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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: I need a Premier League team
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
Bear in mind that among football fans it is considered Very Bad Form to adopt a team because they are winning. That makes you a "glory hunter" and there are few lower forms of life. You are supposed to choose a team for reasons beyond your control, and it then becomes part of your identity, you are stuck with them for life. That's how the myth works, anyway. So you need a team you can live with! One whose supporters you identify with. So in order to choose your team - or rather know which one has been inevitably chosen for you by fate - you need to know something about the clubs and their supporters.
To help you get on with that I hereby present you with an overview of the stereotype supporters of the different London clubs. (maybe someone more local can add northern or midland teams)
Disclaimer: What follows is utterly unfair, prejudiced, and almost entirely without basis in real life. And at least partly self-contradictory as teams have tens or even hundreds of thousands of supporters and so can have more than one conflicting stereotype. But most football fans woudl recognise some of it...
Supporters of London Premier League Teams (in alphabetical order):
Arsenal supporters:
Normal North Londoners. In some ways the default side for inner London, the nearest we have to a team representing all of London rather than one part of it. Quiet fans, likely to clap politely rather than cheer. (the "Highbury Library") Sometimes the supporters claim to be the true East Enders or Cockneys which makes West Ham and Millwall supporters laugh. Posh people who pretend they aren't posh. The traditional team for recent arrivals in London who don;t know much about London, the team you follow if you want to fit in and not take sides. Lots of Irish supporters going back many years, and now by a long way the favourite football team of Africans living in London. If a trendy young novellist supported a football team and wrote a film script about them then it would be about Arsenal. Oh, guess what...
Chelsea supporters:
Glory hunters. People who like showing off their money and throwing celery. North London gangsters. Clubbers, druggies. Kids who don't know much about football who fancy supporting a winning team, and don't know where Manchester is. In the past associated with violent racists and neo-nazis (if any are still live they are now too old to be scary). Dominated by the owner, one Roman Abramovich, who basically bought the team and threw money at it to make it win everything, and almost succeeded. Sometimes maudlin drunk Chelsea supporters take you aside in bars, and with tears in their eyes tell you what it was like in the old days before Abramovich when they always used to lose, and no-one thought they were glory-hunters. Life's tough. Now everyone thinks they are glory-hunters. Worst than Manchester United. If you support Chelsea and you want to look even remotely cool you had better have been to your first match sometime in the twentieth century. Ideally before the end of the 1980s. Make that the 1960s. Did I say they were glory hunters?
Fulham supporters:
Posh people who don't care whether you think they are posh or not. Ex-Chelsea supporters who can't afford the ticket prices at Chelsea any more. Fictional characters in British comedy or crime TV series set in London. Especially when played by Dennis Waterman. Minor American pop stars who fancy a one-off visit to a safe football match for a photo-op. Non-violent, peaceful, couch-potatoes.
QPR supporters:
Ex-Chelsea supporters who can't afford the ticket prices at Fulham any more. Tube drivers. Blokes who sell veg down North End Road. Unemployed residents of Hammersmith and Shepherd's Bush council estates. Cyclists. Asian shopkeepers. Working-class Greens. Indy bands. Composers of ambient music (don't ask me why that should be, I'm just the reporter)
Spurs supporters:
The default team for outer north London. Working-class North Londoners and suffragan bishops. Got called "the Yids" by West Ham supporters, back in the days when people said things like that at football matches without getting arrested, and reacted by adopting the term (and the Star of David) themselves. The fictional docker Alf Garnett was presented on TV as a Tory-voting, racist, West Ham supporter - but the actor who played him, Warren Mitchell, was a left-wing, Jewish, Spurs supporter. Footballing-wise they have two ambitions - to be almost as good as Arsenal, and to be a bit better than West Ham. They have no trouble achieving either.
West Ham supporters:
Industrial workers, dockers, construction workers, street-market traders, and petty criminals who live north of the river. Racists who don't like blacks and Jews. Small-time gangsters and petty criminals. Pornographers. They go on and on about the West Ham Style of attacking football. This really did exist - for about five years in the late 1960s. Basically a load of sad has-beens who can't shut up about Bobby Moore and the World Cup and how they are the Only True Cockneys. Of the ten best-selling films or TV series ever made about football hooliganism, nine have featured West Ham supporters. There's a reason for that. (The reason starts with an "M" and is currently in another league)
Talking of other leagues, although they are not so relevant to a would-be glory-hunter who is only interested in the top level of football, I add in a supplement on the supporters of London teams in other divisions. In alphabetical order.
Barnet supporters:
Barnet who? Do they even have a football team? Well, sort of. Probably the most anonymous team in the South of England. We suspect their followers of being retired librarians who spend a lot of time in the potting shed, but that's only a rumour, because, franlky, there are so few of them they don't even have a proper stereotype. They have the only football stadium in England with more beer pumps than supporters. Though "stadium" is putting it a bit strongly, its really just an ordinary playing field in the corner of a public park. With a clubhouse right next door. Which can happily fit all the supporters, home and away, from a typical match.
Brentford supporters:
People who live in Brentford and quite like football. Er, that's about it really.
Charlton supporters:
Mostly harmless. Family team. Dads take their kids. South-East London fans who can't bring themselves to follow Millwall because of the reputation. Nice, ordinary blokes who happen to live in the most boring anonymous part of the huge London metropolis. Well, not counting Beckton or Dagenham or Sutton... actually the Charlton ground is set on a pleasant wooded hillside with a wonderful view over the Thames all the way to central London. Doesn't help the football though.
Crystal Palace supporters:
Wide boys, spivs, trainspotters, nerds. People who think they know lots about football theory and go on about zonal marking all the time, like they were Europeans or something. The nearest thing to an official Care in the Community team. Wannabe Chelsea supporters. Wannabe Barca supporters. They have some irritating loser who bangs a drum all match because they can't chant or shout any more. Wannabe NFL supporters. They even have cheerleaders. Cheerleaders! At a football match? In Croydon? ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Dagenham supporters:
Blokes who spend their spare time doing things to their cars. Car factory workers. Unemployed car factory workers. Retired car factory workers. Car mechanics. Car drivers. Men with cars.
Leyton Orient supporters:
Real-ale drinkers. North-east Londoners who can't afford the tickets at Spurts or Arsenal, and wouldn't want to support West Ham. Northerners who live in London and can't get to see their home team and fancy a game of football. People who hate West Ham supporters, but not enough to actually hurt them. If they were into hurting Hammers they'd support Spurs or our last team:
Millwall supporters:
Industrial workers, dockers, construction workers, street-market traders, and petty criminals who live south of the river. Not so much racists as turf-warriors who don't like anybody not from round here. Once upon a time associated with Scots living in London, more recently quite a few Turks and eastern Europeans. South London gangsters. Anyone up for a fight. Fat drunk blokes with shaven heads. Notorious for a long-running (over a century) and occasionally bloody feud with West Ham supporters. And that's all most people remember about them. Unbeatable slogan: "No one likes us. We don't care."
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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shamwari
Shipmate
# 15556
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Posted
I am a Charlton supporter.
Have been since 1947
and fit none of the categories you outline.
Posts: 1914 | From: from the abyss of misunderstanding | Registered: Mar 2010
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
I feel mildy guilty and just want to point out that those really are the unfair stereotypes... not the truth. West Ham fans are not, on the whole, more racist than any others, but peopel say they are. Millwall fans are not, on the whole, violent, but the unfair stereotype is that they are. And so on...
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
I feel mildy guilty and just want to point out that those really are the unfair stereotypes... not the truth. West Ham fans are not, on the whole, more racist than any others, but peopel say they are. Millwall fans are not, on the whole, violent, but the unfair stereotype is that they are. And so on...
..... apart from Crystal Palace that is.
Did you leave out AFC Wimbledon intentionally?
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
No, I forgot them!
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
Disclaimer: What follows is utterly unfair, prejudiced, and almost entirely without basis in real life. And at least partly self-contradictory
And yet still incredibly funny.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Quizmaster
Quick quipper
# 1435
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
The Spurs are out of the running.
I can't get over the big chicken.
With that comment you are already an Arsenal fan.
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The more questions I ask the more I ask fewer questions.
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The wise person does not know all the answers, but always asks the right questions.
Posts: 3326 | From: Exeter, Devon | Registered: Oct 2001
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Glad you pointed out AFC Wimbledon, Sioni. Did you see they were an Only Connect clue recently?
Tottenham has its fair share of racists too. EDL (English Defence League) supporter I knew (taught) was a Tottenham supporter and he reckoned the Yids was a good excuse for a fight. They do soccer schools out here as their community work. Mind you, I knew a lot of kids at that West Ham - Leyton game where there was all the trouble a couple of years ago - the ones who came in saying "Did you see me on telly last night, miss?"
[ 11. October 2012, 06:50: Message edited by: Curiosity killed ... ]
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
(maybe someone more local can add northern or midland teams)
The midlands is easy to do:
Aston Villa supporters:
Upper and upper-middle-class folks, or those who aspire to be one day. The sort of people who say "I'm from Solihull/Sutton Coldfield, actually" when asked if they're from Birmingham. People who think their company renting an executive box makes them a fan.
Birmingham City supporters:
Working and lower-middle class folks, or those who pretend to be in either of those categories because they think it's cool. Brummies and proud of it.
West Bromwich Albion supporters:
Sandwell residents and people from north-east Birmingham who don't fancy the trek to Villa Park.
Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters:
People from Wolverhampton.
Walsall supporters:
People from Walsall who can't be bothered going the extra few miles to support a decent team.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
Glad you pointed out AFC Wimbledon, Sioni. Did you see they were an Only Connect clue recently?
I missed that. Does anyone know what they have in common with Aldershot, Accrington Stanley, Leeds United and Leicester City (and probably others besides)?
quote:
Tottenham has its fair share of racists too. EDL (English Defence League) supporter I knew (taught) was a Tottenham supporter and he reckoned the Yids was a good excuse for a fight. They do soccer schools out here as their community work. Mind you, I knew a lot of kids at that West Ham - Leyton game where there was all the trouble a couple of years ago - the ones who came in saying "Did you see me on telly last night, miss?"
THFC is a football club. With the possible exception of FC St Pauli (Hamburg), every football club has racist supporters. Racism may be horrible and abhorrent and all the rest but there's a lot of it about and it infests all levels of society.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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The Intrepid Mrs S
Shipmate
# 17002
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Posted
As for me and my household, we support West Ham.
There's just nothing we can do about it, it's in the blood. My late FiL began to support them when he and MiL moved into the East End from darkest Lincolnshire something over 60 years ago, and Mr. S got taken along to matches once he was old enough. I supported them because of their role in winning the 1966 World Cup, and we even went to the Cup Final where they beat Fulham (HOORAY!). Now Master S., in spite of being a Cardiff season-ticket holder, still has claret-and-blue blood in his veins and when it comes to the put-to (as it did last season) can't bring himself to support anyone but West Ham.
I know they're owned by two pornographers, but they are OUR pornographers and genuine fans, not just people who have bought a team because they think they can make it into Man U. Not even porno-merchants are that stupid!
Every now and again, like when Lou Macari took over as manager, we try and Put It All Behind Us - but it just isn't possible.
Mrs. S, 'West Ham till I die'
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Don't get your knickers in a twist over your advancing age. It achieves nothing and makes you walk funny.
Prayer should be our first recourse, not our last resort
'Lord, please give us patience. NOW!'
Posts: 1464 | From: Neither here nor there | Registered: Mar 2012
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Sighthound
Shipmate
# 15185
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Posted
Call me old-fashioned (I am) but I find it hard to understand anyone supporting a team to which they have no personal connection. Above all, I find it hard to understand someone picking one because they are 'big', 'successful', or 'cool'.
I support Manchester City because I come from Manchester and because my father, uncle and two grandfathers supported them. I supported them in the second and third tiers, I support them now they're Champions, and I'd support them if they were in the Blue Square North. If they ever go bust, I won't suddenly start supporting Barcelona. I'll give up.
This type of discussion makes me realise why I am so uncomfortable in the modern world.
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Supporter of Tia Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue.http://tiagreyhounds.org/
Posts: 168 | From: England | Registered: Sep 2009
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Beeswax Altar
Shipmate
# 11644
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Posted
Apparently, soccer/football is nothing like any professional sport in the United States. The NFL only has 32 teams. Many people live in a state with no pro team and have to choose a team. Also, every team in the NFL has the potential to play for a Super Bowl. The gap between the have and have nots is greater in the NBA but the draft gives every team the chance to make a run at a title every now and then. Even MLB has a draft and luxury tax.
The closest thing in the United States to soccer in the UK is college football. Of a 116 Division I teams, only around 10 have a realistic chance of winning a national title. Fans of other teams define successful seasons by making and winning a bowl or defeating their rival. For instance, Army's chant is, "Go Army beat Navy. Who the hell are you?" Most weeks the other team will beat Army by a large margin but if on the last week of the season Army beats Navy, all the Army fans are happy. Sadly for Army fans, Army hasn't defeated Navy for a decade.
Looking at it that way, the smartest choice for a US fan would be Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, or the Spurs. All have major rivalries and the potential to make a run. However, I'm only still considering Everton.
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Losing sleep is something you want to avoid, if possible.
-Og: King of Bashan
Posts: 8411 | From: By a large lake | Registered: Jul 2006
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
Apparently, soccer/football is nothing like any professional sport in the United States. The NFL only has 32 teams. Many people live in a state with no pro team and have to choose a team. Also, every team in the NFL has the potential to play for a Super Bowl. The gap between the have and have nots is greater in the NBA but the draft gives every team the chance to make a run at a title every now and then. Even MLB has a draft and luxury tax.
The closest thing in the United States to soccer in the UK is college football. Of a 116 Division I teams, only around 10 have a realistic chance of winning a national title. Fans of other teams define successful seasons by making and winning a bowl or defeating their rival. For instance, Army's chant is, "Go Army beat Navy. Who the hell are you?" Most weeks the other team will beat Army by a large margin but if on the last week of the season Army beats Navy, all the Army fans are happy. Sadly for Army fans, Army hasn't defeated Navy for a decade.
Looking at it that way, the smartest choice for a US fan would be Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, or the Spurs. All have major rivalries and the potential to make a run. However, I'm only still considering Everton.
Make your decision quickly. Our most influential current player, Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini, is out for three weeks with an injury, which probably includes the Merseyside derby on 28th October!
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
Looking at it that way, the smartest choice for a US fan would be Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, or the Spurs. All have major rivalries and the potential to make a run.
Rivalries don't come much bigger than Newcastle/Sunderland.
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Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
Looking at it that way, the smartest choice for a US fan would be Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, or the Spurs. All have major rivalries and the potential to make a run.
Rivalries don't come much bigger than Newcastle/Sunderland.
That is so, but it means bugger all to anyone south of the River Tees.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
You think Man U , Man C don't have a rivalry, that is news to me, who spent my teens hearing how Man u was not a proper Manchester club.
But then so has Sheffield Utd and Sheffield Wed but irc neither of them are Premiership at present. However for the excentric I think the original has to be the choice, I mean Sheffield F C .
Jengie
[ 11. October 2012, 16:48: Message edited by: Jengie Jon ]
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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Caissa
Shipmate
# 16710
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Posted
My beloved Reds are stinking early in the season. I think we need a Liverpool derby soon to warm things up.
Posts: 972 | From: Saint John, N.B. | Registered: Oct 2011
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sighthound:
I supported them in the second and third tiers, I support them now they're Champions, and I'd support them if they were in the Blue Square North. If they ever go bust, I won't suddenly start supporting Barcelona. I'll give up.
I admire your loyalty. I feel the same way about my NCAA football team, which is probably going to win one game this year. The trouble for American fans of association football is that it is hard to keep up with any team that you cannot see on American TV. Until a few years ago, that meant that you either had to pay out the nose for a better cable package, or pick one of the Champion's League competitors. Now, we can get Premiership action on basic cable, but if your team falls down to the Championship, you are going to have a long-distance relationship for at least a season. So that is why you really take a risk in supporting someone from the bottom half of the table, and why no one in the States would voluntarily decide to support, say, Crystal Palace at this point.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
quote:
Originally posted by Sighthound:
I supported them in the second and third tiers, I support them now they're Champions, and I'd support them if they were in the Blue Square North. If they ever go bust, I won't suddenly start supporting Barcelona. I'll give up.
I admire your loyalty. I feel the same way about my NCAA football team, which is probably going to win one game this year. The trouble for American fans of association football is that it is hard to keep up with any team that you cannot see on American TV. Until a few years ago, that meant that you either had to pay out the nose for a better cable package, or pick one of the Champion's League competitors. Now, we can get Premiership action on basic cable, but if your team falls down to the Championship, you are going to have a long-distance relationship for at least a season. So that is why you really take a risk in supporting someone from the bottom half of the table, and why no one in the States would voluntarily decide to support, say, Crystal Palace at this point.
There are far better reasons to not support Crystal Palace and ken has described some of them. The fact that the building the club is named for burnt down seventy-five years ago has to count against them too, but Norwood Sidings FC doesn't have much of a ring to it.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
The closest thing in the United States to soccer in the UK is college football.
Actually, in terms of organisation the closed thing is probably baseball. But its not very close. Unlike American football, baseball has a full set of lower leagues. There are probably a lot more professional baseball players than there are American football players.
There are well over a hundred fully professional football teams in England (and about twenty in Scotland which is proportionatly far more per head). And many, many, more semi-professional and amateur ones. The English football league system is the largest sporting competion in the world. There are literally thousands of teams in it. And hundreds of different competitions, leagues, and cups. Lots of teams win lots of things all the time!
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
Looking at it that way, the smartest choice for a US fan would be Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal, or the Spurs. All have major rivalries and the potential to make a run.
Rivalries don't come much bigger than Newcastle/Sunderland.
That is so, but it means bugger all to anyone south of the River Tees.
[Ahem!]
Up the Toon!
quote:
Originally posted by Og, King of Bashan:
... and why no one in the States would voluntarily decide to support, say, Crystal Palace at this point.
But wouldn't it be so cool if they did? Well, maybe not Palace, because, after all, they are Palace. But some other second or third tier team. Much more interesting than following the herd.
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
....t Norwood Sidings FC doesn't have much of a ring to it.
They play in Sainsbury's car park these days.
I have a ticket to a mach at Palace in a couple of week';s time. But I won't be at the home end.
I think its good that the name of the Istanbul football team Galatasaray, being interpreted, means "Celtic Palace" ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
[ 11. October 2012, 17:37: Message edited by: ken ]
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Selhurst Park is where Crystal Palace play - OK, it's in the car park of a Sainsbury's hypermarket - but honest it's Selhurst Park.
And what's wrong with the Maccams?
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Beeswax Altar
Shipmate
# 11644
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Posted
I took a look at the Football League Championship teams.
How did the Blackburn Rovers get so bad in such a short period of time?
Who is likely to be promoted this year (Cardiff City is in first at the moment)?
Lot of teams with cool names in the Championship (Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich, Wolverhampton, Blackpool and of course Nottingham Forest).
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Losing sleep is something you want to avoid, if possible.
-Og: King of Bashan
Posts: 8411 | From: By a large lake | Registered: Jul 2006
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Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
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Posted
Imagine that a cash-rich but experience-short management group bought a once-respected but struggling for a few seasons NFL franchise in a working-class town, hoping to make some money. I don't know, maybe the Kansas City Chiefs or the Buffalo Bills. The owners put the team in advertisements for their brand and take them on an exhibition tour in the middle of the season. That ownership group also brings in a new head coach, who has one of the worst seasons in franchise history. All that lands the team at the bottom of the league. The coach never apologizes to the fans for the bad result, and the owners don't have the guts to sack the coach at the end of the season. The fans would be pretty upset, right?
Now imagine some of the comments on the Bills or Chiefs discussion boards if on top of all that the ownership group is from Mexico.
I think that about sums up how toxic the Blackburn situation is right about now.
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"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
[tangent]Quizmaster! It's great to see you posting here!! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) [/tangent]
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
Apparently, soccer/football is nothing like any professional sport in the United States.
Having had the capacity to observe both from my distant spot on the globe, I think you're correct.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Beeswax Altar:
Who is likely to be promoted this year (Cardiff City is in first at the moment)?
Far too early to tell!
Cardiff does look likely, and I'd guess at least one of Brighton or Blackpool will be up there as well. Maybe also Hull (though they lost to Posh!)
Wolves, Leicester, Blackburn all likely to be contenders, and you can't write off Middlesborough or Huddersfield.
Of the current top-half teams I suspect that Leeds and Palace are unlikely to make the grade, and its possible that some of the bottom-half teams will improve drastically and get into the play-offs - my money would be on Forest or Watford to have the best chance at that; with Burnley or Bolton or even Birmingham as outside bets. "Big clubs" all, as they say. Bolton can't stay as bad as they've recently been, can they?
As to who goes down - well anyone still could. You'd have to hope for a miracle to think that Peterborough might do much better than they have been recently, but only 3 points - the result of one match - separates 12th from 21st place.
But its wide open. Which is one reason its fun. And they are competing for the the largest prize in team sport anywhere in the world...
[ 12. October 2012, 17:19: Message edited by: ken ]
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Albertus
Shipmate
# 13356
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Posted
Enjoyed your run-down of London club fans, ken (and as it happens, I went to the Den for the first time ever last week and in spite of everything came away confirmed that Millwall is the only club I could ever support - it's in the blood I suppose) but I wonder whether your pen-pictures reminded anyone else of Jimmy trying to recruit Reggie Perrin into his secret army?
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My beard is a testament to my masculinity and virility, and demonstrates that I am a real man. Trouble is, bits of quiche sometimes get caught in it.
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birdie
fowl
# 2173
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Posted
If Cardiff go up, and Swansea stay up, you've got another big rivalry in the Premiership as well.
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"Gentlemen, I wash my hands of this weirdness."
Captain Jack Sparrow
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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quote:
Originally posted by birdie:
If Cardiff go up, and Swansea stay up, you've got another big rivalry in the Premiership as well.
If Cardiff go up I'll be amazed. Over the last few years they have bottled it spectacularly, notably by losing by six goals on the last day of the season to avoid the promotion play-offs on goal difference (by one goal) and in the next year losing the play-off final 3-2 to Blackpool, having beaten them home and away earlier in the season.
They won't get promoted until Stoke City get relegated, because there is bitter, violent rivalry between sections of the supporters. Maybe South Wales Police plead with them to keep away from Stoke City!
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Beeswax Altar
Shipmate
# 11644
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Posted
I've made a decision.
Stoke City is my team.
It came down to Everton, Swansea City, and Stoke City. Ken shamed me away from Everton. Geoff Cameron and Maurice Edu gave Stoke the edge over Swansea.
Go Potters!
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Losing sleep is something you want to avoid, if possible.
-Og: King of Bashan
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birdie
fowl
# 2173
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Posted
![[Disappointed]](graemlins/disappointed.gif)
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"Gentlemen, I wash my hands of this weirdness."
Captain Jack Sparrow
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Beeswax Altar:
I'm disappointed too, but you'll have fun supporting Stoke City as the 'big clubs' have a long record of unexpectedly dropping points to them. They are probably the nearest thing the Premiership has to Millwall ('Nobody likes us' and a reputation for some shall we say extremely loyal support).
I'm still not sure what ken said to shame anyone away from Everton beyond saying they have some overseas following already.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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birdie
fowl
# 2173
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Posted
I meant to post earlier, the ways in which people come to support particular teams are many and mysterious. If you grow up in a less football-crazed part of the country but want, for whatever reason, to follow a team, the choice has to be made somehow.
Mr b is from south wales, rugby country rather than football, his parents did not particularly follow football, but when he was about four, someone gave him a blue football kit. And so an Everton fan was made. (It wasn't even an Everton kit - just blue.) He'll also vaguely follow Cardiff City, but if they're ever promoted to the Premiership and play Everton there's no contest.
I'm from the south-west of England - again, rugby country. While I prefer rugby and spent my teenage years going to every Bath home game, if pushed in a conversation about football I will go with Gillingham (yes, really) as that's where my dad was from. For a while they had a player with my maiden name (very unusual in the SW, common as muck in Kent), which I found stupidly exciting. (My knowlege of Everton is steadily increasing but that's not voluntary.)
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"Gentlemen, I wash my hands of this weirdness."
Captain Jack Sparrow
Posts: 1290 | From: the edge | Registered: Jan 2002
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Surfing Madness
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# 11087
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Posted
I'm another one of those who doesn't follow football particularly but if pushed for a team would always go with Carlisle. I am from the South Coast, my Dad supports Brighton and my Mum Southampton (both not seriously.) I have no idea why I picked Carlisle but I did!
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I now blog about all my crafting! http://inspiredbybroadway.blogspot.co.uk
Posts: 1542 | From: searching for the jam | Registered: Feb 2006
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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When I moved to Scotland I decided I wanted a team to follow (well, 'follow' in the loosest sense of the word!) but didn't want to support either of the Old Firm and probably not an SPL club. I liked the idea of a diddy team. And then I started going out with TME, and it turns out that his brother supported Stenhousemuir (despite them all coming from Luton). So when asked I can say I support the Mighty Warriors - and now I don't live that far away from Stenhousemuir so could (if I ever got round to it) go to a home game.
After picking them as my team I heard that they play a team of comedians who are up for the Edinburgh Festival in August. In 2011 they lost for the first time (bringing the tally to 15 won, 1 drew and 1 lost - I'm not sure what this year's result was). That's my kind of team - never mind the megabucks backers, they kickabout with comedians (I suspect there is a very obvious comment to be made about their football at this point).
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Back in my youth, the oldest daughter of a family we were friendly with decided to support Queen of the South despite the rest of the family being staunch Manchester City supporters. This was totally alien to my sister and I who when pushed would say West Bromwich Albion as that was the team Dad supported and it allowed us to remain neutral.
The team I actually got nearest to supporting was Stockport County as I used to read the match reports for them on the back of the local free press while I lived in Stockport. The reason was that the writer was a genuine supporter of the club and gave the feel of week in, week out supporting a group of players through their failures and triumphs. Rather more of the former if I recall correctly. He did not go in for bitching about the other side but was more likely to comment on the standard of meat pies at various grounds where Stockport played.
Jengie
[ 13. October 2012, 17:37: Message edited by: Jengie Jon ]
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Albertus:
... as it happens, I went to the Den for the first time ever last week and in spite of everything came away confirmed that Millwall is the only club I could ever support...]
2:1 over Bolton and a cracking good game after the missed penalty - both teams and the crowd seemed to wake up and start pushing!
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
I think I'd support Northampton Town if I really had to have a football club, as I love the idea of being able to scream "COBBLERS!" at the top of my lungs - and be doing the right thing in doing so.
As it happens I've got it easy - born in Essex, bred in Essex, support Essex County Cricket Club. I suppose I could support Colchester United, but it's just not the same now they have a new stadium and the announcer doesn't ask them to celebrate quietly in case the roof give way...
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Cobblers is fun to shout - it was the local team for one address.
The one I really supported for a while was Wimbledon at Plough Lane - I walked to matches (could have walked to Fulham too) and supported them for a good few years - up through the divisions to the Cup Final. I was at the pre-season friendly when the Milton Keynes announcement was made, standing amongst the supporters who went on to found AFC Wimbledon. That was just a little bit noisy and at Colchester, and they did get very twitchy about the noise.
[ 13. October 2012, 22:31: Message edited by: Curiosity killed ... ]
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
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