David Hannant: How fatherhood has changed me as a City fan

Since Norwich City last kicked a ball, two close friends of mine welcomed a beautiful baby girl into the world - and I couldn't be happier for them.

This joyous news - my favourite thing to happen in 2023 so far - got me thinking about football and fatherhood and in particular my own journey as a City supporter and a dad.

My son Finnick is coming up to his second birthday in December, so still a way off sampling a Saturday afternoon at Carra - although he is already officially a Junior Canary.

One of the first outfits he was put in had the club crest on it and thanks to the brilliant On the Stall City he has more than a few City shirts already.

Clearly, this all means it is utterly inevitable that he will either end up supporting somebody else or hate football altogether - and I'm unsure which of these scenarios is worse.

But this is all a few years off, but in the here and now I already feel like a different person - and a different football fan - from the one I was before December 10, 2021. 

I'm sure everybody experiences fatherhood and football differently, but here are just a few of the ways I feel my fandom has changed.

Football is no longer first

This seems a fairly obvious one, but equally one that there is no real denying - football no longer comes first.

Until Finn's arrival, it's probably fair to say that my weekends were almost entirely factored around the football - particularly when City were at home.

The day after my son was born there was what you'd consider a big game on - Manchester United at home.

My partner was still in hospital, as was the boy, with visiting hour still under Covid restrictions so I was only permitted to be there between 12pm and 6pm daily.

The match was an evening kick-off, a 5.30pm start if memory serves me correctly - but there was no way I was leaving a second earlier than kicking out time at the N&N. This was probably one of the first times I hadn't put football first.

Does this mean I now never go to the football - clearly not - but my attendance has certainly waned a little.

Defeat doesn't hurt as much

In keeping with the theme of there being more important things than football, a more recent moment really put things into perspective.

Like most football fans, my moods are largely impacted by the fortunes of my club on the pitch - and generally, a poor performance will put me in a foul mood for the rest of the day.

This season, no performance has been poorer than the 6-2 rout away at Plymouth.

I listened to that one on the radio with a mixture of anger, frustration and sheer bemusement as we were swept aside by the newly-promoted Pilgrims.

As the full-time whistle when I was all ready to get in a big huff, then Finn, who was playing on the floor at the time, held aloft a toy car and shouted "yellow!"

The timing and volume of his yell brought the biggest grin to my face, just moments after a defeat that would ordinarily have had me scowling for hours on end. As yes, it was a yellow car, so no cause for concern there.

Why all the swearing?

With it having been almost 30 years since my first football game, I'm obviously well-versed in the language of the terraces.

The effing and jeffing, to a point, has never particularly bothered me and in every day life I tend to swear like a sailor - although I try to be slightly more careful in front of the wee one.

However, perhaps with one ear on the day I finally get to add the third generation of Hannant to my match day squad, suddenly it has started to irritate me.

People swearing with frustration or in the heat of a bad refereeing call doesn't bother me as such - but where it has started to irritate me is in chants.

It seems every time a new song emerges, no matter how catchy it is, it always seems to have to have a swear word or two in it.

I now find myself questioning - is it really necessary? I get songs need to syllabically fit into tunes and so forth but is the F word really the only way of filling two syllables?

This never bothered me in the slightest before I was a dad, but now it does grate and I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

The last thing I would want is to be hauled into my son's school because the chants have filtered onto the playground.

Added excitement - but not just yet

One of the biggest questions I ask myself as a dad is when is it right to take my boy to Carrow Road.

He has technically already been to his first game - a women's fixture at The Nest - although we did bail at half time after the ball came within a whisker of landing in his pram a few times. 

I'm at a bit of a loss as to when to take him on his first trip up Carra.

On one hand, I can't wait to share my biggest passion with the individual who is most important to me.

I fear if I strike too soon, it might all wash over him and put him off altogether - which would clearly be a disaster.

Equally, if I wait too long it increases the chances of him being seduced by another club, sport or hobby.

Any advice that can be offered on this front would be gratefully received!

Farke life goes on

It goes without saying that the big talking point this weekend will be Daniel Farke's return to Carrow Road.

I'm sure it will be strange for everyone to see arguably our best manager this century step into the away dugout - not least for the man himself.

The cynic in me can see no other outcome than an away win - probably a comfortable one.

So inevitably, Farke's reaction to that will no doubt come under scrutiny - will he do his trademark wave?

I can already see the Twitter, sorry, X meltdown if and when he does - but I won't be part of it.

The fact of the matter is, Daniel Farke is now the Leeds manager and is part of the Leeds community - he is no longer Norwich City manager.

I, for one, do not think it would be disrespectful to us if he did partake in his post-victory tradition.

If anything, it would be disrespectful to the Leeds fans if he did not do it, and as much as it pains us, this has got to be his top priority.

I'm sure he will show his appreciation for his time here at some stage - knowing him it will likely be simple and dignified, but we should not begrudge him if he achieves his goal of beating us.