THERE is so much bitterness in football that it seems, sometimes, the only bit of fun some so-called ‘supporters’ get is to slam another team or take out their ill-feelings on their own players.

Scousers hate Mancs, Mancs hate scousers, Gunners hate Spurs and vice versa. And social media does not help matters in this respect either by spreading this around.

Only last week when over the other side of the Severn Bridge, I spoke with an old mate who was telling me that there has been quite a bit of vitriol from Newport County ‘fans’ towards Forest Green Rovers.

The spite of the County ‘fans’ on chat forums and other social media was to say that Forest Green have only managed to achieve their Football League status due to having a multi-millionaire backer in Dale Vince and also slamming Vince’s vegan beliefs.

The chatter ‘noise’ was also hurling abuse that Forest Green did not deserve to be in League Two and that, come the new season, there could be some trouble when the teams come face-to-face at The New Lawn and Rodney Parade.

Whether this load of nonsense was simply the legendary football wind-ups is not known but this can often be taken as real by some naïve person who then really believes this rubbish.

Forest Green Rovers have worked extremely hard to land their Football League status, and, while they do have Vince backing them, a huge amount of the work on the football side has been done by the management.

When conducting my Big Interview with Vince in June, he confirmed that the core of the squad which will play next season are those who got Forest Green into League Two so any talk from rivals that Vince is a Daddy Big Bucks who splashes the cash to manager Mark Cooper is pretty wide of the goalposts.

Nobody is claiming that Newport County and Forest Green Rovers have anything other than respect for each other in terms of the playing, management and boardroom. It is just some uneducated trouble-makers causing grief.

Why mention this at all? Because last Saturday, at Slimbridge AFC, there was a fine example of how clubs co-operate and help each other out.

Slimbridge chairman Barry Gay was bursting with pride when National Conference South side Gloucester City and an XI from League One outfit Bristol Rovers strode out onto Thornhill Park for a pre-season friendly.

Just under five hundred people – many more than would normally attend a Slimbridge match in the Southern League South, West division – saw a decent game which Gloucester were within seconds of winning before Rovers scored a late equaliser.

Behind the barriers surrounding the pitch, the Slimbridge faithful sold raffle tickets, guided vehicles around the packed car parks, served behind the bar, cooked food, moved around barriers and even Gay himself was walking around picking up litter.

Slimbridge did a great job in hosting a match which was arranged when Gloucester City manager Tim Harris rang Gay because the shared facility they have now at Evesham FC was booked out.

Gay agreed if Gloucester would play Slimbridge in a friendly themselves this summer – that takes place on Tuesday July 25 at Thornhill Park.

And it means that Slimbridge have formed some new alliances with Gloucester City and Rovers which may mean they can get one or two fringe players to have run-outs for them in the new Southern League season.

Gloucester and Rovers fans wore their colours and draped their flags around the stadium, the supporters drank their beer and ate their chips, laughing the afternoon away while watching some good football.

And the Thornhill Park pitch, which had received some criticism in the past from certain quarters, was praised by both Gloucester City and Bristol Rovers after the match as everybody went home happy.

Maybe it is just a cross-border thing for Newport County ‘fans’ against Forest Green and the lucrative derbies with Cheltenham Town will not see such vitriol splashed around.

But Thornhill Park last Saturday proved that clubs and fans can work together and enjoy a game, albeit a summer friendly at a grassroots club, to the benefit of everyone – Slimbridge, the hosts, Gloucester City, the ‘home’ team, and Bristol Rovers, who used the game to try out a few players.