How enthusiatic are you about the Albion ?

[Horsham Gull]

Fence!

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

For tons of reasons I'm not anywhere near as enthusiastic as I was five years ago. Sad, but there you go.

 

[Simster]

Given up going but the main factor in that isn't the football or the players etc... I just can't justify the matchday prices at the moment... Despite what others may think I would actually go if I felt I would be getting value for money. (Yeah I know they do the odd cheap deal here and there but that's gash if you can't sit with your mates in the South Stand and I know the prices are high because blah blah blah and all that...).

That's basically how I feel. Despite the mediocre product, I'd definitely go more often if a trip to watch Albion offered anything approaching value. But it doesn't, and an afternoon at Withdean bores me these days.

 

[Screaming J]

Have any of you ever thought the lure of the Albion, however crap they are, has something to do with the relationship with your father?

Well in my case its the opposite. My Dad hates football and would never have taken me. Its only thanks to my Mum's Dad (who took me to my 1st game) that I got hooked. His brother - who used to own a shop in Plumpton (where the family came from) was a season ticket holder in the West Stand.

However my heart was always at the Goldstone and I eventually became a season ticket holder and went all over the place with some mates ......Let's face it, how many of you older (I'm 37) posters on here can say you are more in it for the footy than the away day crack. An Albion win is a bonus at the end of the day (sorry for the crap hackneyed phrasing).

The crack I've had at games since the internet got going is great, as good if not better than when I lived down south, was a season ticket holder and went with my mates; before I got married, moved away and then started a family.

Is it just me being a sentimental fool? It's so much more than about the footy isn't it.

To belatedly answer the question, yes, I am still enthusiastic about the club and contribute in any way I can , even if it is for non-footy related reasons. Always will be.?

There's a lot of sentimentality in it for me; but the football is just as important still. The sentimentality is probably more prevalent in us exiles and is a dimensions which locals - I suspect - don't have as much. I like being in the away end at somewhere like Crewe or Burnley - I actually feel part of something. And I cling to a pipe dream of moving back to Sussex and being a season ticket holder again one day!

 

[challengechappers]

i'm only going now and then - nothing to do with the quality of the football but in part due to the withdean atmosphere but mainly down to the price of football nowadays. in fact, i'd rather watch the albion in the bottom tier at say £12 a game than in the premiership at £30. i have such great memories of paying a few quid to sing in the northstand to watch minto and co play rubbish.

 

[Gully]

I am losing enthusiasm as the years go by, still enjoy going to watch the Albion and will do whenever they are within 100 miles of home (Withdean is 150, hence I have only watched a handful of games there), having followed the team since I was about 10 years old might have something to do with it.

I have started watching a local team who play in the BS Prem, have to say that I have reached the stage where I almost enjoy watching them more than the Albion. During the game last Monday I found myself totally absorbed in the football, the atmosphere and the nail biting...something I haven't had with the Albion for a while...I even cancelled going to the Tranmere game, which had been a must attend game when the fixtures came out, to go to a BBQ instead.

The turning point was probably last season, most of the football I saw in the Conference was far more entertaining than anything the Albion produced, definitely better value for money. I will probably be hounded off NSC as a heretic, but as with anything in life, you pays your money and takes your choice.

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

I will probably be hounded off NSC as a heretic.

Not at all, at least not here. Obviously I can't get to any more than one or two games a season, but while I'm over here I'm paying less than a tenner to see top-flight football (not great quality, but championship level on a good day) where the day doesn't start at 3pm and finish at 4:45.

For two hours prior to kick off there's local kids football on the pitch, toys thrown into the crowd, mascot musical performances, cheerleaders etc etc. After the game there's fireworks (if we win), interviews with players / managers and more cheerleader fun and games.

Not all of it's to everyone's taste I know, but if you're there with family / kids etc it gives you a lot more than just the football and much more reason to get there earlier and stay later. The ground I go to has no train line, is in a built-up area and relies mainly on busses and people walking to and from the ground. Crowds are comparable to what we can expect at Falmer, averaging around 16000.

I'd like to hope that when we move into Falmer we'll offer similar entertainment. It helps ensure half the crowd are already in the ground an hour before kick off and that leaving is also staggered.

As it stands (well, at least the last time I went) Withdean offers pretty much no reason at all to get there early and none to stay after. It's 25 notes for 90 minutes of football (generally pretty poor these days) and that's it.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I used to be an STH, but gave up after we romped to the Div 3 title under Adams. Despite winning most games I just didn't enjoy myself much and thought someone else would enjoy my seat more than I did - that was during the days when Withdean was full.

After that season I went to quite a few away games until I moved away. Withdean is soooo sh*te compared to away games.

I have to say, I'm not as bothered about football in general as I used to be. Premiership is dull as dishwater, and England have got that Ruddy Faced Clown as manager...

There are more important things now. Football comes well down the list

 

[blue'n'white]

I go, I'm still quite enthusiastic but these days it's getting to be a bit of a chore if I'm being honest. I renewed my season ticket at 11.30pm on the day before the prices went up when we still had discounts and did it out of habit really and cos I didn't want to lose a North Stand season ticket. Paying before the season does at least mean that it's all done - if I was forking out £20 odd every other week I would think twice about it probably.
As I said it's a habit really

 

[coventrygull]

There may be something in what Johnny Crumplin Football said as my father died a couple of years ago and I couldn't be arsed to go to a game all last season. Then again Its not just the Albion that I have lost interest in but football in general. Just think its all overhyped with ridiculous transfer fees and wages.

Like Gully I also found conference football exciting. Used to go and watch Crawley a few times when they were up this way. ( I have been to Forest Green ) but I can't even be bothered with that at the moment

 

[Benny Seagull]

only prepared with the away games. that's until falmer, obviously.

 

[TonyW]

Well, having read this apathetic pile of shite, its no wonder my football club is in the dumps.

If you're a fan, you're a fan, through thick and thin.
If you're not, then bog off and do something else.

 

[Wozza]

How interested am I in the Albion right now? About as interested as the club is in getting promotion.

 

[Icy Gull]

Well, having read this apathetic pile of shite, its no wonder my football club is in the dumps.

If you're a fan, you're a fan, through thick and thin.
If you're not, then bog off and do something else.

But I am a fan, just a fairly unenthusiastic one at the moment

 

[Shizuoka Dolphin]

Well, having read this apathetic pile of shite, its no wonder my football club is in the dumps.

If you're a fan, you're a fan, through thick and thin.
If you're not, then bog off and do something else.

True in theory, but sometime there are far more important things that take over and football takes a back seat.

 

[Basil Fawlty]

I'm slightly enthusiatic now, that we could be signing an central midfielder. Because I've been deeply worried, about struggling in this division without an decent midfield in place. If we do sign him before tommorow, I'll be definitely be excited about our chances on Saturday.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Well, having read this apathetic pile of shite, its no wonder my football club is in the dumps.

If you're a fan, you're a fan, through thick and thin.
If you're not, then bog off and do something else.

that attitude is really going to pack out the 22000 seats at Falmer

 

[Trigger]

If you're a fan, you're a fan, through thick and thin.
If you're not, then bog off and do something else.

So you are saying if people can't afford to go to matches due to the OTT prices then they are not a fan?...

 

[Simster]

Well, having read this apathetic pile of shite, its no wonder my football club is in the dumps.

If you're a fan, you're a fan, through thick and thin.
If you're not, then bog off and do something else.

I'm a lapsed fan personally. How f***ing old are you?

 

[blue'n'white]

Well, having read this apathetic pile of shite, its no wonder my football club is in the dumps.

If you're a fan, you're a fan, through thick and thin.
If you're not, then bog off and do something else.

EVERYBODY on this board is a BHA fan (well apart from the ones from other clubs obviously). Doesn't mean you have to be enthusiastic about the quality of the football currently being served up now does it ?
Or do we have to lap up what is served to us and love it BECAUSE it's come from the club we all (apart from those mentioned above) profess to support. That sort of attitude takes us way back before the days of the internet when nobody had a voice. It is a right to complain if we're served up with shoddy goods and some, if not all, of what we're being served at the moment (and for the last season and a half) is quite shoddy.
I'll stick with 'em through thick and thin but i reserve my right to have a go