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Your football team

Started by Mister Cairo, July 29, 2006, 02:19:13 PM

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I instantly write off people who support big teams from outside their area, I make no apologies for this, it's simply the least credible thing a football fan can do. I support Everton, my dad took me to see them when I was 4, Andy Gray et al. Then when I was 7 I saw Lineker net against Luton Town in a fucking drab 1-0 win which was the best feeling in the world at that time. Everton promptly went shit by the time I was able to see supporting them in some kind of context (roughly 1989 when they got stuffed in the FA Cup final by Liverpool, that was the point that footballg became little else but pain and disappointment for me) but I can safely say that this made the highs (95 FA Cup win, all the relegation battles, 3-2 at Wimbledon) so much more exhilerating. I was never that arsed about the successes as a kid, partly age, partly expectation - they were the best team in Europe when I first started supporting them and would have won the European Cup for sure had Heysel not happened (on this I'll keep my neutrality intact, out of respect for the dead) but since then Everton has been a side nobody has been keen to praise in any situation. This suits me fine.

If you come from anywhere else in the country and you support Liverpool (barring family links), you ought to feel ashamed of yourself.

Mr Colossal

Like ireland,  i think you'll find a lot of people in Wales support either Man Utd, Liverpool, or Everton, because of the connections with the majority of our best players over the years.  (rush, saunders,  hughes, giggs, southall, ratcliff) etc.

One of my earliest memories of football is Mark Hughes, the player i was supposedly named after, smashing the winning goal between the posts against barcelona in the cup winners cup final from a rediculously tight angle, and my dad going mad,  when i must have been about 5.

So when i gave into playground politics and got my first panini stickerbook in 92/93, united seemed the obvious team of choice- they had hughesy, and a palid, spiral haired Ryan Giggs had just burst onto the scene  and was soon to make a name for himself.  Besides that, the team seemed to have a certain 'aura' (the 'red devils' , and badge was cool),  and they had a youthful exuberance which  flicking through a lot of the battle hardened mugs, the other teams just didn't have.


That, and the fact that world beaters Barry Town aside,  the teams in the Welsh premier were just crap.

rudi

Even the romantically named Total Network Solutions??

What do the fans sing, I wonder...?

"They'll be dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions tonight."

Jeff Stelling - Sky Soccer Saturday

hoverdonkey

Quote from: "kenneth trousers""They'll be dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions tonight."

Jeff Stelling - Sky Soccer Saturday

Every fucking week.

Timmy O'Toole

Total Network Solutions was bourght out by BT or someone, so the club auctioned it's name on ebay. Not sure who won though.

And I agree that anyone who supports a big team away for their area should be ashamed. Especially the bandwaggon jumping grown men I see walking around Lincoln in Chelsea or Man Utd shirts. Twats.

Doctor Stamen

Total Network Solutions are now rather boringly called The New Saints F.C.

fanny splendid

How big an area is your area? Do you just support the nearest football team? I consider myself a Lancastrian, and a European, they are my areas. So does that mean I can choose any teams within the county of Lancashire, and/or continent of Europe, or do I just mean the EC?  Oh yes, which Lancashire is mine? The Lancashire of my birth, or the currently revised borders? Am I allowed to pick a Turkish team, yet? What if I move house, am visiting relatives, or even on holiday?

Almost Yearly

Quote from: "Doctor Stamen"I chose to support Villa because my Dad supports them as well, plus they were the nearest team to where I lived, although West Brom was about the same distance as well.  To be honest, it's even a decision I can remember making.
I chose them because of the pretty colours, being a bit gay and that, combined with the fact that they were equidistant with the Bristol teams, Brum, West Bom, etc, from a Cheltenham point of view. Up the Robins!

And my dad's an Arse supporter. Some things you have to kick against.

And now it's mostly misery. It's mostly misery, football supporting. Thirty-one countries go home from the world cup miserable. I have no time for United and Arse supporters. Too easy. Red always wins at Ludo. Boring cunts.

imitationleather

I support "The Spurs" because everyone in my family does and I wouldn't be welcome at any gatherings if I didn't as well.

Hang on, I hate family gatherings! Hmm, looks like I'll be getting myself an Arsenal kit in the morning...

Mr Philip Dawsons

I've got a confession to make. My name is Philip Dawsons*, I come from Essex and I'm a Manchester United fan. Please, before you lynch me, hear me out.

As a kid I often insisted to accusatory peers that I'd started to support them before they won anything in the 90s. I now accept this as historical revisionism on my part, and admit I probably was attracted by their initial success combined with the most beautiful attacking play on offer at the time. United's wide, expansive counter-attacking style during this period was bloody exciting for a 7 year old boy with an attention span decimated by Sonic 2, and for my money their 90s pomp holds its own against the more recent example of the beautiful game demonstrated by Henry et al at Highbury.

The lack of options locally was also a factor in a seemingly arbitrary choice, sure Colchester or Southend would have fulfilled the local criteria but excluded you from watching yer team on TV or even involved in Premiership-centric playground debates. Okay, maybe I could have got out a map and a ruler and found the closest top-division club, but despite at times sounding like a watered-down Cockney, I'm not a Londoner and don't know my Arsenal** from my Enfield.

So there you have it, my seven year-old self prized glory and entertainment over non-existent local pride, endured the taunts of masochistic West Ham and Spurs fans, absorbed as much as he could of the clubs history and tradition - buying reams of expensive tat along the way (yeah, I know). I mean, once you've chosen your team (however depressing or despised your choice turns out to be), you can't just give up and have another stab. That'd be worse than being one of the poor buggers who support Villa.


*Well that bit's a lie.
** Not a place-name, I know that much.

niat

Crystal Palace, because my Dad, and my Grandad before him, supported them. I had a childhood flirtation with Arsenal, because my older cousin and several mates were Gooners. I still consider them to be my second club and will support them against any side except Palace.

Once my Dad took me to a few Palace matches I was hooked, and it helped that they actually started being quite good in the season I first attended regularly (The era of Coppell as manager, Wright and Bright, promotion to the top division, FA Cup final, finishing 3rd in Div 1, happy days!).

I've now moved to Leeds so I don't get to as many games. I've got a nearly 2-year old daughter and a 12-week old son, and it's going to be very difficult to get them to support a team thats 200 miles away, but I will endeavour to keep them out of the clutches of Leeds Leeds Leeds United. If they show any inkling of supporting Man Utd or Chelsea they will be cast into the wilderness.

Quote from: "GoochDogHigh5s"I support Leyton Orient (my LOCAL team) because in the days before corporate football ,Fever Pitch , Sky and saturation, that is what you did(it was the law)

I didn't choose Aldershot, Aldershot chose me

Toad in the Hole

The only plus would be that if they supported Man Utd properly they would at least hate Leeds...

fanny splendid

I'm still not sure which lamp post to piss against?

My Giddy Aunt

Quote from: "The Boston Crab"I instantly write off people who support big teams from outside their area, I make no apologies for this, it's simply the least credible thing a football fan can do. I support Everton, my dad took me to see them when I was 4, Andy Gray et al. Then when I was 7 I saw Lineker net against Luton Town in a fucking drab 1-0 win which was the best feeling in the world at that time. Everton promptly went shit by the time I was able to see supporting them in some kind of context (roughly 1989 when they got stuffed in the FA Cup final by Liverpool, that was the point that footballg became little else but pain and disappointment for me) but I can safely say that this made the highs (95 FA Cup win, all the relegation battles, 3-2 at Wimbledon) so much more exhilerating. I was never that arsed about the successes as a kid, partly age, partly expectation - they were the best team in Europe when I first started supporting them and would have won the European Cup for sure had Heysel not happened (on this I'll keep my neutrality intact, out of respect for the dead) but since then Everton has been a side nobody has been keen to praise in any situation. This suits me fine.

If you come from anywhere else in the country and you support Liverpool (barring family links), you ought to feel ashamed of yourself.
Spoken like a true bitter. Well done.
Are you from liverpool, i wasnt sure from your post - or is it just the 'family links' thing?

The Duck Man

I think choosing a team should be based on these criteria. Firstly, if members of your family support them. That's the strongest link - a generational thing with father taking son and so forth and so forth. Obviously some people may be in a situation where they can't make it to games, but their whole family supports that club. That's fine, obviously.

If none of your family follow football, you should choose the team closest to you. Now, I personally would prefer if it all this group of people did in fact choose the team closest to them, be it Macclesfield or Manchester United. However, I appreciate that, if you can't go to games, as is the case with most kids who don't have football in their family, it would be difficult to hold a bond with Macclesfield and thus I'm OK with a person picking United as they're pretty close.

Now, this obviously varies a bit. I have more sympathy with the child who lives halfway between Newcastle and Darlington and chooses the former than the child you lives two minutes from Darlington's ground and has lots of mates who support them. It's all about whether you can go to games really. When I grew up I found that as people got older and more independant they left their childhood support of Arsenal etc. (living on the south coast, they're the biggest club near to us) and started supporting Bournemouth and Saints.

As Boston Crab says, what isn't acceptable is someone chosing a team from the other end of the country just because they're good. What's the point?

I had never really been aware of football, but my Dad took me to see Watford for my 7th birthday, I became a season ticket holder the next year and have been ever since. There was never any other choice.

phes

I follow Pompey because Fratton Park was where I was taken as a child. As a kiddy I found the big clubs far more alluring, but I had no choice in the matter. If Fratton Park was where I spent my Saturday, and if on that Saturday I didn't especially fancy having my face smashed in by other five year olds, then Pompey's who I rooted for.

Now it's stuck and I can't shake it off.

i don't really have time for the whole 'local' team thing. You go support who the fuck you like. It costs so much now that I really don't care a toss for loyalty (not that I guess I ever did). Every single team in the Premierleague stands together and allows the fans to have the piss taken out of them. Fuck them.

mikeyg27

Quote from: "GoochDogHigh5s"I support Leyton Orient (my LOCAL team) because in the days before corporate football ,Fever Pitch , Sky and saturation, that is what you did(it was the law)

Good man. Orient were my local team, and there the team who I would say I support. But to be honest I stopped following football properly years ago.

Tom Tortoise

Swindon Town for me. Can you get a less glamourous team to support?

I do have a soft spot for Liverpool because my Dad's from there etc etc.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

QuoteCan you get a less glamourous team to support?

*Cue a list of boring replies name-dropping dull-as-pig-shit towns with lower league clubs.*

rudi

Quote from: "Shoulders?-Stomach!"
QuoteCan you get a less glamourous team to support?

*Cue a list of boring replies name-dropping dull-as-pig-shit towns with lower league clubs.*

Swindon Under 18's...?

MonkeyDrummer

I used to support Clydebank. I say used to, cos they went bankrupt. It was a sad day, but they were never going to survive with the crowds they were pulling. The lowest being 29 for a league match.
It's a bit weird when your team goes belly up. I was a bit lost and started supporting Rangers for a while. Eventually I lost interest in football, I never truly felt part of the Rangers support and gradually drifted away from the game.
I still play champman and I watched some of the World Cup, but I'm pretty disintersted in footy these days.

rudi

QuoteFirstly, if members of your family support them. That's the strongest link - a generational thing with father taking son and so forth and so forth.

I hate my dad.

If I was gooner I'd be Captain smug of the Queen's Smuggest Infantry.

QuoteI used to support Clydebank. I say used to, cos they went bankrupt. It was a sad day, but they were never going to survive with the crowds they were pulling. The lowest being 29 for a league match.

I can't even imagine how dreadful that must be (perhaps aaaaaargh! shares your pain...?) - I can't help feeling it'd be like a minor bereavement.

Perspective? Me? Pah!

My Giddy Aunt

Is there not an argument that as grown adults its a bit unfair to make these rules up and expect the minds of children to obey? Children decide on these things for all sorts of random reasons that they often cant explain.
Obviously if they show signs of suppporting man utd you should hit them mind.

rudi

QuoteObviously if they show signs of suppporting man utd you should hit them mind.

Oh come on! You don't mean that, surely?


Drowning's the only answer - no marks, you see...?

Quote from: "rudi"I can't even imagine how dreadful that must be (perhaps aaaaaargh! shares your pain...?) - I can't help feeling it'd be like a minor bereavement.

Well, almost.  It was extremely sad as I was 11 at that time.  Of course, what made it worse (retrospectively) is that Leicester City had exactly the same thing happen to them, but instead of being forced to start all over again like we were, were allowed to stay in the same division.  I can't help but think that they got special treatment because they were backed by Gary Lineker, not a fraudster like Spencer Trethewy (that Wikipedia article is heroically wrong, he didn't "save" Aldershot, he wasted their time and denied them looking for another saviour until it was too late).

Edit - also, I don't think that saying you're a property developer necessarily means you are one.

mook

My Grandad was an Arsenal fan, so is my Dad so it just fell into place that I wouldbe too. We only lived an hours drive from turnpike lane so I got to see loads of matches as a lad. Perversely my Dad and I had season tickets for Spurs (He got them off a bloke who knew a bloke called Ken Batchlor who was an associate of Stan Flashman the famous old ticket tout) so I got to see Spurs play an awful lot while we waited for Arsenal S.T's, and that was during the Ricky Villa-Ozzie Ardiles days. So as it turns out I'm probably the only Arsenal fan in the world who doesn't hate The Spurs with a passion.

niat

I think that sort of thing was much more prevalent in the "old days". My grandad and dad used to watch Millwall in the weeks that Palace weren't at home, and my friend's family of gooners used to watch Spurs and Arsenal on alternate weeks. Mind you, that was back in the days when you didn't have to mortgage your house to get a season ticket.

mikeyg27

Quote from: "mook"So as it turns out I'm probably the only Arsenal fan in the world who doesn't hate The Spurs with a passion.

As someone who's spent an awful lot of his life around the Arsenal / Spurs border, I find that in the last few years it's been the Spurs fans who hate Arsenal with a passion, a sentiment that was fuelled especially by the Sol Campbell incident. Until last year, Arsenal fans saw this hatred aimed their way as rather quaint since Spurs were in no position to be considered a threat, but since Spurs have started showing promise again perhaps they'll take the rivalry seriously once more...