We have seen them on TV time and time again.  Newcastle fans who have been robbed of a title, Middlesbrough diehards having lost a Cup Final/been relegated/lost another manager, Sheffield Wednesday supporters stunned at going down on the last day of the season and Arsenal fans, who just can’t believe that they watch their side week in, week out. 

Sobbing away in the stands on their own or with a group of equally choked mates, they are zoomed in on by the cameras to beam them back into the front rooms of the nation.  Hilariously funny if you are in front of the box watching someone else’s team suffering, but not so when it is your own. 

What that young lady has done is put a great big smile on everyone’s face at home.  All those fans who hate Tottenham and they seem to be increasing in numbers by the day (although it beats me why when the are much more odious sides out there).  They were lapping it up.  “Look at her,” you could imagine them saying as they choked on their beer. 

We all felt like that on the day.  It hurt. Not just losing, which was bad enough, but the team let the fans down in front of a huge audience … and that lady did likewise.  She let us all down, by making us as big a laughing stock as the team. 

It didn’t help when her boyfriend came out and said she didn’t go to many matches (in which case, how did she get a ticket ?) and that she had never seen Spurs lose.  Well, she has now and she should have seen Spurs lose before she went, then she might have been used to it. 

What she did was understandable, but she obviously did not understand the whole dynamics of the TV coverage on the day.  Go face painted.  Go with a silly hat on.  Go with a cockerel on your head.  But don’t go crying on national TV. 

This is private grief, not for mass consumption.  Shed a tear in the company of those who understand away from the glare of the cameras and floodlights.  Pour it out in a pub or at home, but not in the middle of a huge ground full of disappointed fans. 

Failing that, get your boyfriend to say that you had wanted to go to the toilet at the Millennium Stadium, but unfortunately, there were insufficient numbers and you were just about fit to burst.  Just don’t embarrass Spurs supporters as a whole live on TV. The team are more than capable of doing that for us already !! 

TED MAUL

Mind you, there are some fans we don't mind seeing cry !!