BEING a supporter of a football team which sees great success only intermittently is a frustrating, yet noble, pursuit.

You have to be of a certain nature, intensely loyal, determined and possibly slightly eccentric.

Supporting a team which is accustomed to winning regularly is easy and, for some of us, it is perversely too easy. Those of us turned off by Premier League success find ourselves enduring defeats and the bad times as we know the purgatory is worth every minute when that unexpected victory comes along to restore our faith.

This week saw baseball team the Boston Red Sox win baseball's coveted World Series for the first time in 86 years. The Sox, who have been ridiculed and reviled through the decades because of their absence of success, convincingly thrashed their opponents, the St Louis Cardinals, to win their first crown since 1918.

Prior to their 5th World Series win 86 years ago, the Red Sox were the most successful baseball club of all time. So what went wrong for these once prolific champions? The answer many Red Sox fans would give is the "Curse of the Bambino".

One of the stars of the Red Sox championship side of 1918 was a young player called George Herman Ruth, otherwise known as Babe Ruth or the Bambino. In 1920, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee allegedly needed cash to finance his girlfriend's expensive tastes and sold Babe Ruth's contract to the New York Yankees for $100,000.

Since then, the Yankees have won 26 World Championship titles and are arguably one of the greatest success stories in the history of sport, while the Red Sox have sunk into the depths of mediocrity, with supporters feeling the burden of the dark cloud hanging over them.

Curses and superstitions are rife in any sport. Set routines are followed to ensure victory is achieved, the same attire must be worn at all times and eccentrics even dress themselves in the same order in preparation for the big sporting occasion.

As supporters we cross our fingers, our hopes and aspirations rest on the good fortune we yearn for, believing our potential sporting success is resting in the lap of the gods. Yes, luck does play a part in any sport but, to pardon the clich, it is often a situation of swings and roundabouts. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn't.

Teams of any sort have to take responsibility and make their own luck. Like the Red Sox, at times we may feel cursed and wonder what we have done to deserve our fate. But the reality is fate is in the hands of the individuals participating, it is up to them to change the circumstances by focusing on positives and having true belief in themselves.

As my own team faces difficulty on the pitch and has a tough FA Cup game ahead of them today, news of the Red Sox's victory this week against all the odds has given me hope. Amidst all the frustration and futility, I know my team has a bright future ahead with a new stadium we can be proud of. When our Red Sox moment arrives just imagine how sweet that will feel after all the trials and tribulations on and off the pitch the City faithful have had to endure.

The message is forget the curses and superstitions, dismiss all Elvis's good luck charms including that dodgy rabbit's foot on a string, uncross those fingers, and make it happen.

Even when we are in the depths of despair and close to losing our faith, let's try to remember the Red Sox.

In the knowledge that every dog will sometime have its day, heads must remain held high as our moment will come. Before you ask, no, it won't take 86 years as I have faith in my men in red socks.

Updated: 08:32 Saturday, October 30, 2004