[Albion] I Just Don’t Care Anymore

[GloryDays]

There’s a lot of reasons to not enjoy football any more. Chelsea, Newcastle and City are three of them. Money has ruined the game. Capitalism has eroded fan experience. Sports / green washing making clubs incredibly disingenuous. Referees are appalling (and I’m not even including var in this). “Gamesmanship” makes matches unwatchable or pointless.

Get down a non league club and have a beer and watch the game there. I will always want Albion to do well but in the same breath let me tell you I haven’t been to a Brighton league game since Everton at home in our first PL season. It’s just so f***ing boring / corporate. We now exist in some football version of WWE. It’s not really football as we knew it. Tbh I actually enjoyed football more when the fans weren’t allowed in and you could hear the artefacts of the game. Reminded me of the basics of it all. I watch it on TV, I hope we win, I get on with my life when we don’t.

And the week of a v predicatable Burnley 1-1 Brighton not the best week to articulate these feelings. Reflect on it all again if we draw with City thanks to an Enciso goal of the season or smash Chelsea 4-0.

 

[Justice]

What a load of bollocks let’s look at this season beating Marseille at the Amex was rocking how can you not enjoy a game like that.
I arrive a couple of minutes before kick off and go on the final whistle you don’t have to put up with fanzone and all the other faff modern football brings if you don’t want to.

 

[wehatepalace]

To a certain extent, I understand what the op’s saying, I love the Albion, I love the Amex, I love the away games, but that’s it, I have zero interest in football unless it directly involves or affects the Albion…..couldn’t be less interested in what any other clubs doing these days

My interest in football starts and finishes with our club.

The reasons for it…I’m not really sure, perhaps it’s the over commercialism of the game in general, or maybe it’s just because I’m getting old but, it just doesn’t feel the same anymore.
I can’t moan though, everything evolves, and footballs no different, it is what it is.

 

[heathgate]

For me it's three things that have delivered what one poster above has described as a "flat-spot":

1) VAR really has killed a lot of the spontaneous joy and reasoned post match debate... instead delivering anger, frustration and confusion.

2) Travel, especially for those of us perhaps coming from further afield to the Amex, and especially evening games, is now simply a complete ball ache... trains and park and ride.

3) The over regulation of us as supporters, don't stand up, don't have lids, don't shout and bawl, ... the current residents of the Amex are creating a sanitised bore fest where the football is almost secondary to the food, drink and shopping experience.

I will still support my team, as I have since my first game against Palace in August 74 age 11, but my presence is now definitely on a pick and choose basis, especially as I am travelling from 150 miles away, and can rarely get an away ticket anymore either.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

I have zero interest in football unless it directly involves or affects the Albion…..couldn’t be less interested in what any other clubs doing these days

So many people watch whole televised matches that don't involve their club, while, like you, I've just no interest if it's not BHA, and the 3 minute potted highlights of those other games are enough, and even those I tend to forward through.

 

[Blues Guitarist]

I still get worked up about the games at the age of 58.
I think the fact that we are mid table this season may take the edge off things.

If we had been offered mid table in the Premier League a few years ago we’d have jumped at the chance full of excitement and enthusiasm. We’re the (approx) 10th best team in England. This is what we dreamed about. Enjoy it.

 

[Justice]

If we had been offered mid table in the Premier League a few years ago we’d have jumped at the chance full of excitement and enthusiasm. We’re the (approx) 10th best team in England. This is what we dreamed about. Enjoy it.

I don’t think football works in such a simplistic way. We have been crap of late and it’s been a hard watch so how can you say well just enjoy it? If anyone enjoyed watching us struggling against Burnley you would have to have a screw lose.

 

[Blues Guitarist]

I don’t think football works in such a simplistic way. We have been crap of late and it’s been a hard watch so how can you say well just enjoy it? If anyone enjoyed watching us struggling against Burnley you would have to have a screw lose.

I agree that we were crap against Burnley. But we were crap 20 years ago and managed to enjoy it. This season has had crazy highs and lows. That’s football.

 

[Jim in the West]

I have just racked up my 55th year of following the Albion. What a journey! As others have highlighted, there are so many things wrong with modern football. VAR is a curse, sports washing is a disgrace, the corporate nature of the game now (at Premier League level, anyway). Over the last few days I’ve read about Chelsea avoiding a breach of FFP by selling a hotel to one of its own subsidiaries! What point is there in “playing by the rules” if the rules allow that sort of thing. And now it looks odds-on that Citeh will win the title AGAIN. How is that fun?!

On the flip side - and this keeps me going - the BHA story is amazing. And it’s not over. And I’m fascinated to see where it goes next. And the quality of some of the football we play is extraordinary. Plus, I have a whole extra set of football buddies that I enjoy meeting, some regularly, some not so. I don’t want to give up on any of that.

 

[Kosh]

I agree, especially re the PL. I have been going to see the Albion for 59 years. I don't watch/am not interested in watching any other football. I think we thrived on being hard done by underdogs. I am still furious over the Saints / Spurs draw which denied us promotion! I did a sponsored walk for the club when Pat Saward was manager. I had man love for Brian Powney, Sully, Wardy, Bobby Z and a few others. I loved the 3rd division sell outs to teams like Villa in the 70s. I thought the world was going to end at half time against Hereford. I donated to the 40 notes fund. I bought and still love my Palookaville shirt. I paid good money to have my name on a seat at the Amex. I have now used the 260 mile round trip to home matches as an excuse to give up my ST. I still love the Albion, I'm just not IN love with the Albion (at the moment!). Sorry - it's not you, it's me......

A fine summary, I couldn’t hold a candle to your commitment - being as I’ve always been an exile in the north, but I’m with you.

Sometimes I feel like I used up my Albion energy in the years of struggle… burned bright and now I’m at a lower ebb… ready to hand on the baton to a new era and a new breed of Albion fan. That’s not to say newer, younger fans aren’t the same as the older fan, but they can’t really appreciate the journey in the same way… can they ? The fact that I don’t get carried away on a wave of emotion because we failed to beat Burnley… yeah, it’s not the Albion… it’s me.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

My mojo goes up and down but

To a certain extent, I understand what the op’s saying, I love the Albion, I love the Amex, I love the away games, but that’s it, I have zero interest in football unless it directly involves or affects the Albion…..couldn’t be less interested in what any other clubs doing these days

My interest in football starts and finishes with our club.

The reasons for it…I’m not really sure, perhaps it’s the over commercialism of the game in general, or maybe it’s just because I’m getting old but, it just doesn’t feel the same anymore.
I can’t moan though, everything evolves, and footballs no different, it is what it is.

same with me and most of my friends. We have little interest in football per se but still love and follow the Albion. I have been this way for decades now.

 

[Exilegull]

Rarely go to games even when home. All the clubs are a hundred or maybe a thousand times richer than 30-35 years ago everyone in football is rich including for us not a single pound spent on making it cheaper for match going fans. Basically a scam and every club is getting away with it including ours because love is blind. If every player earned a Rolls Royce less they still be rich but we could go to games for free. Instead feel mugged when buying a pie or pint. Difficult to care then like why would a cow care what the milk taste like

 

[Nicks]

I found some photos yesterday of our trips to Hereford away , Southend and Lincoln and that is a stark reminder of how far we have come.
If we lose on a Saturday home game my 3 hour drive home is full of frustration. Sunday I don't think about it and dont look at any highlights etc
Monday I'm just not thinking about it.
Tuesday I'm over the " losing the game "bit.
Wednesday I'm texting my lad to sort out where to meet him at the next away game. ( Pub etc)
Thursday I'm looking forward to the game.
Friday drags as its been at least 5 days since I've seen us play. ( I loved the European games every Thursday)
Saturday morning up and away early doors for beer and football.
Saturday night repeat

 

[Justice]

Rarely go to games even when home. All the clubs are a hundred or maybe a thousand times richer than 30-35 years ago everyone in football is rich including for us not a single pound spent on making it cheaper for match going fans. Basically a scam and every club is getting away with it including ours because love is blind. If every player earned a Rolls Royce less they still be rich but we could go to games for free. Instead feel mugged when buying a pie or pint. Difficult to care then like why would a cow care what the milk taste like

We really aren’t that expensive championship clubs charge the same as the Albion. I agree for the likes of West Ham, Spurs and the like there is no way I would pay £80-100 for a football match.

 

[Exilegull]

We really aren’t that expensive championship clubs charge the same as the Albion. I agree for the likes of West Ham, Spurs and the like there is no way I would pay £80-100 for a football match.

Were ok by modern standards but modern standards are mad

 

[Milano]

We really aren’t that expensive championship clubs charge the same as the Albion. I agree for the likes of West Ham, Spurs and the like there is no way I would pay £80-100 for a football match.

Just a few weeks after announcing a ST price rise the club announce the biggest annual profit in English football history. Just saying…..

 

[southstandandy]

The 23/24 season represents my 30th season of supporting the Albion and as we all know this has been a truly historic year for the club. Starting my Albion supporting journey back in 93/94, never did I envisage we’d be beating the likes of Man U and Liverpool (amongst many others) in the top flight of English Football.

Which makes my recent indifference to football all the more difficult to understand. Not too long ago, my whole working week would be solely focused on the game at the weekend. The pre and post match drinks, visiting new town/cities, the smell of the pitch, the atmosphere and 90 mins of escapism.

None of that invokes any kind of excitement in me anymore, yet given the recent success of the Albion I know it should. As recently as Fulham away I shamefully walked out after 15 mins for, no other reason than sheer boredom - back to the pub I went. Ajax away, whilst fantastic to go there and win, didn’t quite fill with me the euphoria it previously might have done.

So I then ask myself is this just part of getting older where one starts finding enjoyment elsewhere? Possibly, but I’m only 39.

Is it the Premier League? So focused and hell bent on getting there, that the destination is never as good as the journey? Possibly, but given this seasons Europa exploits you could argue against that.

Or through our success, are we now just too far removed from the ‘grass roots’ of the game? Has the monetisation of football evaporated my enjoyment from the game I once loved? I’ve certainly not ruled out taking in some non league football to reignite some passion.

I don’t know what the answer is, but it started creeping in pre COVID and whilst for a short while it abated following numerous national lockdowns, the ambivalence has very much returned. I’ve renewed my Season Ticket for a 14th year and will in all likelihood attend a handful of away games once again, but my hopes for renewed invigoration are decreasing with every passing season.

The truth is I just don’t care like I once used to and whilst I know I should probably pack it all in and cancel my ST (or adopt a local non league team), I can’t bring myself to do it.

To be fair most of us have lives away from football - family, friends, other social commitments so for many football is just a hobby that I focus on for one 2hr period a week.
I know there are many fans who live and breathe football and their sole purpose is waiting for the weekend to come round, but I'm just not one of them. If I am invited to a friends or have holiday plans during the season then the football is secondary. When I was younger I too arranged much of my life around the footy but as you get older many other factors come into play, and for me personally football can fit around my social life, not the other way round.

As you say the monetisation of football has killed the game to a large extent together with VAR and the expense of going to and from matches.

Add to that the boredom of the biggest and richest dominating the Prem, I spend far less time now watching football. The Prima donna footballers and their vast incomes can do one as far as I'm concerned.

 

[West Upper Seagull]

I kind of understand what the OP is saying but I certainly DO care about the Albion and maybe that’s what is causing the flat feeling at the moment. As a 56 year old I’ve experienced the highs of getting to the old 1st Division and the FA Cup final, and the lows culminating in that day at Hereford, then the journey back. This season has probably been my most memorable ever supporting the Albion - the trips to Marseille, Ajax, Athens and Rome with my son have given me memories I will take to the grave And memories I could have never imagined. But since that defeat in Rome the season feels like it’s fallen off a cliff and just leaves me feeling that I now can’t wait for this season to end. I honestly can’t see us getting another win with the fixtures we have left and as a result I believe that Wolves, Bournemouth and Fulham will overtake us and we’ll finish 13th. The injuries, the performances & results and now the demeanour of RDZ has caused this feeling. I feel we are now at a crossroads as a club - do we push on to the next level to strive for more European adventures and winning a domestic cup, or carry on buying raw talents and selling for a profit and keep settling for mid table comfort while every decent manager we get wants to leave after a short time with us ? It’s the fear of the latter that is concerning me at the moment and leaves me asking myself ‘where do we go from here’ ?

 

[Zeberdi]

The truth is I just don’t care like I once used to and whilst I know I should probably pack it all in and cancel my ST (or adopt a local non league team), I can’t bring myself to do it.

Have you considered you might actually be suffering from depression ? ( serious question).

A loss of interest in something one used to find absorbing and interesting is quite a common symptom - one I suffered from myself in my 30s ( just saying).

 

[Laridae]

For me it's three things that have delivered what one poster above has described as a "flat-spot":

1) VAR really has killed a lot of the spontaneous joy and reasoned post match debate... instead delivering anger, frustration and confusion.

2) Travel, especially for those of us perhaps coming from further afield to the Amex, and especially evening games, is now simply a complete ball ache... trains and park and ride.

3) The over regulation of us as supporters, don't stand up, don't have lids, don't shout and bawl, ... the current residents of the Amex are creating a sanitised bore fest where the football is almost secondary to the food, drink and shopping experience.

I will still support my team, as I have since my first game against Palace in August 74 age 11, but my presence is now definitely on a pick and choose basis, especially as I am travelling from 150 miles away, and can rarely get an away ticket anymore either.

Great post! Totally agree with these 3 points that you have articulated so well (and for me you've got the order spot on too)