[Football] Stealing fans... from Barnet

[Wozza]

What if my child does not want to support my football team?
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...-support-my-football-team-raith-rovers-celtic

Top comment:
“I am just about to have a child and have decided on my plan. I grew up supporting my local football club, Barnet FC. They were only 5 minutes walk away from my house at the time and I still go to games when I can. It's where I grew up (although the stadium is no longer in Barnet, long story), but I have memories of games when my first dad took me when I was about 4 years old.

Now I live in Brighton, where my child will be born and grow up, so they should support Brighton and Hove Albion, their local football club. I will make sure I take them to the games, and the club has a big community feel and hopefully they will feel the same way that I feel about Barnet, no matter where they live in the future.”


(Based on this logic, my three kids would support P*l*ce or Chelsea *shudder*)

 

[pasty]

Now I live in Brighton, where my child will be born and grow up, so they should support Brighton and Hove Albion, their local football club. I will make sure I take them to the games, and the club has a big community feel and hopefully they will feel the same way that I feel about Barnet, no matter where they live in the future.”

My late dad did pretty much the same for me. He was a Barnsley man, but living down south, took me to the Goldstone, and my love of all things Albion started. I still look out for Barnsley results though.

 

[RandyWanger]

I've already told the wench our first child's middle name will be Glenn Murray and no matter where we live in the world they'll be supporting BHAFC

 

[CaptainDaveUK]

I live in Liverpool but started taking my lad to Albion away games when he was about 7. I have taken him to one Liverpool and one Everton match and about 25 Brighton away matches (Blackpool, Huddersfield, Leeds, Bolton etc.) I thought he may adopt one of the local teams but recently bought the new Brighton home kit (with his own money) which was a proud moment. He is now 12 and seems pretty keen to be a Brighton fan, even though he has lived in Liverpool all his life.

 

[AnotherArch]

My three lads and grandkids have never lived within 150 miles of Brighton, but are all Albion through and through. Even though one of them played for Rotherham boys and worked for Cheltenham Town. My mantra is that there is no choice of team to support, it is allocated at birth.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Not sure where the big community feel is these days - other than the name of the stadium. For me it had more of a community feel at the Goldstone, Priestfield and Withdean when fans were part of the club. Whilst the Amex is a fine stadium I never get the same sense of belonging that I had in the pre Barber era.
Good that Wozza is indoctrinating his youngster - my two went through the whole Junior Seagulls and ballboy process and bleed blue and white.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Not sure where the big community feel is these days - other than the name of the stadium. For me it had more of a community feel at the Goldstone, Priestfield and Withdean when fans were part of the club. Whilst the Amex is a fine stadium I never get the same sense of belonging that I had in the pre Barber era.
Good that Wozza is indoctrinating his youngster - my two went through the whole Junior Seagulls and ballboy process and bleed blue and white.

I take my 8 year old in the family stand, and I get the community feel. He´s been a mascot and goes to some of the parties etc. Maybe community isn´t the word, maybe family club would be more suitable. The Albion do a fantastic job with inclusivity, whether that´s youngsters, disabled people, and even those with hidden disabilities. They even let women in apparently

 

[ozzygull]

My daughter was born in High Wycombe and brought up in Reading. I enrolled her in to gullys gang at four days old. Now 17 years old, the only interest she has in football is Brighton. Does not care to watch any other games. When she comes to games with me she is the most animated then at any other time. She was at a cyclocross race last weekend when she was told the result of the Spurs game she was jumping around the field in Cumbria in wellies and a Brighton top yelling and kissing the badge. I just put it down to good parenting

 

[LlcoolJ]

I live in Liverpool but started taking my lad to Albion away games when he was about 7. I have taken him to one Liverpool and one Everton match and about 25 Brighton away matches (Blackpool, Huddersfield, Leeds, Bolton etc.) I thought he may adopt one of the local teams but recently bought the new Brighton home kit (with his own money) which was a proud moment. He is now 12 and seems pretty keen to be a Brighton fan, even though he has lived in Liverpool all his life.

Very similar situation with my lad. Once he was old enough to understand football and supporting a team (about 3 years old) I explained to him how it worked. Basically that I was Brighton and always would be but that as he was born in Sheffield, it was acceptable if he wanted to support United (not Wednesday obviously as we live on the correct side of the city) as a lot of his friends would. He'd seen me watching matches / following the scores on TV and said "no I want to support Brighton Dad".

Never looked back. My stepmum in Brighton bought him his first kit when he was the same age and I started taking him to away games (Leeds, Hudds, Massive, Rotherham) etc when he was 5.

I guess it helps that he (and your lad, mine is also 12 now) grew up in one of the greatest eras to be a Brighton fan. Rather than being looked down on by Wedslol and United fans his age, he's always been able to either laud it over them or have a good rivalry. He knows the score though. I've explained how I endured YEARS of us being shite while living in Sheffield when both their teams were doing relatively well. He's read Build A Bonfire.

Those are the rules though aren't they. You either support your local team or you support the team that your Dad / Mum / Grandparent / Uncle etc supports. NOTHING else is acceptable.

I've mentioned it before but there is a lad who my son plays cricket with. Good lad, amazing sportsman but hugely over indulged. His dad is Wednesday but a few years ago, the lad decided that he didn't want to support them as they were shit, so switched allegiance to Chelsea.

Not only was this complete heresy accepted by his dad, he basically switched himself. Started taking the kid to Chelsea games, buying him the kit. He's even started looking at transfer news and the like for Chelsea as if he is some sort of fan.

He's a good bloke, but the whole thing just makes me feel sick.

 

[Rowdey]

My then 10year old got smart with me once..

'So dad, you were born in Brighton & support Brighton, Uncle was born in Brighton & supports Brighton, and Grandad was born in Brighton & supports Brighton... But i was born in (SE) London..?'

'Well son, lets have a look around (From Herne Hill) -
I look West, and i see Wimbledon, you could support them..
I look South, and i just see wasteland and fire burning...
I look East and i see...Millwall... you can support them if you want... ?'

(He was prob angling for me to look North at this point and say Chelsea, but he just accepted his fate, and that he'll clash with with the local kids at school occasionally...)

 

[Bob!]

My three lads and grandkids have never lived within 150 miles of Brighton, but are all Albion through and through. Even though one of them played for Rotherham boys and worked for Cheltenham Town. My mantra is that there is no choice of team to support, it is allocated at birth.

That's one hell of a commute!
Good lad!

 

[Triggaaar]

(Based on this logic, my three kids would support P*l*ce or Chelsea *shudder*)

Friend of mine lives, with his 11-year-old son, just couple of miles from our stadium, down Falmer Rd. But he's a STH at Portsmouth, so his son is a Pompy fan (and STH). Disappointing, but I'd have done the same thing.

 

[Swansman]

(Based on this logic, my three kids would support P*l*ce or Chelsea *shudder*)

Getting a bit confused here, you live in America or Russia?

More seriously, the "local club" thing is great but not always possible. First, some places have shit football. I'm from the worst footballing city in Sweden, the only 100k+ city that never had a team in the highest division and havent played in the second division since 1992 or 1993. The "local" option for me, if I wanted a decent club with decent football culture, was to cheer for Malmö FF, but my city got a rivalry with Malmö in a lot of other topics so it was never an option. Aside from the 7th tier club I played and coached in, there was no options - and I actually feel I missed out on something. I grasp the concept of wanting to cheer for a local club, so I understand the guy OP was referring to in a sense.

At the same time I feel its stupid to try to force something based on geography. Sure, it would be fantastic if I fell in love with the girl next door. But thats not how love works.

 

[Bob!]

Getting a bit confused here, you live in America or Russia?

More seriously, the "local club" thing is great but not always possible. First, some places have shit football. I'm from the worst footballing city in Sweden, the only 100k+ city that never had a team in the highest division and havent played in the second division since 1992 or 1993. The "local" option for me, if I wanted a decent club with decent football culture, was to cheer for Malmö FF, but my city got a rivalry with Malmö in a lot of other topics so it was never an option. Aside from the 7th tier club I played and coached in, there was no options - and I actually feel I missed out on something. I grasp the concept of wanting to cheer for a local club, so I understand the guy OP was referring to in a sense.

At the same time I feel its stupid to try to force something based on geography. Sure, it would be fantastic if I fell in love with the girl next door. But thats not how love works.

Yeah, Brighton was kind of like that for me when I first started watching.
3rd Division side going nowhere.....

 

[LlcoolJ]

Getting a bit confused here, you live in America or Russia?

More seriously, the "local club" thing is great but not always possible. First, some places have shit football. I'm from the worst footballing city in Sweden, the only 100k+ city that never had a team in the highest division and havent played in the second division since 1992 or 1993. The "local" option for me, if I wanted a decent club with decent football culture, was to cheer for Malmö FF, but my city got a rivalry with Malmö in a lot of other topics so it was never an option. Aside from the 7th tier club I played and coached in, there was no options - and I actually feel I missed out on something. I grasp the concept of wanting to cheer for a local club, so I understand the guy OP was referring to in a sense.

At the same time I feel its stupid to try to force something based on geography. Sure, it would be fantastic if I fell in love with the girl next door. But thats not how love works.

I think it's a bit different in England because you are never born too far from a club with a big history. However crap they are now. Note the point about being allowed to ignore geography based on family as well and there's really no excuse here for kids picking a team other than those......

 

[Durlston]

I do have to admit that I had a lucky escape. With my parents living in Bolton at the time (of conception), my dad hated his job in banking. With my mum's side of the family being southerners, they made the right choice and moved down south - Hertfordshire (near Barnet, who I go and see very occasionally), before I was brought further down the country a few years later where they settled in Haywards Heath.

Yes, Bolton had their glory under Big Sam with a League Cup win in 2004, the Premier League and Europa League football but look at the dire situation they're in now. League Two beckons..........similar to the depressing late nineties for the Seagulls!

 

[Jeep]

I've already told the wench our first child's middle name will be Glenn Murray and no matter where we live in the world they'll be supporting BHAFC

Albion is a good middle name. It is timeless and also means Great Britain.

 

[Stat Brother]

I do have to admit that I had a lucky escape. With my parents living in Bolton at the time (of conception), my dad hated his job in banking. With my mum's side of the family being southerners, they made the right choice and moved down south - Hertfordshire (near Barnet, who I go and see very occasionally), before I was brought further down the country a few years later where they settled in Haywards Heath.

Yes, Bolton had their glory under Big Sam with a League Cup win in 2004, the Premier League and Europa League football but look at the dire situation they're in now. League Two beckons..........similar to the depressing late nineties for the Seagulls!

So you're a Spurs fan.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I get all the stuff about local team or dad's team, but things were very different when I grep up in Portslade/Hove in the 60s and early 70s. Every lad interested in football in 1969/70 followed a division 1 team, even if they (we) went up the Albion (which many of us including me did). Who did I support? Leeds. As did my pals 'H' and 'Fritz'. Others followed Chelsea, Spuds, Liverpool....(not much ManU though - but they had fallen off their perch by 69 ).

That said, my son has lived only in Vancouver, London and Faversham, yet has accompanied me to several hundred BHA games. He has zero interest in any other club.

Meanwhile my little brother is still Leeds, my middle brother is still Chelsea (both since around 1970), and his son is bloody Arsenal, the weirdo - and they all live in Portslade or Sompting. I have taken them all to the Amex so they do take a bit of an interest (especially the middle brother). Family, eh?

 

[AnotherArch]

That's one hell of a commute!
Good lad!

Not at the same time! Although he was playing semi-pro in the Midlands, driving a car with Cheltenham logos all over it, turning up in the stripes and with a S Yorkshire accent.
Also all three did their real apprenticeships in the late 80's and through the nineties. Some highs but more lows, and lowest of the lows too! All 3 were at Hereford, youngest was 9. Hardly glory hunters.
They started going at 2 or 3 years old - well, the Mrs said that I couldn't go unless I took them with me. Nowadays would probably have Social Services after me for child cruelty.