soon force their way back into their mandate, and wherever you are, may your footballing geography become more rewarding.
Cheers, Duncan
