A day trip on the 77-seat Taunton Express

Thanks for the report!

As it happened, I managed to navigate the country by trains, Uber and coaches, but the sentiment and offer was genuinely appreciated.

The effort you guys put in, week-in & week-out, is not lost. Respect.

I've said it a few times but you Everton fans never cease to amaze me with your support, up at the crack of dawn and home at all hours following a team that has given you very little in terms of silverware, over many years.

You really are the cream of our support, especially when I look at the way the day pans out for me on match days. I'm ready to go at 2:30 pm, my wife usually drops me off at the ground 5 minutes later and, after a chat to fellow Blues, I stroll in The Upper Bullens 5 minutes before the game starts.

After the game, my granddaughter picks me up at the Taxi Club, a 5-minute walk away from Goodison, and it's "Home, James" – a lot different to your efforts. Mind you, it wasn't the same sort of day when I was alive!!

I envy you your balance, Dave; I wish I could be so calm and resolutely optimistic.

These bulletins are great and it would be nice to hear from some of our other supporters' groups – Northern Ireland, the Republic, Wales, South Coast, Scandinavia, North America, Asia, Africa etc.

2 gruelling coach rides in one day can't be easy. Especially when it sounds like PC needs 2 seats just for himself!

My favourite trip up that route, in a dilapidated van, was for the Andy King derby.

What did PC eat on the way home?

It takes a lot of dedication to put in those miles and organise the trips for every game. Full respect from me too.

Nice report mate. Pretty much how I saw it. I was a bit surprised to see Tarkowski struggle but as you say maybe it was being on the left.

I went regularly for a few years with the WCB, starting back in 97 when a fella from Yeovil called Pete Russell ran the club (anyone know what happened to him?) - he was quite a character.

Met some lovely people - Bill & Jackie, Ian and his son, the Maxwells, a guy that always wore a Hibbert shirt (don't know his name!) and many more.

They've obviously done well to fill a double-decker… back in my day, a minibus was often big enough apart from for the ‘big' games. I still see Bill and Jackie at the games, but your post has made me think that I should perhaps join up with the club again and make life easier (driving M5 &M6 has been a pain for many years).

I might even tempt my kids to join me. Looking forward to your next report, if only to see what PC stuffed his face with! 😆

I met Bill and Jackie years ago at an away game, and still see them at most away games and also sometimes in The Brick before home games.

Bill works in the crematorium down where they live, and Jackie is only small, about five feet, but boy can she neck some ale.

Yes that's the same Bill and Jackie and she hasn't grown! Nice people and stalwarts of West Country Blues. I well remember the days of no more than a dozen travelling in a coach owned by one of the members – Royal Blues Travel!

It's incredibly popular now and heaven knows what will happen if we start to play decent football and get into contention for a trophy!

I generally get to away games much more often than home games these days but, back in the day, I was on that bus all the time. Many of those guys don't miss a game home or away, and haven't done for years… even before I had a family of my own, I never had that level of commitment!

From what I understand, you're one of those guys – fair play, mate.

Out of interest, how many of those who travel with you on the coach are Liverpool or Merseyside born and brought up in our area, including your own story of following the Blues?

Judging from the accents, I'd say most are local lads. The amazing bit is that there must be 40 or 50 who are season ticket holders!

My own story? Born just around the corner to the old Allinson nightclub and moved to the Wirral when I was 3. My cousin came over one Sunday and he had a glossy souvenir brochure about our title win, so it was the summer of 1963.

We played football in the garden – he was Roy Vernon and I was Alex Young – and it all started! My uncle had season tickets to entertain business colleagues and he took me and my cousin to the opening game of the next season which I think we lost 3-4 to a very good Burnley side boasting the likes of Lochhead and Pointer.

Over the years I spent 12 years in London, then 30 now in Devon, but my love for the club just gets even worse with time! I just cannot understand why some people either stop supporting or feel that they have to abuse players (unless they clearly are not trying) – for me, you support regardless because it's in your blood and you just can't help it.

While not quite well enough to go on the West Country Blues bus, we all chip in to get him to a game once a month or so. As you can imagine, he sticks out like a sore thumb in Burnham, being a scouser and very well liked in his locals.

Thanks for your reply and your “My love for Everton just gets worse” sums up the way I continue to follow the Blues with never a thought about stopping.

I remember that loss 3-4 loss to Burnley, trying to think of the Irish international inside forward who played in that game, think his name was Hill, Catterick bought him after the title win, didn't pay a lot for him and he didn't last long at Goodison.

Jimmy Hill. Signed from Norwich?

That's the man, honestly thought of “Jimmy” but dismissed it because of the famous Jimmy Hill who revolutionised the wage structure of professional footballers in the sixties and also became a football pundit on TV.

Thanks, Chris, I hope you are keeping well, you don't post as often as you used to.

So far so good, mate! I hope you're keeping okay too.

I was at that Burnley game too, with my old mate Steve. I think Jimmy scored. From memory, West and Labone had stinkers, and Blacklaw kept launching howitzers up towards our penalty area. Big lad, Adam Blacklaw.

No, I tend to give TW a bit of a miss these days.

That's what I keep telling myself anyway, although they send me to the depths of despair on more than many occasions. But we can't deny it and can't stop. And when they do deliver, it's one of the best feelings in the world and why we do it.

I got asked why I bother yesterday. I didn't need to answer. My son, 27 years old (figure his Everton experience out), chipped in. He doesn't go because he thinks they"re going to win every match, he goes to follow and support was his response.

One day our reward will come. Reward for those who live in walking distance or a short drive. For those who get a local bus or train. For those who travel long days the length of the country and back. For those who watch and follow from afar but can't be there. For all of us.

We're all the same and want the same thing.

I keeping that Burnley game was a night match but not sure that it was.

Danny yes we all the love the Blues no matter where we come from near or far but it's definitely a lot easier for some fans, like myself, to get to the game and when the day finally comes when we win something I hope I haven't forgot how to enjoy it, although that Crystal Palace game brought an incredible crescendo of joyful noise at the final whistle and for the rest of the night around Goodison Park!!

If he's as big a supporter as he suggests, he can come and sit with me and try to get a drink at half time on the cramped and overcrowded concourse!! I'll pay for his ticket.

I doubt many, if any, are happy about the terrible plight the club is in but, yes sure, nowhere enough fans care or don't want to see the back of Kenwright to do anything about it and if we get out of this predicament a lot will relax and wait for those “ good times “ to roll back again.

If many or, as you say, any care about the club and getting to the next level, why was or is any protest quickly shot down and derided?

I have seen and heard with my own eyes every home match as soon as his name is brought up, the fans go quiet or put their head down and say what's the point of complaining?

Now that other loser is under pressure at West Ham, we will be hovering to get him if this 3 games turns into 5. Unless the dream team gets in there first (Dunc and Unsworth).

Nick Page puts it better than me.

I don't know the reason but I have stated for a long time if you get 10 Evertonians in a room and ask them how they feel about Kenwright, at least six will say he is okay. You see it on ToffeeWeb, he has his supporters who try to defend his time as owner and chairman.

The tide seems to be slightly turning against him after last season and the slow start to this season but it will revert back again if things turn brighter again, which is obviously what we all want.

I agree with you Everton, would be a much better club and team if we had some professional business people running the club from the boardroom instead of the self-centred chairman and his hand-picked clique.

We can only hope and dream that becomes the reality as quickly as possible for the sake of the biggest asset the club has got — the fans spread far and wide.

Most of us Evertonians down here in the West Country were born down here. A lot of us will have family that started supporting in the '50s and '60s onwards (my Dad is to blame in my case) but no link to Merseyside whatsoever.

You'd be astonished just how many Blues I know in my town… we're everywhere! We're still a massive club, and not just in L4… I'm dreaming of the day we start to play football like one!

Yes, I am astonished that a 72-seater double-decker bus was mostly filled with Everton supporters with no local links to the club, astonished and immensely proud that fans from so far away think so much of Everton Football Club. That is amazing and brilliant for me to read and I bet that applies to a lot of us local born fans.

As soon as I win the lottery, two state-of-the-art modern coaches will be sent down for the benefit of all of you wonderful fans!!

And what do you do to not accept the standards that you falsely claim that others do "accept"?

The answer, I believe, is that you complain on here and others don't do so as badly. Complaining on here doesn't change anything, to change anything, you need to be in a position of power at the club.

I'm sorry to break this but you're no different to any other fan in that you accept everything they do. My apologies if you actually do something that is different to those who offer different opinions which aren't necessarily accepting what is offered.

Some fans absolutely accept what is offered without condition. I've never met one but they are absolutely entitled to do that.

I'm no super fan, better or worse, and I care for the club like you. All I'm saying is that I came away from the last protest very deflated as the message didn't really get across.

You say only people in a position of power can change things. Well, Man Utd fans have the owners running scared, trying to finally appease them after fierce protests. A bigger example, them other shower actually achieved it.

There's no way they would have a fraud as owner or even a chairman. Same with Newcastle, albeit took longer. Admittedly maybe not now but not long ago, his face came on the big screen and got clapped by the fans and the Blue Union got shouted down.

I know it's a no-win because any upturn and he thrives and lives for another day. If we are on the brink, then maybe the pressure will mount but I'm a Blue so obviously don't want that.

We had signed Jimmy Hill the month before as cover for Roy Vernon. I still have the Saturday Liverpool Echo with his photo on the front page and the headline ‘International Deputy'.

Thanks for that, I was at the game but couldn't make my mind up whether it was a night or day game, I think the European Cup game versus Inter Milan was around the same time.

Sorry for the late addition to the forum but I too have fond memories of the WCB bus. Admittedly, it's been just under a decade since I last ventured but, from the age of 5 years old to my early teens, I was a regular attendee on the bus with my old man (Paul).

I met some amazing people, lifelong friends. Including memories of the aforementioned Jackie, Bill and the Maxwells. Especially Andy, or as I historically liked to call him, the handshake man.

Back then, Everton were in a lot less precarious situation... ahh, the David Moyes days. Utterly underappreciated at the time but what we would all do for that now, eh!

One of my most strong memories was being an all-around Everton fountain of knowledge, at age 7 or 8 years old, being quizzed by fellow WCBs about Everton's goalscorers and shirt numbers and being able to comfortably recite them from memory, much to the surprise of those around.

Also, coming home one day sitting round the dinner table and blurting out "Kopites are gobshites". My mum horrified and bemused, my Dad mesmerised and amused, "Paul, what are you teaching him!!!" my mum would exclaim. It was as all part of the Goodison experience growing up.

Oh, and how can I forget. Walking round the coach asking everyone for their MotM, only for the coach to come to a sudden hault and for me to near enough break my nose on the arm of a seat, the nostalgia. My mum was livid but the Toffees won so who cares!

In retrospect, being able to experience this was sensational. A privilege that not many people my age at the time would have had access to, and I am forever grateful my dad (a born and bread scouser btw) introduced me to this way of life and a football club that has become so influential in my life.

They say Evertonians are born and not manufactured but fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your perspective) I had it ingrained into me from a young age. Ketchup was even banned from our house growing up, purely due to its colour.

I hope Frank can go on to be the figurehead we as a fanbase deserve, and 27 years of hurt can eventually come to an end. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I have fond memories of the WCB and hopefully my Dad and I will be aboard again one day.

All the best.