[Football] Premier League Fan Experience

[milliepops]

That’s how we feel, we won’t be renewing when the current deal runs out, I shall be watching Worthing as my first choice, home and away, with the occasional visit to the Amex for cup games (sans VAR). The cheating in the EPL is just terrible, and VAR is the turd icing on a sh1t cake, The premier league has got this all wrong, they could do something about it, but as per the FA, they don’t give a **** about fans, it’s all about advertising revenue and TV money.

Aswell as a season ticket at Brighton I have had a season ticket at Worthing for the last 4 seasons.

I used to fit my Worthing games around Brighton's but for the last 2 seasons I have been following Worthing more and more both home and away. Off to Bognor on Wednesday and East Thurrock on Saturday.

Won't be renewing next season at the Amex, VAR being the final straw for me.
Will still attend the occasional Brighton game when it doesn't clash with Worthing either home or away as most aways this season have made the purchase history level.

 

[Sheebo]

My memory is playing tricks with me.
I was at the megaphone match and the we want falmer match but I thought they were 2 different games, was the Falmer match at Wycombe on a Boxing Day?

I’m really not sure and won’t help you much by adding - I was 100% at the megaphone match, 100% at the we want Falmer match but am 95% sure I only went to Wycombe once - although maybe it is twice!

 

[Arkwright]

That’s how we feel, we won’t be renewing when the current deal runs out, I shall be watching Worthing as my first choice, home and away, with the occasional visit to the Amex for cup games (sans VAR). The cheating in the EPL is just terrible, and VAR is the turd icing on a sh1t cake, The premier league has got this all wrong, they could do something about it, but as per the FA, they don’t give a **** about fans, it’s all about advertising revenue and TV money.

While I understand what you are saying on VAR, on the old occasion I pop down to watch Whyteleafe and players still cheat and whinge at the ref and the team that wins the league generally has the biggest budget. I also find non league fans more whiney than the average Football League fan, God if they had VAR what a depressing place the club bar would be post match.
Maybe over the years I have become a football snob but non league football really isn't very good, I suppose you get what you pay for but I really couldn't give up my season ticket for the Isthmian League.

 

[BN41Albion]

Just dont understand this. Brighton has been my team for 30 years and will continue whatever the division they are in. Am enjoying Premier league while it lasts for seeing and competing against worlds best players. In all other divisions have seen so many teams just get 10 behind ball and hope. Have not seen this very often from premier league teams. We were so often expected to win where now each win seems more valuable. Rubbish about too corporate. Never know what this means. What do you expect when games attract 30k plus crowds.Would you people prefer Withdean days or maybe Amex with 10k gates. Funny you mention Wycombe because they have new owners who have pumped money in. Sure they dream of days when there ground is full and people have a job to get tickets. This will same for all clubs in lower leagues.
I am all for smaller clubs and over last 3 years have been to watch Worthing,Burgess Hill Lewes and Whitehawk. Appreciate as none of them are my club so result didnt mean as much to me but please dont tell me this experience is better because I can get near players and dug out and also able to walk round ground.

I feel the same as you. Watched the albion in all 4 divisions and am loving seeing us in the prem. The lower leagues were great in many ways and that's obviously what I used to for so long, but I don't miss them. Away games with often tiny crowds, huge swathes of empty seats, and little or no atmosphere whatsoever (I know I know, the Prem isn't exactly renouned for top class atmospheres, but the buzz and noise can be electric at least when huge crowds and packed stadiums do get going), crap facilities (and not that cheap now either to be fair... Tenner to watch bloody whitehawk these days for example!), and pretty awful football for the most part. I don't like everything about being in the Prem for sure, and I feel lucky to have experienced us playing at every professional level, but even dropping back down to the Championship I'd really miss the coverage and exposure we get in the Premier League, the fact that every win still feels huge, the thrill of seeing us playing really well against - and sometimes beat! - teams competing in Europe... Still have to pinch myself sometimes!

 

[Invicta]

The pictures in the opening post bring back happy memories of seasons gone but wouldn't swap. Sadly we won't be in the premier league forever so enjoy for now. VAR is ruining football but feel it will improve, prob not this season though.

 

[Berty23]

I live in Warwick and don’t get to Brighton much due to various family commitments that make Saturday matches a write off and evening matches are just too much trouble. This weekend I went. Left home at 8.15am and got home about 5.15. I could make it because various sport commitments are paused for Christmas.

I make do with going to watch national league north. One of my best mates is involved with the club and it is brilliant. I leave my house about 2.10 and I am home by 5.30 which means I can do my ferrying duties of the kids and watch football. I love being so close to the action and the fact you can go where you want, have a beer watching the match and freely mix with oppo fans. Obviously the standard is nowhere near as good but I actually know the players and it has a great family feel.

Watching Brighton score will always give a bigger thrill but the longer I watch brackley the more involved you feel. I’m fact we even won the FA trophy 18 months ago so we had a brilliant day out at Wembley with over 30k other supporters. The last time I was present when Brighton lifted a trophy was 2004.

I love premier league but would support what others have said on here that it is also great to support local non league side (others have said Wealdstone - I went to the semi final second leg in the trophy and we won there)

I wouldn’t try to compare the experiences because they are so different but both great.

 

[portlock seagull]

I don’t think I’ll be changing my team, just elevating my support to who I already watch 25 or so times a season already, largely due the the EPL ****ing around with kick-off times. I’ll still follow Brighton online, on TV when I can, etc. I’ll still have an Albion tattoo, I’ll still have around 250 Brighton shirts in my collection, and I’ll still add to it. It will be a bit sad to think that I won’t be ruffling noses in the WSM, surprised I haven’t had a warning about my language already, but then again, most around me are long term fans too.

What I won’t miss is the cheating, which the EPL won’t deal with, the referees who capitulate to the elite teams and players, and VAR which is the single biggest abomination to ever have been forced onto the football supporting public, never requested, unwanted and totally unworkable.

You’re not alone. I will always be BHA but since we reached the PL I’ve been engulfed by reasons NOT to attend games out of blind loyalty as I did at the Goldstone, Priestfield and Withdean. Ultimately they’re all a personal choice but a number have been exacerbated by the PL and how it tests your loyalty. VAR is now by far the single biggest reason for staying away. It’s an unmitigated disaster for the game and destroyed that moment you pay your money for. I no longer celebrate goals. My wife asked me why I wasn’t cheering when Dan Burn got our 2nd last weekend, despite Talksport commentator going mad with excitement. I immediately replied ‘because we might not have, we have to wait 2-3 mins now to be sure...’. Another 30-60 secs passed, still the commentator was speaking about the goal without hint of a VAR check and she said ‘it’s got to be a goal, surely, no ones said anything...’ to which I replied ‘until we KO again, you just can’t say...’ Then, finally, after a minute came the first signals it might not have been...a further wait and then ultimately, well, we now know what happened next.

What’s the point of going anymore therefore? We are all being taken for fools and paying a high price for it, not just in terms of ticket costs. My beef isn’t with the Albion. They’re as powerless as we the fans are. It’s with the tv and tech giants. The PL. UEFA. Rather than custodians of the game, they’re more like mad dictatorships who’ve accumulated and consolidated power so greatly it’s changed things forever and no longer in a good way. I long for ‘revolution’ but we don’t do those in this country. Instead we sign meaningless petitions, occasionally make a banner or grumble on forums like I’m doing now. But mostly, we just put up. Disunited by a common cause and fearing the consequences individual rebellion risks but a community can negate.

We have indeed created a monster.

 

[Happy Exile]

VAR is now by far the single biggest reason for staying away. It’s an unmitigated disaster for the game and destroyed that moment you pay your money for. I no longer celebrate goals.

So true. Football has been packaged as high drama entertainment rather than sport at Premier League level, and now having undermined the sport they've also taken away the entertainment and the drama too. I can't imagine Sky are happy, though the fact that's our best hope for changing VAR is sad.

 

[nwgull]

I’ve seen us in all 4 divisions and in all 4 home grounds. The Championship Amex years provided a lot of fun, excitement and Albion goals and wins, and that would mitigate my disappointment if we were to get relegated. I have however found the whole Premier League experience - 30K crowds and 3K filling most away ends watching a team full of internationals - brilliant.

Nostalgic notions of fan experiences being better and players being more honest in the 3rd and 4th tiers are inaccurate in my opinion. Give me packed modern stadia over rows of empty seats any day, even if it does mean you have to buy a ticket in advance.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

My memory is playing tricks with me.
I was at the megaphone match and the we want falmer match but I thought they were 2 different games, was the Falmer match at Wycombe on a Boxing Day?

You're right. The megaphone and We want Famer was 7th February 2004. I even know which Nscer picked up the magaphone as they walked past the stewards, going into the stand. It was left behind when we left, so no harm done.

The Boxing Day game was the last time we played there 28th December 2009. We won 2-5.

 

[spence]

You’re not alone. I will always be BHA but since we reached the PL I’ve been engulfed by reasons NOT to attend games out of blind loyalty as I did at the Goldstone, Priestfield and Withdean. Ultimately they’re all a personal choice but a number have been exacerbated by the PL and how it tests your loyalty. VAR is now by far the single biggest reason for staying away. It’s an unmitigated disaster for the game and destroyed that moment you pay your money for. I no longer celebrate goals. My wife asked me why I wasn’t cheering when Dan Burn got our 2nd last weekend, despite Talksport commentator going mad with excitement. I immediately replied ‘because we might not have, we have to wait 2-3 mins now to be sure...’. Another 30-60 secs passed, still the commentator was speaking about the goal without hint of a VAR check and she said ‘it’s got to be a goal, surely, no ones said anything...’ to which I replied ‘until we KO again, you just can’t say...’ Then, finally, after a minute came the first signals it might not have been...a further wait and then ultimately, well, we now know what happened next.

What’s the point of going anymore therefore? We are all being taken for fools and paying a high price for it, not just in terms of ticket costs. My beef isn’t with the Albion. They’re as powerless as we the fans are. It’s with the tv and tech giants. The PL. UEFA. Rather than custodians of the game, they’re more like mad dictatorships who’ve accumulated and consolidated power so greatly it’s changed things forever and no longer in a good way. I long for ‘revolution’ but we don’t do those in this country. Instead we sign meaningless petitions, occasionally make a banner or grumble on forums like I’m doing now. But mostly, we just put up. Disunited by a common cause and fearing the consequences individual rebellion risks but a community can negate.

We have indeed created a monster.

Exactly this. It's not the cheating, it's not the big 6, it's not about cashless, it's not even about bottle caps or Barber. It's about entertainment. It's those few secs of euphoria when you score. The rush you feel.The random hugs. That's been eroded completely. It use to be a quick glance at the officials but that was acceptable. Not anymore. It's the uncertainty when you wait for that horrific purple screen to give you the yay or nay.

 

[Seasider78]

Exactly this. It's not the cheating, it's not the big 6, it's not about cashless, it's not even about bottle caps or Barber. It's about entertainment. It's those few secs of euphoria when you score. The rush you feel.The random hugs. That's been eroded completely. It use to be a quick glance at the officials but that was acceptable. Not anymore. It's the uncertainty when you wait for that horrific purple screen to give you the yay or nay.

I think the fundamental issue with PL football is all of the money comes from the TV customers so that is where all of the priority sits. VAR is the extension of the years of dissecting of every decision with technology in TV studios.

By the time the game wakes up and realises what is important a lot of people will have given up like some are already doing on this thread.

 

[goldstone]

Agree with many of the comments made. There was something about being in the lower leagues that made football life more attractive. You were a "fan" not a "customer" for a start, and the football club was a football club, not a "business". Also, we had something to play for almost every season with that hope of promotion always there and maybe a decent run in the FA Cup. Now the most we can aim for is avoiding relegation and we have trouble half filling the stadium for a 3rd round cup game. And there is no longer the potential magic surrounding a home cup draw against one of the top premier league teams. In fact the cup is of so little importance we put out the reserves. Not all bad in the premier league obviously, but there's a lot I miss.

 

[amexer]

After reading this will have to give Chelsea game a miss as I see Bognor are playing Worthing. Good local derby and hopefully not to many there so I can get near dug out, not queue for burger, will be able to walk round ground. pay at gate, and no VAR.

 

[southstandandy]

I go and watch my local county side Shoreham whenever the Albion are away. Love the Albion but ironically enjoy the match experience at Shoreham more, standing by the side of the pitch, chatting to players (all of who are local), and having a beer with a few of the lads after the game.

Best of both worlds.

 

[Stat Brother]

Quite a lot of knee-jerk reactions to a shitehouse VARcical situation.

Sure VAR is here to stay, but next season's (maybe even next weeks) VAR will look very different to this seasons abomination.
Even then the changes bolted onto that will have a massive impact on it's use the following year.

The exact same thing has happened in Germany/Italy et al.

What's odd is the EPL seem to have ignored all their growing pains, preferring to start at the bottom again.
That makes no sense.

 

[Official Old Man]

I watch Burton Albion when in town for the beer. Needing a leak, I had to walk past Nigel Clough who was remonstrating on the touch line.

 

[dazzer6666]

I'm a JCL in Albion terms (nothing pre-Withdean, and not too much of that) - personally still getting over the utter grimness of last season's performances so positively loving the new ethos. VAR has partly ruined things this season but I'm pretty convinced it'll change in the short term - it can't continue as it is and the call for change is getting very loud now. I also watch my local non-league team a fair bit (Sky moving Albion fixtures away from Saturday 3pm actually helps with this, so that's a double-edged sword really) - it's a 3 minute walk from home, I can have a pint while I'm watching and there are always pals to chat to in the crowd of typically 2-300, but the quality of football is poor (pitch doesn't help obviously, especially at the moment), the reffing often even worse and there's still enough cheating and diving going on - it just doesn't get spotted or analysed to death (a few salty mouthfuls of abuse from the sidelines, that's all). I get enjoyment from both - it's not an 'either or' choice, but they're very different experiences.

 

[Superphil]

Wow 250 shirts? What’s the oldest one you have?

Same here. I still have the tattoo and the shirts, although only 40ish Albion ones. And certainly would never give any other answer than BHAFC when asked who I support.

And yea, keep going and just grumble about VAR? = nothing will ever change. Or just stop going.

Oldest is a 1977 match worn shirt, as well as 1977 home and away fans replica shirts, anything before then won’t have a badge, and the only person I know who has them is Peter Ward. He has both the green away shirt he wore on his debut and one of his home Umbro shirts.

 

[Icy Gull]

I am stuck with watching the Albion in whatever division they happen to be playing in. If I wasn’t watching the Albion I’d stop going to games. At least it avoids the angst that some of you seem to have with Albion playing and improving at the top table

Some people won’t be happy whatever division or stadium we are in

I have fond memories of all four divisions and the grounds that come with them. Would I want to drop through the divisions? No, but if we do I’ll be there, I may even pine for the Premier League.