In celebration of being a part of the action by attending in person instead of taking in a game on the box

The near instant transition from summer to autumn confirms that the football season is firmly up and running, to the point that looking at league tables is now valid. With that in mind, it’s both surprising and encouraging to see my two League One sides, Plymouth Argyle and MK Dons, threatening the upper reaches of the table.

Before the start of the campaign, both teams had reason to be negative about the months ahead, with Argyle’s form last season suggesting a possible relegation battle while the Dons headed into the unknown having lost their manager just days before their first game.

Instead, both sides have won more games than they’ve lost, picking up 19 points from their first ten games and defying expectations.

While Argyle can be seen as the division’s real surprise package so far, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Sunderland, Wigan Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers, the Dons are perhaps the league’s entertainers, scoring 20 goals and conceding 13 in their opening encounters.

The most recent fixture at stadiummk saw Fleetwood Town visiting; a side who have struggled so far this season, picking up only ten points from their first nine games.

Taking place on a Tuesday night, the game represented an example of a lower league club’s worst nightmare – direct competition with a televised Champions League matchday, the focus of which was a clash between Manchester City and Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain, a game which many believe could be a pre-cursor to the ultimate winner of that competition.

Attracting fans to a stadium for live action when a big game is on the box is a tough challenge – made even more difficult by torrential rain in Milton Keynes with casual punters dissuaded from parting with their cash in favour of kicking back to see how that PSG front line is actually working together.

Before the start of the season, my knowledge of my local team and its players was practically zero. After a few games, however, I already feel more in tune with who the team’s leaders are, who the potential match winners are and who could be concerned about their place in the side.

Meanwhile, my connection to my ‘big’ side, Tottenham, continues to wane – and not just because the club seems to be constantly searching for a new crisis, ready to lurch from the current one with spectacular drama and embarrassment. That’s not solely down to the side’s steady drift down the Premier League table, but also because, in my opinion, actually going to matches is a big part of the experience of following a club.

There’s so much more to attending games than simply the game or the action, much of which revolves around the social experience and sharing it with other people, even if they are total strangers.

On this particular occasion, those of us who eschewed the televised action in favour of the real world were treated to a proper game between two sides who really went for it. Despite their lowly position in the table, Fleetwood played on the front foot and looked to get bodies forward, which hasn’t always been the case for some of the Dons’ opponents so far this season.

It made for an entertaining game, not just because of the 3-3 scoreline, but because both teams looked like they wanted to attack and create chances. So far this season, I’ve been really impressed with the standard of football on show from almost every side. In particular, my previous visit saw Portsmouth as the visitors for an evenly-matched, entertaining game, which ultimately resulted in a 2-1 win for the Dons.

I don’t come at this from a particularly technical point of view – I’m not a coach or an expert in tactics by any means – so I’m just a punter with no horse in the race, but still the experience of going to matches again has been well worth the investment in my season ticket. Thinking back a few years ago, football at this level was not always a great spectacle; most sides seemed happy to be solid and hard to beat, aiming to maybe nick a goal with a set piece, but sies playing in that manner seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

While I still wouldn’t class myself as a Dons fan, there’s no substitute for actually attending a match; watching games, highlights and YouTube clips from afar is not the same as actually feeling it when the action takes place in front of you. Even on a rainy night in a quarter-filled stadium, you’re essentially part of the game rather than simply observing it on the box.

It’s essentially a case of an active experience in contrast to a passive one – when watching football on telly, it’s easy to drift in and out of attention. You pick up your phone and briefly scroll the socials, maybe like a few cat videos and then return to the game when Gary Neville’s commentary reaches fever pitch. When you’re actually in attendance, you’re far more immersed in the occasion, observing the actions of the players in any given situation and taking in the reactions of the crowd.

This is even further amplified when the result really matters – nothing beats the feeling of a last-gasp equaliser or that moment of brilliance that turns a game in your team’s favour. While my match-going experiences so far this season have been limited to attending as a neutral bystander, I can’t wait to get behind Argyle when I can. My first planned trip to see the Greens in action was at Wimbledon a couple of weeks ago, but all tickets were sold to season ticket holders before general sale, showing the popularity of following the team on the road. It’s now looking like my first Argyle game of the season might be Oxford away on 16^th October.

Back at stadiummk, the crowd of 6,600 (including probably 100 visiting fans) were treated to an absolute cracker of a game, which ultimately resulted in a share of the spoils thanks to a late equaliser from the away side. Dons were dragged through the game by an excellent performance from Scott Twine, who sealed a brilliant hat trick with a direct free kick that smashed the crossbar, bounced down onto the line and into the roof of the net.

It must have been a great night out for the away fans who made the trip; the journey is a shade under 200 miles as the crow flies, making it a late night on Tuesday. Those who did make the trek certainly looked like they were enjoying themselves and they would definitely have gone away happy, having claimed a richly deserved point with an 88^th minute equaliser.

While City were being put to the sword by Messi, Neymar and pals, I never once regretted my choice to go out and watch the game as opposed to staying in for a different one. It was cold, it threw it down with rain and there were no petrostates inflating the wage bill, but it was real, it mattered and I felt like a part of it.