One issue that raised it’s nit laden, dandruff encrusted head yesterday was that of support. Specifically those who were ‘true’ fans, those who were ‘real fans’.
There is a certain type of individual that always unsolicited feels the need to make such distinctions. This type of individual usually has something missing in their own life. Usually oxygen. Sadly they’ve just enough to keep them in a drifting half existence, but not quite enough to allow the sticky toffee pudding like matter they refer to as their ‘brain’ to function at an anyway near an efficient level.
Let’s not get into defending the abused, but who the abusers think they are actually talking about. Their fantasy revolves around the premise that there are characters weaker than they are. Less committed, less efficient with their contribution, less of a man or woman than they. Heh, their premise smacks of National Socialism for a reason.
It’s my experience that fans who don’t live ‘up the road from the ground’, don’t hold season tickets are amongst the most passionate, articulate and interesting. Having been at this game for a few weeks now I have a working knowledge of of other bloggers and website people out there. The best work is done by those who do not claim to be ‘true’ fans, but just support in their own way.
So how a man in Germany, Ireland, Barbados or The USA who doesn’t get to games is somehow less of a fan than someone who goes home and away and most cup games is beyond me. Sorry, but was I in an undiagnosed coma when someone concocted a points scoring system to weed out the folks they viewed as weak and promote themselves the strong?
‘True’ fans are always bores. I’ve thankfully never knowingly stood in the same room as one, but I would imagine them to be shorter than average, in need of a haircut and not that fussed about their general appearance (‘I’m not that fussed about clothes, I just use them for getting from A to B’ – Fry & Laurie).
Freedom of expression is a wonderful thing. Sometimes one man’s delight is another man’s cue to self harm, but what makes my heart sink is the notion that an opinion is devalued if it comes from someone who somehow isn’t qualified to have one just because they watched a game on a telly rather than a seat in the Paxton.
With the exception of a few folk who are upfront about their whereabouts – outside of heavily moderated forums – fans are frequently hesitant to mention that they are in Egypt less halfway through a debate on Lennon’s pubic artwork a booming’ what would you know about it anyway?’ is hurled at them.
The Stratford debate highlighted this. In truth it did serve to reveal the quality of some of the Anti Stratford support. As soon as anyone who couldn’t prove they lived within the M25 was suspected at joining the debate they were sneered at.
Got a season ticket? Go to lots of games? Well done you. I went to the toilet this morning and managed not to fall in. Now it’s your turn to tell us something interesting.
Interjection. Now Vidic escapes a blatant red card denying the scum a penalty. Shockingly bad refs and linesmen are killing the beautiful game as much as the divers and play actors.
so dear old harold redknapp is:
a) whinging again about how we don’t know how good we have it
b) threatening to leave if we sell our good players
This is a sure sign that:
a) this is the moment where I’ve had enough of him that I’d be happier if he left
b) levy is looking to cash in on our best players
There is a second explanation to b): He knows that all the best players are staying, and he won’t have to carry out this threat.
Notwithstanding that, why would Levy br looking to cash in on our best players?
Gomes has to go. He has let us down this season. We should have had Cudicini in the goal for the recent matches. Apart from another goalkeeper, we also need two very good strikers.
I do a bit of training every other Sunday with some mates and we pull up after for some brekkie and a coffee. I looked up this morning and there was a bloke about my age with a THFC track suit on. I nodded at the badge, he nodded back and on his way out we chatted for a few minutes about the game, the goals and gave some shit to his mate who was a Chav. We are in Sydney Australia, we are fans, we buy merchandise so we are also supporters.
With apologies to the bard, a person is a fan or is not a fan…..there is no such thing as a “real” fan, (other than maybe from Madrid). If you want to start or finish any sentence with “because you are not as good a fan as I am” it really shows serious limitations in the ablility to articulate an argument more complex than that usually associated with 7 year olds.
Mind you if you eliminate all us unreal fans, it’ll sort the stadium problem out, we won’t need a bigger one will we!
Unreal Madyid 1 Trufanz Utd 0
:shocked2: :lol:
spot on, fans follow, supporters spend money with the club
I used to be a hardcore supporter, home & away over land & sea for over 20 years, spurs induced depression and new family commitments got the better of me and I just stopped going.
still try to keep the faith but having given up my season ticket (or misery ticket as my missus called it) getting to a game nowadays is a bit of a drama but probably more enjoyable when I do get to go.
Having stopped going has made me more critical of the WHL faithful when I go back, a lot of moaning tossers mixed up in that crowd who don’t support the players when under pressure like bentley last year. It’s one thing to give an opinion on a player online or in conversation but another to call him a useless cunt at the ground whilst he’s playing for your team.
its always been like that at the ground as long as I can remember very unnerving as you expect it from visiting fans/supporters/adherents,but not from those who claim to be yids.sweaty palms and squeaky bum time is a good rule of thumb or barometer towards the end of a game,wether you are there or watching on tv/ internet if you want to check your own status and standing of a true true fan.please dont use the barometer in the bum region literally unless you are a gooner, in which case carry on as normal practise for whinger followers.
A barometer for checking how squeaky your bum is at the end of a game? So the squeakier the bum the more real the fan? Its a nice idea but one that has a hole. :whistle: . How could all those wishing to use the Squeaky Bum Real Fanometer be sure that they were all using the correctly setup, correctly applied test? Its a system open to abuse. :whistle: .
Fan 1: Oh mate, my bum was really squeaky toward the end of the game on Saturday. I placed the Squeaky Bum Fanometer between my cheeks and got a reading of 8.2.
Fan 2: Yeah. Well I got reading of 9.56.
Fan 1: Are you sure you put it between your cheeks and not up your bum?
Fan 2: Yip.
Fan 1: Cor, you’re a real fan you are. I must try harder, I must get more practise.
Fan 2: Steady mate. Don’t over do it. Its got to come natural. And you are better off with baby oil.
Fan 1: I can’t believe it. I’ve been a fool. If I were a true fan I’d have know to use baby oil and not vaseline. I’m so ashamed. I need to find a club where there are no true fans, and where being a real fan is a very recent concept.
Ticket office: Yes sir.
Fan 1: Can I have a single to Fulham Broadway please.
Recalling the 60’s it was a very rare event to hear a player being slagged off by the supporters. The only player I can recall suffering such treatment was John Pratt, who was just about the only player in the team that wasn’t an full or under 23 international. There were those who felt that him playing in the same half-back line as Mullery, England and Mackay was an offence kindred to paedophilia.
In spite of this, he developed a reputation for coming on in the last few minutes of a game, and scoring some important winners or equalizers. He was a player that was brought through the Spurs ranks in a day when you were only allowed one sub, by Bill Nicholson, and as history shows, WTF did he know about football?
Today, I can hardly think of a player in our team that has not vilified over the past few years, with the exception of Modric, Lennon, Woody and Ledley. I suspect that if the last two were included as regular players this season they would have suffered by now.
There was a time when there were people who would challenge your worthiness as a supporter if you slagged off a player while they were on the pitch. Nowadays, it seems that you are only a true supporter if you are not only slagging off a player, but also the management, board and any other supporter who disagrees with you. But it is not enough to slag them off, you must challenge their parentage, intellect, sexual preferences, politics, faith and integrity.
I don’t know if this is what HH is talking about, but I personally deplore the hatred that there is in the game now.
funny you mention John Pratt, I met him last time I went to WHL, really funny man. I had the pleasure of him, paul miller and paul allen for company at the game – all three of them really great story tellers and great personalities. I could’ve listened to their anecdotes all day without getting bored, proper spurs people in my eyes.
My other pet hate at spurs has always been the early departers, how I love late late goals just to piss those buggers off. ;-)
For while both JP and I were mini-cab drivers in the same office in Walthamstow.
I reminded him of the way he used to get treated, but told him I never took part. He told me that’s what every Spurs fan he bumps into tells him. He then went on to make a comment to the effect, “It’s amazing the number of times I was booed, and the number of Spurs fans I have met, and I can’t find one that ever booed me”.
johnny pratt was one of my favs from those days ,a fearless tackler and used to get stuck in and scored some usefull goals.
Just found this quote from him “I had been getting it in the neck a bit from some of the sections of the crowd at Spurs but Bill expected his players to be men, and he said that the crowd paid our wages and were entitled to have their opinions. So one day, before I was due to play my first game at Old Trafford, I asked him what I could expect. He replied that it would just be like playing at Spurs, except that up there 55,000 people would hate me, whereas at Spurs it was only 45,000”!
looking like top 4 a goner now, was hoping wet spam won today as a certain R Keane has to sign for them if they stay up
looks like our new striker will be no other than PSB again :dizzy2:
Better than Defoe though?