Hall Of Fame
Hi folks, thought I'd chip in.
As for Osborn's family - on the one hand I can understand the whole tribal allegiance thing. But at the same time, I can also understand that the family want to support their son and the team he is playing for. Not quite the same context I know but a similar example is a player who puts aside their personal club loyalty whilst they play for another club.
I just think that it would be hard to support your son/brother/cousin/nephew/etc and not support the team they were in. I can imagine it being difficult to wish them to play well but at the same time hope they and their team play badly because you'd prefer the other side to win.
It is after all just a game.
As a kid I was a Liverpool fan. Nobody in the house liked football but my friends were mainly Liverpool supporters and my Uncle was (and still is) a die hard Red, and was brought up in Liverpool and was a regular on the Kop during the Shankly and Paisley era's.
But we moved to Derby when I was 14 and at 16 I decided one day to go the BBG under my own steam and watch a game, just a neutral. Within two matches (the second being a 5-2 win over Halifax in the league cup where Boby Davidson scored the two goals for the visitors - we signed him a couple of months later) I was completely hooked and fell in love with the club. To be honest, it's been like a curse for much of the time ever since
So allegiances can change, for a variety of reasons. Contrary to the marketing, it has nothing to with DNA and it isn't in your blood. It can be down to a number of different factors and those can change but it depends of the individuals preferences and what they want from it as to where they choose to place their loyalty (although I do hate to use that word with football).
Second point, I also go and watch the Brewers. My Mum and Dad switched from watching Derby when they moved to Burton about 15 years ago and my Mum still has two season tickets, which a friend uses. I'm going next Saturday to see them play Newcastle and I'll be cheering them on.
Hall Of Fame
It must feel odd to have supported more than one club, I can't quite fathom it. Nothing against it and horses for courses but I've been a ram as long as I have a memory, couldn't imagine supporting anyone else. I actually feel sorry for my glory supporting mates who "support" ManU or Liverpool, I can't believe they feel like I do when my club has success, so maybe they should change allegiance.
Moderator
My life partner summed up how I feel by how she feels (about Glasgow Rangers for Gods sake, and there's a whole different level of animosity): 'Its the only thing that's not in my blood that's in my blood'
Hall Of Fame
Maybe you're born and bred in Derby triz, in which case I get where you're coming from, but largely I'm with Ramondo. Having moved from the Kop terraces during probably the most romantically successful time ever for any team in British football to the Pop Side, he can hardly be accused of 'glory hunting'. Much more puzzling for me is those, usually kids, who grow up in Derby, Nottingham, Stoke or wherever and choose to wear the colours of Arsenal, United, Chelsea or Barcelona etc. At least support a club you have some connection with is my 'rule'.
Moderator
Respect/sort of understand Ramondo's reasoning although I'm very much in the Triz camp on this oneOriginally Posted by ramAnag
Kids randomly supporting/wearing the colours of successful teams is nearly as bad as kids wearing Motorhead or AC/DC T-shirts and not having the tinnitus which proves musical loyalty IMO.
I have a friend who is a Wimbledon fan truly through thick and thin who has a deep, deep hatred for anything to do with MK Dons and anyone who chose to follow the Wimbledon 'franchise' (as he puts it) when it moved to Milton Keynes. I didn't know him when they won the FA cup, but he tells me (in fact he told the whole world via facebook) that the bender he went on the first time AFC Wimbledon placed higher than MK dons in the league was significantly more excessive than when they won the Cup. He (and thousands of others) supported the 'new' Wimbledon right from day 1 in the Spud-U-Like Kingston Sunday League Division 5 to the present day and that makes him worth a thousand glory hunter Chelsea fans IMO
Hall Of Fame
Either he wasn't really a massive Derby fan or he had an unhealthy obsession with a single individual.
Hall Of Fame
When AFCW first restarted they used to play their home games at my local village side -Merstham. They swarmed there in their thousands and quite swamped the ameneties - a tea hut and primitive changing facilities but were outstandingly loyal. They only stayed one season before moving on to greater things at Kingstonian I think. Always wanted them to do well and also helped Merstham out cash wise such that they have grown and succeeded in making first round of FACup and live TV game this year in atotally new facilities. All round win win deal
Hall Of Fame
Spot on Tamworth. I've been disappointed loads of times when players have moved on...most notably Saunders, Goddard, Vanderlaan, Stimac, Wright, Poom etc. Used to be particularly hard before the transfer windows when one week they'd be a hero and then, within days, a potential opponent. Not once have I ever considered following a club that a favourite player has moved to though.
Hall Of Fame
But it's different for everyone. I can't fathom why anybody would want to watch cricket but that doesn't mean I don't think people should. just because it doesn't tick boxes for me.
As for watching successful teams - well, fans like success. For me it was more circumstancial due to friend and family connection, as I didn't really know much about football when I was very young so when people used to to ask which team I supported then I'd just say Liverpool without really knowing much about them. Then I started to pay attention and I was obsessed - pictures, flags and scarves all over my bedroom wall and I idolized Kenny Dalglish. I was too young to go to local games on my own and we lived in Lincoln, so hardly anyone else went either, so Liverpool not only meant I was sharing the supporting experience with friends and family but they were accessible - there was regular news and radio coverage (the European Cup games were always live second half commentary), they were regularly on the Saturday lunchtime footy shows ('On the Ball' and 'Football Focus') and they were often featured on MOTD at a time when only three games were shown, they had good coverage in the papers and featured often in the football magazines. So although I couldn't go regularly, I did feel connected and I can honestly say I never felt any more or less of a fan than I ever had watching Derby.
The down side was every game I attended had to be pre-planned in advance. My grandparents lived up there and they would send me all the Liverpool Echo press cuttings, which would go into a scrap book I kept. So we would tie in a trip to see them with a trip to Anfield, as long as my Uncle could get there to take me. I just got bored of not being able to go to matches more often and one day I woke up and just fancied going to watch a match under my own steam, without it being a pre-organised event. So I rang my Mum at work at the DRI to see if she knew where the BBG was (because I wasn't sure) and then caught the bus into to town and followed the crowds. What I experienced was something I never had when following Liverpool - a sense of 'belonging'. Going to Anfield was always a great experience (they always won!!) and the atmosphere on the Kop was something else, but it had always felt like I was just a visitor. Walking to the BBG that day just felt right, even before I got there.
But it's different for everybody, I've taken others who support bigger and more successful clubs in the past and it didn't do anything for them. But if I hadn't gone that day then I'd probably still be following Liverpool. There have been many days in the past 34 years that I wished I still did!
Moderator
An interesting insight R, especially for being so different to mine. Regarding cricket, I have Sky and never watch the football, and haven't watched MOTD since God knows when, but I can't take my eyes off the cricket!
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