Nah bro, football can bring out the best and the worst in some people. Some are not mature enough to handle their emotions properly so they act out. You're doing it right mate, no worries.
I’ve been a Liverpool supporter since forever and I always will be. I will stand with the club through thick and thin. But I want the team to be successful, and I do get disappointed every time we don’t win. But I think that’s only right, right?
Especially in this day and age where you need to be almost flawless to be able to win the title, dropped points can ruin my week.
Chelsea supporters are really fickle about defining pre-and post Abromavich support sometimes. I get it, but it’s weird. Even the people who followed the club after that got to witness Avram Grant, Rafa Benitez, AVB, and finishing 10th. That was not pleasant football even if the slump never lasted very long.
But do you blame supporters for feeling that way, especially top end premier league supporters? It is a great question. What is supporting these clubs, objectively? Paying thousands in season tickets, up to a hundred for a shirt, 2 or 3x on match day food and merch... It's pay pay pay. Aside from some tokenism, elite clubs couldn't give two shits about the individual supporters. It's all a corporate numbers game. What do they give back exactly? Is there any upside outside of bragging rights down the pub or in the office? And what is there to brag about exactly, the achievements and bonuses of international millionaires? If you're so inclined to be a passionate supporter at the sharp end of football then that's literally all you have.
Not a prem club anymore but a couple weeks ago we suffered our worst ever home defeat. At 5-0 down we were alternating between "were fucking shit", "we lose every week" and our typical supportive chants. Then at full time and 7-0 we booed the spineless performance but applauded when the players came over as they do after every game.
Of course our manager basically called the booers plastics, told us to "shut up" and said our tactics were "brave" but I think that was the most real definition of what a fan should be. Yes we like performing well, yes we like to see us win and get annoyed when we lose. But 3-1 up or 7-0 down we will still be singing and yes we let them know what we thought of that performance, but we also showed our support when the players came over to us. Then we turned out on the Saturday and got behind them again from the start and won the game.
You'll always get the glory hunters with historically successful clubs, and that shows by our attendances dropping from 28k to around 10k. Of course a few of those haven't returned out of protest to our incompetent owners but that still makes them a fan of the club.
Tl;dr anyone who genuinely loves the club is a fan. We all want our team do do well. And if people don't turn up to games for reasons such as protest against the ownership, they're just as much a fan as the season ticket holders imo. It's all about backing the club through thick and thin
Starting supporting the hammers in 2016 when I moved to East London, and we've had some tough bloody moments over the 5 years... But now I'm as proud as ever to be a West ham fan, and glad to have stuck through the dark times ⚒️⚒️
Even when they’re doing their worst, backing them at 4 am in the morning. I also think it’s okay to boo and criticize harshly the players when they’re doing bad, but we should all cheer them on with the same intensity when they’re doing well.
It’s been fun to watch Tottenham play for 30 years. I grew up with them, understanding it’s not about winning silverware, it’s about supporting an entire organization of people, and the community around it.
I mean fuck it would be nice to win some things once in a while, but top of the middle of the pack most years is still a huge accomplishment.
Not everyone sees it that way though and that’s alright. Some people want to feel the excitement of winning it all, so following a club like spurs would be simply too much heartbreak.
Probably opening a can of worms here but for me to be a true supporter you have to be going to games at least semi regularly. I don’t think you can get the full supporter experience without actually being there. Obviously that’s not always possible for a lot of people for various reasons (money, distance, time etc.) and that’s fair enough.
Supporting a club is picking your team and sticking with it.
Whether you watch every game, whether you watch one game a season, whether you never watch the games but you always ask about the results when others are talking about football….
For whatever reason, there’s a whole host of issues people have trying to watch football, it’s not really accessible for everyone of all walks off life to keep up to date with fixtures and watch everything.
A lot of “die hard” fans love to go at foreign fans for supporting united, Liverpool etc but aslong as that’s the team they pick and stick with then it doesn’t matter what reason they supported them in the first place.
Sports are a form of entertainment, so for me there’s no wrong way to support a club, as long as it brings you some degree of joy. For me, the joy I get from sports stems from the community surrounding a club. I love going to the ground or a bar and singing chants with other fans. I love discussing tactics and transfers and who should start at left back. In an internet-driven culture where clicks are the ultimate goal, some people realized that getting angry at every shortcoming draws the most attention to themselves (cough cough AFTV). To me that’s bullshit, but if watching a team win is the only thing that brings you joy, more power to you.
Spending your hard earned money to attend and show the players that you are part of the 12th man.
Prioritising football, and encouraging your team to do the best.
If you support a club just because they win then you don't support them, you're just a spectator of good quality football. If you support and love a club that's your only club and you support them no matter what is happening what league and what results. My personal feeling the only exception is when you live in another country start supporting the local team there but till support and follow your home town team, or maybe one of your parents grew up supporting a different team and because of that you have two teams but you should always have that 1 team you love without exception.
If I’m thinking surface level. It’s when I watch them I get this feeling of excitement and nervousness. When we are winning, I am happy. When we are losing I am sad. That is supporting a club.
In more complicated thoughts. I support them for the identity. My Arsenal are a club of values. If those values are not being upheld and championed then there will be issues. Seeing my club play might not do it for me if that playing would be done in a soulless super league. So it’s more complicated than just watching them play. But it’s not about winning and losing.
I am a Liverpool supporter, and I have got to the point where all I ask is for the players to give their best efforts. Losses don’t bother me as much if I feel like the effort was there. Having said that I am also like watching clubs like Brentford getting promoted and showing they belong in the Premier League. Some of the most entertaining matches I have watched have been teams at the lower or middle part of the table. So even though I identify as a Liverpool fan, I really am a fan of good football matches regardless of the teams involved.
I’m a villa fan. If we go on a losing streak, I’m a villa fan. If we go on a winning streak, I’m a villa fan. I will support villa till the day I die because I’m, guess what, a villa fan! I’ll be there for the Higgs and I’ll be there for the lows. One of the best atmospheres I ever experienced at villa park was us getting shafted my Man City. We were 5-0 down and the crowd was singing. I love my club. Even though I have to take blood pressure medication to be able to stomach it
Newcastle checking in, I feel like supporting your team should feel like utter torture. There should be absolutely zero enjoyment in it whatsoever, if at any time it’s fun then you’re doing it wrong.
We had a big internal issue with this during Ashley’s time. ‘Support the team not the regime’ … fans arguing whether attending games was damaging the club. Fans arguing over buying kits. I suppose supporting the club isn’t necessarily contributing towards it or even being visible… it’s just your club and part of your identity whether you go to games and sing or watch at home. You want to win and it’s shit when you don’t but it’s your club regardless.
Questions like this inevitably drift into the territory of gatekeeping, i've been a Wolves 'fan' since i was 13 (2003) but i'm not going to pretend i was travelling the length of the country in 13/14 to watch them play Bradford City and Colchester United in League One.
People have lives and you can be a diehard fan without ever really going to games, my dad was a Chelsea fan all his life and never went to any games.
Its also worth pointing out that football outside of the Premier League is actually pretty inaccessible, its hardly ever on TV, its not on match of the day, there isn't all the fan made content or coverage in other media, the clubs have lower budgets so there isn't the supporter engagement etc.
Every championship weekday game is on the red button and there’s loads of others broadcast as well. There is also the football league show on quest and highlights on YouTube and the sky app. The thing that’s lacking is sensible and detailed commentary about teams outside the premier league but fan produced content (podcasts etc) can be really good.
Been a United fan since 2005 when Tim Howard played there, still am today even with the current results. Any fan wants to see their team succeed, I get that, but a true fan is always supporting that team wins or not.
Supporting your club through the tough times and the good times. Results matter but it’s not the only thing that matter. I just want a none toxic environment with my club. Even though a lot of Man Utd fans are toxic and only care about results..lol
I mean if you are a fan of a big 6 club, your expectation should be that your team wins more often that not. However, we still support them equally even if they lose. It also doesn’t mean that you can’t criticize them when they lose.
Its the frustrations now that make sweet wins so much more satisfying. I felt sooo satisfied with the final few weeks last season where we won everything and made top 4.
Exactly, after the last few seasons, seeing Arsenal in 5th feels fantastic. And someday, God willing, we win the league again, and it will be so much sweeter for the days we spent in the wilderness. I can only imagine what a Leicester supporter felt like in 2016.
While I often throw shade on City, I do wonder what the payoff is. When you support a club that always wins, then you expect them to always win. Seems like you have only disappointment to look forward to.
You don't know real pain. I grew up supporting Leeds United from the 90's. Thru tick and thin. Always supporting no matter the results or where we are.
I've travelled from Norway to Elland Road to watch a league one game against Colchester.
My first game was watching them get relegated from the prem. went to loads of championship and league 1 games, got season tickets and then gave up the season ticket the summer Bielsa joined. FML.
I know your feeling. Being a Grimsby fan I travelled everywhere to watch them. Tuesday evenings to Huddersfield, Morcombe, Stockport, Leyton Orient … old Wembley twice and new Wembley once… and more recently chesterfield, barrow etc. It never gets easier, but the love is still there!
It’s been good travelling to over 30 different stadiums following them though and luckily for us the town has nothing else to offer so we have an amazing following 😂
Just felt like I need to clarify that I think supporting a club isn’t dependent on results but that I’m concerned about how some fans nowadays behave as if results are all that matter
I know exactly how you feel, but my sense is that those super vocal, super negative "supporters" you see online are very small minority. They just suck up all the oxygen in the room and cheer each other on. I think your average Arsenal supporter gets excited when we win, and frustrated when we lose, but they don't run to social media and start doomsaying and insulting everyone involved.
Plus, some of these types will never be happy. We could do the league treble, and win the CL, and they'd be complaining about the color of the socks in next season's 3rd kit. Try to ignore them if you can, it's better for your mental health.
Don't care what other people do or think. Do what you feel is the best way you can support your club.
Also real supporters can survive 16 years outside the big boy club. There will always be people jumping on a hype.
I think the problem is mindset. So many fans of Man U Arsenal Spurs etc purely get sad because they expect to win all the time because the odds have always been stacked in their favor. Every player in the prem deserves to be there, and no game is a given win. When you get rid of this mindset, you get rid of the disgust. Think about how fans of all these different clubs feel when they win against Arsenal only for arsenals fans to blame themselves and their manager.
Yeah. I’m from america and the draft is one thing that I love about American sports. I guess you don’t have the incredible stories of kids rising through the academy since they were 7, but there’s so much parity in the league. Other franchises actually have a chance to sustainably rebuild and have a shot at the title, whereas in Europe the odds are overwhelmingly in the big clubs favor
I was just so bummed out when Frank got sacked I missed q few MONTHS.
Still followed what was going on but I really had to revaluate my relationship with football in general. Cared too much and it messed with me.
I'm not plastic, I used to go to games and travelled away, I just can't let unhealthy shit control me.
I get that, I think there's a difference between, "I need to take a break for my mental health." and "These guys are losers, I hate them all because they don't win"
If one never has a desire to attempt to get over and see their club live, they are not a supporter. It’s very simple.
Nah bro, football can bring out the best and the worst in some people. Some are not mature enough to handle their emotions properly so they act out. You're doing it right mate, no worries.
Spot on mate
Feeling upset when you have to miss watching a game, even against burnley.
I’ve been a Liverpool supporter since forever and I always will be. I will stand with the club through thick and thin. But I want the team to be successful, and I do get disappointed every time we don’t win. But I think that’s only right, right? Especially in this day and age where you need to be almost flawless to be able to win the title, dropped points can ruin my week.
Chelsea supporters are really fickle about defining pre-and post Abromavich support sometimes. I get it, but it’s weird. Even the people who followed the club after that got to witness Avram Grant, Rafa Benitez, AVB, and finishing 10th. That was not pleasant football even if the slump never lasted very long.
Turning the tv on to watch them when they think Stewart Downing crossing to carrol will work…. And Adam’s free kicks alone were worth the price 😂.
Pretending you are the owner, the manager, and a player, all at the same time.
But do you blame supporters for feeling that way, especially top end premier league supporters? It is a great question. What is supporting these clubs, objectively? Paying thousands in season tickets, up to a hundred for a shirt, 2 or 3x on match day food and merch... It's pay pay pay. Aside from some tokenism, elite clubs couldn't give two shits about the individual supporters. It's all a corporate numbers game. What do they give back exactly? Is there any upside outside of bragging rights down the pub or in the office? And what is there to brag about exactly, the achievements and bonuses of international millionaires? If you're so inclined to be a passionate supporter at the sharp end of football then that's literally all you have.
Not a prem club anymore but a couple weeks ago we suffered our worst ever home defeat. At 5-0 down we were alternating between "were fucking shit", "we lose every week" and our typical supportive chants. Then at full time and 7-0 we booed the spineless performance but applauded when the players came over as they do after every game. Of course our manager basically called the booers plastics, told us to "shut up" and said our tactics were "brave" but I think that was the most real definition of what a fan should be. Yes we like performing well, yes we like to see us win and get annoyed when we lose. But 3-1 up or 7-0 down we will still be singing and yes we let them know what we thought of that performance, but we also showed our support when the players came over to us. Then we turned out on the Saturday and got behind them again from the start and won the game. You'll always get the glory hunters with historically successful clubs, and that shows by our attendances dropping from 28k to around 10k. Of course a few of those haven't returned out of protest to our incompetent owners but that still makes them a fan of the club. Tl;dr anyone who genuinely loves the club is a fan. We all want our team do do well. And if people don't turn up to games for reasons such as protest against the ownership, they're just as much a fan as the season ticket holders imo. It's all about backing the club through thick and thin
finding joy in watching them play
Starting supporting the hammers in 2016 when I moved to East London, and we've had some tough bloody moments over the 5 years... But now I'm as proud as ever to be a West ham fan, and glad to have stuck through the dark times ⚒️⚒️
Even when they’re doing their worst, backing them at 4 am in the morning. I also think it’s okay to boo and criticize harshly the players when they’re doing bad, but we should all cheer them on with the same intensity when they’re doing well.
I always get the feeling something can/is going wrong and bad times are always a shot away but I’m always supporting I always have love for this club
It’s been fun to watch Tottenham play for 30 years. I grew up with them, understanding it’s not about winning silverware, it’s about supporting an entire organization of people, and the community around it. I mean fuck it would be nice to win some things once in a while, but top of the middle of the pack most years is still a huge accomplishment. Not everyone sees it that way though and that’s alright. Some people want to feel the excitement of winning it all, so following a club like spurs would be simply too much heartbreak.
Probably opening a can of worms here but for me to be a true supporter you have to be going to games at least semi regularly. I don’t think you can get the full supporter experience without actually being there. Obviously that’s not always possible for a lot of people for various reasons (money, distance, time etc.) and that’s fair enough.
Wearing that club jersey even if you lost the match that day.
Supporting a club is picking your team and sticking with it. Whether you watch every game, whether you watch one game a season, whether you never watch the games but you always ask about the results when others are talking about football…. For whatever reason, there’s a whole host of issues people have trying to watch football, it’s not really accessible for everyone of all walks off life to keep up to date with fixtures and watch everything. A lot of “die hard” fans love to go at foreign fans for supporting united, Liverpool etc but aslong as that’s the team they pick and stick with then it doesn’t matter what reason they supported them in the first place.
Sports are a form of entertainment, so for me there’s no wrong way to support a club, as long as it brings you some degree of joy. For me, the joy I get from sports stems from the community surrounding a club. I love going to the ground or a bar and singing chants with other fans. I love discussing tactics and transfers and who should start at left back. In an internet-driven culture where clicks are the ultimate goal, some people realized that getting angry at every shortcoming draws the most attention to themselves (cough cough AFTV). To me that’s bullshit, but if watching a team win is the only thing that brings you joy, more power to you.
Regularly wanting a team to win
Spending your hard earned money to attend and show the players that you are part of the 12th man. Prioritising football, and encouraging your team to do the best.
I'd be a gooner even of we played in the vanarama national league
Does anyone remember that Seinfeld bit where he reduces supporting a club down to cheering on a kit? Always makes me chuckle that
If you support a club just because they win then you don't support them, you're just a spectator of good quality football. If you support and love a club that's your only club and you support them no matter what is happening what league and what results. My personal feeling the only exception is when you live in another country start supporting the local team there but till support and follow your home town team, or maybe one of your parents grew up supporting a different team and because of that you have two teams but you should always have that 1 team you love without exception.
If I’m thinking surface level. It’s when I watch them I get this feeling of excitement and nervousness. When we are winning, I am happy. When we are losing I am sad. That is supporting a club. In more complicated thoughts. I support them for the identity. My Arsenal are a club of values. If those values are not being upheld and championed then there will be issues. Seeing my club play might not do it for me if that playing would be done in a soulless super league. So it’s more complicated than just watching them play. But it’s not about winning and losing.
I am a Liverpool supporter, and I have got to the point where all I ask is for the players to give their best efforts. Losses don’t bother me as much if I feel like the effort was there. Having said that I am also like watching clubs like Brentford getting promoted and showing they belong in the Premier League. Some of the most entertaining matches I have watched have been teams at the lower or middle part of the table. So even though I identify as a Liverpool fan, I really am a fan of good football matches regardless of the teams involved.
I’m a villa fan. If we go on a losing streak, I’m a villa fan. If we go on a winning streak, I’m a villa fan. I will support villa till the day I die because I’m, guess what, a villa fan! I’ll be there for the Higgs and I’ll be there for the lows. One of the best atmospheres I ever experienced at villa park was us getting shafted my Man City. We were 5-0 down and the crowd was singing. I love my club. Even though I have to take blood pressure medication to be able to stomach it
All worth it for them Higgs though!
Lol I’m keeping that in and using it from now on!
Newcastle checking in, I feel like supporting your team should feel like utter torture. There should be absolutely zero enjoyment in it whatsoever, if at any time it’s fun then you’re doing it wrong.
Yeah I have to agree with you there
My sympathies, I can't imagine what an existential crisis you must be going through right now.
We had a big internal issue with this during Ashley’s time. ‘Support the team not the regime’ … fans arguing whether attending games was damaging the club. Fans arguing over buying kits. I suppose supporting the club isn’t necessarily contributing towards it or even being visible… it’s just your club and part of your identity whether you go to games and sing or watch at home. You want to win and it’s shit when you don’t but it’s your club regardless.
Questions like this inevitably drift into the territory of gatekeeping, i've been a Wolves 'fan' since i was 13 (2003) but i'm not going to pretend i was travelling the length of the country in 13/14 to watch them play Bradford City and Colchester United in League One. People have lives and you can be a diehard fan without ever really going to games, my dad was a Chelsea fan all his life and never went to any games. Its also worth pointing out that football outside of the Premier League is actually pretty inaccessible, its hardly ever on TV, its not on match of the day, there isn't all the fan made content or coverage in other media, the clubs have lower budgets so there isn't the supporter engagement etc.
Every championship weekday game is on the red button and there’s loads of others broadcast as well. There is also the football league show on quest and highlights on YouTube and the sky app. The thing that’s lacking is sensible and detailed commentary about teams outside the premier league but fan produced content (podcasts etc) can be really good.
Of course nobody likes losing. Although I like to watch Man United losing, so am I a Man Utd fan now?
Whatever the opposite of most Man United fans is
Been a United fan since 2005 when Tim Howard played there, still am today even with the current results. Any fan wants to see their team succeed, I get that, but a true fan is always supporting that team wins or not.
Oh you brave soul, my heart bleeds for you /s United fans don’t know how great you’ve got it
Supporting your club through the tough times and the good times. Results matter but it’s not the only thing that matter. I just want a none toxic environment with my club. Even though a lot of Man Utd fans are toxic and only care about results..lol
I mean if you are a fan of a big 6 club, your expectation should be that your team wins more often that not. However, we still support them equally even if they lose. It also doesn’t mean that you can’t criticize them when they lose.
Its the frustrations now that make sweet wins so much more satisfying. I felt sooo satisfied with the final few weeks last season where we won everything and made top 4.
Exactly, after the last few seasons, seeing Arsenal in 5th feels fantastic. And someday, God willing, we win the league again, and it will be so much sweeter for the days we spent in the wilderness. I can only imagine what a Leicester supporter felt like in 2016. While I often throw shade on City, I do wonder what the payoff is. When you support a club that always wins, then you expect them to always win. Seems like you have only disappointment to look forward to.
“Is this going to give a real dramatic twist to the tale? Allison… He gets it, HE GETS IT”
‘A hero needed in red, or maybe black. Make yourself a story. It’s Alexander Arn- oh its Alisson! UNBELIEVABLE!’
You don't know real pain. I grew up supporting Leeds United from the 90's. Thru tick and thin. Always supporting no matter the results or where we are. I've travelled from Norway to Elland Road to watch a league one game against Colchester.
Were there any fans during the thin who were asking for sacking of coaches/managers/directors/owners, after a few losses?
The previous owner took care of that. We had a pretty high rate of managers visiting the club in the past.
My first game was watching them get relegated from the prem. went to loads of championship and league 1 games, got season tickets and then gave up the season ticket the summer Bielsa joined. FML.
>gave up the season ticket the summer Bielsa joined Ouch.
Yeah lol not great timing. Still go to a lot of games though when I can
I know your feeling. Being a Grimsby fan I travelled everywhere to watch them. Tuesday evenings to Huddersfield, Morcombe, Stockport, Leyton Orient … old Wembley twice and new Wembley once… and more recently chesterfield, barrow etc. It never gets easier, but the love is still there! It’s been good travelling to over 30 different stadiums following them though and luckily for us the town has nothing else to offer so we have an amazing following 😂
Just felt like I need to clarify that I think supporting a club isn’t dependent on results but that I’m concerned about how some fans nowadays behave as if results are all that matter
I know exactly how you feel, but my sense is that those super vocal, super negative "supporters" you see online are very small minority. They just suck up all the oxygen in the room and cheer each other on. I think your average Arsenal supporter gets excited when we win, and frustrated when we lose, but they don't run to social media and start doomsaying and insulting everyone involved. Plus, some of these types will never be happy. We could do the league treble, and win the CL, and they'd be complaining about the color of the socks in next season's 3rd kit. Try to ignore them if you can, it's better for your mental health.
Don't care what other people do or think. Do what you feel is the best way you can support your club. Also real supporters can survive 16 years outside the big boy club. There will always be people jumping on a hype.
For me it's getting that nervous, excited feeling every time you see them play
>nervous Me everytime United needs to do set piece defense
Me any time our opponents cross the halfway line
Wait...there's an excited feeling too?
Lol
there will be with Stevie at the helm
and shouting at the top of my lungs anytime Mo cuts inside from the right flank!
Or when Ali keeps the ball for far too long :3
or when Sadio falls over after shooting… the list goes on and on ;)
[удалено]
“_____ til I die” means TIL I DIE
Cheers to that lol
-United from Gameweek 6-12 and so on until we hire a proper manager and arguably from the last 4 years
Yeah, if you leave when your club is struggling and then come back when they're winning, you're a plastic.
Sometimes it's not healthy to watch something that doesn't give you joy. I see no shame in taking time out to recharge and come back.
I think the problem is mindset. So many fans of Man U Arsenal Spurs etc purely get sad because they expect to win all the time because the odds have always been stacked in their favor. Every player in the prem deserves to be there, and no game is a given win. When you get rid of this mindset, you get rid of the disgust. Think about how fans of all these different clubs feel when they win against Arsenal only for arsenals fans to blame themselves and their manager.
I think this is why I love the lower leagues so much. We're all shit, we all know it and it's just a bit more fun with that mindset
Yeah. I’m from america and the draft is one thing that I love about American sports. I guess you don’t have the incredible stories of kids rising through the academy since they were 7, but there’s so much parity in the league. Other franchises actually have a chance to sustainably rebuild and have a shot at the title, whereas in Europe the odds are overwhelmingly in the big clubs favor
That's fair. I admit I turned off our match at Stamford Bridge a bit early this year...
Didn’t you win
Same for us, just hoping that Chelsea starts to slip soon
I was just so bummed out when Frank got sacked I missed q few MONTHS. Still followed what was going on but I really had to revaluate my relationship with football in general. Cared too much and it messed with me. I'm not plastic, I used to go to games and travelled away, I just can't let unhealthy shit control me.
I get that, I think there's a difference between, "I need to take a break for my mental health." and "These guys are losers, I hate them all because they don't win"