You’ll Never Walk Alone - Editorial from Dylan O'Connell

Another week has rolled by. Clubs are now training, the season is well under way and each evening a new sporting spectacle awaits us. If you are like myself; a sports mad television addict, it is this time of year when things really heat up. On any night of the week you can have your selection.In the week this paper is going to print you will have seen Liverpool vs. Manchester United, Cork City FC vs. St. Pats and Manchester United vs. Man City, to name a few mouth-watering fixtures that await us. In the WSL, Liverpool Ladies are pushing to find European football, while at home Cork City Women’s FC are trying to avoid the bottom of the table. There are plenty of results and games to keep us at the edge of our seats.What is important, and I ask this of everyone: is to stand by your club. Stand by your team no matter what happens.Supporting a team like Manchester United down through the years was easy: you woke up in the morning, won a game and knew that, come May, there would be a trophy back in Old Trafford. It is the same across board with Liverpool, Chelsea, City and Spurs, and even back home with Dundalk. Supporting a team when you win is easy; supporting a team when you lose is what it is all about.The great Bill Shankly once said: “if you don’t support us when we lose or draw, don’t support us when we win.” Ignoring that I am a Liverpool fan, and a fan of Cork City FC; the truth is harrowing there and echoes through the ages, through all the sports. No matter what club you support (better yet, no matter what sport) never give up, Never lose the thrill of passion following a win.I myself have been a Cork City fan all my life, and I watch Liverpool every chance I get. When it is lashing rain out in the bog of Bishopstown watching a Munster Senior Cup tie, it bears the same weight for me as the cup final or a league decider. If you are watching Liverpool against United, and do not bother to watch Liverpool against West Brom the week after, what is the point?Support your club no matter what: it could be 90 minutes, it could be 80 minutes or 6 minutes; you support them through thick and thin. In Ireland, no matter how much we like to think otherwise, we do love a big game.Supporting a club is a lifelong commitment, you are part of a community; on your down days and your low moments you are always there to take yourselves away from it, to wander away from the rocks and onto the terraces.It sounds corny but I love the song You’ll Never Walk Alone. For Liverpool and Celtic fans alike, it sends a clear message: for every bad day there is always a silver lining, and that’s a message everyone should hold high. As a Cork City fan I have known this too well. As a Liverpool fan I have grown accustomed to this. Still, I’ll endure. Someday a breakthrough will come, but until then I’ll still wear my scarf with pride.Back your club. Wear your colours. To whoever you support, I wish you the best of luck for the coming season.You’ll Never Walk Alone.