Our featured supporter is Ed Smith Snr from Lisburn. Ed has been following Ballymena United since the late 50's and can usually be found with one or more of his four sons in tow. How long have you supported Ballymena United? If memory serves me correctly it was around 1959. Can you remember your first match? My grandfather took me to my first match, which was against Derry City at The Showgrounds. I can't remember who won but I think we must have scored because I can remember the mens caps being flung into the air in celebration, then they all had to gather the hats off the ground and sort them out. I think there was a very large crowd, it was mostly working class men in those days and it was all-standing. The old clock sticks in my mind for some reason. Best United game you remember? The win at Windsor Park last year - I wasn't there because I was working that day, but it has to be one of the most surprising (and pleasing) wins in recent years. Games like that go down in your memory - we hadn't beaten Linfield at Windsor in years, Linfield hadn't been beaten at home in over 30 games I think, and we were struggling for form in the league - it had disaster written all over it - but somehow we beat them 1-0!! All time United player? John Sloan - he was highly skilled and worked from the kick-off to the final whistle in every game he played in. Being beaten wasn't in his vocabulary. Favourite goal by a United player? Any winning Ballymena United goal! Favourite Memory? United winning the Irish Cup in 1989 when we beat Larne 1-0 in the final at The Oval, with Paul Hardy scoring from a lucky backheel. It was the first match I'd taken my son Ashley, who was 2 at the time, to watch, and I thought at the time I'd found myself a lucky charm. If only... Worst Memory? Losing to Larne in the Semi-Final of the Irish Cup last year is still pretty sharp in my memory. We must have had the easiest run any team has had to a cup final in many years, and I think this partly led to our downfall, the players (and us fans) thinking we just had to turn up to win. Players who have impressed you? I like any player who will work themselves into the ground because they know they're playing for the hard-earned wages of the supporters. Some I remember from my days as a youngster are Geoff Twentyman, and I think around the same time Smudger Smith, and more recently players like Nigel Boyd and Gary Smyth. Players like this inspire others on the pitch to try harder, and they're also more likely to have a word in their ear if they aren't performing. Your favourite United memento? A bobble hat, in light blue, white and red, which belonged to my father. Your favourite United kit? The 60's kit - light blue top, light blue shorts and light blue socks with two red bars at top, the number on the back of the shirt was in red too. It wasn't the shade of light/sky blue we use now, but a more grey shade of light blue. What does following the Sky Blues mean to you? It's a social thing more than anything - I get to see my kids a lot, even though they have grown up, because Ballymena United is a common interest. When I first started going to matches as a kid, it was with my father and grandfather, now the shoe is on the other foot! Your hopes for the future? Just to see Ballymena United win the championship! Every supporter, young and old, would go completely mental, and probably wouldn't stop for several days! Apart from that, I think Ballymena has a large area from which to gain support and would love to see the new stand filled at every home match, better crowds can always give the players an extra boost when they need it. What's your view so far on this season? Having a new manager at the club, we have to be fair to him and give him at least one year to make the changes he needs to the playing staff, then a second year in which we should start to see the benefits of these changes. At the minute I feel if we could only capitalize on more of the chances we create in games we would be winning a lot more games. I think one of the hardest things for Tommy will be to get every player to give 100% in every game, as in recent years there have seemed to be a lot of players just turning up and earning a wage.