21CD 
In our latest Once a Duck, Always a Duck story, David Horne looks back on his years following Aylesbury United and explains what a 24-hour race at Snetterton has in common with life as a Ducks supporter.
By David Horne
It was four o’clock in the morning and I hadn’t slept. I was sitting at the back of a pit garage at Snetterton motor racing circuit during the Citroën 2cv 24-hour race.
Crisis @ Tête Rouge Racing, run by Paul Robertson, had entered two cars. I had prepared the No. 1 car, was helping refuel both cars during the race and maintaining the No. 2. By the end of the weekend, the No. 1 car had won and the No. 2 had finished fifth. I had been awake for something like 38 hours.
You might wonder what any of this has to do with Aylesbury United. For me, quite a lot.
Motorsport and non-league football have something in common. They rely on people who are prepared to give up huge amounts of their own time because they care about what they are doing. There are long journeys, late nights, highs, lows, teamwork and, above all, a sense of belonging.
My dad first took me to watch Aylesbury United when I was about eight or nine. Cricket was really his sport and, before long, I was going to games on my own. Like plenty of youngsters, I also supported a Football League club. Mine was Arsenal and I spent plenty of time standing on the North Bank at Highbury.
As I got older, Aylesbury perhaps drifted into the background a little, but there are certain Ducks memories that have never left me.
The FA Cup tie against Bristol City in 1987 is one. Aylesbury lost 1–0, but the performance was such that the players were applauded off the pitch.
The following year came the 2–2 draw at Rugby which secured promotion to the Conference.
Then there was the extraordinary day when England came to Buckingham Road. A packed ground watching players such as Gary Lineker and Peter Beardsley playing against Aylesbury United. It still sounds slightly unbelievable when you say it now.
There was the FA Cup victory over Southend United at Buckingham Road, with the ground going absolutely wild, and, a few years later, the trip to Loftus Road to face QPR.
Those were incredible times to be an Aylesbury United supporter. Then, of course, Buckingham Road was lost.
The club ended up playing outside the town and groundsharing at Chesham. For a time, my connection with the Ducks became more distant.
It was when the club moved to Leighton Town that I really started coming back. What I found was a very different experience to the one I remembered. It was smaller, more intimate and more personal. Most importantly, it was incredibly friendly. It almost felt as though I had become a member of a private social club as much as a football club.
Before long, I was travelling to away games as well. That is one of the things I have come to love about following the Ducks now. You know most of the people around you. Players, officials and supporters are people you actually know.
The more involved I have become, the stronger my affection for the club has grown.
That is perhaps what Aylesbury United means to me now more than anything else. Alongside the football, it is the people, the friendships and being part of something.
And that brings me back to Snetterton.
After almost 40 years, I was finally part of a team that won that 24-hour race. Aylesbury United have been away from their home town for a long time too. Maybe, just maybe, my racing success is a good omen.
Because however long it takes, and wherever the Ducks happen to be playing in the meantime, one thing doesn’t change.
Once a Duck, Always a Duck.
We’d love to hear your Ducks story too. If you’d like to feature in Once a Duck, Always a Duck, send us your memories of following Aylesbury United. Don’t worry if writing isn’t your thing – we’re happy to help put your story together.
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