Mike Ward. What's the point?

[The Beaconsfield]

I'm surely not the only Albion fan who is beginning to get a bit tired of listening to Mike Ward?

As far as I can see supporting Brighton is something that he chose as a hobby which nicely coincided with an upturn in the club's fortunes and now you can't go to a game or listen to the radio without him there spouting his opinion or cracking rubbish jokes.

Most of us understand what it is like to really support this club but to have to listen to this part-time joker is getting on my nerves. Somehow he has manged to get involved with our pursuit of Falmer, Southern Counties Radio and even the bloody matchday programme. It surely won't be long before the club send round a bucket at half time asking for a donation to his fan club.

Last night's phone-in was a perfect example. Four people missed out at the end(I was not one of them) because Mike Ward just had to have another say about something he had already said too much about on saturday.

There are genunie supporters who do not get a say because he likes the sound of his own voice too much.

Supporting Brighton comes from within and is not something you can just pick up when it suits you. There are other clubs for that.

 

[wokingone]

Totally agree with your comments Beacs His book wasn't funny either!

 

[tinx]

And relax

 

[Braders]

i liked the book , but that shouldn't make him an hounoured (sp?) fan , i been watching for years , wheres my radio show or bit in the programme !

 

[Yorkie]

Having met this guy I can say his support from Brighton does come from within.

Yes, he learned to love the Albion after choosing other teams first but how many of us can say that? My husband, for instance, as is well known here.

I would far rather to listen to Mike speak than some Crawley woman who is a Palace supporter. He is a journalist and writes some good stuff.

He is a genuine and honest supporter.

 

[bosnian]

Totally agree beaconsfield, and it's about time something was said!

Mike Ward if I'm correct only started supporting the albion the season when we won the championship in div 3.
Already he is on the Falmer committe, he has his own slot in the programme and now we have to listen to him on southern counties with Ian Hart.
How long is it before Dick gives him a free season ticket?

Give it another couple of years and he'll be off on the band wagon of some other football club.

Now I know most of you will say, yes but his albion and look what he's doing for the club.
I say to those people how many clubs have you supported?
Football doesn't work like that, you support one team and thats that!

 

[CHAPPERS]

Football doesn't work like that, you support one team and thats that!

Unless you were a Wimbledon fan of course.

Ward seems like a genuine bloke and i have no problem with him at all.

Why don't you have a go at those who were at the Wembley play off final (35,000 wasn't it) but clearly aren't trying for tickets now as we can't sell out home games?

 

[perseus]

A question I have asked before. Does he live on Shoreham beach?

I do not want to slander people, (MIke Ward is such a common name) but there is a certain type of rip-off opportunists that can ride on people's backs, and can be a real nuisance, and people better watch out for them.

 

[The Beaconsfield]

In answer to Chapmans the saviour. The reason I don't have a go at those people who no longer try to buy tickets is because they are not being given a platform from which to spout their opinions at the expense of other fans.

It is a fact that some people will only buy tickets when a team is in a cup final but it does not have to be a fact that one person is being given the exposure that he is. Particularly as his commitment to the Club has only been going for a few years.

The SC phone-in is becoming a chat between Ian Hart and Mike Ward and not serving the purpose it was designed for.

A book that wasn't funny written by a man who is even less funny.

 

[Dermot]

In my opinion there are two more irritating glory hunters in the shape of a fag hag and a garden gnome. The only saving glory is that they haven't been asked to co-commentate on SCR . You can't have an albion event, video, the argus, fanzine even a play without the publicity junkie bracknells trying to get their face into it.

 

[bosnian]

How has he managed to get all this responsibility, bit in the programme, and on src.
I don't give a flying **** if he is a journalist, the page he has in the programme is vary rarely football related, spouts on about he's weekly shopping trips.

Wouldn't surprise, me if Dick Knight has employed him to promote how well Dick is running the club etc etc

 

[Ex-Staffs Gull]

I don't have a problem with Mike Ward. If he says he is Albion then he is. I do have a problem with the phone in though. Infact another thread needed.....

 

[Brovion]

I agree Staffs. If Ward and Harty want their own radio show fair enough - but as Beaconsfield (Mr Disraeli?) says having two 'Brighton luvvies' chatting away to each other isn't really the point.

 

[Rougvie]

I think you could look at it from a different perspective.
I think I am right in saying that MW started supporting BHAFC when he moved to the area.
I don't think that is unreasonable at all, why shouldn't he support his local team, at the end of the day you dont have to BE local to support them. I did the same when I moved to Aberdeen from Brighton as a kid and if you are into football it is perfectly natural.
The fact is that nowadays people move about, the old days of the die hard fan born and bred home and away is a nice thought, but to many of us our careers and personal lifes dictate that we just cannot do it, many Brighton fans now are people who have settled in the city and should be made welcome by us all at the Withdean, they replace the 'kids' that I stood on the Goldstone terraces with twenty years ago who now tell me that they are Arsenal, Chelsea or even Man U born and bred and would not be seen dead at the Withdean, I am sure most of us 70's kids out there know a few of them.
OK MW can be a pain in the arse, and his jokes are shit, but he is passionate about raising the profile of BHAFC and has good connections at Five Live and other sections of the media which can only be a good thing in the world of Premiership and Real Madrid saturation.

 

[Bozza]

I just can not image supporting another team though.

Sure, if you move to another area you take an interest in the local teams, as I do with both Bristol clubs now, but I could never transfer my support to them. It's just never going to happen.

Maybe it's because I'm lucky enough to be able to afford the time and money to still be an Albion season ticket holder and get to most away games, but I could just never see me supporting another club - no matter where I lived. And I think most adult football supporters are the same.

(Note: I'm not dissing MW here, just passing comment on the "transfer support because you've moved" discussion. I'm not even sure if this was the case with MW.)

 

[Rougvie]

I'm not sure I am advocating totally moving support.
I suppose my circumstances were very different, I moved as a kid and had no choice in the matter.
I am however trying to illustrate, and feel personally that MW does the club more good than harm.

 

[Jam The Man]

Having read his book I knew straight away that I didn't much take to the bloke.. the diary of a season idea is great, but it could have been miles better if it was writtem without his sarcastic undertones. There are 2 types of sarcasm : sarcasm that is genuinely funny, and sarcasm that is smug, oneupmanship & irritating. Mike Ward falls firmly into the latter.

Let's be fair about it, the guy is a poxy jumped up never come down TV critic - and we surely all know how much bollocks people in that profession spout.

 

[GUNTER]

This guy must be local as I am sure he was editor of the Leader about years ago before going to London to work for the mail, therefore his roots must be down here.

I think if he promotes and supports the club - good luck to him.

He should not be allowed on SCR every week as like every fan, he should take his turn.

He is a supporter and we should not have a go at him for that. Through his contacts in the journalistic and publishing world, he also raises the club's profile.

 

[Bozza]

I must admit to not having heard MW on SCR at all, but I'm curious how it works with Harty.

As we all know - Harty has been on the scene for years and knows the Albion upside down back-to-front.

When Harty mentions little snippets from yesteryear - the Hereford game, Mark Farrington etc. - how does MW fit into the conversation - I'm assuming he has no knowledge of these things as he wasn't supporting us then.

 

[Deano's Right Foot]

I grew up as a kid "supporting" Revie's Leeds for not better reason than I picked them out of a pack of cards from a football game blush: I got to see them only once at Stamford Bridge, with around 70,000 others, when they lost 3-1, but I had a big scrap-book!). At the age of 33 I was shopping with my soon to be ex-wife at Focus DIY (ironic) when I heard the cheers from the Goldstone. Thought I'd go a couple of times and saw them beat Swindon 4-2 and draw with Middlesbrough 3-3. 12 goals in two games, and I was hooked. That was the play-off season, and I ended up going up to the return at Ayresome Park on the supporters club coach (snow in April, we lost!) To my misses chagrin I am now a fully paid up Albion obsessive. Couldn't give a toss about Leeds now.

Good luck to Wardy; if I could get a book published, write in the programme and talk about the Albion on radio I would, and maybe I'd get just as much (if not more) stick about it, as I'm not even vaguely funny most of the time. He'll probably be a bit gutted when he reads this thread, but he'll also probably agree that some people have some valid points. But he's definitely Albion through and through IMHO.

Dermot - what's with the Bracknell bashing? Sounds personal to me and a bit unnecessary.