Monday, January 16, 2023, was declared "Blue Monday", the most depressing day of the year – apparently.
A blue and white quartered Monday? Absolutely. Depressing? Absolutely not.
Nick Anderton's life was changed six months ago, just weeks after clinching promotion, when what he thought was a knee injury turned out to be osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
Bristol Rovers and the wider football community have rallied around the 26-year-old who has since had an operation to remove the tumour and part of his femur, as well as starting chemotherapy.
But his teammates wanted to do more and after a hairless Anderton sent a picture to his teammates in the wake of his first chemotherapy cycle, club captain Paul Coutts – a close friend and former housemate of the tough-tackling left-back – was inspired to do something.
The idea of a team-wide head shave was mooted and, with help from Rovers' head of media Andy Downie, it has come to fruition with incredible success. More than £30,000 has been raised already for Anderton and his young family just days after welcoming their second child.
Players, coaches, staff, supporters and even journalists, including this one, faced the clippers at the British Barber Co. in Clifton, just a few yards away from the place Anderton shared with Coutts and Sam Finley en route to promotion last season. The manager of that shop is Bristol City fan Terry Joyce, who was more than happy to help – on the proviso he could wear a Robins kit with Anderton's number 16 on the back.
"Cancer has no colours," was his perfect assessment of the cause when speaking to Bristol Live as an enormous clean-up job began, with differing shades of hair covering much of the shop floor.
This was an uplifting, heart-warming and inspiring show of solidarity from Rovers in their teammate's hour of need. This was a display of everything the club is at its best; an encapsulation of its support base, uniting to look after their own. Gasheads always look after their own.
Team sport is a beautiful thing. The playing part is fun but like most journeys in life, it is the people you meet and the friendships you make along the way that matter most.
This is a team you want to be part of; a band of brothers that is driven to succeed, knows how to have fun and undisputedly has each other's backs through thick and thin.
But it extends beyond those who get to wear the kit on a Saturday. From top to bottom, the club was in unison, evidenced by Sarah Thomas, a Gashead since the age of four, who won the club's competition to take part and was happy to be rid of her lovely long, dark hair to support the cause. Dozens more fans have shown proof of their participation through social media.
The kitty will continue to soar in the coming days, bringing precious respite and comfort to a family who have more than enough on their plate right now.
The fact Anderton could not attend due to a chemotherapy session hits home the sobering reality of the challenge he is faced with, but there were plenty of laughs, too, which is fitting for a player whose social impact at the club has been arguably as important as his playing role – helping to knit together an unfamiliar group as the life of the dressing room last season.
Without fail, every man uttered words to the effect of "Bloody hell, cold init?" when they stepped outside the shop without the usual insulation on their cranium. There were also realisations about how big some people's ears actually are now they had been fully exposed, with Finley joking he might be able to provide his teammates with Sky Sports free of charge.
For a while, James Connolly and Harry Anderson were sporting the R9 haircut from the 2002 World Cup and I wish they would have kept it. At least that would have given some kind of distinguishing features between the players when trying to identify them from Row K of the East Stand against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.
Head of performance Tom Short took a bit of stick for his resemblance to Eastenders bad boy Max Branning, while goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola was pained to see his ponytail get the chop after three years.
Coutts was delighted – after the usual good-natured sparring about player ratings and the like over the past 18 months – to fire up the clippers and drive them through the centre of my hair before telling me the batteries were dead, leaving a parting so wide that Aaron Collins could charge through and score a 14th goal of the season.
Thankfully, Coutts is more efficient with the ball at his feet in midfield than he is with haircuts; after a few minutes of hacking around, it was left for a professional to finish off and tidy up. And yes, my first words when it was done were "Bloody hell, cold init?"
Joey Barton, of course, was involved, too, and it brought back memories of the times when his father would cut his hair instead of paying £5 to have it done. Again, he looks like the young pro that broke through at Manchester City 20-odd years ago.
An evening like this could only end in one place, of course: the pub. The Royal Oak to be specific, with captain Coutts getting a round in for his team. There is no doubt the Gas have a true leader in their ranks in the shape of the Scotsman.
Doubtless, Anderton would have given a lot to be raising a glass with them at that moment, but he has given plenty to this team on and off the pitch and this was Rovers' time to give something back to him as his cancer battle continues.
"What a club," he tweeted last night.
Indeed.
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