Putting a price on hopes and dreams

Eamon Dunphy loved pre-season. Arriving back at the club to see the pitch with no goalposts and no lines drawn. A clean slate.

In Only a Game? he wrote: “It’s sunny and you’re happy. The team has not been picked yet. The divisions have not been drawn yet. Guys you haven’t liked before, and who you will probably hate again later in the season, seem all right in this kind of atmosphere.”

The audacity of hope. Eamo’s joie de vivre would persist until a 2-0 defeat at Fulham on the opening day.