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Post by tepidterrier on Jan 10, 2024 9:42:25 GMT 1
I don’t really get the criticism of the city support. They are almost two leagues above us but in reality the gap is larger than that. If we were to play Rochdale or Stockport for example at home in the third round next season what do people think our crowd would be like? Would we be celebrating like mad at scoring goals or giving a muted cheer. I’m sure the atmosphere when playing games that are more of a level playing field is very different. The city fans we spoke to both to and from the ground were friendly and humble. I got free tickets to a City league game a few years ago. The closest thing I can compare it to was Wembley 2022, there was just nobody sat near me making any noise. I felt rude for talking to my friend next to me at a normal volume. They won the game 4-0 as well. It was a reverent atmosphere where people were just quietly enjoying watching the football. |
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Post by DeepSpace on Jan 10, 2024 9:51:42 GMT 1
I, like probably around 40K of their 'fans' in the ground, was there as a tourist. A nice day out, no stress, & see a few players I don't normally get to see. Unlike those same 40K or so fans, I know what it's like to be a real football fan rather than rack up as a tourist every bloody week. It was the least important game of the season, not the biggest. The remaining handful of old Maine Road regulars probably understand that.
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Post by themanfromatlantis on Jan 10, 2024 10:40:54 GMT 1
Homogenised football.
It’s not for old school football supporters really. Having a seat makes a difference as you get older I expect (I’m pretty sure I could still stand for 90 mins though).
I don’t blame clubs like City and co for this, it’s the advent of the PL and other top leagues, where TV money has been poured in for one reason only.
It’s corporate mentality that’s strangling the game, not the clubs involved.
TV wants football to be played out in stadiums like City, modern amphitheater type grounds that have most seats populated. Atmosphere is secondary to them really.
For the supporter, I think the halcyon days of football have passed. I can’t speak personally of this, but I suspect a lot of kids nowadays, have to be coerced by parents into supporting their home town clubs, most would prefer to see big name players and probably even hanker for a ‘stadium tour’ as you often hear nowadays.
I don’t really have any beef with a few supporters of these big clubs that I know, and who weren’t born in these places. All of the ones I know have a legit back story as to how they ended up supporting a club despite no sort of birthright. The ones who turn up purely for the event with next to no interest in the football are another matter…
It’s obviously an age thing. Town will be my club till the point they put me in the ground. So many kids won’t experience what we have, but I still hope they can reminisce in their own way in later life.
Life would be even shittier if it weren’t for the memories and the escapism that your football club provides…
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Post by brighousebandbred on Jan 10, 2024 11:12:38 GMT 1
The last few posts have completely summed it up. Football at the highest level becoming a corporate toy , it’s a shame but luckily only effects me when we play them away, I feel blessed that my son as chosen HTFC as his club . Many call it curse , personally it’s a gift. UTT.
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Post by Mastercracker on Jan 10, 2024 11:38:04 GMT 1
Most of this is true about Citeh. What was once a proper club with 35k die hards is now a global corporate 'franchise' still with 35k die hards. Die hards who now experience trophies and football like never before but sit through games 95% of which have absolutely zero jeopardy and also have to share a stadium with 10-20k (depending on fixture) plastics, tourists and hangers on.
What is silly is when the above is thrown at Citeh as an insult from the likes of Liverpool/Man U when they are exactly the same. Yes they have a marginally bigger % of proper fans but their grounds are also topped up with the same plastics and tourists. Anfield was absolutely full of Chinese 'fans' when we played them in the Premier League. Vast numbers of attendees in the Premier League are tourists and/or plastics each weekend. Don't buy the narrative that Anfield is full of 60k fervent scousers every week.
I actually find it surprising how few hangers on Man City seem to have collected compared to others, given their success.
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Post by DeepSpace on Jan 10, 2024 12:56:28 GMT 1
Most of this is true about Citeh. What was once a proper club with 35k die hards is now a global corporate 'franchise' still with 35k die hards. Die hards who now experience trophies and football like never before but sit through games 95% of which have absolutely zero jeopardy and also have to share a stadium with 10-20k (depending on fixture) plastics, tourists and hangers on. What is silly is when the above is thrown at Citeh as an insult from the likes of Liverpool/Man U when they are exactly the same. Yes they have a marginally bigger % of proper fans but their grounds are also topped up with the same plastics and tourists. Anfield was absolutely full of Chinese 'fans' when we played them in the Premier League. Vast numbers of attendees in the Premier League are tourists and/or plastics each weekend. Don't buy the narrative that Anfield is full of 60k fervent scousers every week. I actually find it surprising how few hangers on Man City seem to have collected compared to others, given their success. Their average attendance pre the big money fluctuated generally from low 20s to mid 30s with the odd dip into the 40s. In reality, & allowing for drop-off from the old days, it’s not unreasonable to suggest at least 50% of people watching on Sunday, & probably at any game, had no connection whatsoever to them pre-Etihad. Throw on top of that the actual tourists flying in per game & the Maine Road residue is small and dying.. I speculated on Sunday that maybe 10% or even more were probably declaring themselves Man Utd fans barely a decade ago. But unlike us, they didn’t really carry their history with them. Virtually everyone in our ground probably has some family connection, with maybe the odd few that popped up during the Prem years or at other times & hung around. I doubt we have many at any rate that have changed allegiance to us. It’s a new generation watching at the Etihad in large parts. |
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Post by Walton-on-the-Hill Terrier on Jan 10, 2024 14:10:21 GMT 1
The last “big 6” ground/game I went to was at Chelsea about five years ago. I was already retired but I was still invited as a corporate guest, dinner and wine beforehand (it was an evening game). I actually still wanted to watch the game of football, so went to my seat before kick off, unlike most of my fellow diners. I couldn’t believe the number of watchers there (I won’t call them fans or supporters) filming themselves on their phones on the end of those camera sticks. Made me sick!
Our eldest grandson is football mad. He must have ten team shirts now, including Leatherhead, Dorking, Sutton United, Huddersfield Town (naturally), Arsenal, Chelsea, Man U, England (x2) and he got both the Portugal strip with Ronaldo on (very smart actually) and the pink Miami shirt with Messi on for Christmas. At his age, six, players like Ronaldo and Messi mean more to him than actual football clubs, it’s just the way it is nowadays. He enjoys going to Leatherhead more than anywhere else, which is perfect for him at his age, but ask him who he supports and it will change almost every day.
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Post by Mastercracker on Jan 10, 2024 14:23:15 GMT 1
Most of this is true about Citeh. What was once a proper club with 35k die hards is now a global corporate 'franchise' still with 35k die hards. Die hards who now experience trophies and football like never before but sit through games 95% of which have absolutely zero jeopardy and also have to share a stadium with 10-20k (depending on fixture) plastics, tourists and hangers on. What is silly is when the above is thrown at Citeh as an insult from the likes of Liverpool/Man U when they are exactly the same. Yes they have a marginally bigger % of proper fans but their grounds are also topped up with the same plastics and tourists. Anfield was absolutely full of Chinese 'fans' when we played them in the Premier League. Vast numbers of attendees in the Premier League are tourists and/or plastics each weekend. Don't buy the narrative that Anfield is full of 60k fervent scousers every week. I actually find it surprising how few hangers on Man City seem to have collected compared to others, given their success. Their average attendance pre the big money fluctuated generally from low 20s to mid 30s with the odd dip into the 40s. In reality, & allowing for drop-off from the old days, it’s not unreasonable to suggest at least 50% of people watching on Sunday, & probably at any game, had no connection whatsoever to them pre-Etihad. Throw on top of that the actual tourists flying in per game & the Maine Road residue is small and dying.. I speculated on Sunday that maybe 10% or even more were probably declaring themselves Man Utd fans barely a decade ago. But unlike us, they didn’t really carry their history with them. Virtually everyone in our ground probably has some family connection, with maybe the odd few that popped up during the Prem years or at other times & hung around. I doubt we have many at any rate that have changed allegiance to us. It’s a new generation watching at the Etihad in large parts. They averaged 46800 in 2004, first year at the new ground. That was the 3rd highest average attendance in English football that season behind Man U and Newcastle. 4 years before Abu Dhabi showed up and when they were still largely crap and a laughing stock. If you're going back to them averaging low 20k's your off back to the mid to late 80s, a time when virtually everyone's attendances were half what they are now. |
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Post by bluebeard on Jan 10, 2024 15:34:51 GMT 1
The old main Road was a great ground but it was always a bit dodgey but you can say that about a few of the old big clubs. Going, back to when Town were in the old division one, City got crowds of 40,000 sometimes 50,000 + but like other clubs when they were doing less well there crowds would dip. I remember in the 80's going to Boro when there was only 5,000 there, loads of clubs had poor crowds mainly due to the amount of violence there was i went to Birmingham when there was 46,000 and another time just 7,000.
City still hold the record for a crowd at an English football league ground, 84,000 in the old Main Road while the once mighty Leeds Utd!!! their record crowd is 57.000some will argue that Spurs got 85,000 in Wembley but that isn't a football league ground.
We all have our opinions, but i say good luck to Man City after all the likes of Liverpool, Manure, Chelski have all spent huge amounts and even Blackburn where would they have been without Jack Walkers money and why don't people mention Newcastle.
Football certainly isn't the game it used to be and i know which era i prefer.
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Post by Captainslapper on Jan 10, 2024 15:41:51 GMT 1
The last few posts have completely summed it up. Football at the highest level becoming a corporate toy , it’s a shame but luckily only effects me when we play them away, I feel blessed that my son as chosen HTFC as his club . Many call it curse , personally it’s a gift. UTT. Arent we a bit if a corporate toy now though? Our 'corporate' owner isnt as wealthy as the ones that own the big clubs, but hes a guy who had no knowledge of the club, even the town itself, only a few weeks before he bought it from the other side of the world. There arent many 'lifelong fans made good' owners around in the top two divisions anymore. Gibson at Boro is one. Hoyle was probably one of the last few. Pretty much every club is owned by some foreign businessman ( or state ) for marketing or 'toy to play with' reasons... us included now. |
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Post by Captainslapper on Jan 10, 2024 15:47:02 GMT 1
The old main Road was a great ground but it was always a bit dodgey but you can say that about a few of the old big clubs. Going, back to when Town were in the old division one, City got crowds of 40,000 sometimes 50,000 + but like other clubs when they were doing less well there crowds would dip. I remember in the 80's going to Boro when there was only 5,000 there, loads of clubs had poor crowds mainly due to the amount of violence there was i went to Birmingham when there was 46,000 and another time just 7,000. City still hold the record for a crowd at an English football league ground, 84,000 in the old Main Road while the once mighty Leeds Utd!!! their record crowd is 57.000some will argue that Spurs got 85,000 in Wembley but that isn't a football league ground. We all have our opinions, but i say good luck to Man City after all the likes of Liverpool, Manure, Chelski have all spent huge amounts and even Blackburn where would they have been without Jack Walkers money and why don't people mention Newcastle. Football certainly isn't the game it used to be and i know which era i prefer. Hasnt it always gone on? Arsenal were known as the Bank of England club back in the 1930s due to the enormous amounts the owners spent on the team...then Sunderland took over that title in the 1950s for the same reason. |
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Post by gledholt terrier on Jan 10, 2024 17:11:36 GMT 1
The old main Road was a great ground but it was always a bit dodgey but you can say that about a few of the old big clubs. Going, back to when Town were in the old division one, City got crowds of 40,000 sometimes 50,000 + but like other clubs when they were doing less well there crowds would dip. I remember in the 80's going to Boro when there was only 5,000 there, loads of clubs had poor crowds mainly due to the amount of violence there was i went to Birmingham when there was 46,000 and another time just 7,000. City still hold the record for a crowd at an English football league ground, 84,000 in the old Main Road while the once mighty Leeds Utd!!! their record crowd is 57.000some will argue that Spurs got 85,000 in Wembley but that isn't a football league ground. We all have our opinions, but i say good luck to Man City after all the likes of Liverpool, Manure, Chelski have all spent huge amounts and even Blackburn where would they have been without Jack Walkers money and why don't people mention Newcastle. Football certainly isn't the game it used to be and i know which era i prefer. Hasnt it always gone on? Arsenal were known as the Bank of England club back in the 1930s due to the enormous amounts the owners spent on the team...then Sunderland took over that title in the 1950s for the same reason. Somewhat restrained by maximum wages though (not that there wouldn’t have been dodgy practices). |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2024 19:09:42 GMT 1
They are obvs a good team with Foden & Grealish different gravy but we were poor & never had a go at all. No confidence in DM as he has absolutely no game management no matter who we play!!! We hopefully get 4 or 5 new signings this window, then DM can be judged on merit, the new players look decent (early days) so he can, in my opinion start to deliver, if he doesn’t, he’ll not last long! He hasn't. |
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