[Football] Premier League Fan Experience

[blue-shifted]

Have you two seen their away form?

We're playing well. It's not beyond the realms

 

[CheeseRolls]

Have you two seen their away form?

and?
I think we are in with a real chance. I don't think like a bookie, who is weighing up the odds, but like a supporter, who thinks his team can finally beat a team, we have never beaten.

 

[blue-shifted]

Now that's a good question.

I have a few mid 70's Highbury trips with my Arsenal supporting father.
Even then I think one game was against the Albion.

I went with Cubs to Eng v Scotchland schoolboys at the end of the 70's.

Beyond that I can't think of any non Albion games.

I went to a few Leicester games at Filbert St when I was living there. I remember joining in loads of the chants, singing about loving Martin O'Neill and hating Forest etc. Shut my mouth as soon as they started signing "Leicester till I die"

Told the fella next to me the reason "For I am betrothed to another"

 

[Stat Brother]

Have you two seen their away form?

That would involve me looking beyond the Albion!


I didn't say the Albion would win, just that I think we can win.

I'm certainly expecting it to be fun, which is all I want.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Ha, yeh, but decent cup run is a relative concept. Can you remember the sheer elation when we did win a 2nd round tie? I reckon I watched those 3rd round draws with the same intensity as Mrs Armstrong watched the lunar landing, (only to pull out a highly unglamourous, but unwinnable 3rd round tie)

Shouldn’t be to hard to remember them. There were only a couple.

 

[Horses Arse]

I've only skimmed through this thread, but it's not difficult to imagine those moaning their arses off now were also moaning their arses off then, had been for the previous x years, as they were for the subsequent x years.


People have a very odd perception of a completely optional leisure activity that should only bring happiness.


I love my football team.
I love my relationship with them (through the hard times and the good)
I love what my team has become.
I love Mr Bloom.
I probably love Mrs Bloom even more, for letting him do it.

I love the fact we're playing Chelsea tomorrow and I think we'll win.
I love Ryan playing a short pass to Dunk!

The Albion are approaching the longest relationship I've had in my life, which in turn has become generational (Pops Stat was a Gunner)


I sure as hell won't be throwing all that away because some nimrod implemented a natural progression so badly a shaved monkey could have done a better job.

I agree with all that after the first two paragraphs....

There is so much that is good about the Albion being in the PL. I'm looking forward immensely to the game tomorrow because of the football that we are now playing and because of the fact that my club is competing with the best in the world and holding their own.

VAR is a massive downer at present, it does ruin it for supporters at the match. No doubt, but it will improve, as you said earlier. Typical small England mentality thinking we'd do it better than Jonny foreigner and ignoring their experiences.

The sole point of the thread for me was that the wwfc Vs ccfc match was a more enjoyable overall experience if you ignore the obsession I have with my club. I don't want us to return to those levels but recognise that much is lost by the success that we have currently.

However, if we do return to those levels all is not lost. It does not matter so much where your club is as long as you are competing. We certainly have Mr Bloom to thank for that and seeing those Coventry fans was particularly relevant in that respect.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

 

[pasty]

We're playing well. It's not beyond the realms

and?
I think we are in with a real chance. I don't think like a bookie, who is weighing up the odds, but like a supporter, who thinks his team can finally beat a team, we have never beaten.

That would involve me looking beyond the Albion!


I didn't say the Albion would win, just that I think we can win.

I'm certainly expecting it to be fun, which is all I want.

Ignore me, I'm only jealous because I can't make it tomorrow

 

[Eric Youngs Contact Lense]

I get the nostalgia, but would not swap it for what we have. Maybe our history mean the experiences we had were more poignant but even that perspective is shaped by the relative success we had in the 70's and 80's. The football we are watching is, I think, the best we have ever seen, against some of the best players in the world. The match-day experience is safer, cleaner, inclusive and has enabled the next generation of supporters to engage in the club more easily. Atmosphere's come and go but I don't think that is any different to what we have always had. I struggled to get my lads to share my passion for the Albion, it was almost impossible to do until they got to go to Villa Park in the FA Cup a few years back - the ground, the atmosphere the noise was simply intoxicating for them that day - far more than any day at the Withdean or an away day to Wycombe. The Amex has cemented that. I sit/stand next to a young lad in the North Stand - he's about 7 years old. He can stand on his seat, see the game, get excited, be disappointed, sing some of the songs and his parents can leave him there whilst they nip off to get a drink etc at half-time with no problem. It would be similar if he travelled to an away game. That said, away days in League 1 or League 2 were great for blokes like me, but especially when we were winning, taking large followings to tiny provincial backwaters.. i will enjoy what we have while we can - we are only two poor seasons away from it once again!

 

[Bob'n'weave]

That would involve me looking beyond the Albion!


I didn't say the Albion would win, just that I think we can win.

I'm certainly expecting it to be fun, which is all I want.

This.
For me, every game this season (apart from Sheffield) has seen us play exciting and enjoyable football.

I'm not expecting to win, but the possibility of Ali sticking one in from 25 yards is not a fantasy anymore. How far we have come.

 

[BN41Albion]

Why do people get so anal about the fact that Barber once used the C word? Fans are treated terribly by many clubs in the knowledge that they’ll still come back the next week. Being treated as a customer means that the club act is if they’re doing their best to keep you coming back, even though they know that you will whatever.

And hardly any clubs are treated as businesses. If Bloom was treating BHA as a business, he’d have wound it up years ago.

Absolutely. Makes me laugh how certain fans get hung up on this rubbish about being treated like customers and the club running like a business. Such crap. In what way are top clubs run like a business any more than smaller clubs? Ok some big clubs like Arsenal screw fans over hugely with ticket costs, but many small club's fans down the leagues are currently being screwed over by their boards in one way or another.

There are a few rubbish club rules like bottle tops, but imo the club do a superb job in most areas. There's changes I'd like to see but largely only with aspects of football that the club cant do anything about, like safe standing and sacking off VAR.

 

[Jaxie]

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.

Exactly that. Football was never supposed to be an exact science, of all the ways players try to gain an unfair advantage in a game, having a toe nail offside clearly isn’t one. Maybe VAR has its place, and it’s the rules that need changing. But checking every goal seems way over the top.

 

[Marshy]

I just take in a Burgess Hill game 4 or 5 times a season to get my fix of lower level football and I do still really enjoy it.

Looking forward to the B HIll v Brighton game soon also

 

[amexer]

Positivity has returned to this thread so will cancel my trip to Bognor game

 

[Jaxie]

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.

It’s not one or the other. Non league football is a good alternative for anyone who’s had enough of the drudgery of a division that only a handful of teams can win, and ever other side battles to stay in. And all the added crap that goes with it.

No one is threatening you or your enjoyment of the Premier League, if you like it fair enough. And I get why people do enjoy it. Just increasingly becoming less enjoyable for me, and others by the look of these threads.

 

[Jaxie]

I've only skimmed through this thread, but it's not difficult to imagine those moaning their arses off now were also moaning their arses off then, had been for the previous x years, as they were for the subsequent x years.


People have a very odd perception of a completely optional leisure activity that should only bring happiness.


I love my football team.
I love my relationship with them (through the hard times and the good)
I love what my team has become.
I love Mr Bloom.
I probably love Mrs Bloom even more, for letting him do it.

I love the fact we're playing Chelsea tomorrow and I think we'll win.
I love Ryan playing a short pass to Dunk!

The Albion are approaching the longest relationship I've had in my life, which in turn has become generational (Pops Stat was a Gunner)


I sure as hell won't be throwing all that away because some nimrod implemented a natural progression so badly a shaved monkey could have done a better job.

Not sure anyone’s MOANING! I’m certainly not.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

If anybody is so disposed, could always support Crawley as your lower league club. On the doorstep.

It's not for me though, following the Albion can be stressful at times.

Quite tempted by Crawley v Bradford when the Albion are at Everton.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

The experience has felt a little lacking for me since we got promotion. That was really put into context by a visit to Wycombe Wanderer's yesterday with a Coventry supporting mate over from Germany. There were no bottle top confiscations, you were let out of the ground at half time to visit a beer tent and burger bar in the car park, could watch the game pitchside, could get so close to the dugouts that you could clip the manager around the ear if so inclined and had to wait for the tunnel to be taken back into the stand to get out after the match. Atmosphere from the Coventry fans was excellent and the quality of the football pretty decent, other than Wycombe's launch it toward Akinfenwa routine.

It was reminiscent of the league 1 winning season and I enjoyed it far more than the Bournemouth game the day before. Easy to forget how much is lost by fans when premier league football is obtained. Championship very similar too these days. I'm not wanting to plunge back down to the third tier but it is such a shame that it is so rampantly corporate these days.

View attachment 118706View attachment 118707View attachment 118708View attachment 118709

Yet people cant get enough of sanitised football on here
Regards
DF

 

[Stat Brother]

This thread is now complete.

 

[rippleman]

Why do people get so anal about the fact that Barber once used the C word? Fans are treated terribly by many clubs in the knowledge that they’ll still come back the next week. Being treated as a customer means that the club act is if they’re doing their best to keep you coming back, even though they know that you will whatever.

And hardly any clubs are treated as businesses. If Bloom was treating BHA as a business, he’d have wound it up years ago.

Because it was indicative of his mindset. Now he might have "misspoken" but all that means really is "I said what I think but I shouldn't have said it"!!

There has been an increase in commercialism to the point where some loyal fans over many years can no longer afford it and some bloody daft decisions with no explanation ie bottle tops, flasks etc certainly gives the impression that fans attending games are pretty low on his priority list. But just my opinion of course. I know others think he can do no wrong.

We have hundreds if not thousands on the waiting list for tickets (who have actually PAID to be put on a list). Probably locals who have followed / supported the club for years. But if a JCL from the other side of the world wants a ticket it's never a problem. Are we holding back match tickets for the football tourists in preference to making them available to those who paid to be put on the waiting list? I have no idea. Just throwing it out there as somebody here will probably know.

 

[nwgull]

Because it was indicative of his mindset. Now he might have "misspoken" but all that means really is "I said what I think but I shouldn't have said it"!!

There has been an increase in commercialism to the point where some loyal fans over many years can no longer afford it and some bloody daft decisions with no explanation ie bottle tops, flasks etc certainly gives the impression that fans attending games are pretty low on his priority list. But just my opinion of course. I know others think he can do no wrong.

We have hundreds if not thousands on the waiting list for tickets (who have actually PAID to be put on a list). Probably locals who have followed / supported the club for years. But if a JCL from the other side of the world wants a ticket it's never a problem. Are we holding back match tickets for the football tourists in preference to making them available to those who paid to be put on the waiting list? I have no idea. Just throwing it out there as somebody here will probably know.

Fan loyalty generally gets taken for granted and fans often get treated crap; customers get treated well. All he meant was that they want to treat fans well, as if they could take their business elsewhere (even though this isn't possible in reality). Not a bad mindset to have.

In reality, getting a ticket for a home match is rarely a problem as long as you don't leave it until last minute. And anyone who wanted a season ticket before we made it to the Premier League was able to get one.