I believe the children are our future. Well, some of them are. The rest will probably grow up to prefer things that don’t involve sitting in the drizzle on a cold, Saturday afternoon. Things which offer instant gratification, like video games. Or sexting.

But some will see their future this Saturday. It’s all thanks to TrustSTFC and Swindon Town as around 3,500 (including parents) will get their (probable) first taste of real football. It has taken hard work and rare foresightedness, but Swindon’s first ever match against Fleetwood Town could indoctrinate a whole new generation into the club.

And this is the perfect way and the perfect time. Sort of. It’s not that watching the water puddle on a plastic poncho that will thrill them. No, it is that these young ‘uns will experience football with friends and family. And research, as detailed in Simon Kuper’s book ‘Why England Lose’, shows that those who go again and again always started through family and friends.

It is the perfect time as Town are doing well. The last three games were meant to be our toughest but we sailed through with nine points and four goals. And (largely) without our two internationals. Second in the table, and Harry Toffolo signing until the end of the season? Life doesn’t get much better.

Town are also different. Different to other clubs. We are known for something – good football played by young, technical players. It makes a change to a reputation for financial malpractice.

But these 1,250 children don’t all need to become the next season ticket holders, they just need to come again. The same study showed that crowds are usually 38% hardcore fans, 38% regulars and 24% who are there as a one-off. An experiment. Usually an experiment in how many times they can kick the back of my seat, if the last child was anything to go by.

So we don’t need every single one to join the hardcore. Just a few. The rest can never come again. So long as in 2045, they use their retina-projected EyePhones to complain online about kids being given free tickets.