D-Day Dawns In North London

And so it comes down to this. After 37 Premiership games we are left on the last day of the season with the eyes of the footballing world centred on two old foes separated by around five miles of North London and one point in the league table as they play out their last throw of this season’s dice in the race for 4th place.

Usually it’s the title decider or the relegation battle which keeps everyone interested on the last day of the season but with Chelsea having wrapped the title up early (around August time some might say) and Sunderland, West Brom and Birmingham being so wretched that they couldn’t hold on until the last day, it’s the race for 4th place, a potential Champion’s League berth next year and North London bragging rights which has taken centre stage and I don’t have to tell regular readers that I’m currently having trouble keeping my nerves in check.

It’s no secret which half of the North London line my loyalties lie on (hint for newbies, there isn’t anything red in my house) and to get this far this season has been such a dream that I’ll be shattered completely if we lose out on the last day of the season, having sat in fourth spot for so many months and shown a grit and determination that we’ve lacked in other years. I’ll break with tradition and actually give the Goons some credit (not much mind you) and say that their revival after Christmas has been extraordinary and propelled along by Thierry Henry they have deservedly came back into contention.

Spurs still have the key in their own hands though and a win away to West Ham who hopefully have their eyes on the FA Cup Final will be enough to see us through. We’re going into the family home to watch it today so a house of Yiddos will be either celebrating or crying in despair come 5pm but this is really what football is all about. The ability to completely take over lives and capture the imagination of all who hold any stake in the outcome.

To the fans on both sides this is about far more than playing in the Champion’s League next season, it’s all about pride and honour and the feeling of accomplishment you get when those 11 players turn over your biggest rivals and you can go into work on a Monday morning smiling your widest smile instead of hiding in the toilets until everyone else has gone home.

This is why we love football and by the end of today we’ll know what kind of mood the two halves of North London will have for the rest of the summer.

COYS