Why do you support your team?

CiaranC

ntlbell wrote: »

because the last time I looked there was no rules on why or who you have to support.

Of course there are no rules. But there are traditions. Traditions that plastic fans either dont know about or choose to ignore.

the reason doesn't have to be validated by anyone but you.

Of course, if you choose to ignore what other people think of you as a football fan.

The first team I seen in a stadium in Ireland was boh's but i lived in tallaght there was plenty of local teams I could of supported I was playing for one of them at the time!

but there was something about that match there was something about the ground the fans the atmosphere so i went back and now live beside dalymount so _now_ they're my local team

You were born about 10 miles from the team you supports ground. Thats kinda the definition of "local". Of course there are going to be crossovers within the same city. My old man is from Finglas, but he took me to Rovers when I was a kid. He could just have easily have taken me to Bohs and id be in the same boat as you.

You didnt start supporting Cork did you? Why? Cos it was far away!

Local. Far away. Local. Far away.

I think parents know that if they drag their kids to a few games early enough, they'll support that team.

Which is as it should be. Except of course here, it doesnt occur to plastic paddy to take his kid to see local football.

anonymous_joe

Hmmm. No-one in my family supported Irish teams, and my mum and her brothers supported Liverpool, who weren't very good or interesting, whereas United had Cantona and some great Irish players.

Add to that I was 5 and impressionable. Ironically enough that was the year Blackburn won the year. But I made my choice and stuck to it.

CiaranC

Here is a very good article on this topic, for those of you who havent read it.

Jazzy

so this is another "how football you are thread"?


we've established this-

1. - CiaranC
2. - Gav "Shels"
3. - Pele

bmcgov86

SectionF wrote: »

If you are going totally on charitable status, and are completely agnostic as to location, I'm sure you could find worthier teams in poorer countries.

as u say 'if you are going totally on charitable status' which i wasnt. it wasn't that i went out looking for a club with this kind of status. having read the book mentioned in my post above it just came on to me naturally to support a club with such a view point. ive been a fan ever since.

Quint

monkey9 wrote: »

I regret nothing!!

I'm just giving a warning to any dads out there. Make sure your buy your kids the right jerseys and take them to see your team play or else they could be man-u or chelsea fans. Even get them tatoos of your club crest so they won't forget:D

bmcgov86

LeixlipRed wrote: »

The vast majority of football clubs are open to all regardless of race, religion or nationality. What the hell are you on about? You supported them for other reasons or were ignorant of those reasons. Don't revise history with that rubbish please. Anyone who supported Celtic as a kid in my school did so for the same reasons they shouted "up the ra" and "prods out"

leixlipRed your 'what the hell are you on about' comment is a bit out of order. who are u to know why i support the club i do. your comment is in fact 100% incorrect. as many of the ignorant irish fans ruin the reputation of celtic fc with such shouts such as those u mention above, it doesnt mean u can tar us all with the same brush. there are a few real fans like myself on this site, visit our celtic thread if u wish. there are also nice rangers fans to whom we happily discuss football with, unlike many of those people who u may see around dublin with celtic jerseys on, 99% of them couldnt even name a player never mind be educated of the clubs correct history. so my comment in fact is not 'rubbish' as u have commented.

Unearthly

LeixlipRed wrote: »

and since then I've been to watch them in the pub every week. Sometimes I even go to town to watch them in a bigger pub. But only if it's a big game. Ole

clueless post

blue >>>>> any dublin pub

gosplan

nipplenuts wrote: »

Because they're my home town team (Pats). Any other reason is boll0cks in my opinion

So if someone were to grow up in say Wexford as I did in the pre-Wexford Youths days, or one of the many many areas in the Country that don't have a competitive Irish soccer team, we basically don't have a good reason to support anyone.

Pretty funny IMO(and this is not really directed at you Nipplenuts) but most of the LOI heads here give you a hard time wherever possible you for not following the LOI but will quickly turn around and say you will only be a 'real' supporter if you grew up in the area or some other elitest nonsense like that.

By your reckoning I'll never have a good reason to support a team then, is this correct?

ShiverinEskimo

I hate this **** of having to 'qualify' my choice of supporting a football team. Like I have to prove myself to anyone. What does it matter why I support a team and why should I need anyone else's approval to do so?

You supporting a local team doesn't make you better than me for supporting a foreign team, here's the secret - it doesn't really matter a fúck either way.

dfx-

Why?

Because I used to be a glory hunter

As for Barcelona..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtXBg6hz0Qg

:pac:

ShiverinEskimo

I just don't feel the need to get approval from LoI supporters for my wanting Man United to win. I don't care if they think I'm a glory hunter or otherwise. My reasons are my own and if I posted them in this thread it wasn't for validation by anyone.

jesus_thats_gre

Neil3030 wrote: »

Let me try speak on behalf of a few people who won't admit:

Liverpool: I'm over 30 and they won all the time in the 70s and 80s

Man Utd: I'm under 30 and they've won all the time since the 90s


Anyone who tries to offer any other reason is talking through their ****.

Haha how about this:

I am 28 and was 10 when Liverpool last won the league.. I ended up supporting Liverpool after watching an Everton and Liverpool cup final and deciding that I liked the team in red.. That was 89 I think.. Actually, my ould fella reckons it could actually be the '86 final..

Panthro

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

I hate this **** of having to 'qualify' my choice of supporting a football team. Like I have to prove myself to anyone. What does it matter why I support a team and why should I need anyone else's approval to do so?

You supporting a local team doesn't make you better than me for supporting a foreign team, here's the secret - it doesn't really matter a fúck either way.

thats the stuff!

SectionF

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

here's the secret - it doesn't really matter a fúck either way.

It matters to some.
I agree, when the choice is ManU or Chelsea, it might as well be one or the other, and one's reasons are more than likely random. But when the choice is to support an Irish club or none, it makes a world of difference.
It's not a question of being more 'football' or not: it's about actually caring about football in Ireland rather than solely living off reflected UK glory, which we all indulge in. If you really don't care, then there's nothing to upset yourself about when those who do try to raise the issue.

eirebhoy

nipplenuts wrote: »

Because they're my home town team (Pats). Any other reason is boll0cks in my opinion

It's all well and good saying that nipplenuts but you were born and bred in Inchicore. I'm 4 miles down the road from there and you wouldn't know the league existed until you reach your teens and can think for yourself. By then most people have already got a favourite team. The vast majority of Dublin LOI fans live in the locality of the stadium or were brought to games as a kid by a family member or friend.

Des you're a bit of a rarity. I'd be interested to know what age you were when you started watching Shels and who you went to Tolka with?

stovelid

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

I hate this **** of having to 'qualify' my choice of supporting a football team. Like I have to prove myself to anyone. What does it matter why I support a team and why should I need anyone else's approval to do so?

You might note that the OP is a Man City fan.

As ever, if you think threads require you to be so football (on a football forum, imagine that), you have the option to avoid them. They still form a minority of the available threads here.

ShiverinEskimo

stovelid wrote: »

You might note that the OP is a Man City fan.

As ever, if you think threads require you to be so football (on a football forum, imagine that), you have the option to avoid them. They still form a minority of the available threads here.

I wasn't complaining about the OP. I'm happy to offer up my reason as a point of discussion or to compare with others.

What I'm not up for is people writing my reasons off and looking down their nose at me not only for my reasons but for the team I chose. I'm all for the thread and the associated discussion, just don't fancy having to justify my choice to anyone.

therecklessone

CiaranC wrote: »

Of course there are no rules. But there are traditions. Traditions that plastic fans either dont know about or choose to ignore.

Tradition in Ireland is for the vast majority to support English teams from the comfort of their front room or the pub. I contend it is you who ignores tradition. For shame.

Like I've said before,I was 7 when I started supporting Spurs, I was 15 before I attended my first LOI game. What was I to do, eh? Stop supporting Spurs after 8 years simply because I could go to Tolka Park but had yet to visit White Hart Lane? IMO, people who swap allegiances are the lowest of the low, lower than Jodie Marsh's kecks after a couple of Bacardi Breezers.

SectionF

therecklessone wrote: »

Tradition in Ireland is for the vast majority to support English teams from the comfort of their front room or the pub. I contend it is you who ignores tradition. For shame.

Like I've said before,I was 7 when I started supporting Spurs, I was 15 before I attended my first LOI game. What was I to do, eh? Stop supporting Spurs after 8 years simply because I could go to Tolka Park but had yet to visit White Hart Lane? IMO, people who swap allegiances are the lowest of the low, lower than Jodie Marsh's kecks after a couple of Bacardi Breezers.

You'd never been to the Lane but had formed an inviolable allegiance to Spurs?

pablomakaveli

therecklessone wrote: »

Tradition in Ireland is for the vast majority to support English teams from the comfort of their front room or the pub. I contend it is you who ignores tradition. For shame.

Like I've said before,I was 7 when I started supporting Spurs, I was 15 before I attended my first LOI game. What was I to do, eh? Stop supporting Spurs after 8 years simply because I could go to Tolka Park but had yet to visit White Hart Lane? IMO, people who swap allegiances are the lowest of the low, lower than Jodie Marsh's kecks after a couple of Bacardi Breezers.

Actually that tradition you speak of is only been the case for the last 20 years or so particularly since Sky got involved. That's not a tradition.

I used to support Man Utd and decided at 17 to support Cork City instead. Does that make me low? I would disagree. I feel far more passionate about Cork City then i ever did about United.

therecklessone

SectionF wrote: »

You'd never been to the Lane but had formed an inviolable allegiance to Spurs?

Yes, amazing that between the ages of 7 and 15 I didn't get to travel to London to see the team I supported, but back then spare cash was as rare as rocking horse sh1t and my old man was a Gah head anyway. Didn't stop me feeling an affinity to the club, but obviously to you level 10 football fans that counts for nothing.

therecklessone

pablomakaveli wrote: »

Actually that tradition you speak of is only been the case for the last 20 years or so particularly since Sky got involved. That's not a tradition.

I'd say from the mid 70s on tbh.

pablomakaveli wrote: »

I used to support Man Utd and decided at 17 to support Cork City instead. Does that make me low?

It does yeah, you're obviously a rubbish football fan.

OPENROAD

pablomakaveli wrote: »

Actually that tradition you speak of is only been the case for the last 20 years or so particularly since Sky got involved. That's not a tradition.

Actually irish people have traditionally supported English teams and English football for decades not just since sky got involved.

OPENROAD

therecklessone wrote: »

I'd say from the mid 70s on tbh.

I'd say even before that.

pablomakaveli

therecklessone wrote: »

It does yeah, you're obviously a rubbish football fan.

I could say the same thing about you.:p

Jazzy

yum! frickin loving my prawn sandwich!
ive also got a barstool in instead of my regular chair for the PC. im thinking about supporting manchester united now because they are winning.

therecklessone

pablomakaveli wrote: »

I could say the same thing about you.:p

Sorry mate, was just jesting.

Unearthly

Jazzy wrote: »

yum! frickin loving my prawn sandwich!
ive also got a barstool in instead of my regular chair for the PC. im thinking about supporting manchester united now because they are winning.

Jazzy you have just falling 12 places in the football fan charts with that post

therecklessone

OPENROAD wrote: »

I'd say even before that.

I blame MOTD...

Crowds were buoyant here in the 60s, 20K+ at league games with fleets of buses running from the city centre to Milltown to see Rovers as an example. It all became a little parochial though, lost it's lustre when you consider you were often sharing the bus with the players on the way to the game. How could that compete with a pissed-up George Best nobbing Miss World?

_blank_

eirebhoy wrote: »

Des you're a bit of a rarity. I'd be interested to know what age you were when you started watching Shels and who you went to Tolka with?

Have we not had this before?

Meh, I'll do it again.

I grew up in a staunchly Liverpool household, my dad and his dad are/were Liverpool fans. One of my earliest memories of football is my Dad crying that Friday night Arsenal won the league at Anfield.

I always had an interest in football, Van Basten was, and still is, my hero, I'll never forget Euro 88.

Now, we always used to go for a drive on a Sunday afternoon, so I remember Mícheal O'Muireatheartigh being interspersed by Gabriel Egan talking about the National League, and I knew he was talking about Football, so my interest always piqued when he was on the radio. He was talking about players I'd never heard of, teams who's names I didn't know.

then, when I played u12 football one of the lads on the team's dad was something to do with Bohs, and we were all taken to Dalyer for a game. I hated Bohs for wearing the Milan colours of Van Basten

My first Shels match was vs Karpaty Lviv, in a European match, the glory hunter like me, in the summer of '93. I was 13 and the lad accross the road, another Liverpool fan, told me he was heading on down, so I went with him. Even got my mug on the back page of The Star the next day. I feckin loved it, I don't know why, or how, but after that one game I knew Shels were the team for me.

It took me a long long time to get back to another game, my Dad had no interest in taking me, so when I was a bit older my best mate said we'd start heading to a few LoI games, perfect, Tolka was the closest, not a walk, but a short bus journey, so I suggested that. He is a big united fan, and so after a few games he stopped going, but I kept it up.

Then I got a job in a pub, and had to work Friday nights, and so I lapsed for a couple of years, heh, more than a couple actually, job after job had me working Friday nights. but my brother and his mates took up the mantle.

So, after a couple of years, I was finally able to go back, and have been a regular at TP for six years now

So, I was always a Shels fan, I've hated Bohs for longer though

pablomakaveli

therecklessone wrote: »

Sorry mate, was just jesting.

I know i was joking too.:)

You're right about MOTD though. I remember hearing 20,000 people would often show up to Flower Lodge to watch Cork Hibs. Hard to imagine these day's but it does show the effect televised soccer has had on domestic football.

_blank_

pablomakaveli wrote: »

I know i was joking too.:)

You're right about MOTD though. I remember hearing 20,000 people would often show up to Flower Lodge to watch Cork Hibs. Hard to imagine these day's but it does show the effect televised soccer has had on domestic football.

ever read this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Stole-Game-Daire-Whelan/dp/0717140040



it's an excellent read, and a must for every LoI fan.

eirebhoy

Des wrote: »

Have we not had this before?

Meh, I'll do it again.

My memory's crap. For me, at 13 every Ireland (football or rugby) match was a big event with 20 or 30 little bolloxes from Pearse street heading down to Lansdowne to bunk over a wall and watch the match for free. I'm sure if Shels or Rovers were playing in Ringsend park when I was growing up I'd be one of the LOI fans slagging off the rest for not supporting our own and you might be supporting Bohs today.

_blank_

eirebhoy wrote: »

My memory's crap. For me, at 13 every Ireland (football or rugby) match was a big event with 20 or 30 little bolloxes from Pearse street heading down to Lansdowne to bunk over a wall and watch the match for free. I'm sure if Shels or Rovers were playing in Ringsend park when I was growing up I'd be one of the LOI fans slagging off the rest for not supporting our own.

It's weird, are you Pearse St born and reared?

You must know at least some Shels and Rovers heads, no?

tony1kenobi

My mum brought me to (I think) Islington Town Hall when Arsenal were bringing back the FA Cup in 1979. I started to like Arsenal then. I started school later that year and everyone supported Spurs, and over the next couple of years Spurs were pretty good/flashy bastards.....this made me support Arsenal even more.

eirebhoy

Des wrote: »

It's weird, are you Pearse St born and reared?

You must know at least some Shels and Rovers heads, no?

More Rovers but that would actually mainly be through Celtic. You'd have a few oul lads in the local pubs that would support Rovers but wouldn't be going to games. Don't really know many Shels fans. I know there's one Shels fan on here from Pearse st, Anto McC. You won't see many LOI jerseys about though. Anyone from around here that does follow a team would almost certainly have got it through the family.

HalloweenJack

I support Bray because they're my local side.

I have always had a soft spot for Chelsea because my dad lived in Chelsea when I was a kid.

_blank_

eirebhoy wrote: »

I know there's one Shels fan on here from Pearse st, Anto McC.

heh, yeah, do you know Anto?

sound bloke.

SectionF

Des wrote: »

I hated Bohs for wearing the Milan colours

Bohemian FC. Founded 1890.
AC Milan. Founded 1899.

witnessmenow

Saint_Mel wrote: »

I can picture Athlone missing a peno at any time :P

I support Athlone Town ... because they are my local team, my Grandfather and Father played for them, my brother played Youths and B for them and I had trials U14.:)

Geese that must have been a while ago, there hasnt been a U-14 for as long as i can remember!

I try support Athlone when i can, when there was a need for me i even was working in the bar (well working suggests i got paid :P) but its fairly hard to get excited by a team of players not from your town losing! The worst part is I reckon there is 5 or 6 players in the town that would every bit as good as the fellas they have. Would certainly drive up interest in the club.

I support Liverpool, cause my uncle supported them.

Neil3030

Trilla wrote: »

Good man, thats very intelligent that. Feel the better man after that?! Please don't try to speak on other peoples behalf. Sick of the LOI not getting recognition it deserves, but I'm also sick of comments like that... anyways its been goin on for too long its not gonna change.

I think its awful unfair to be at this craic again, smart remarks because people like\support\follow English or other clubs from different nations.Especially people who are from areas that dont have\had a top flight irish soccer close by, it was very easy to get caught up with it all.

Where exactly did I mention the LOI? I'm making the point people gravitate towards supporting winners...

wandatowell

Gotta be George Graham's style of total futbol that got me hooked on the gooners

tony1kenobi

wandatowell wrote: »

Gotta be George Graham's style of total futbol that got me hooked on the gooners

Not just football.....bungs,Dutch mafia,drug addicts,prison sentences,luggage thieves..........it was a wonderful time......and all the time Graham Rix was lurking.....who knew eh??

Number 1 has to be when Paul Davis knocked out Glen Cockerill.......

V9

Chelsea: Two reasons really 1) Coz everyone else was either Utd or Liverpool and I wanted to support someone different and 2) They had the likes of Gullit, Vialli (YAY) Zola knockin about the place.

Milan: Picked up on them from watching the italian programme that use to be on the Network 2 back in the day.

monkey9

V!alli wrote: »

Chelsea: They had the likes of Gullit, Vialli (YAY) Zola knockin about the place.

Funnily enough, that's when i started despising Chelsea. They were just a bunch of individuals, big name stars with their best days behind them. (Except maybe Zola)
Horrible, horrible club

eagle eye

monkey9 wrote: »

Funnily enough, that's when i started despising Chelsea. They were just a bunch of individuals, big name stars with their best days behind them. (Except maybe Zola)
Horrible, horrible club

Yeah you must be right, thats how they won the Cup Winners Cup, and of course the FA Cup the year before to get them into that competition.

Dolph Starbeam

Celtic - Started following them as were my dads team and now i lovee the club.

Internazionale - Started supporting throuh Gazzetta on Channel 4 on Saturday mornings with James Richardson, also signing one of my 3 favorite players of alltime helped, no not Ince, Ronaldo, genius.

Man Utd - Sadly as a kid i couldn't not support them, Kanchelskis and Cantona, come on, now that i am older and a small bit wiser i hate the club more than any other club.

stovelid

tony1kenobi wrote: »

Not just football.....bungs,Dutch mafia,drug addicts,prison sentences,luggage thieves..........it was a wonderful time...
.

Aye, only a player from George Graham's Arsenal could have hospitalized his team-mate when celebrating a cup win. The recent Arsenal vintage are better to watch, but not as rock 'n' roll.

weemcd

Because Eric Cantona was the fúckin man when i was 7!