What does your team mean to you?

gimmick

In a kind of follow on thread from "Who you support and why", id like to know what your team means to you, what was the biggest high, and the most crushing low. What lengths you would go to to see them play etc.

For me, my team is Cork City FC.

Biggest High: Winning the cup in 1998. Had exams so couldnt go to either game, but an amazing time all the same. Knocking Djurgardens out of this years UEFA cup a few weeks ago was a great moment also, hopefully to be topped in November with a league title.

Crushing Low: Loosing the league on the last game of the season to Dundalk, loosing 0-1 in a game City just needed a draw. This combined with the 'protest' after City lost and were subsequently knocked out of the Setanta Cup, to Portadown this season. People spat and threw stuff at our chairman, called for Damien Ricardsons head, 5 weeks into his reign as boss. Sickening it was. More sickening seeing these morons chants Ricos name now.

What City means to me, is having heroes who I see week in week out, no prima donnas, just nice guys who are approachable. Being a City fan is taking pride in the City I have been born, and gives great pride when I see them beat traditional 'big hitters' like Shels, Shams and Bohs.

Others?

Zaph

I'm a Leeds fan, been one for over 30 years and it's been one hell of a rollercoaster ride.

Biggest high: Toss up between beating the hated enemy from Manchester to the league title in 1992 with a team that wasn't exactly packed with superstars and the great European Cup adventure a couple of years ago when we somehow reached the semi-final.

Biggest low: I'm a Leeds fan - where do I start? Rolling over and putting up no fight at all when losing 3-0 to Villa in the 1996 League Cup final still annoys the hell out of me. Losing the aforementioned European Cup semi-final was disappointing, but it was nothing compared to what it started - the almost complete destruction of my team. Peter Ridsdale should have faced criminal charges for what he did to the club.

What Leeds means to me is the fact that despite everything that's gone on over the last few years, there's still a club to support. While I don't like the man, Ken Bates has steadied the ship and Kevin Blackwell has done an incredible job with the resources available to him. It's easy to be a sheep and follow the crowds flocking to support Man United, Liverpool and the rest, there's nothing easy about being a Leeds fan.

MrJoeSoap

Shelbourne fan since I was 9, loved (almost) every minute of it.

Biggest High: Dave Rogers 25 yard screamer vs Hadjuk Split. I had only arrived back on a flight from New York two hours beforehand but made it Tolka in time for the kick-off. I'll never forget it. Inchicore last year was special too. Then there was the 6-4 win vs Bohs a few years back, Nutsys screamer.

Biggest low: In terms of individual games it would have to be between the 2-2 draw vs Rovers on the opening day a few years back (after being 2 nil up with a minute or so to go) and the 4-1 thrashing Bohs gave us at Tolka. This season has been low but we'll bounce back.

If I may add:

Favourite Players: Pat Scully, Wes Houlihan, Stephen and Declan Geoghegan, Bomber Heary, Nutsy, Richie and Dessie Baker, Steve Williams.
Cult hero: Carel van der Velden
Favourite Goal: Other than Scouse vs Split it has to be Wes-o vs Drogs earlier this season or Davy Byrnes goal of the season a few seasons back.

20 Times 20 Times

My team

Dundalk FC

Ive follow Dundalk for as long as i can remember , when people say that you normally say yeah right but i cant remember my first dundalk match was always brought up to oriel when i was younger , supporting dundalk is something i take pride in been one of the most successful teams in ireland and hearing about the glory days in the past , just wishing i could of seen them , im 21 btw , so while i seen some great time with dundalk noting would of been better then been in oriel park in 1979 when they played my other love Glasgow celtic in front of 19thousand fans and nearly knocked them out of the european cup to qualify for the last 16 .

My first Biggest High
Tom Mcnutly scoring in turners cross and giving us the league , i was VERY young but remember the player climbing over the fences they had in turners cross to come over to the fans magic moment
Another High
Wining the league again on the last day of teh season in (i think) 1995 season mick doohan and tom mcnutly scored , i remember waiting for the result to some in , magic moment again
Last Big high
The Fai cup win we had in 2001/2002 season , the 4nill win over rovers , and the 2 goals by garry haylock in the final , and singing "tell all teh Bohs you know garry haylock is better then crowe"

Now the lows
Been relagated for the first time 1998/1999 season speaks for itself
been relagated again in 2001/2002 season and staying down
watching my team lose 6nill to bray

favorite player
Brian bryne / tom mc nutly hard to make my mind up hell i even liked peter witnel anyone remember him


we will be back in top flight football soon and we will dominate again , the structure is been built , if we dont go up this season i honestly wont be disappointed , because what jim gannon is doing is a great job with very limited resources he got rid of tthe players on 1800 a week wages and given the youth a great chance to develop watch tis space

20 Times 20 Times

gimmick wrote:

Biggest High: Winning the cup in 1998. Had exams so couldnt go to either game, but an amazing time all the same.

there is no way on earth i would of missed my teams cup game for any exams ! but hey thats you this is me

jesus_thats_gre

Liverpool...

Hmmm been following them since I was a kid.. Cant remember how long but the first game I remember was a Liverpool vs Everton F.A. Cup Final in the late 80's...


My biggest high.. hmmm gotta be winning the CL last season against all odds.. Its an obvious choice but it sorta does stick in the memory..

My biggest low.. Loosing our place as the number club in England and not being able to regain the top spot after many attempts..

Fav player ever.. John Barnes..


I reckon we could have become the biggest clun again if Roman hadn't injected so much money into Chelsea.. It really has knocked every club back a few years in their plans..

mayordenis

maybe 12 years of being a liverpool fan they mean the world to me.

biggest high
theres been a couple,
only a couple i know lately but there is one that is immediately obvious,
it was not so long ago, in turkey, when nothin really made any sense and we didnt touch anything along the way no domestic anything just the bigges prize in the game in the mos dramatic fashion. you honestly would have a hard time getting dan brown or grishram to write anything nearly as gripping. then there a certain 4-3 that even though it was just 3 points in whats been generally a competition we've had no luck in (premiership) it was a night to remember.

lows
having a team that really could of challenged only to see its pivotal members (fowler,mcmanaman,redknapp,barnes) all just kinda end there anfield careers. not all just got up and left but redknapp didn't play for many years barnes could of done with being 2 years younger, fowler could of done without houllier and macca should of stayed.

favourite player
there is only one god.
i love john arne risse but even his left foot was a patch on the great robbie's.
UNREAL!

RuggieBear

Bray Wanderers

high: winning the cup in 1990....and eventually winning it after all those replays against finn harps in 1999.

low: just getting pipped to the post for promotion the other season.....oh and being the ultimate yo yo club: too good for 1st division but not good enough for premier

StickyMcGinty

Shelbourne/Liverpool (dont make me choose!!)

Shels:

Biggest High: Same as another poster, Davey Scouse burying the ball against the Split, my mate ripped my shels jersey we jumped around so much. Still have the radio clip where tolka goes mad on the iPod to listen to whenever we're beaten! meeting the team in Schipol Airport, Amsterdam after the Steaua game was a bit of a high, we started singin they got the shock of their life!! recognised on the continent!!

Biggest Low:

this season as a whole. we were terrible against steaua and they were there for the taking, and the league is gone now aswell, after getting high expectations after last year i was always gonna be disappointed really... dissappointed with the new signings (even though jayo and glen are gettting it together slowly but surely!) and disappointed with wes houlihan not playing every game


Liverpool:

Biggest high: need you ask?? the champions league win last year, i was on the floor in the pub with 2 mates on top of me, shouting about how "i thought i'd never see the day"!! absolutely gargled so i was!! And the UEFA cup semi v Barca that we won at home, i was in anfield for that one, classic macallister performance!!

Biggest Low:

Getting knocked out of the champions league by leverkusen a few years back. i know we've been through a lot worse, but this really sticks out for me....

Kingp35

Im a Leeds fan through and through and have been ever since I knew what a football was.

Biggest Highs: I am only 21 but I can still remember us winning promotion from the old second division on the 1989/1990 season by winning the league. I was only 6 at the time but I was delighted that my team would be playing against the big teams again after so long. I think I wore my Leeds jersey for 3 months without taking it off! Next big high has got to be pipping the team every Leeds fan hates the most, Man Utd, to the league title in the 1991/1992 season. It was the last season before the old first division became the premiership and I can remember all of it. A certain Eric Cantona joined us near the end of that season and he was fantastic(why we sold him ill never know). Lee Chapman was also brilliant that year. My biggest high though would have to be our famous Champions league run that took us all the way to the semi-finals and was ultimately going to lead to my clubs downfall. The best night of that run had to be our 3-0 home win against Deportivo as no one really thought we could do it and to beat them in that fashion was just fantastic. What a run it was and great memories I have of it.

Biggest Low: The last few years at Leeds Utd have been one giant low. Having to sit here and watch my club fall apart and sell everything they own has been devestating. The lowest of the low came when we got relegated from the premiership. Everyone was in tears, me included I might add, and it has to be the biggest low. Slowly bt surely we all knew that the club was coming to an end and it was only a matter of time before we went out of existence. I have to thank Gerald Krasner and his board for the tremendous work that they did in reducing the debts and thank you to Ken Bates for saving my club and turning our fortunes around.

Leeds have a rich history with Irish players and managers. This is what attracted me to them as a kid as my dad had some videos of Leeds playing in the 70s when we were the best team around and I just loved them. That video was on 24/7 in my house and I have loved Leeds evert since. Players like Eddie Gray, Billy bremner, Norman Hunter, Peter Lorimor, Alan "Sniffer" Clarke, Jack Charlton and of course the brilliance that was Johnny Giles got me to love the game of football so much. My club is on the up again and don’t be surprised if you see us in the premiership again next season as we have proved we are capable of beating the best in the championship. Ill never support any other club.

Bateman

Bohs, biggest high would be winning the double in 2001, biggest low probably losing 3-1 at home to Levadia near the end of Stephen Kenny's reign. Favourite player would have to be Kevin Hunt.

DoctorEdgeWild

Man United fan.

Highest High: I think most United fans would go for the 99 Champions league final or the first European cup win if are old enough to remember it. For me, it has to be the 1994 FA cup semi final at Wembley against Oldham. Seconds to go and Mark Hughes scores the most amazing goal to make it 1-1. That moment was just the most incredible moment I have experienced as a United fan.

Lowest Low: 2-2 against West Ham. I'd rather not say any more. :mad:

Favourite player: Denis Irwin. True United legend in every sense of the word.

Favourite goal: Apart from the above mentioned Hughes goal, it has to be that free kick Cantona planted past Seaman. The one where he has the cast on his arm. Unbelievable.

I don't make it to see my team as often as I would like so I have no cool stories to prove my love for the club. When I go over, things go pretty smoothly, although I did miss my exams. Nothing to do with United, I just missed them.

Btw everyone, I picked up this five dvd set of the Premiership's greatest goals for E20 in SUper Valu the other day - Have a look out for it. It's great.

Lemlin

Blackburn Fan

Biggest High: Winning the Premiership in '95 of course. I was only about 11 but I'd just started supporting Blackburn a few years before and it was great to see the level they had reached. I'm still proud to say that, since its inception, only 4 teams have won the Premier League and Blackburn are one of them.

Other Highs: Winning the Worthington Cup. Getting promoted back to the Premiership. Graeme Souness leaving. Beating Burnley, our biggest rivals, 5-0 in the first division.

Biggest Low: Getting relegated. Seeing Jack Walker's tears was heartbreaking for any Rovers fan. He'd poured millions into the club but bad manager after bad manager (Roy Hodgson, Brian Kidd etc.) had seen Blackburn fall by the wayside. It seems no one could match King Kenny, and no one has.

Other Lows: Selling players of the potential of Shearer and Duff (despite the huge fees we got for them). Wasting money on players like Kevin Davies. Kenny Daglish leaving the club. Our European performances over the years, including Graeme Le Saux and David Batty knocking the crap out of each other in Moscow.

I suppose I chose Blackburn because I didn't want to be just another glory hunting sheep who supported Liverpool, Man Utd or even Arsenal. Its simple as that really.

therecklessone

Spurs since 1984 (at the least), so mostly lows puntuated by a few lonely highs...

Highs:

UEFA Cup win in 84 (first match I recall watching), Jurgen's arrival after WC94 and hm roving he had more to his game than diving, 5 past Chelsea in the League Cup a few years back. Without a doubt the winner has to be Gazza's goal at Wembley against Arsenal in the 91 FA Cup semi-final from about 30 yards. Fantastic goal that I will never forget.

Lows:

Where do I start? No league win against Chelsea since I was in short trousers, countless 6-0 drubbings in the 90s, Justin Edinburgh and Dean Austin at full-back, Christian Gross arrives on the tube, millions wasted on Rebrov/Ferdinand/Fox/Sinton/leonhardsen/Sherwood/Perry/Thatcher/Scales/Korsten, Campbell signs for Arsenal on a free transfer ( :mad: ), surrender to Blackburn in the League Cup final a couple of years ago. I suppose the biggest IMO was the loss of George Popescu after one post-WC94 season at the club, he was a magic footballer who we should have built a side around, instead he ended up at Barcelona and we settled for the David Howells' and Micky Hazard's of this world.

Oh, a special mention for the fallout from Venables vs Sugar in the early 90s, not only did we lose an outstanding football mind in Venables but a leader on the pitch in Neil Ruddock, who departed for Liverpool.

KdjaCL

St Pats


Way back in the 80s me da used to drag us to Richmond for league games and Milltown for when Rovers played freindlies vs Utd and stuff (still dont get that).
Stuck with Pats living close enough, soon as i was old enough went on my own.

Biggest highs and lows.....LOL that could be a long post 89 season we were told at the start there would be no Pats at the end of the season.
Playing in Harolds Cross ,no home fcuk all fans some lad called Kerr got the team to finish 2nd somehow, then told there would be a Pats next year thats High and low no 1.

High no 2
Won the league the next season out in the cross

High no 3
Moved back to richer and got a stand

Low no 2
Then the team got broken up

Low no 3
Osam went to Rovers and won the league

High no 4
Osam came back
_intermission_
Few season of nothingness whilst Kerr built his new team, Dolan came on board couple of seasons before our next league win.
Low no 4
Derry thumped us 5-1 at the brandywell , and we were lucky it was only 5

High no 5 after that game went unbeaten till end of season winning the league along the way the only low was.

Low no 6
Sheridan equalising in lansdowne road to force a replay in which shels got somfin like 11 minutes of ET to win the game ....gutted but still won league +

Low no 7
Kerr got ireland youths job.

High no somfin
Beat Bohs 5-0 in his last game and the eternal sub Martin reilly got a hatrick (only time i have ever seen Pats score 5 odd that considering we won a lot of games in that period)

Low no somfin
Derry won league that year and beat us to win title.



This could go on suffice to say supporting Pats can be a very emotional ride

Its either league wins or facing ruin with plenty of cup misery in between.


kdjac