Support your local team. This is often used to belittle fans of bigger clubs who aren't born within whatever radius or rule the user of the argument decides to use as their benchmark for being a 'proper' fan.
Why?
Being born in Aldershot to a non footballing family, I grew to love football as any child latches on to whatever passion they choose. Be it athletics, rugby, karate, football, tennis, anything. Aldershot 'rose from the ashes' in '93, my local team. Playing in the blue square south, they started back on their way to becoming a football club.
As a 5 year old, did I understand this? No. What I did understand was that I was fast becoming a football fan. Playing it with my friends, watching it on TV. As a child, you're influenced by your surroundings, my football surroundings? Manchester United. In the mid 90's, UTD started to blow up, they were my introduction to football, they were mainly what I saw on the TV. I began to idolise the likes of Cantona, Beckham in particular. I watched in my bedroom as Munich looked set to win the Champions League, allowed to stay up to watch the game, I saw the most dramatic thing in my life at that time, we came behind in the dying moments to win the game.
Since my childhood, I have watched UTD in awe, awe became passion and passion became love. As an adult, I'm fortunate enough to visit Old Trafford and watch the team I grew up loving.
Yet there is a constant stigma attached to me. Now living in Birmingham, fans of Wolves, Villa, Birmingham, West Brom, often turn their nose up. Glory hunter they say.
Had I been fortunate enough to be born in to a family who went to whichever team was local, maybe it would have been different. I do find it funny though that certain Blues, Villa, Wolves fans, we're born in the surrounding areas, like Walsall, Cannock, Stafford etc. Why are they allowed to follow a different team? Why don't the Wolves fans I know, born in Walsall, follow Walsall? Convenient they have a team, local ish to follow that isn't playing their way into the conference.
Where does it end? If you're born closer to West Ham yet support Arsenal, is it OK because you were born in London?
Who is anyone to tell you what you do and do care about? What you love and are passionate about? Someone at work, a Wolves fan, born in Walsall, had no answer as to why he supported Wolves I stead of Walsall. 'i followed them both'. My reply? Yet you conveniently chose to support the bigger, more successful team. Hypocrite?
Is a City fan who doesn't care for the team yet born in Manchester, a better fan than a UTD fan who was born and lives in Ireland but gets over for games when they can?
My conclusion?
The 'armchair' 'plastic' 'glory hunter' 'surrey born' insults come out, you know you have won a footballing debate. When someone chooses to set their own rules on who you can and can't be passionate about, there is very little in their locker.
I would like opinions on why birth place matters? When someone knows nothing of someone's introduction to football or reasons for following their club, do they pull out the 'post code argument'
I would love to have been fortunate enough to be born in a town/city with a strong footballing culture and been enveloped by my 'local team'. I wasn't.
Does it make me a bad fan? No.
Support your local team?
posted on 18/8/12
I do get where you are coming from completely. To play devils advocate, I woul argue that the most successful teams in any league tend to (not always) be the ones with the largest fanbase, due to the additional revenue it brings in. In that context, it becomes slightly self fulfilling for those "glory hunters", as their club doesn't really get a chance to go through a proper rough patch and see if they still follow them. I would say definitely though, and it is certainly true in Uniteds case, those tend to be te group of fans that slate Fergie when you have lost a couple of games, which I find incredible.
I'd also say that I do meet more United fans that have a tenuous link in to starting supporting them than I do others, particularly now I live in Leicestershire where the two most common shirts are Chelsea and United, with Leicester third. I don't tend to meet as many that have a tenuous link to, say, Gillingham and stick with them.
Each to their own though, as long as you take the rough with the smooth, then ultimately who cares, only an individual will know how much emotion they personally feel about a team. Up to very recently, my life as a city fan has essentially been one long comedic tragedy,, but I wouldnt swap it for the world!
posted on 18/8/12
Well said mate
Where does it say in the football supporters handbook that you have to support your local team?
what about someone born in Manchester but decide to support eg chelsea or arsenal would they get the same treatment?
posted on 18/8/12
Nice one Melton
That's the crux I think, if UTD dropped into the Championship, would I care? No, season tickets would be more affordable for a start
Yes, there will be people who hop from one team to another based on success but I've never had a good football discussion with someone who gives a rats ball about where you are born to who you support.
I also don't ridicule fans of 'smaller' clubs, bar Liverpool I appreciate I'm fortunate to love a successful team but that's a perk, not a requirement. I love Manchester United as a club and appreciate that Southend, Poetsmouth, Bolton, Rochdale etc fans do too, despite not winning a lot, that's not my reason for supporting UTD. I owe my passion for football to MUFC and can't help my passion for them.
As a City fan, I genuinely hope you enjoy the successes, I have no doubt you deserve them having seem some hard (to say the least) times
posted on 18/8/12
You too mate, I have to say I have never begrudged any of Uniteds success (I spent my youth going to old Trafford a lot as well as Maine Road) and last year was the perfect year for me, both Manchester clubs on top I the Premier League and long may it continue. We just both need to do a little better in Europe this season!
posted on 18/8/12
well said no7, always wanted to make a thread like this but stopped caring about the glory hunter jibes a long time ago.
It is stick opposition fans will continue to use to beat utd fans with. Jealousy towards utd fans is unreal, just read the comment section on any utd related article. I embrace the hatred now more than anything.
posted on 18/8/12
Yeah I'm guess I'm just getting fed up with it week in, week out with fans from all variety of Midlands clubs.
I too embrace the 'Manchester' success, I wouldn't rather meet any team than City in the CL final. It would be electric.
Maybe it's because I'm not local and don't have the 'hatred'
Maybe that will be my next article my POV on Cities rise and what it means to me
posted on 19/8/12
I get it too and I'm born in South West London and follow my local team.
I just find Midlanders mongs in general, chip on their shoulders as nobody cares about them
posted on 19/8/12
i don't agree with their point of view but i do appreciate it when you get a fan of, say, Gillingham who hates people from their local area who support United, Liverpool or City. If those fans all supported Gillingham, then that club could grow and progress.
But by and large, it's usually a fan of someone like Bolton or Blackburn having a go. And in that case, I don't doubt their love for their club. But they were born on the doorstep of a club who have by and large played at a pretty high level. Would they be as loyal to their local club, were they born in Barrow? There will always be that nagging doubt in my mind. It's relatively easy to support your local club when they enjoy relative success.
posted on 19/8/12
Merry, bang on mate, pretty much what my drunken rumblings was trying to come round to saying
posted on 20/8/12
I guess I'm a bit like the Op; neither my parents nor my brother followed football and I was from a non-footballing town; Rugby, so influenced by what was on TV and what the talk of the playground was. I know one thing; as much as United in the 70s were still a fashionable club to follow, by doing so you were also declaring yourself as anti-l'pool, two badges of honour in one which was great for a school kid.
We moved to Coventry and I've been to see them many times, and cheered them on and enjoyed many great games, so can go watch a local team but you'll always be a fan of the one that grabbed you as a kid, and there's nowt you can do about it and nowt to be ashamed of. My Dad followed Leicester in his youth, if he'd kept it up after I was born and had taken me to games, I may have been a Leicester fan, but I got lucky!