By Andrew Perrett
March 23 2004

Exiled fan Andrew, shares his view with TheSaddlersFC from Melbourne. This week Andrew Perrett talks about why it's Walsall not Warsaw for him.

“Isn’t that in Poland?”

This is a question I’ve been asked many times during my time in Asia. It follows my answers to questions along the lines of “what team do you support?” or “who’s your favourite Premier League team?” 

So I don’t support Man U or Arsenal. I’m not a fan of Liverpool or Leeds. I don’t even follow a small club like Middlesborough or Southampton. I’ve supported a small town club just north of Aston Villa for the last 16 years. I’ve been to away games near Chelsea, I’ve driven to games near Blackburn, I’ve even been to the outskirts of West Ham and Bolton. I support Walsall, nowhere near Poland, not in the Eastern block, never been communist (in spite of the media takes on the council).

Why? Because I’ve seen us win at Highbury, I watched us draw at Anfield, I’ve seen us destroyed 8-0 by Bolton. I’ve watched us at Elland Road and Craven Cottage. I’ve seen us lose to Chelsea. These were over a number of years rather than a single season, but all the better for that. Familiarity may breed contempt.

I’ve seen us lose 5-2 at Halifax (missed our 2 goals as I was a little late leaving the pub) draw 0-0 at Gillingham after driving down with a hang-over from hell on Boxing Day and driven from Stoke to Wigan on a motor bike in the rain to stand on a muddy bank in the open air in the middle of winter (or was that Chester, or both).

I continue to support Walsall. I watch with envy those able to continue to watch the best team in the world, who, but for biased referees and bad fortune in front of goals, would now be kings of Europe, or at least the Midlands. After all, we were doing well against Bolton that day until they scored 8 lucky goals, all of which were off-side.