like a river flows surely to the sea, darling so it goes, some things are meant to be

As I have mentioned before I am an Ayr United fan.
I have a brother (better known as Jack's Grandpa) who lives in Helensburgh. It was his birthday yesterday. For his birthday treat I invited him along to the Dumbarton v Ayr game. It didn't go well. Ayr had a man sent off after half an hour whilst conceding a penalty. Game over! Ayr ended up losing 3-2.

It's his own fault really. When we were living in Ayr in the mid sixties, he and his mate Fraser would drag me along to Ayr away games in our dad's Mini (I was the youngest and not old enough to drive). I remember going to exotic locations like Cathkin Park, Cappielow and Firs Park where I seem to recall our mild mannered winger Arthur Patterson fighting with an old guy in the crowd.

My birthday is in August and every year my parents would buy me a Season Ticket for Somerset Park. I promised to try harder at school but each year they just kept on coming

I remember sitting on the back wall at the Somerset Road end with my mates and we would hold up home made banners and change ends at half-time passing the away fans heading in the other direction. Nowadays there is a segregation fence near the halfway line so that the 14 fans down from Peterhead cannot cause any trouble

In 1970 we moved down to the north of England, but by this time my two older brothers were married and had left home so I was left to my own devices to pick my new local team. We lived near Crook in County Durham which was fairly equidistant from Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough. I auditioned all three but finally opted for Sunderland. (no-one can ever accuse me of being a glory hunter with teams like Ayr and Sunderland). I think the deciding factor may have been Dick Malone who moved from Ayr to Sunderland in October 1970. It seemed only fair that I should make the same transition

Life is never dull as a Sunderland supporter. Most seasons you are either fighting for promotion or fighting to avoid relegation. Unfortunately I was not at Wembley in 1973 when they beat Leeds United to win the FA Cup but in later years I did have the misfortune to see them lose two play-off finals at Wembley in 1990 and 1998

By the time my three sons started attending football we were living in Glasgow and my two oldest boys opted for the dark side and began following R******. It seems no matter how good a father you might be sometimes they just choose the wrong path.

I still went to see Ayr and occasionally Sunderland with my youngest son (probably because he didn't have a choice at the time) and we saw Ayr reach two major semis and a final between 2000 and 2002. (we did lose all three without even scoring a goal). Given that I had been at our last semi final appearance in 1973, I told him to make the most of it as it could be a while coming round again

I think that is the essence of supporting a smaller team. You are used to the lows so when the occasional high comes around you appreciate it all the more. I don't think you get that same feeling with the likes of Rangers, Celtic, Manchester United or Chelsea as they are so used to winning each week

Anyway it is to be hoped young Ben does not follow his father to the dark side but instead follows the path of enlightenment which comes out just at the top of Somerset Road. I will be standing there waiting for him

I leave you this week with my Top 5 Best and Worst games attended

Best

1. Partick Thistle 1 Ayr United 3 1998.....last day of the season and Ayr win to stay up and relegate Thistle. It doesn't get any better
2. Newcastle United 0 Sunderland 2 1990 play-off semi final second leg (no explanation required)
3. Scotland 2 Sweden 1 1990 ....the only game I have ever seen Scotland win in the World Cup Finals
4. Ayr 2 Rangers 1 1969....the first time I ever saw us beat Rangers
5. Wales 0 Scotland 2 1977....went to Liverpool to see this with my two brothers...great game/great atmosphere/great trip

Worst

1. Rangers 7 Ayr 0 2000 Scottish Cup Semi-Final....at least my sons didn't rub it in too much (aye right)
2. Scotland 1 Italy 2 2007 Euro Qualifier....last minute heartbreaker
3. Everton 5 Sunderland 0 1999...my mate from Liverpool got me 4 tickets in the Everton section and my sons and I drove there and back from Glasgow in the pouring rain. Not one of our better trips
4. Inverness Caley Thisle 4 Ayr 3 2001...Scottish Cup 3rd round...Ayr were winning 3-0 at half-time...it's a long drive back to Glasgow after that
5. England 3 Scotland 1 1979....my brother and I drove down and were supposed to stay with friends but were so disgusted we drove straight back to Ayr after the game (that's an even longer and quieter journey than Inverness to Glasgow)

The best game I ever saw as a neutral was Real Madrid 4 Barcelona 2 in 2005 on a weekend trip with my sons. The scorers were Zidane, Ronaldo, Raul, Owen, Eto'o and Ronaldinho so that rather sums it up.
Hopefully we can make that trip again in the future with young Ben added to the travelling party. Football.....it's a family tradition