Originally Posted by
slack_pie
No, it doesn't really matter to me that we won't play at the highest level. There's an outside chance that we could one day make the second tier, but that would take some serious funds. While I'd love for Notts to be more successful than they have been, just for the fans to have something to cheer about for once, who says playing in the Premier League is all that great anyway?
Imagine you got promoted to the top division. You'd be absolute whipping boys for clubs with way more money than you. Or, if you somehow got billionaire owners and became the next Man City, you'd have all these new glory supporters waving their half-and-half scarves. You'd have more fans in the USA and China than in the UK. Most normal fans wouldn't be able to afford a season ticket, and even if they wanted one they'd be on a waiting list. To be honest, I'd rather my club kept its identity - it's heart and soul - than becoming some rich boy's plaything.
The Premier League is packed with clubs that are just there to make up the numbers. There are a couple that could win it, a few more that could get Euro qualification, and then the rest. What, realistically, can supporters of Southampton look forward to, now that the novelty of playing against celebrities has worn off?
I think you need to take a different outlook. Success, like many things in life, is relative. Success for Cambridge or Notts might be promotion to L1, followed by top half finishes / playoff pushes, with crowds of 8k. Success for Real Madrid is literally winning every competition they enter - anything less is failure. Look at it this way: if you got a raise at work, or a better job with a bigger salary, would you be happy, or would you sit at home and complain that while a bit more money or job satisfaction is nice, you'll never have as much money as Jeff Bezos?
Supporting a lower-league club is different to supporting a successful, rich club. You don't get to play in cup finals, and you don't have any realistic hope of winning anything 'major'. But I guarantee you that when success comes to your club or mine, in whatever form it takes, it will feel as good or better than it will for all those fans of teams who expect to win everything.
If you just want to watch a team that wins stuff, stick in the TV and pick a side. Pick Liverpool or Man City, or hedge your bets with both. Pick Barca or Bayern Munich. See how 'good' it feels to support a winning team. Or support your local team - the team that actually means something to you, and that actually needs your support now more than ever. You'll be rewarded in the smallest of moments.