In this weeks Teenage Kicks In our young writer Darragh Mullen dreams.
First of all I think I must start by apologising for last Saturday’s loss to Exeter as it was completely my fault for tempting fate and talking about the Championship!
I will also say separately that I personally am glad the Beckford situation is over and unlike I think the general view of Clarke One Nil I really don’t care who he is as long as he scores goals and we get promoted. Once that’s done hopefully we can all move on with or without him.
Now this ones a theory I have had for a couple of months but only sprung to mind during the week. I remember talking about it on Vital Leeds (see link below) back in October and I was told I had my priorities all wrong. In short much like last week this is more theory than something realistic but basically if it came down to it and I had to choose one. I would prefer to win the FA Cup this season rather than get promoted.
It needs no reminding what league we are in at the moment and where that stands regards to where we think we should be as Leeds fans. Generally the feel is that we need to get out of this ‘Tin-pot’ league as soon as possible and that is a very realistic goal but the fantasy question of promotion or the FA Cup, for me, is no question. The basis of my argument is that that leagues will always come and go and few are remembered. Winning trophies will stay with a club and its history forever though. A great example of this is, I presume anyway, that this site is actually named after our only FA cup win! In contrast I doubt many people can remember a lot that happened in the 1984 season.
As unromantic as it sounds, a clubs reputation is simply based on how many trophies they have won much like somebody who goes to the gym regularly is judged on what he can bench press. In a way Revies team is unique in that they are one of the few teams that goes against this as they remembered for their years of dominance rather than the amount of trophies they won compared to how long they were dominant. Sadly it’s why this current scum team will be remembered as one of the best teams ever and why Liverpool in the 70′s and 80′s are also seen in this light. That is why I feel that any opportunity to add to our list of trophies won should be grabbed at with 2 hands no matter what league we are in. When our club is viewed by outsiders, generally the main thing looked at is 3 leagues, an FA cup, a league cup and 2 UEFA cups. My argument then is that no matter what league we as a club are in, we should be always willing to give up one meaningless season to add to our trophy cabinet.
I am not completely oblivious to the other side of the argument as I can see how people (particularly season ticker holders) will want to be seeing us back in the Premiership as soon as possible before the gap between rich and poor becomes even bigger then it is now. It might just be me who looks at football in this sense but it just seems completely logic to me that we should take any opportunity we can to win major trophies. Now I realise that our bad form the past week is due to me cursing it so I will also be willing to take flack if we are knocked out of the FA cup this Saturday! Until we are knocked out a part of me will always be dreaming of actually seeing us win major silverware in my lifetime. Something that is somewhat unimaginable for me at my young age but also something which I hope I will experience on many occasions in my lifetime.
