Should kids be taken to football?

[Seagullsgonnagetya]

Take em when you think they are ready (to Withdene) take em ready or not to Falmer

 

[Gwylan]

Start 'em young I say. At least at football they can make noise to their hearts' content.

But don't get me started about kids at the theatre. The other day, there were some parents with a four to five year old at a Shakespeare play, needless to say the kid started running around and shouting - eventually the father had to take him out. Madness.

 

[Brovion]

I took my son into the North Stand at the Goldstone when he was 2. I carried him the whole time and it nearly took my arms off. But it was worth it - he can say he went there.

Took my daughter to her first Brighton game at 5. Again in the North Stand. Bless. About 5 minutes from the end (it was a 0-0 draw against Rotherham I think) she turned to me and said "Which team are we?"

 

[roseygull]

i have been going for 26 years and my 9 year old son has had a season ticket for 3 seasons because he keeps going on about football and playing all the time in the back garden my 3 year old keeps on about going so i will be taking him my 9 year old and my wife to barnsley next weekend and i will not be taking anyones seat as the away section holds 6000 it will also cost me £48 for the pleasure so if he sits still and enjoys it i will take him to other away games. i will do all that i can to stop him supporting any of the premiership clubs or real madrid the children of today are the fans of tomorrow

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

I went to my first game when I was 8, standing on a milkcrate in the East stand. From the moment I saw the floodlights on the other side of hove park I was captivated. I loved the walk across hove park, listening to the announcer and chants drifting across. I loved the fact that I was in an adults world, i loved the walk up the east stand culminating as you reach the top and have a great panoramic view of the goldstone. I loved the excitement of the game and i loved watching the reactions of the fans, both ours and the oppositions. In short I loved it and think that most kids given the chance to experience a match in 'real' rather than on T.V will love it aswell. Taking them to watch the albion will probably turn them from 'glory supporting' a premier league team into an albion fan. I can still remember how proud I felt at primary school because i could say that I was the only one who had been to a live match and I reckon kids will be the same now.
As the lifeblood of the club its vital to get as many kids in to watch the albion as we can, and generally speaking, the younger the better. Under 5 or 6 though i think is a little too young.

Also, they should have their own little section away from the rest of us. Like when the junior seagulls used to congregate in the south stand at the goldstone.

 

[Seagulls over Lewes]

My boys are aged 15, 9 and 5 and all have season tickets for Withdean this season and come to away games with me as well. They were at Oldham and all behaved themselves even on the train home from Manchester with no air conditioning. Have to admit took the youngest one to York when he was 2 and he did play up a lot but if you don't take them when there young they will only support Man Utd, Arsenal etc etc. So I say yes get them along.

 

[twickers]

Why anyone should be bothered about the age of anyone at a football match is beyond me especially considering some of the half brains who I regret are Brighton supporters who spend the entire match with their back to the game singing to the stand or the other breed who spend the entire 90 minutes hurling abuse at the opposition stand. Many of whom have no understanding of the game anyway, so where's the difference between them and a 3 year old?

 

[Lady Bracknell]

I first took my lads to the Goldstone when they were 7 and 9. They already loved the game and were ready to watch without too much fidgetting around or wanting a pee every 5 minutes. From their first visit they were Albion through and through and the only thing they complained about was not being being in the North Stand. A place they snuck into as soon as they went to matches on their own (aged 11 upwards) although it was only recently that they confessed to being scared to death in there!

I daresay they could have been taken to football earlier but I wasn't risking them being put off the game by getting bored, tired or just being too young to enjoy it.

As for language, there was nothing overheard that wasn't already in their vocabularies - and used at school! But they also knew what was and wasn't acceptable at home. Knowing how to make this distinction is an essential part of growing up, IMHO.

But ultimately, people know their own kids and it's down to them to decide the right time to take them. There's no magic age you can draw a line under or over.

 

[The Clown of Pevensey Bay]

I've always been a subscriber to the "take 'em as young as possible" theory, mostly because my parents had no interest in football and as a result I could only go from age 11-ish, and even then only with friends and their parents.

But then I went to England U21 v Slovakia at the Stadium of Light this summer (incidentally fact fans, it was Bobby's last competitive game as a Brighton player!) and it was full of kids just blowing those ridiculous hooters and being pains in the arse.

So, in summary: kids good, big groups of kids bad.