Chesterfield fan goes viral with emotional yet brilliant radio call-in after playoff defeat

A Chesterfield fan goes viral this week with his emotional yet brilliant radio call-in after his side’s playoff final defeat.

The Spireites, named Tom, spoke about his pride following the loss to Notts County, and boy is it a great worthwhile listen.

It’s hardly surprising fans are wanting this guy to give Chesterfield’s future team talks, but it really is quite something… 

CLICK HERE to listen in full or read the transcript below…

😢 THIS is what it means to be a football fan.

Have a listen to this brilliant call from Chesterfield supporter Tom 👇

Listen to the full call here 👉 https://t.co/YUXrdLMKRW#Spireites | @BBCSheffield | @BBCSport pic.twitter.com/50A4gPFlPA

— Football Heaven (@footballheaven) May 16, 2023

Fan: I don’t know whether I was going to come on tonight, but I thought I’d give it a go. So I’ve been trying to sort of think about it all weekend, really, why this has been the hardest defeat I’ve ever had to take. Um, and I’ve come I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason I feel the way I do is because of the immense pride I have for everything associated with my football club. Because the players gave everything, and I mean everything, they couldn’t have give anymore. Anybody that wants to dissect the game, the opportunities penalty instance. Genuinely, Rob, I’m not interested. Because whatever anybody says, that team went out there and as a supporter, all you want is pride in your badge because they’re representing you. And they were magnificent. They gave everything to the cause. But what’s really made me as emotional as I am, and I apologise for being like this on the radio, was the supporters, young and old, the way that we got so many fans that are now invested in our football club. I saw young children, young boys and girls completely devastated. And then you get comments. This young girl was crying her eyes out before the penalty shootout and a mom turned around to her and went, ‘if it’s Mansfield or Maidenhead, don’t worry, we’ll still be there.’ And you have to remember, Rob, that we didn’t have very much of a club a few years back. Now we have a magnificent club, a club to be proud of, a team to be proud of, and supporters to be proud of. And this hurts like mad because we gave it everything. Those supporters in that stadium were nothing short of magnificent. They gave everything from start to finish. And if you take that, unfortunately, you can’t you take the result out of the way. It was one of the best days ever in football terms. And I have so much pride and I have so much hope for the future. To see my skipper coming out at the end and talking so eloquently and magnificently and showing what it means, he was absolutely devastated. But if this ever gets back to any player I said something on social media a few years ago when before the Grimsby game, and I implored them and they didn’t turn up and they didn’t try. And that was anger. And I think I’ve heard some of that anger tonight from Sheffield Wednesday fans, and I can absolutely tolerate on what they’re saying. But these aren’t tears of anger. These are tears of pride and tears of absolute. I’m so proud. I am so proud. And, you know, I’ll just finish on this, Rob, because I don’t want to say much more, is that I just possibly didn’t think it was ever going to be possible for me to love my football club more than I did.But walking out that ground on Saturday, I certainly did well.

Interviewer: Tom, you know a lot of people listen to your calls and can resonate because you wear your heart and your sleeve. You’re clearly very emotional. What are the last 20, last 48 hours been like then? Because you’re obviously incredibly proud of your football team. Have you spent a lot of time sort of just running through the game in your head or what are the last two days been like?

Fan: I haven’t thought about any of the goals, the decisions, anything like that. It was just the, that’s what’s quite that’s what sort of I think that’s what shook me really. It was it’s nothing to do you know, normally, you know, you’re on the coach on your way back and you’re talking about one the goals or this or this incident or that incident, the penalty, whatever. No nothing. It was all about the last 48 hours have just been about pictured so much stuff that I saw in the crowd and the stuff I saw first hand and I’ll never forget that. I’ll never forget. And that’s what I took away. And I’m just so gutted because the fans put so much into that. And we were probably 7000/8000 lighter than Notts County. And we made so much noise, we out sang them. Everything was against us and we just kept going and we were so close. And I made a daft mistake by I sort of caught up on a bit of Radio Sheffield stuff over the weekend and I wish I hadn’t because I saw this, like, on the catch up praise or grumble. And it wasn’t praise or grumble, it was the end of it. It was obviously the show overrun. And I heard Adam’s unbelievable, some of it commentary. And he said that his hair still on the back of his neck because of the noise we’ve made. And that’s somebody who’s commentators and they couldn’t believe it. They were so good, it was even getting to them. And I think that’s how powerful it was. The result and the fact that we’re still in the National League I will get over fairly quickly but the emotion and the pride I have is it’s blown me away to be honest. It’s absolutely blown me away and I probably should have waited a couple of days to come on here before doing this.

Interviewer: I’ll tell you what Tom, we’re already getting texts replying to what you’re saying. I mean I’ll read this one to you from Matt, a Wednesday fan, top man Tom the Spireite. You may have missed out on promotion this season but I’m genuinely jealous that you have some pride in the player’s performance in the games that really matter. A lot of people will be incredibly supportive of what you’ve and just love hearing from you Tom because to me you’ve got the essence of a football fan in your voice. The fact that we can hear how much it means to you. We’ve all been there, we’ve all been there following our teams over the years. God, I can think of numerous times when sports left me feeling like an absolute wreck for two weeks after a game. And I can imagine what the last two days have been like for you, Tom. I bet there’s been loads of tears, loads of emotion, and I bet it’s been tough.

Fan: If I can just give that Wednesday fans something back, if any Wednesday fans listen to this, if they know, if they’re disappointed, I know they’re gutted and all, they’ll be disappointed.But you remember that for us, it’s over, and for you, it’s not. And people can mock or whatever, but whatever you do, remember that it’s not those players. It’s not this manager or this player or whatever. It’s that badge. And you go on Thursday or Friday, whenever your game is, and you get behind that badge, the badge you fell in love with, the badge that you would do anything for, and you get behind them and you never know. You never know, because you still got a possible 120 minutes to get to win that game or whatever it is. So never give in. Never give up. Never give in on your club. Never turn your back. Never ever say, no, I’ve had enough. Because it’s your club and you should be proud. Whatever the situation, it’s not the players, it’s not the manager. It’s you and your badge. And never forget that, because I certainly won’t. And me being associated with my club makes me so proud. And I genuinely didn’t think I could love my club anymore. But after Saturday, I do. Look, I appreciate you having me on. I’m sorry that I’ve got too emotional. I you know, unless I said I’ll speak to you sometime in the future. But I appreciate you giving me the opportunity.

Here’s how Twitter users reacted as the Chesterfield fan goes viral with an emotional yet brilliant radio call-in after the playoff defeat…

@Mark41782211: Absolutely brilliant. It is just football, more important things, but take the emotion out you have nothing

@MickCordukes: Spot on Tom , well said . This is what supporting your club is all about . See you next season.

@kev4599: All I can say is wow well done Tom

@ToytownM: Phones up a lot this lad ..credit to him a proper fan throughout the lows he was still their hope they do it next season.

@Hayleymoz78: You’ll be fine. Champs next season 🙏. It just felt like our time after the season we’ve had. 🤍🖤

@swilko84: Brilliant phone call this. Come on swfc fans for one final time let’s give them our support 🦉💙🦉 and if it’s not to be it’s not to be #swfc

@mja1980: Great call in he is spot on

@sorton66: Awesome 👏👏

@AdyPuk: Darren Moore could do worse than play that to the squad… do they really know what it means to the fans ? .. I don’t think they do !

@TrevThompson16: You’ll see that in a movie one day, that moves more than inspiration talks

@Andybittern: Just how I feel about the Rugby League team I’ve follow for 40+ years. It’s in your blood.

@YCFC1972: This bloke sums it up ❤️

@laticwolf: Absolutely this, through thick and thin #wafc 💙🤍

@paul_caffrey: And that’s football 🌍🏐

@eezeeu: Who the fuck’s cutting onions right now?

@padthemiller: Some people will never GET what being a football fan is all about Some people can change teams and go for the glory Many of us like Tom luckily do GET it it’s rarely easy but once you’re in it’s impossible to get out Fantastic call Tom 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

@smithsara5: Never give in. Never give up. Never give in on your club. Never turn your back. It’s your club, you should be proud whatever the situation. Its not the players or manager. Its you and your badge never forget that. Being associated with my club makes me proud 👏🦉💙 @swfc @SWFCwsg

@furbag: This is what it means to be a football fan – not the fake social media BS between ‘fans’ or the pessi rubbish. Love your club and support them whatever happens. Loving them doesn’t mean hating others either. Well done to Notts County.