I have a confession to make. It's not something I'm proud of, and it still feels a bit wrong, but I feel i must let my readership know.
I have started supporting a Glasgow team.
Now, before you start calling me a glory hunter, a turncoat and a traitor, I must point out that it is neither of the Old Firm, or Partick. It's not even a junior team. Hell, it's not even football.
In the last month, I have been attending Braehead Clan hockey games on a Saturday night and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'm hooked. The pace, the tension, the free scoring, the occasional violence...what's not to like?
In no way will this effect my support of my beloved Motherwell and it sure won't make it's way in to my blog every week if there is nothing Claret and Amber to report. Nothing will replace Motherwell in my heart, so please do not question my loyalty to the team based on the above revelation.
The reason I mention it at all is to compare and contrast it with Motherwell FC, the SPL and Scottish football in general. In keeping with the purpose of this blog, to keep residents of the Motherwell area entertained with my tales of being a Well fan, I'm going to look at Braehead Clan as an alternative.
An alternative to football; an alternative to the usual Saturday entertainment;, an alternative sport to follow. Many Motherwell fans I know have "second teams", whether in the SPL, the Premiership, Serie A, whatever. Where's the harm in having a "second team" in a different sport?
First off, I'm not going to claim to be an ardent hockey fan. I still don't know all the rules and reasons for things that go on on the ice, but I'm learning. And that is half the appeal to me. It's something new to me, that I've felt the need to embrace. In reality, it's my fiancee's fault.
As a Northern Irelander, her family, as I have frequently mentioned in these blogs are Rangers fans. However, they also are season ticket holders for the Belfast Giants, an Elite Hockey League (EHL) Ice Hockey team. With crowds of around 8000 a week at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, they have been around for 11 years. the appeal in Belfast is that it is a sport everyone can enjoy.
There's no Protestant/Catholic divide with the Giants and that is why they are so popular. In a country and indeed city, so divided over blue and green matters, the appeal of a team, a sport and entertainment which doesn't play on anything like that has served a purpose to unite the Northern Irish community in a fairly new and non secluding way.
Over the last couple of years, I've had the opportunity to take in a few Belfast games, and I admit it peaked my interest in the game. However, not living in Belfast meant that I couldn't really get in to it as much as i would've liked. Late last year, it was announced that Glasgow would have a new franchise entering the EHL and in September, Braehead Clan took to the ice.
Due to Braehead Arena having booked in Disney on Ice for the first month of the season, the Clan now have a backlog of home games to play, which I have been frequenting and enjoying for the last month. The first game I went to, I was a bit passive for the 1st period, but seeing the Clan beat Dundee Stars 5-1 had me gripped. Not quite in the same way that getting beat 1-0 at home off Aberdeen 16 years ago had me addicted, but it was enough to make me want to go back.
What appeals to me about The Clan are the similarities to Motherwell that they have. As an overall entity, they are a team that could struggle to get a decent crowd due to other sporting teams in the Glasgow area. Because football is such big business in Glasgow and Scotland, branching out to experience something new and not as popular could keep the fans away, much like the exodus of Lanarkshire people to Glasgow for their football fix, instead of staying local.
Living in Glasgow city centre, I have seen very few promotional events or posters et al advertising The Clan, which I feel is a marketing issue they need to resolve. If they want to make any money, as a new franchise, they need to be doing all they can to swell crowds. Granted, the crowds have risen each week I've been, but the potential for it to be higher is definitely there.
The crowd that goes are a mix of proper hockey fans and young families, as well as quite a few one timers, who may be interested in coming back. Much the same as we have at Fir Park, we have our die hards, our youngsters and our other friends who don't necessarily go week in week out. I think that the amount of young kids at both can only be a good thing as it is encouraging an interest in something exciting from a young age.
As a brand new team, Braehead are doing not too bad in the EHL against much more established squads. the majority of teams in the EHL are English, with Braehead, Dundee and Edinburgh, as well as Belfast making up the rest. In a ten team league, The Clan currently sit 6th, with a 10 point gap between them and 7th placed Hull.
Like any newly assembled squad, they are still getting a feel for each other, much like MFC have done for the last few seasons with loan departures making way for new signings. Much like Alan Gow and Esteban Casagolda are still bedding in to our team form being out for a while, many of the Clan squad are either coming back from injury or still getting back to fitness from the lay offs from whatever league they have come from.
The number of games they have played may also be taking a toll on them as they have been playing 2 or 3 times a week since the beginning of October, with another 2 this weekend. But they will get experience and grow, much like the consistently inconsistent Well teams of the past have done. They have lost 5 of their last 6 games by narrow margins which is a bit of a concern though.
At a time when discipline in the SPL is being monitored on both referees and players, Braehead's own needs to be questioned. In my opinion they are too disciplined, which from what I have seen is not a positive. Over the last few seasons, players like Jamie Murphy and David Clarkson have been told to bulk up in order to put themselves about a bit. That's exactly what the Clan forwards need to be doing. Lhey just aren't tough enough.
In a game famed for it's fights and occasional violence, Clan coach Bruce Richardson had his head put through a plexiglass boarding which shattered all over the fans and ice. If that had happened to nay other team in the EHL or even NHL, there would have been a mass brawl due to the brutality of how it happened. There wasn't even a push after it.
Richardson, did however get sin binned for punching the Nottingham goalie square in the moosh later on though.
The main point I want to get across from this blog is that as an alternative to the Old Firm, Braehead Clan are there to be built up and is an opportunity for sports fans to experience something different on a Saturday. It's cheaper, less predictable, exciting, attacking minded and doesn't have moany managers or alleged bias against or for the bigger teams, it does have it's crap refs though.
All of these traits can be put upon Motherwell FC this season. We are cheaper to watch. You never know how good or bad we are going to play. We are an attacking entity with the most exciting attacking line in the country in Murphy, Blackman and Humphrey ripping it up. We also have a manager who is savvy enough to move the home dugout to prevent opposition teams harassing linesmen.
Support your local team people of Motherwell and Lanarkshire. And if you get the chance, go see The Clan, they are your local hockey team after all...
Wednesday night's game v St Johnstone was brilliant to be at after being so immersed in the Hockey lately. From seeing my nephew lead the teams out, to witnessing Blackman's hat trick, Humphrey doing Grainger time and time again and Casagolda looking like he may have the potential many put upon him when he signed, I felt like I was back in my comfort zone.
Although I have found a new team to follow in a different sport, nothing will tear me away from a freezing cold Wednesday night spent in the East Stand cheering on the Well.
To paraphrase a dirty joke i know, "What's the difference between an egg and being
a Motherwell fan?"
"You can't beat being a Well fan".
Up The Well!!!
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