"Real" Football Fan (Mod Note: #198, #237 and OP)

Keano

MOD NOTE: PLEASE READ

And here

It’s something I have been thinking about and would love to know other people’s opinions on it. One instance springing to mind is the night United beat Chelsea on penalties in the CL final. My brother was talking to another United fan (both have been to numerous games home and away) and your man made a comment that half the lads jumping around the place in the pub had never been inside Old Trafford. Now, I support Nottingham Forest but have only travelled to 2 games over a 16 year period. Would I call myself a “real” fan, probably not but they are team I follow.

Just wondering what other people believe classifies a “real” fan?

Bubs101

Balls to that. You don't have to spend a week's paycheck to validate your fandom

everdead.ie

I don't think that someone can be said not to be a real fan just because they can't afford to travel or have family commitments or whatever reason for not being able to go to a live game.

I think anyone that really enjoys watching there team play and genuinely feels hurt when they lose or draw or worried when they scrap a win against a supposedly "inferrior" side is a real fan.

Someone who will stick with the team through thick and thin. Besides most fans follow these teams because there family or friends did when they where only young

gimmick

This is going to be great..........


***sits back***

Herbal Deity

IMO, someone with an actual connection to the team they support, not just an arbitrary choice they made.

I used to support Man Utd when I was younger on the basis that, err..., when I was 5 my best friend in primary school supported them, I think because his brother did... I don't think this is a valid reason to develop a loyalty to a team, and I don't support any team now.

Then again, it could be argued that the whole point of modern football is to arbitrarily pick a team and support them for the craic. It's all just big business and entertainment at the end of the day, so there's no distinction between "real" and "fake" fans, everyone is simply a consumer.

*shrug

Keano

gimmick wrote: »

This is going to be great..........


***sits back***

That's what I didn't want

Take your point Bubs and thats a point I was thinking about. I suppose I am thinking about the guys who claim to support a team but would not watch "their" team play at the weekend but would be first to slag off someone.

event

gimmick wrote: »

This is going to be great..........


***sits back***

take a handful

GavRedKing

Chelsea fan, havent been over in nearly 3 years now actually, just dont have the time/money.

Supported them way back when I was about 7 or 8 so thats 16 years, mainly because my dad is a West Ham supporter and he used to hate Chelsea and they stuck in my mind so I used to say I followed them to annoy him:P

Gavin "shels"

Where the team you support is more than just a club and hobby it's actually part of you, part of your life.

Missed 4 games all last season (one was a friendly, one was a match my lift let me down, on I was on holidays and the other was a last day of school pish up). Travelled the lenght and breadth of the country, from Donegal to Waterford and Galway to Wexford.

I sell programmes at matches when I can, I help out as much as I can, it's my club so I do as much as I can. Unfortunately being an unemployed student it limits my funding to the club but well I do what I can.

For the people who say you can't afford to go to matches, I don't own a BMW because I can't afford it, instead I'm stuck with a 1997 Ford Fiesta, quality isn't half as good but it's what I can afford.;)

mormank

gavredking wrote: »

Chelsea fan, havent been over in nearly 3 years now actually, just dont have the time/money.

Supported them way back when I was about 7 or 8 so thats 16 years, mainly because my dad is a West Ham supporter and he used to hate Chelsea and they stuck in my mind so I used to say I followed them to annoy him:P

well that worked out well for you!

MementoMori

Keano A Legend wrote: »

Just wondering what other people believe classifies a “real” fan?

A real fan is a fan who is not imaginary.

The notion of a "real fan" is just superb marketing bull****.

Everyone knows there are some people who are more hardcore/dedicated fans than others.

However the existence of the these ultra-dedicated obsessive fans doesn't automatically mean that someone who isnt as fervent automatically transforms into some sort of non-corporeal figment-of-the-imagination ghost figure.

GavRedKing

mormank wrote: »

well that worked out well for you!

It sure did in the long run:pac: it was either Chelsea to annoy my dad or Villa because my best mate supported them, it was always better getting a reaction off my dad when West Ham lost though, I like to think I made the correct choice

stovelid

You're going to get no common ground here to be honest.

It's two different experiences of the game. No more, no less.

I love barstooling: going on the piss all day watching the match(es) and nobody wants to go back to the days of stone-age TV coverage. I'd be lost for United matches without the box, but I just feel that you can't beat going to games. The whole experience, especially away games, is just something else.

That's 'real' to me, but it's a personal thing. I have plenty of friends who know their football but have only seen a handful of games in their lives. I don't judge them at all, but I do feel that they're missing out on something special.

I do feel that people who scorn the match-going type are a bit unfair as without them, you wouldn't have any of your match-day atmosphere that is so important and looks so good on TV. Or the away fans that turn up the length and breadth of Ireland, England, Scotland whatever to get behind the same players that you support.

I guess I also feel that you should support a team from a city (or failing that, the same region or country) that you have a real connection to - being born there or living there most of your life etc.

Mr_Roger_Bongos

A real fan isn't one of the punters over on the fantasy football thread as follows;

The type who supports Manchester United but doesn't know who he should support/ shout for if they're playing Chelsea and he has 3 chelsea players in his fantasy team.

orourkeda

The day that a big fat bollox like Sepp Blatter enters a press conference and laughs at a team that was cheated out of a possible world cup spot should set alarm bells ringing.

This shows the contempt that anybody who pays in to a football stadium is held in.

Personally, I've become dissillusioned with professional football over the last couple of months and for once underperforming footballers are not entirely to blame. The game is rotten from top to bottom.

GavRedKing

Actually the worse thing for any relatively young Chelsea fan is people think you are after following the money in the last few years, its the 1st question people ask when the hear you support Chelsea, oh you must be a fan since Roman tookover and then you gotta explain no, ive supported them from before.

But its hard to define a real fan, they come from all backgrounds and means of supporting there team, if I could I would love to go to as many games at the Bridge as I could but I cant, do I still think im a real fan, I do, because of how I feel for the club.

That_Guy

Not once have I been to St. James' to see a Newcastle game but I am as dedicated a fan as any season ticket holder.

I buy the jersey, I follow any developments on and off the pitch, I watch them on TV/Internet when I can.

I dare anybody to tell me that I'm not a fan because I've not stepped foot in the stadium.

stovelid

orourkeda wrote: »

This shows the contempt that anybody who pays in to a football stadium is held in.

As far as the big leagues go, I reckon that TV sports subscriptions (and no doubt eventually PPV cash) will be a far more valued income stream than the people that pass through the turnstiles in the future.

Agricola

Hard to say. Is a guy in Sth Korea whos spends all his waking hours obsessing about Man Utd, buys all the shirts and merchanise, pays the membership, goes to OT once a year if he can, less of a fan than the average man on the street in Salford whos supported Utd all his life, but is now priced out of buying a season ticket? The english man would probably says hes a real fan while the korean is a fair day supporter........

Are Irish people who follow premiership clubs but have only been to the ground a couple of times, or maybe never, real fans?

Its all abit subjective. I would say if wins and losses really affect you and if the game raises your pulse levels and brings out alot of emotion, then your a "real" fan.

Keano

When I started the thread I really did not want to start a huge arguement!

My use of the term "real" may not have been the best word to use but I am not trying to get at anyone who has not been at a football stadium but perhaps those people who you see watching their team play in the pub on a Sunday in the big games but wouldn't have a clue who their team is playing mid-week!

Handsome Bob

I think a real fan would be someone who sticks with his team through thick and thin, and someone who doesn't throw his toys out of the pram in a reactionary way if things aren't going his way. You take the good with the bad and always, always get behind your team. I don't think being a regular at live games validates someone's fandom. There are plenty of reactionaries who go to games all the time and sit silently on their hands, waiting moodily until something goes his way before he cheers. Or those fans who boo their own players. These aren't real fans to me, just people who can afford the expense of going to games every week just so they can give the illusion of being a hardcore fan.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

IMO, a real fan is someone who will go out of their way to go to/watch a game, e.g skipping parties, going out etc. If you're genuinely hurt when the team you support lose, or draw a game that they would have been expected to win, you're a real supporter. I've been to 3 United matches(due to me being only 15), all at Old Trafford, I plan to go to many more home matches and hopefully a few away one too, I very rarely miss a game that is on telly or on a stream. I also hope to get a Shamrock Rovers season ticket next year, maybe the year after, depending on a way of travelling to Tallaght, again I see all the games that are on telly, I'd see a good few that'd be on the internet. I'm not an avid supporter of Celtic, but again I never miss a match on telly, and I'd love to go to Celtic Park to a game, but me Da doesn't want to go to Glasgow.:pac:
I'd consider myself a real supporter, I don't care if anyone else says any different.

Sheepy99

Watching the game on tv makes you as much of a fan as being there.

Bubs101

LZ5B5 makes a good point and retroactively you can tell who real fans are when it comes to Leeds. In school I had around 8 friends who supported Leeds. Of them only 1 still supports them. He's never been to a match, 3 of the others had. It makes no difference.

Personally, I would consider anyone who felt the split second of joy followed by the night of regret after J.T sent Edwin the wrong way but then hit the post a real fan. How often he goes is irrelevant. it's how loyal and emotionally connected he is to the club. What's also completely irrelevant is when he started to support them. I'm a Vialli era blowin but the Abramovich fans are no less real than the Osgood ones. They just don't have delusions of grandeur

stovelid

It does take a lot more physical time, effort and expense to attend live games, especially away.

Dodgykeeper

That_Guy wrote: »

Not once have I been to St. James' to see a Newcastle game but I am as dedicated a fan as any season ticket holder.

I buy the jersey, I follow any developments on and off the pitch, I watch them on TV/Internet when I can.

I dare anybody to tell me that I'm not a fan because I've not stepped foot in the stadium.

I dont think you are a real fan, why have you not gone (if you are under 18 then thats ok) ffs its only 50 mins away on a cheap ryanair flight, did you travel to Tallaght to see them in the friendly?

The word Fan comes from fanatic, somebody who has an interest in a team but has not bothered themselves to travel to see them is not a real fan! A fanatic would move heaven and earth to get to a game!

P.S Have you seen the colts if not then you are not a fan of them either!

Morzadec

I have a feeling that I may not be a 'real' football fan.

I support Liverpool but...

1) I've never been over for a game.
2) I rarely watch a full game except for the midweek Campions League games.
3) I'll be pissed off if we lose and happy when we win but I won't let it dictate my mood/my life for too long.
4) I have friends that are United fans and can talk to them about football without ending up arguing or insulting them.
5) I have no real connection to Liverpool and my choice of them was pretty much arbitrary.

For many people I'm sure these 5 points would preclude me from being temed a 'real' football fan. Fair enough, because if they do then I would probably rather not be classed as one.

For the first point, I've never been over to a game because, to be quite honest I've never been able to afford to. I'm 22, just out of college, so the only times I've been able to save up any sort of decent amount of money is the last 4 summers. And to be quite honest I'd rather spend this money on travelling the world/seeing new places/meeting different people, rather than blowing most of it on going to a Liverpool match.

For the second point, I have to work to survive and unfortunately the only shifts I can get are on the weekend. I work Sunday and am doing a TEFL course on Saturday's so I can earn some money and travel the world. The practical concern of earning money/getting a qualification so I can earn money overrides my love for LFC unfortunately.

For the third point, I don't see football as life and death, and I don't see the point in it effecting your life or your happiness to too great of an extent.

For the fourth point, see above, football shouldn't effect the relationships in your life.

For the fifth point, there's no real team for me to support where I live, but supporting a team makes watching football more fun/interesting and the EPL is the most accessible and talked about league in Ireland so I was always going to pick a team from here. I've supported them for 15 years now so it's not like I don't know anything about the club and its history.


So I may not be a 'real' football fan, but anyone who is is either someone who has a lot of time/money on their hands or places football as the number one priority in their life, when lets face it there are more important things.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Dodgykeeper wrote: »

I dont think you are a real fan, why have you not gone (if you are under 18 then thats ok) ffs its only 50 mins away on a cheap ryanair flight, did you travel to Tallaght to see them in the friendly?

The word Fan comes from fanatic, somebody who has an interest in a team but has not bothered themselves to travel to see them is not a real fan! A fanatic would move heaven and earth to get to a game!

P.S Have you seen the colts if not then you are not a fan of them either!

Please tell me you're joking?

Bubs101

Bubs101 wrote: »

LZ5B5 makes a good point and retroactively you can tell who real fans are when it comes to Leeds. In school I had around 8 friends who supported Leeds. Of them only 1 still supports them. He's never been to a match, 3 of the others had. It makes no difference.

Who do the other's support now?

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Morzadec wrote: »

4) I have friends that are United fans and can talk to them about football without ending up arguing or insulting them.

This point alone stops you from being a real Liverpool fan.:P

Bubs101

rarnes1 wrote: »

Who do the other's support now?

A few of them support Liverpool, most don't follow football anymore

Morzadec

Jaelyn Rancid Stereoscope wrote: »

IMO, a real fan is someone who will go out of their way to go to/watch a game, e.g skipping parties, going out etc. If you're genuinely hurt when the team you support lose, or draw a game that they would have been expected to win, you're a real supporter. I've been to 3 United matches(due to me being only 15), all at Old Trafford, I plan to go to many more home matches and hopefully a few away one too, I very rarely miss a game that is on telly or on a stream. I also hope to get a Shamrock Rovers season ticket next year, maybe the year after, depending on a way of travelling to Tallaght, again I see all the games that are on telly, I'd see a good few that'd be on the internet. I'm not an avid supporter of Celtic, but again I never miss a match on telly, and I'd love to go to Celtic Park to a game, but me Da doesn't want to go to Glasgow.:pac:
I'd consider myself a real supporter, I don't care if anyone else says any different.

Sounds like you are a real football fan imo, but let me ask you this -

Is the 15 year-old United fan who follows them as much as he possibly can, but whose parents can't afford to bring him over for a match, less of a United fan than you?

Handsome Bob

Bubs101 wrote: »

A few of them support Liverpool, most don't follow football anymore

At least they didn't become glory hunters I suppose, fair play to them. :pac:

Blazer

That_Guy wrote: »

Not once have I been to St. James' to see a Newcastle game but I am as dedicated a fan as any season ticket holder.

I buy the jersey, I follow any developments on and off the pitch, I watch them on TV/Internet when I can.

I dare anybody to tell me that I'm not a fan because I've not stepped foot in the stadium.

Well I have and therefore I'm a considerably (rich git voice) bigger fan than you

stovelid

Morzadec wrote: »

IAnd to be quite honest I'd rather spend this money on travelling the world/seeing new places/meeting different people, rather than blowing most of it on going to a Liverpool match.

They don't play in Outer Mongolia. Liverpool is about 130 miles away.

I driven further to away matches in Ireland.

3hn2givr7mx1sc

Morzadec wrote: »

Sounds like you are a real football fan imo, but let me ask you this -

Is the 15 year-old United fan who follows them as much as he possibly can, but whose parents can't afford to bring him over for a match, less of a United fan than you?

I have a few friends in this situation who mostly support Liverpool, a few United and, no they're no less of a fan than I am. I could have non-stop conversations with them about football, it isn't their fault that it's not possible to go to a game due to lack of funds.
Hope this answers your question.:)

event

Bubs101 wrote: »

LZ5B5 makes a good point and retroactively you can tell who real fans are when it comes to Leeds. In school I had around 8 friends who supported Leeds. Of them only 1 still supports them. He's never been to a match, 3 of the others had. It makes no difference.

as a leeds fan, its amazing the amount of people that ask am i "still" a leeds fan.

why wouldnt i be?

chopperbyrne

Dodgykeeper wrote: »

P.S Have you seen the colts if not then you are not a fan of them either!

What about someone who was born in Baltimore in the late seventies and was a Colts fan but has never seen them because they moved to Indianapolis in 1984?

Or a Raiders fan who never got to see them because they moved to Oakland from Los Angeles?

Talking out of your arse!

therecklessone

I don't care what makes a person a real fan or not, but I've little time for people who claim they support a team but would rather spunk €100 on drink every weekend than make any effort to cross the Irish Sea to see their team play in the flesh.

I was sick at the weekend and didn't travel, but my trip to Villa on Saturday would have cost:

Bus to Dublin Airport €1.70
Flight €10
Ticket £38stg
Train airport-Aston return £8.70
Taxi airport-Swords €12

I spent more last Monday on a night out in Gibney's ffs!

PL match tickets are not expensive if you make a little effort, most of the excuses I hear revolve around the price of travel agent tickets, but there are plenty of opportunities to get tickets for the less glamorous games (I'd an Arsenal fan tell me he wouldn't bother becoming a member because the only games that were easy to get tickets for were against the likes of Wigan...I pointed out that he's an Arsenal fan, it shouldn't matter who they are playing)

Jazzy

Gavin shels wrote: »

Where the team you support is more than just a club and hobby it's actually part of you, part of your life.

Missed 4 games all last season (one was a friendly, one was a match my lift let me down, on I was on holidays and the other was a last day of school pish up). Travelled the lenght and breadth of the country, from Donegal to Waterford and Galway to Wexford.

I sell programmes at matches when I can, I help out as much as I can, it's my club so I do as much as I can. Unfortunately being an unemployed student it limits my funding to the club but well I do what I can.

For the people who say you can't afford to go to matches, I don't own a BMW because I can't afford it, instead I'm stuck with a 1997 Ford Fiesta, quality isn't half as good but it's what I can afford.;)

only took you 9 posts to essentially call us frauds. your slipping

OPENROAD

therecklessone wrote: »

...I pointed out that he's an Arsenal fan, it shouldn't matter who they are playing)

Tell your Arsenal friend that is not the case, you have an opportunity of getting tickets for games such as spurs, chelsea etc through ticket exchange if st holders put seats up for sale which many do.

major bill

a real fan imo is someone who goes an extra length to support his/her club fundraising, selling coupons basically drinks eats sleeps the club!!!!! just cos someone supports a Loi club doesnt make them a real fan so Loi brigade can drop that argument,i support bohs but im a supporter i couldnt class meself as a real fan after seein some of the work alot of people do in the club. same goes with supporters of spurs,arsenal,man u etc


A real supporter of the game is the types of people involved in running clubs like crumlin united, lourdes celtic,people heavly involved in junior/schoolboy football.

therecklessone

OPENROAD wrote: »

Tell your Arsenal friend that is not the case, you have an opportunity of getting tickets for games such as spurs, chelsea etc through ticket exchange if st holders put seats up for sale which many do.

I've told him that, but it's shocking a Spurs fan knows more about that than he does...;)

OPENROAD

therecklessone wrote: »

I've told him that, but it's shocking a Spurs fan knows more about that than he does...;)

Morzadec

therecklessone wrote: »

I don't care what makes a person a real fan or not, but I've little time for people who claim they support a team but would rather spunk €100 on drink every weekend than make any effort to cross the Irish Sea to see their team play in the flesh.

I was sick at the weekend and didn't travel, but my trip to Villa on Saturday would have cost:

Bus to Dublin Airport €1.70
Flight €10
Ticket £38stg
Train airport-Aston return £8.70
Taxi airport-Swords €12

I spent more last Monday on a night out in Gibney's ffs!

PL match tickets are not expensive if you make a little effort, most of the excuses I hear revolve around the price of travel agent tickets, but there are plenty of opportunities to get tickets for the less glamorous games (I'd an Arsenal fan tell me he wouldn't bother becoming a member because the only games that were easy to get tickets for were against the likes of Wigan...I pointed out that he's an Arsenal fan, it shouldn't matter who they are playing)

Jaysus I really didn't think it could be done that cheap. Any idea if Liverpool tickets go that low? If everything could be done for <100e it's probably something I could afford to do every few months.

Every time I've looked at the possibility it looks like all in all it would be a good few hundred altogether, and whenever I have that amount of disposable income I would rather spend it on a weekend/week away somewhere in Europe rather than just one day in Liverpool.

Bandit12

orourkeda wrote: »

The day that a big fat bollox like Sepp Blatter enters a press conference and laughs at a team that was cheated out of a possible world cup spot should set alarm bells ringing.

This shows the contempt that anybody who pays in to a football stadium is held in.

Personally, I've become dissillusioned with professional football over the last couple of months and for once underperforming footballers are not entirely to blame. The game is rotten from top to bottom.

So true it hurts.

therecklessone

Morzadec wrote: »

Jaysus I really didn't think it could be done that cheap. Any idea if Liverpool tickets go that low? If everything could be done for <100e it's probably something I could afford to do every few months.

Start by asking a few questions over on Tickets & Travel about club memberships and match tickets.

Consider joining a supporters club.

If flights to Liverpool are too expensive try Manchester, Leeds, or even Birmingham (2hrs by train and often €5 each way with Ryanair)

Day trips on average are inexpensive, it's getting your hands on match tickets that is the challenge.

Bandit12

Morzadec wrote: »

Jaysus I really didn't think it could be done that cheap. Any idea if Liverpool tickets go that low? If everything could be done for <100e it's probably something I could afford to do every few months.

Every time I've looked at the possibility it looks like all in all it would be a good few hundred altogether, and whenever I have that amount of disposable income I would rather spend it on a weekend/week away somewhere in Europe rather than just one day in Liverpool.

I go over to Anfield 5-6 times a year and have never once spent over 100-150 euro on the whole package. Anyone who pays travel agents(touts) 300 euro for a one day trip over to any team in England deserves everything they get imo.

bUILDERtHEbOB

A real fan is someone who brings an Irish flag to a premier league game and boos Stephen Ireland.

eZe^

I'm not a Real fan, infact I hate Real, I support Barca.

Nah, I'm definitely a barstooler, I support whichever team wins the clasico, luckily at the moment that's Barca. Maybe next season I'll be a Madridista. :P

super_furry

Someone who doesn't go to games is still a fan, just not a supporter.