Get behind your Local team!

They are playing Southend .

Burytilidie wrote:They are playing Southend .

Who do you reckon will win?

Jelavic9|RFC wrote:

Radford11 wrote:Supporting my local team to the east coast today...

Who you playing?

Hope you win.

Thanks Bury was correct about it being Southend

Personally think it will be an even game Hereford improved vastly towards the end of the season and Southend weren't far behind the playoffs last season so i predict a 1-1 draw.

Did anyone see that sitter Fleetwood missed in pre-season?

Nope is there a video for it?

I seen it :'( Thought we was about to score, on the extended highlights our move for that miss was about 20 passes

Nah mate, can't find a vid.

Ah

Ask Rad.

Meh I disagree. If EVERYONE thought like that then the big clubs would be in trouble too. Supporters are important for the bigger clubs too, although their business model deals with quite different numbers than the lower clubs. I personally like the business side of the premiership, always has. No club can do anything without supporters, it's a general fact of football. Without supporters there's no money coming into the coffers, less money for TV deals, less money from ticket income. The fact that people seem to notice that 1 person makes a hell of a lot of difference for smaller clubs does not negate the fact that it still makes a difference for the bigger ones, they simply operate on another level of footballing income. You might be "more" important to the lower league clubs, but if your goal of watching football is to feel "important" then you are doing it wrong.

That's not to say I completely disagree that people should support their local clubs. I can see the charm of lower league football, and I'll gladly watch a few matches where a handful of players are running about in somewhat disorganized fashion, trying to figure out how to pass the ball. Helping out the "local community" (a load of tosh in most cases tbh) is good for the most part, and is in itself a noble goal. But when it comes to quality, there's nothing that beats the top tier. Personally I go to football matches to be entertained. The scrappiness of the lower leagues is all well and good, but watching someone hit a 50 yard pass right on someones boot, who then proceeds to stick it to the floor with immense speed and grace, takes on 2-3 players before making a pin point cross into the area while a third player is making a 30 yard run from the other wing into the path of the ball.. That's football.

By the way. The average top tier football club gives more money to grassroots football, community development and global charities than the majority of the lower league clubs combined. Which in itself faults the arguement that you should go to the lower leagues because "they do more" for the community. That is not to say that lower leagues clubs aren't important, they are very important for the people they affect and those who have jobs because of it.

Before anyone starts ranting, I actually support my local team, and do watch lower league clubs other than my local team (which isn't really a lower league) play as well (when I have the time and patience for it). I'm just pointing out that the reasons given in this article are a load of tosh.

I support my local club even though I'm sick of them.

I'm going to watch my local team today....fuxk da h8ers.

I do support mine, even write for the programme. Come on you Reds!!!!

easley91 wrote:I do support mine, even write for the programme. Come on you Reds!!!!

You do?

How the fuck did you manage that?

Jelavic9|RFC wrote:

easley91 wrote:I do support mine, even write for the programme. Come on you Reds!!!!

You do?

How the fuck did you manage that?

Contacts. I've got a feature in there every home game called 'A Fan's View', got a terrace season ticket also. Cannot wait for the game today, as well as he first home game.

I'm jelly.

I only started it this year after my course at college, it's unpaid but the cuttings for my portfolio are going to be awesome.

Laurencio, if all you want to see is good football then you don't actually support a team. Supporters are much more than people who enjoy watching the sport.

James wrote:Laurencio, if all you want to see is good football then you don't actually support a team. Supporters are much more than people who enjoy watching the sport.

this

I live 5 minutes from the stadium.

James wrote:Laurencio, if all you want to see is good football then you don't actually support a team. Supporters are much more than people who enjoy watching the sport.

Never claimed otherwise. As I said I support my local team and in world football Manchester United holds a special position to me, much more so than every other club on the planet. However, the people who keep shouting "support your local club" argue about the "meaning" of supporting them. Yet they expect people who have supported other clubs their entire lives to simply "shift" alegiances because it's "the right thing to do". A supporter doesn't change their allegiances, as you said supporters are more than people who just enjoy the sport.

The man in the article himself claims that supporting Arsenal has become more or less "meaningless". He's asking people to change their allegiances because he doesn't agree with the politics and finances of the Premiership. Basically "support these local sides because it's the right thing to do", "these bigger clubs don't really need you, so start supporting the smaller teams instead". How on earth is that being a supporter? Please tell me that.

Watching Cheltenham Town reminds me of why I started watching football in the first place. If it was all about technical ability and the very best players, we'd all be watching Barcelona every week.
And if it had been all about those things in the 1960s, I'd have grown up a Spurs fan: just think of the misery the rest of my life might have been.

Mal wrote:

Watching Cheltenham Town reminds me of why I started watching football in the first place. If it was all about technical ability and the very best players, we'd all be watching Barcelona every week.
And if it had been all about those things in the 1960s, I'd have grown up a Spurs fan: just think of the misery the rest of my life might have been.

Radford11 wrote:Supporting my local team to the east coast today...

I hope we win

Radford11 wrote:I seen it :'( Thought we was about to score, on the extended highlights our move for that miss was about 20 passes

What game was it?

Laurencio wrote:Meh I disagree. If EVERYONE thought like that then the big clubs would be in trouble too. Supporters are important for the bigger clubs too, although their business model deals with quite different numbers than the lower clubs. I personally like the business side of the premiership, always has. No club can do anything without supporters, it's a general fact of football. Without supporters there's no money coming into the coffers, less money for TV deals, less money from ticket income. The fact that people seem to notice that 1 person makes a hell of a lot of difference for smaller clubs does not negate the fact that it still makes a difference for the bigger ones, they simply operate on another level of footballing income. You might be "more" important to the lower league clubs, but if your goal of watching football is to feel "important" then you are doing it wrong.

That's not to say I completely disagree that people should support their local clubs. I can see the charm of lower league football, and I'll gladly watch a few matches where a handful of players are running about in somewhat disorganized fashion, trying to figure out how to pass the ball. Helping out the "local community" (a load of tosh in most cases tbh) is good for the most part, and is in itself a noble goal. But when it comes to quality, there's nothing that beats the top tier. Personally I go to football matches to be entertained. The scrappiness of the lower leagues is all well and good, but watching someone hit a 50 yard pass right on someones boot, who then proceeds to stick it to the floor with immense speed and grace, takes on 2-3 players before making a pin point cross into the area while a third player is making a 30 yard run from the other wing into the path of the ball.. That's football.

By the way. The average top tier football club gives more money to grassroots football, community development and global charities than the majority of the lower league clubs combined. Which in itself faults the arguement that you should go to the lower leagues because "they do more" for the community. That is not to say that lower leagues clubs aren't important, they are very important for the people they affect and those who have jobs because of it.

Before anyone starts ranting, I actually support my local team, and do watch lower league clubs other than my local team (which isn't really a lower league) play as well (when I have the time and patience for it). I'm just pointing out that the reasons given in this article are a load of tosh.

That creates an uneven playing field though... I'm sure the likes of Manchester and Liverpool have a big enough population to compete at the top without glory hunters. I can't understand how people choose to support a team who win everything. If you're not at the ground then you can't feel emotionally attached as much. When we beat Manchester United it didn't feel as good as when we drew with Arsenal. That's because I didn't get tickets for the Manchester United game but did for the Arsenal game. It felt so much better actually being their and being a part of it. No Manchester United fan can feel as happy as a lower league fan is their club beats one of the best teams in the country/world. It just doesn't work like that. It's like a 1 in 2 chance of Manchester United beating Chelsea but only a 1 in a 1,000 chance of a lower league team beating Chelsea.

coolhead33 wrote:

Laurencio wrote:Meh I disagree. If EVERYONE thought like that then the big clubs would be in trouble too. Supporters are important for the bigger clubs too, although their business model deals with quite different numbers than the lower clubs. I personally like the business side of the premiership, always has. No club can do anything without supporters, it's a general fact of football. Without supporters there's no money coming into the coffers, less money for TV deals, less money from ticket income. The fact that people seem to notice that 1 person makes a hell of a lot of difference for smaller clubs does not negate the fact that it still makes a difference for the bigger ones, they simply operate on another level of footballing income. You might be "more" important to the lower league clubs, but if your goal of watching football is to feel "important" then you are doing it wrong.

That's not to say I completely disagree that people should support their local clubs. I can see the charm of lower league football, and I'll gladly watch a few matches where a handful of players are running about in somewhat disorganized fashion, trying to figure out how to pass the ball. Helping out the "local community" (a load of tosh in most cases tbh) is good for the most part, and is in itself a noble goal. But when it comes to quality, there's nothing that beats the top tier. Personally I go to football matches to be entertained. The scrappiness of the lower leagues is all well and good, but watching someone hit a 50 yard pass right on someones boot, who then proceeds to stick it to the floor with immense speed and grace, takes on 2-3 players before making a pin point cross into the area while a third player is making a 30 yard run from the other wing into the path of the ball.. That's football.

By the way. The average top tier football club gives more money to grassroots football, community development and global charities than the majority of the lower league clubs combined. Which in itself faults the arguement that you should go to the lower leagues because "they do more" for the community. That is not to say that lower leagues clubs aren't important, they are very important for the people they affect and those who have jobs because of it.

Before anyone starts ranting, I actually support my local team, and do watch lower league clubs other than my local team (which isn't really a lower league) play as well (when I have the time and patience for it). I'm just pointing out that the reasons given in this article are a load of tosh.

That creates an uneven playing field though... I'm sure the likes of Manchester and Liverpool have a big enough population to compete at the top without glory hunters. I can't understand how people choose to support a team who win everything. If you're not at the ground then you can't feel emotionally attached as much. When we beat Manchester United it didn't feel as good as when we drew with Arsenal. That's because I didn't get tickets for the Manchester United game but did for the Arsenal game. It felt so much better actually being their and being a part of it. No Manchester United fan can feel as happy as a lower league fan is their club beats one of the best teams in the country/world. It just doesn't work like that. It's like a 1 in 2 chance of Manchester United beating Chelsea but only a 1 in a 1,000 chance of a lower league team beating Chelsea.

100% agree with all of that. Nothing can top the feeling of watching Rosenborg beat the likes of Real Madrid at home, or watching my local side make Valencia's star players run in circles. However I know plenty of people who spend thousands upon thousands of pounds every year to go to England to watch "their" team play (Liverpool being the main attraction). To ask these people to change their allegiance to their 3rd division local side simply because it's "the right thing to do" is absurd.

You will notice that the article isn't saying "stop being a sofa supporter" (let's face it they aren't going to go to matches anyway). It's saying "instead of heading to a premiership club and drive an extra 10 minutes this weekend, take a stroll down to your local side and support them instead."

Yes there's an inequality in football, as there is in all walks of life. The top tier clubs have worked quite hard to be were they are today. They are also exceptional at media exposure and how they treat the business side of the sport. That's why they are were they are. To ask supporters to change allegiances (no supporter would ever do this to begin with) to bridge this gap "because it's the right thing to do" is strange to me.

Although I find it strang to ask lifelong supporters to abandon their clubs, I would also say that there's a lot clubs can do to improve their reputation and get people to go to matches as well. Promotional events, better advertisement, ensure that the people in the area feel like they are part of the club. Don't just sit back and moan about people "not wanting to come to matches". Do something about it.

There's a worryingly lack of responsibility in English and generally British football. The smaller clubs blame glory hunters (and yes there is some truth to it), competition money (again, some truth) and "lazy supporters". The FA blames everyone but itself of the mess they are running (Scotland is worse than England even). The Media blames the coach for a lack of English talent (although on this instance I think I tend to agree with the Media), and certain factions of the FA and Media blame Arsene Wenger for England's failure in the U21 world cup (Wilshere). Stop complaining and take some damn responsibility. Redo the FA properly, ensure that there are incentives for youth development, go out there and promote your clubs, if you can't compete on a financial level then invest all the money into something that will pay off like for instance youth development it will pay off in the long run, if the U21 is so damn important then put some sort of age limit on the main squad. I'm sick to death of all the complaining followed by complete inaction.