On Saturday the 29th of January, I was lucky enough to speak to long serving volunteer and long time St Albans City FC supporter Peter Knock as we watched St Albans battle Slough Town FC. He briefly told me of his initial support for Chelsea, but after moving away decided not to renew his season ticket, and so decided to give his support to the Saints.

“This is my 34th season as a volunteer, but I’ve been coming before then” Peter chimes as he reflects on the duration of his support for the club.

Over the years, he has seen many different sides but, in his opinion, “Probably the best side was about 1992-93: Steve Clark, Blackman. 1992, when we just failed to get promotion.”

The club has been in good form recently, fighting for a play-off position, therefore arguably comparable to the team of ’93. “They’re not too bad…” he says optimistically, “Where we are, we’re about the right level. I mean, I wouldn’t want us to go up, personally, because we’d probably come straight down!"

“We had a very good FA Cup where we beat Forest Green in the first round. That’s the first time we beat a league club for about 120 years!” Peter lauds, “The crowds have gone up, and as you can see today there’s about 1200. They’re doing very well really. I mean, Jeffers at number 9, he’s the main man! He’s scored about 20 goals.”

The FA Cup performance for many vs Forest Green was a memorable experience for many younger fans, especially as it was covered by the BBC. Peter hails it “excellent, superb” and “brilliant”.

For the historians, the first game Peter attended was “somewhere in the 1960’s”. He laughs as he admits he was “born in 1953”, so must have been young when attending.

My conversation with Peter emphasizes the tribal nature of football, as throughout history we can see how a mere sporting club to some, is a place where others, like Peter, dedicate their lives to, and expect little back.