Why do you support the team that you do...
- Thread starter Batboy
- Start date
The Octagon
Stop...Hammertime
Wasn't really bothered about football until I was 11/12ish, my uncle took me to Hillsborough and then after the game we went into the Player's lounge and I met Chris Waddle, Mark Bright and David Hirst (old school mate of my Uncle's as it turns out). That pretty much did the trick.
Technically a glory hunter as we made it to both cup finals that year (and then lost them both to Arsenal
).
Been pretty much all downhill from there since
Technically a glory hunter as we made it to both cup finals that year (and then lost them both to Arsenal
).Been pretty much all downhill from there since
TitanSound
Mr Beardy Drummer
Because I grew up a mile away from Highbury 
SarfLondoner
KenDoddsDadsDogsDead.
I support Millwall as did my father,I was born and lived 15 minutes away from the ground so it was my local team.My son also supports Millwall although he is from north london.All his mates are Man utd,Arsenal,Chelsea and Real madrid fans but have never been to a game.
SarfLondoner
KenDoddsDadsDogsDead.
Did you sit or stand?
This for me. My old man came to London for work in the 60s and followed Arsenal for their Irish players. I was born in Noth Middlesex and we lived in Edmonton and then Enfield until I was 8, so had not been for the above I might have grown up as a Tottenham fan. I like to think that when we moved to Muswell Hill just after my 8th birthday it was so I qualified as a Gooner on geographical grounds too (insert Woolwich gag here).
Haven't been fanatical since my teens but am getting back into it now, with the prosopect of bringing my son to games in a few years on the horizon.
MrSki
Who am I to say you're wrong
Standing room only on the north bank.
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
funnily enough my dad has always supported Manure! And he lived all over the shop until he settled in the west country - lived in Brum, Corby, Bristol, London , finally Bath, but never in Manchester
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
Fair play.
These threads tend to amuse me a bit by the conspicuous absence of all the people for who the answer is 'all my mates supported Man U/Liverpool and I've watched them on the telly ever since.'
Naturally, I support my local team for 'proper' reasons.
Lorca
Call in Sick Tomorrow
All my family are from South Brum - Uncle took me as a kid to see Birmingham City in the late 70's, i just remember being terrified and exilerated at the same time, as i got crushed on the terraces when everyone surged forward to celebrate a rare Blues goal! St Andrews was proper nasty back then and the team were utter shite - now we're just plain old shite. Always loved going to away games, though and have only been beaten up twice (once by stoke fans, once by cardiff)
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
In Spain, Real Madrid: I'm from the city and my dad and much of my family are supporters. And despite what many observers outside Spain believe, it has always had as many working class, left leaning fans as any other club.
In the UK, Wimbledon FC/ AFC Wimbledon. I was local to Plough Lane when I first moved to London and my Wimbledon-supporting boss took me to a game. The contrast to the Bernabeu was too amazing to resist.
In the UK, Wimbledon FC/ AFC Wimbledon. I was local to Plough Lane when I first moved to London and my Wimbledon-supporting boss took me to a game. The contrast to the Bernabeu was too amazing to resist.
big eejit
She looks like Alan Gilzean
My first memory of Everton is being lifted off my feet and carried back and forth in a rolling sea of roisterous, noisy bastards in the Gwladys Street.
It must've been the mid 70s and I would've been about 10. My dad lifted me onto the relative safety of one of the big blue steel safety barriers.
My dad was a blue, as was his dad. The family story is my great grandad played for Everton, but they parted company cos he refused to 'play dirty'. I don't know if that's true, but he certainly played for Blackburn, so there may be something in it.
Anyway I suppose I support Everton cos it's a family tradition. On my dad's side at least. My mum's side is all Liverpool. Could be a Catholic / Protestant thing.
Anyway, the club suits me.
It must've been the mid 70s and I would've been about 10. My dad lifted me onto the relative safety of one of the big blue steel safety barriers.
My dad was a blue, as was his dad. The family story is my great grandad played for Everton, but they parted company cos he refused to 'play dirty'. I don't know if that's true, but he certainly played for Blackburn, so there may be something in it.
Anyway I suppose I support Everton cos it's a family tradition. On my dad's side at least. My mum's side is all Liverpool. Could be a Catholic / Protestant thing.
Anyway, the club suits me.
starfish
No dialogue. Just plot.
Support Celtic because im from Glasgow & i was allowed too. I dont come from a paricularly football family. Wasnt born a Celtic or Rangers supporter like so many are. Of the 2 my parents saw them as the lesser evil.
Support Brighton because ive lived there for almost 21 years.
Support Brighton because ive lived there for almost 21 years.
bromley
...isn't as good as Lewisham.
Maggot
The Cake of Liberty
My gran was an Arsenal fan, I think it was due to all their Irish players.
But neither of my parents were into football and I didn't have any older siblings, so I started supporting Man Utd as they were the most successful club at the time. However when I was about 12 me and my mate decided we wanted to go to a football match and Crystal Palace was our nearest club, we got promoted to the old first division that season and I've never looked back since.
I also have a soft spot for Juventus, Barcelona and Celtic for various reasons too boring to go into.
Batboy
Trumpeting is good for you...
Interesting and refreshing to read all the posts here. Largely you can see the associations with the clubs.
The younger and future generations will no doubt come from a different perspective. The Turkish kids and community around Hackney a lot of them support Liverpool, simply because of the red kit, although more of them now seem to be following Arsenal.
Due to the advent of big money there are a lot of kids who select the successful moneybags teams, which is depressing. Although I just came back from a friends house in the Cotswolds, he was originally from Highbury so is a big Gunners fan, his eight year old son has been clearly brainwashed/forced into being an Arsenal fan too, despite Cheltenham, Oxford or Swindon being his nearest teams and my kicking about with him and trying to tell him there are other London clubs you know! Much to the annoyance of his dad!
And I guess with the amount of movement people now make geographically at least, football supporters are going to be more fractured and live miles away from the clubs they may support...the dynamics for why a team will be supported is changing.
The younger and future generations will no doubt come from a different perspective. The Turkish kids and community around Hackney a lot of them support Liverpool, simply because of the red kit, although more of them now seem to be following Arsenal.
Due to the advent of big money there are a lot of kids who select the successful moneybags teams, which is depressing. Although I just came back from a friends house in the Cotswolds, he was originally from Highbury so is a big Gunners fan, his eight year old son has been clearly brainwashed/forced into being an Arsenal fan too, despite Cheltenham, Oxford or Swindon being his nearest teams and my kicking about with him and trying to tell him there are other London clubs you know! Much to the annoyance of his dad!
And I guess with the amount of movement people now make geographically at least, football supporters are going to be more fractured and live miles away from the clubs they may support...the dynamics for why a team will be supported is changing.
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steeplejack
seeing off the new ball
I'm from Glasgow, but have been following Montrose for 25 years now.
My dad was very clear that i shouldn't follow either of the Old Firm as he despised, and was embarrassed, by the bigotry and hatred between both sides. I am a bit absolutist about the Old Firm and feel that not only Scottish football, but also Scottish society, would be much better off if both were closed down and banned. However, you might as well try and ban the moon. I have a visceral loathing for both these "institutions". Two cheeks of the same arse.
My Dad tried to interest me in Partick Thistle, and Clyde when they were tenants at Firhill, but never really felt much of a connection with either of them. My closest friend at school was a Clyde diehard who had been going since the Shawfiled days, so I ended up watching them more than Thistle.
In the end I picked a team about as far away from Glasgow as I could and started going. My first game was a cup game at Dumbarton in late 1990, at the old Boghead; we won 4-1 and that was me hooked. If I'd known that that early Montrose team was about as good (Montrose had a decent-ish deacde between 1985 and 1995) as it was going to get, maybe I'd have chosen differently.
I have clocked up hundreds of Montrose games since then. I have seen us ship six goals at Stenhousemuir, five against a quite appalling East Stirlingshire side, take to the field against Stranraer with a team full of plooky wee boys barely shaving, becasue the club had no money.
*But* I have also seen us beat Clyde 8-1, bear Forfar 5-1 in an utterly dominant Scottish cup display, and (on TV, as I was abroad) draw 1-1 against The The The The Rangers, who were laughably shite for the amount of money being spent to win a part time league with a full time squad full of Premier League players.
I have lived in a lot of different places, so have also variously watched Newport County, Swansea City, Leyton Orient, Barnet, Fulham, Carlisle United, amongst others.
My dad was very clear that i shouldn't follow either of the Old Firm as he despised, and was embarrassed, by the bigotry and hatred between both sides. I am a bit absolutist about the Old Firm and feel that not only Scottish football, but also Scottish society, would be much better off if both were closed down and banned. However, you might as well try and ban the moon. I have a visceral loathing for both these "institutions". Two cheeks of the same arse.
My Dad tried to interest me in Partick Thistle, and Clyde when they were tenants at Firhill, but never really felt much of a connection with either of them. My closest friend at school was a Clyde diehard who had been going since the Shawfiled days, so I ended up watching them more than Thistle.
In the end I picked a team about as far away from Glasgow as I could and started going. My first game was a cup game at Dumbarton in late 1990, at the old Boghead; we won 4-1 and that was me hooked. If I'd known that that early Montrose team was about as good (Montrose had a decent-ish deacde between 1985 and 1995) as it was going to get, maybe I'd have chosen differently.
I have clocked up hundreds of Montrose games since then. I have seen us ship six goals at Stenhousemuir, five against a quite appalling East Stirlingshire side, take to the field against Stranraer with a team full of plooky wee boys barely shaving, becasue the club had no money.
*But* I have also seen us beat Clyde 8-1, bear Forfar 5-1 in an utterly dominant Scottish cup display, and (on TV, as I was abroad) draw 1-1 against The The The The Rangers, who were laughably shite for the amount of money being spent to win a part time league with a full time squad full of Premier League players.
I have lived in a lot of different places, so have also variously watched Newport County, Swansea City, Leyton Orient, Barnet, Fulham, Carlisle United, amongst others.
Favelado
I'm loving Engels instead.
Fair play.
These threads tend to amuse me a bit by the conspicuous absence of all the people for who the answer is 'all my mates supported Man U/Liverpool and I've watched them on the telly ever since.'
Naturally, I support my local team for 'proper' reasons.
When I was a little kid most lads at school in Blackpool supported Liverpool or Manchester United. I asked my dad which one of the two I should support and he said, "Liverpool".
I'm glad it turned out this way (although United might have made for an easier time). I no longer live in the town I was born in, and LFC is exactly the right club for an incurable sentimentalist with left tendencies. We don't win the league anymore but I love them more than pure geographical chance could account for. There is a tiny hint of boasting from the real fans on the thread.
I'm sorry for being a glory hunter when I was 6. What a bastard.
I tried to get behind Barça when I lived in Barna but I didn't feel anything for them. I've tried to get behind Atlético de Madrid here and Flamengo in Rio but it never works.
I'm going to go and watch my LOCAL team, Rayo Vallecano next season, and see how that goes. It would be nice to have someone local to enjoy, if not outright support.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
I've not said anything like that. I don't take football seriously enough to start calling people names because of who they support and I don't actually think there's anything wrong in itself with being a TV watching fan (although I do think they miss out a bit).
I just find it somewhat amusing that those people don't show up on threads like this and actually thought it was a bit refreshing that gabi didn't feel the need to come up with a 'I might be from the other end of the planet but I come from a Man U family' type tale.
Favelado
I'm loving Engels instead.
I'm not accusing you of anything. Just a general comment based on a hunch. I quoted your post because it was interesting. xxx
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