Who On Here Actually Supports & Goes To Watch Their Team ?

[MSingh]

I'd be incredibly interested to know as a few of the Members & contributors are back at Home & obviously we have Seapok who would be going Chelsea week in week out in his array of Club Merchandise like the Home Shirt for Home Games, Away Shirt for Away Games etc as a Season Ticket Holder which of course he is, Smokie i believe is also back in the UK so is probably on his way back from WBA right now & on a Train out of New Street but who else, who goes to watch their Team or just supports them & by support i mean the below ??

to maintain (a person, family, establishment, institution, etc.) by supplying with things necessary to existence; provide for: to support a family.

I haven't been back home now for 7 Years, i do however support my Club with both mine & my Daughters Club Membership each Year which doesn't do much & i never use it but i feel it's me doing " my bit ", who else does ??

I have also flown from Thailand to watch us in Palermo, Italy a few Years back, our 2008 US & Canada Pre Season Tour & our 2009 China Trip..

[Englander]

I went to 2 games last year, and also turned up for 1 game without a ticket and didnt get in, (thats worth more then attending with a ticket in my eye) but left the country in November and havent returned since and turned up for work nearly everyday for 7 weeks prior.

But 7yrs without returning to Englandistan you must be on the lam!

[smokie36]

Funny enough singhy I upgraded to Bronze membership last season having given up my season ticket a few years ago as I had moved out to Goa. Luckily I missed today's game as I was working but in recent years to be honest I have seen only a handful of games most seasons mostly through friends season tickets for games against the lower half sides.

Easy enough for me to see us play at Old Trafford though through my time living in Manchester.

Its not so easy to see Spurs if you haven't a season ticket though!

Still waiting and its a long list....only to be expected at such a huge club of course.

EDIT: I'm back to Samui on Tuesday.....in plenty of time for the game later this month. I wonder if imola will show at the Mozzie bar?

[Seapok]

Yeah thats right Singh I do get the tops if I like them, just to wear around the house, not my thing to go out wearing them or even when I do go to the games I wouldn't wear one. I did that when I was going when I was in my early teens but not anymore. I've also been a member for the last 10 years, the only reason I don't go as often now is because its too <deleted> expensive! I go to the domestic cup and european games, they are easier and cheaper to get tickets for......it must be easy for the 'ammers to go, they just turn up and pay on the gate right?

So you've been to a few countries to see them in pre-season? well done and good for you! you should go to Bangkok next summer to see a real team play! I will even get you a new baseball cap to wear, one that actually fits!

[Thaddeus]

it must be easy for the 'ammers to go, they just turn up and pay on the gate right?

If you haven't got a hacking cough they may give you a place on the subs bench.

Not been back to the old country for six years, and the price of the bus ticket from here to Anfield is a little prohibitive without the cost of the ticket for the match.

Do I still support my team in the real sense of the word? ..... well, I suppose that as a proportion of the money that I pay to 'True' every month goes to supporting the various leagues in general you could say that I do, but I only cheer for one team (two at a push, if Everton are playing Man U)

[carmine]

Can i start by saying how elated i am with the start to our season. Defoe and Dawson out long term. Now it looks like Modric has gone and broken his leg again.

Back on topic. I used to go to most home games when i was in England but i've been over here about the same time as the OP. I also used to go to some away games which i actually enjoyed more because being a big club with huge support meant it was always a really big game for the home team. (With a current waiting list for season tickets standing at 23000 they don't really need much from me, although saying that we have two season tickets in the family )

It is though without doubt a weekend ritual that i miss the most being here.

[MSingh]

Yeah thats right Singh I do get the tops if I like them, just to wear around the house, not my thing to go out wearing them or even when I do go to the games I wouldn't wear one. I did that when I was going when I was in my early teens but not anymore. I've also been a member for the last 10 years, the only reason I don't go as often now is because its too <deleted> expensive! I go to the domestic cup and european games, they are easier and cheaper to get tickets for......it must be easy for the 'ammers to go, they just turn up and pay on the gate right?

So you've been to a few countries to see them in pre-season? well done and good for you! you should go to Bangkok next summer to see a real team play! I will even get you a new baseball cap to wear, one that actually fits!

You've got more chance of me taking a Baseball Bat to be honest..

Have you been looking at my Profile Seapoker's, you nosey little Devil you ??

What do you reckon of my Tan then, good isn't it ??

No pay on the Gate at UP Fella, no Prawn Sandwiches & Japanese Guided Tours either, but it's still ridiculously over priced of course ..

PS : I can picture you right now with your tops, i bet you're one of the one's wwith 26 TERRY on the back then when you pop out for a couple of Pints with your Mate, on the way home you ask him if he's into Swinging or if he needs a little extra cash, could he try & persuede his Mrs to errrrrrrrrrr !!

[MSingh]

I went to 2 games last year, and also turned up for 1 game without a ticket and didnt get in, (thats worth more then attending with a ticket in my eye) but left the country in November and havent returned since and turned up for work nearly everyday for 7 weeks prior.

But 7yrs without returning to Englandistan you must be on the lam!

I'm from East London, why anyone would want to go there is beyond me, especially aftert they'd left for so long...

[alfieconn]

Well i'm there every home game Singher, havn't actually managed a away game yet this season due to the distances involved .

[somtampet]

Well i'm there every home game Singher, havn't actually managed a away game yet this season due to the distances involved .

So you didnt see How lucky you were at Stoke then lol lol

[somtampet]

Ay up Khun Singh Duck heheheheheh

I have lived in Pattaya for nearly 7 years so very restricted to watching Stoke in England,but dont miss any match here,got plenty of tops to wear(no players name on the back) and even listened to every match on Stoke world when we were in the Championship,only cost 30quid a season.If i am home in the footie season i try to get a home match in but difficult getting a ticket now.

One season i didnt miss 1 match home or away and did many many away trips each season

[Seapok]

Yeah thats right Singh I do get the tops if I like them, just to wear around the house, not my thing to go out wearing them or even when I do go to the games I wouldn't wear one. I did that when I was going when I was in my early teens but not anymore. I've also been a member for the last 10 years, the only reason I don't go as often now is because its too <deleted> expensive! I go to the domestic cup and european games, they are easier and cheaper to get tickets for......it must be easy for the 'ammers to go, they just turn up and pay on the gate right?

So you've been to a few countries to see them in pre-season? well done and good for you! you should go to Bangkok next summer to see a real team play! I will even get you a new baseball cap to wear, one that actually fits!

You've got more chance of me taking a Baseball Bat to be honest..

Have you been looking at my Profile Seapoker's, you nosey little Devil you ??

What do you reckon of my Tan then, good isn't it ??

No pay on the Gate at UP Fella, no Prawn Sandwiches & Japanese Guided Tours either, but it's still ridiculously over priced of course ..

PS : I can picture you right now with your tops, i bet you're one of the one's wwith 26 TERRY on the back then when you pop out for a couple of Pints with your Mate, on the way home you ask him if he's into Swinging or if he needs a little extra cash, could he try & persuede his Mrs to errrrrrrrrrr !!

No I didn't look at your profile, your pic just seems to appear when I was looking at this site from my phone but on the comp it doesn't show thank gawd as its not a pic I would like to see too often! I did wonder why you called yourself MSingh, now it all makes sense with your permanent tan!

I've never had a names player on my shirts thanks and don't you think you are being a little hypocritical bringing up "banter" regarding my mates other half?

[alfieconn]

Well i'm there every home game Singher, havn't actually managed a away game yet this season due to the distances involved .

So you didnt see How lucky you were at Stoke then lol lol

I did actually watch the game on Truesports

[bifftastic]

I had a season ticket at Upton park for many many years. I used to love an away game as well. In my younger days, the football was the thing to look forward to at the weekend, meet up with my mates, jump on the bus, get down to the ground, nip in the Boleyn for a bit of a jump around and a sing-song and then in the ground just before the start of the game.

Whatever club you grow up supporting, there's nothing like that pre-match build up. You feel part of something, your area, your team, your people.

The last couple of seasons I haven't renewed. Partly due to West Ham being so shit, and partly because I didn't feel I got my money's worth. When I say my money's worth I don't mean winning anything, we've never been likely to do that. I mean the players today aren't part of my club, they're just professional footballers who happen to play for my club. It doesn't mean much to them, they don't live here, they don't give 2 flying ones about anyone but themselves, maybe a couple of exceptions but, by and large the modern game in England bears absolutely no resemblance to what it was when I was growing up.

You want the players and the supporters to give 100% to your club week in week out, regardless of the result.

When you go to a game these days you're not amongst the same kind of people that used to go, the atmosphere's not the same, it's like attending some kind of corporate money-fest.

I'll always be West Ham, it's not something that ever changes, If i wear my colours I do so with pride, as I hope everyone else does, it's part of me, part of my identity, but as for giving them my hard-earned, nah, not any more.

I kept my season ticket after the season we went down, went to every home game and a few away in the fizzy pop league, went to Cardiff, did the same again the following year when we went back up, enjoyed the 1st season back with the cup run and all, went to the semi-final and the final. Always enjoy Spurs away, never enjoy going to The Bridge, it looks more like a shopping centre than a football ground to me.

Win or lose i always had the 'buzz' of going to the matches but nowadays, it just isn't there for me any more. And there's quite a few feel the same, guys who used to go like they were going to church or something. It feels like it's not 'our game' any more.

[StevieH]

cracking post that bifftastic and you allude to one of the reasons i gave up my seasie a number of years ago. the gentrification of football in the post-sky era saw a lot of the fun of 'going the match' taken away. from excessive overbearing crowd control through playing james brown when a team scores to the banning of smoking and latterly even swearing and singing, football underwent a process of sanitation to make it more palatable to the monied classes. it was slowly but surely crowbarred out of the hands of the working classes, and with that went a lot of the matchday atmosphere, banter and basic fun.

the leap in ticket prices was a factor for me too. i gave up my season ticket when i moved down south for work but still got up for a few home games a season and usually went all the london aways unless i was playing myself.

i grew up watching liverpool and going to anfield in the casuals era when it was just life-changing stuff, brilliant fun. also been lucky enough to go to a lot of european aways as well thanks to the club's success, and there really is nothing like a european away for getting a contrast to the sky era matches. that's where you meet the real, dedicated fans, same as you do on wet tuesday aways in november at leeds and such. no knobheads moaning about people swearing near them or asking you to sit down in front of them and that.

unfortunately living over in thailand these days and my boycott of giving the club any money while hicks and gillett are in charge means i've not seen my team play in a few years. i miss it a lot. i was over in the UK last year and offered a spare for a home match but after a lot of wrangling i decided not to go because i didn't want to give those two fuc_kers, or a load of banks, any more of my money. so i watched it on a pub telly near anfield and had a cracking laugh - but still felt left out.

so to answer singher's question, i don't really 'support' my team in any sense of the word these days unfortunately. but then there's a real dilemma for liverpool fans today in that going the match and supporting the team, the reason you go, means hurting the club by continually supporting the frauds who 'own' the club. but the minute we have new owners and a new sense of optimism, i'll be back over and doing my best to get my hands on a match ticket as soon as possible.

[mrbojangles]

I went to watch City regularly until I was 5, them my dad got me a season ticket. I had that until I was 16, when I joined the Royal Navy. After I came out, I had a season ticket again up until 2 years before we left Maine Road 2001.

Now you lot are gonna love me for this but I then turned to the Dark Side and became a corporate host for my company. Yes, I had to take customers or some people from the company as part of reward and recognition. I had to endure 5 course dinners and as much as we could drink. Sh1tty job but someone had to do it

I kept on doing that until I came to Saudi. However, when I go back to the UK on business I always try and work it around a City game.

Over here in Saudi, I formed the "Riyadh Blues, Middle Eastlands Branch" which is increasing in size every year. Here is the logo I designed (with a little plagiarism from City):-

[bifftastic]

Nice one StevieH

when we were in Cardiff for the cup final in 2006 we were all drinking together with the Liverpool fans, normally Cardiff centre gets segregated, half for one team half for the other but West Ham and Liverpool seemed to ignore all that and mixed together. The bouncers at a couple of the pubs remembered us from the previous 2 years we'd been there and, all in all, we had a cracking time of it. Great game too, apart from the last couple of minutes of normal time!

You're right about the people who turn up at games now, imagine being told off for swearing at a football match! I mean <deleted>!

The music they play at the grounds now really pisses me off, part of the build up was the 2 sets of fans singing at each other before the game, now it's all covered up by shitty pop tunes blasted out over the sound system. Probably so as not to offend any TV audience or something but it kills a lot of the atmosphere right at the start.

I think sky has done a lot for the game, and the standard of the actual football is way way better but the match atmosphere has completely disappeared.

The crowd moving around and surging forwards when a goal went in, the absolute mayhem that followed, gave you that feeling of invincibility, of being US, together. I was lucky enough to experience that, and plenty of other more erm... edgy moments shall we say? outside many football grounds in the late 1970's early 1980's

We felt like it was our club, part of our community that reflected our values and our passion, not a business that existed off the back of it.

Next time I've got a spare £100 it'll go into the 'pissing off to Thailand' fund rather than line the pockets of some half-arsed french geezer who can't even spell West Ham United let alone understand what it means to wear Claret and Blue!

[bifftastic]

I went to watch City regularly until I was 5, them my dad got me a season ticket. I had that until I was 16, when I joined the Royal Navy. After I came out, I had a season ticket again up until 2 years before we left Maine Road 2001.

Now you lot are gonna love me for this but I then turned to the Dark Side and became a corporate host for my company. Yes, I had to take customers or some people from the company as part of reward and recognition. I had to endure 5 course dinners and as much as we could drink. Sh1tty job but someone had to do it

I kept on doing that until I came to Saudi. However, when I go back to the UK on business I always try and work it around a City game.

Over here in Saudi, I formed the "Riyadh Blues, Middle Eastlands Branch" which is increasing in size every year. Here is the logo I designed (with a little plagiarism from City):-

Mate, I don't blame you at all! If part of my job was to take people to directors boxes for the footy I'd have bitten their hands off!

The money has definitely made the premier league a top quality league, I think they could have kept a lot of the atmosphere and included the normal working class people too, but they just didn't see us as an asset, we were a problem that needed to go away, be herded like animals from the station to the ground and smacked about by all sorts of part-time coppers as they did it. Different times I guess, a lot of what was wrong with the game has gone and it's a good thing. It's now relatively safe to take the kids to, if you've got a couple of hundred quid! But something is missing. Maybe this new concept of 'homegrown' players will help a little? Won't help Man City mind how many players have you got this season?

Nice badge btw, could do with some Claret on it and a couple of hammers but other than that it's not bad

[imola]

Funny enough singhy I upgraded to Bronze membership last season having given up my season ticket a few years ago as I had moved out to Goa. Luckily I missed today's game as I was working but in recent years to be honest I have seen only a handful of games most seasons mostly through friends season tickets for games against the lower half sides.

Easy enough for me to see us play at Old Trafford though through my time living in Manchester.

Its not so easy to see Spurs if you haven't a season ticket though!

Still waiting and its a long list....only to be expected at such a huge club of course.

EDIT: I'm back to Samui on Tuesday.....in plenty of time for the game later this month. I wonder if imola will show at the Mozzie bar?

season ticket holder at the mozz mate, still havent seen youre boat,

coyi

[alfieconn]

On a slightly different theme, i can never understand when so called supporters mention on TV that they weren't able to watch their beloved team at the weekend.

I myself would never miss a Spurs game that is in on the box and plan my whole weekend around the game and there's no way anything is getting in the way, no going out, no visitors invited, wife and daughter know to keep the noise down, no weekends away(unless i know of a place to watch),even the dog goes asleep for 2 hours (of course gets woken up when we score or kicked when they score:D).

[mrbojangles]

Now you lot are gonna love me for this but I then turned to the Dark Side and became a corporate host for my company. Yes, I had to take customers or some people from the company as part of reward and recognition. I had to endure 5 course dinners and as much as we could drink. Sh1tty job but someone had to do it

Mate, I don't blame you at all! If part of my job was to take people to directors boxes for the footy I'd have bitten their hands off!

Yeah, I didn't need to be asked twice.

Nice badge btw,

:jap: I'm no graphic artist but I quite like my handy work

[mrbojangles]

On a slightly different theme, i can never understand when so called supporters mention on TV that they weren't able to watch their beloved team at the weekend.

Goes without saying alfie. My Mrs knows not to even dream of interferring with my plans when a match is on. Can't understand why she wasn't as eager for the season to start, as I was

[alfieconn]

On a slightly different theme, i can never understand when so called supporters mention on TV that they weren't able to watch their beloved team at the weekend.

Goes without saying alfie. My Mrs knows not to even dream of interferring with my plans when a match is on. Can't understand why she wasn't as eager for the season to start, as I was

i would have thought that you being out of her life for 2 hours every saturday would have been a bit of a result for her .

[StevieH]

On a slightly different theme, i can never understand when so called supporters mention on TV that they weren't able to watch their beloved team at the weekend.

I myself would never miss a Spurs game that is in on the box and plan my whole weekend around the game and there's no way anything is getting in the way, no going out, no visitors invited, wife and daughter know to keep the noise down, no weekends away(unless i know of a place to watch),even the dog goes asleep for 2 hours (of course gets woken up when we score or kicked when they score:D).

you ever listen to radio five live's 606 phone-in? typical calls:

'well allan i didn't see the match today but i thought we were shocking and [manager] has got to go.'

'hello allan, i wasn't able to see today's match 'cos i was out shopping with the wife but apparently the referee was terrible'.

and my favourite:

'hi allan, i followed the match on teletext today and i have to say that it's clearly time for [manager] to go. . .'

[MSingh]

don't you think you are being a little hypocritical bringing up "banter" regarding my mates other half?

What ?????????????

[MSingh]

On a slightly different theme, i can never understand when so called supporters mention on TV that they weren't able to watch their beloved team at the weekend.

I myself would never miss a Spurs game that is in on the box and plan my whole weekend around the game and there's no way anything is getting in the way, no going out, no visitors invited, wife and daughter know to keep the noise down, no weekends away(unless i know of a place to watch),even the dog goes asleep for 2 hours (of course gets woken up when we score or kicked when they score:D).

Bang on Alfredo, i'm ashamed to say some of the things i've done because og Games both here & previously at home..

At home it was Weddings etc..

Here's it's been Visa Runs, overstays etc..

Even staying up til 4's to listen to Macclesfield at Home on a Weds night Cup League Game & missing a Flight the next morning because of it..

Madness...

[mrtoad]

No longer bother with membership or season tickets as have been away for too long. However, I do miss going to games be it the team I support or even just going to watch a neutral game.

I'm heading back to UK in October for 3/4 weeks so I plan to go to a Man Utd game, a Torquay United game and also a Bristol City game. Depending on time constraints, I may even pop into Exeter or Plymouth . These are all places that I used to got to regularly when I was back in the UK - so for a bit of nostalgia I'll be certainly make the effort to cram in as much football on the trip back as possible - nothing beats live matches, although I have to admit I much prefer the old style grounds when you could stand.

[mrbojangles]

I'm heading back to UK in October for 3/4 weeks so I plan to go to a Man Utd game,

Unlike previous years, I believe tickets are easy to come by now buddy

[mrtoad]

I'm heading back to UK in October for 3/4 weeks so I plan to go to a Man Utd game,

Unlike previous years, I believe tickets are easy to come by now buddy

Never has been a problem, even when it was pretty much sold out.

I wont be asking Jimmy for directions though.

[mrbojangles]

I wont be asking Jimmy for directions though.