If we ever had any doubt about how opposition teams try to use the Prenton Park crowd against us, an interview following the recent win over Aldershot put that to bed.
Speaking following a 2-0 win for Tranmere, Aldershot midfielder Lewis Kinsella outright admitted that the Shots had failed in their plan of turning the Tranmere fans against their own team by frustrating them. He conceded that the fans had stuck with their team, and Rovers grown in strength as a result.
That game had been a bit of a slog; two evenly matched teams vying for play-off positions. It was eventually settled courtesy of a goal each for Cook and Norwood, inspired by Larnell Cole’s quality from the bench.
Alas, the focus other teams place on the Prenton Park faithful should not be ignored. They know we’re a threat and so they try to nullify it.
If there is one thing we can be sure of, it’s that tomorrow’s game will be a tight, tough and exceptionally nervy contest. Rovers fans need to be on-form. But then again we will be, because that’s what we do.
hat’s what we have always done.
The SWA is a crowd like no other. We back the club through the unbelievable highs and unbearable lows, the likes of which fans from other clubs would run for the hills.
In the early 80s, we nearly lost our club. We stepped up and refused to let it happen.
In 88, we were on the verge of exiting the Football League. We packed Prenton Park, and roared the team on to the most dramatic of rescue missions.
We visited a place called Wembley in 89 and upset some of the big boys, our first visit to the national stadium. The home of English football soon became a second home for the King’s men.
As regular visitors, we experienced unbridled joy at Wembley in 91; we still treat those boys as legends today. If you achieve for us, you will be remembered.
The next decade saw us knock on the door of the Premier League repeatedly as a blend of local lads, youngsters and international players graced the white shirt with style.
Giant killings in the cup became routine. Inspired by some of the most remarkable atmospheres seen for domestic cup games.
We ran away with League One in 2012/13, only to somehow stumble and finish mid-table. Despite a monumental collapse, the players were applauded around the Prenton Park pitch on the last day of the season while ‘plucky’ Bournemouth celebrated an unlikely promotion to the Championship right in front of us. At our home. It should have been ours.
We fell, oh how we fell. The SWA remained with the team every step of the way. While countless no-mark players threw the towel in, we sung, we travelled, we paid and we backed them like few others would.
Our attendances in non-league are nonsensical.
We roared the team to within a whisker of a Football League return last year. Despite the feeling of despair, frustration and down-right exacerbation, we came back for more.
See for all of the incredible ecstatic highs, there are heartbreakingly gutting lows.
The one constant?
Us. The Super White Army.
So, when Ebbsfleet rock-up tomorrow intent on giving us another day to forget, desperate to turn us against our own team and thus make their own jobs easier, let’s do our thing.
Let’s meet it with unbridled passion. With unshakeable support and enthusiasm for the boys in white.
A wall of noise will leave Ebbsfleet in no doubt that whatever happens on the pitch, we’re sticking with the lads.
You want to beat us? You’ll have to take care of that yourselves, we won’t be giving you a helping hand.
We’re more than a twelfth man, we’re part of the team.
We know it won’t be routine, we know there is a chance we will go a goal down. But whatever happens, whatever the football gods throw at us tomorrow, let’s stick together. Let us once again demonstrate what Tranmere means to us, and what promotion would mean to everyone.
Here’s to another noisy afternoon.
