Hope followed by disappointment is the life lesson that being
a York City supporter provides. They were playing in the Conference Play-Off Semi-Finals second leg today and I had a real sense that they were on the cusp of a return to the proper football league after two or three years in the wilderness. The first leg has ended 0-0, so a win was required today. As I was in Belfast, where there is little to no interest in English non-League football (there is, letÂ’s face it, little to no interest in this in England either), I was kept up to date by fellow York City fan Toby by text.
Of course we went 1-0 in the first half in order to cement the hope part of the equation, but inevitably it was 1-1 by half-time and then Morecambe, our opponents, scored again and a long and ominous text silence followed, until the final desultory, expletive laden message arrived on my phone. So we now look forward to next season and hope that this time the effort and tears will be rewarded. Though, of course they wonÂ’t. But it wouldnÂ’t be a life lesson if I ever actually learnt this.
I last played Belfast in 2002 with “Christ on a Bike” to a small audience in a big room. I remember it being quite a tense and joyless affair, for a show that generally went down well, but I think I was nervous about bringing a show about Jesus to a city which has had a couple of issues involving the Christian religion. Towards the end I had made a joke about my show solving the sectarian problems and got a big laugh and everyone visibly relaxed, including me, but I had left it too late. I was less experienced in solo performance then .
The previous time I had been here to record one of the Lee and Herring radio shows, there had just been a massive bomb in a fish and chip shop and I spent the whole time here in constant fear for my life and the city seemed forbidding and dark.
Five years on from the solo gig and Belfast is like a different city. There is significant regeneration, but also (perhaps unsurprisingly) the whole mood of the place has changed. Hope has followed disappointment and tragedy here and some might argue that what is happening here is even more important than the fortunes of a small and unsuccessful football club (those people are wrong, but let them argue that anyway).
The gig was packed and was terrific fun. I argued that my last appearance in the city was probably the catalyst that had prompted the change in their fortunes, bringing all factions together in mutual hatred of me and then goaded the Irish with my potato, asking whether they had them back in their country now, after the unfortunate 19th Century blight. I had genuinely bought the potato in Cardiff, just in case. It was a real delight to be here, not only because the gig was great, but because it is amazing and inspiring to see a town heal itself and overcome its problems.
Are you paying attention York?
