Armchair supporter': do I still love going to football or just love the idea of it? | Max Rushden

Cambridge United’s Carabao Cup second-round trip to Millwall on Tuesday brought back nearly 37 years of memories for writer Max Rushden, starting with a 6-0 Cambridge win over Hartlepool on 11 February 1989. He recalls early games in familiar surroundings—walking past Hartlepool supporters at Coldham’s Common and watching in the Junior U’s enclosure—before acknowledging that as a child, much of the action passed him by amid shouting, cigarettes, and the noise of bigger men. At the Abbey, Jake Cooper scored early for Millwall, and Cambridge never really broke through. The author reflects on how nostalgia, aging, and life far from home shape matchday feelings.