Plastic fans are ruining the game.

Leedarby610 · Jan 12, 2007

Colin Bell the King said: ↑

Its not really inverse snobbery mate, its me trying to express the reasoning behind how and why I continue to go week in week out, spending all my money on City and beer. Match going fans understand completely the point I am trying to make, and if we're being honest here as this is an American based forum where the lads and lasses dont get to go all the time, so I can see where I might come off as snobbish, when I really dont mean to be.

It just winds me up when Reds who probably dont attend the majority of games think that they can brag and boast about how many league titles they have and what they have won compared to us and try to ram it down our throats, expecting to win the argument that certain people seem to think... 'What have you won compared to us, so therefore we are the better club etc so shut up, you dont know what you're talking about' (the reason I made my original post was due to that Red who jumped all down my throat for suggesting that for Mancunian based Reds the Blues are more of a rival and someone to hate than Liverpool. We know that the United Liverpool rivalry is mainly trophy based as both teams have been hugely successful, but the Blue Red rivalry is more of a social rivalry, as I have to live with the red bastards 365 days of the year, and they do with us) , when for alot of people, going to the match is about the social aspect.

I'm being honest here, my first match, I spent more time in awe of the crowd (we're talking late 80's so it was more of a heightened experience back then) and how the crowd dynamics were completely new and amazing to a little 5/6 year old kid. This experience was even more heightened at away games, and from the age of 10/11 I have rarely missed a home match, and started going away all the time from the age of 13/14. (I'm 23 now) The home games are shit these days, and I have missed a few due to relocating to Hull for University, but even now I still rarely miss an away, due to the camaderie that is had. If that goes I will probably pack going to football in because although football is great to watch I hardly ever watch it when its on TV due to the fact that I find it a bit boring. So in my case, and for probably pretty much anyone who attended thier first game - I'm sure you can all remember it, didnt you spend more time in awe of the crowd, and how passionate they all seemed, and didnt you, one day, want to be part of that.

Call me sad, but the best buzz I get out of going to football, isnt winning, its getting the songs going. Im lucky to travel with a group of lads who are loud, and so if one of us starts a song, the rest will join in and that spreads to pretty much the whole support. Singing in unision is something everyone from all over the world loves to do. Its a part of pretty much every culture, from the singsongs of Motown classics down the local, to the mums and dads and the kids joining in with pantomime singalongs. Even when we lost 4-2 to Blackburn about 30 of us spent the whole 40 minute train journey from Darwen to Manchester Victoria station singing songs new and old.

I'm rambling now, so I'll leave it at that
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Mate, you hit the nail spot on. The atmosphere, the singing--that's where it's at.

I've been and there's nothing like it in the States. I hope the English football atmosphere never goes away. It's pure Mecca.