Too many man u fans down south

[Barriecuda]

I'm in two minds with this issue. Emotionally, I instantly hate it when I see Manure or Liverpool fans down South.
I used to works Summers at the services on the M2 and every week two coach loads of Manure fans would stop off on their way to the match ( which was always a good opportunity to get rid of the out of date pies). Initially I despised them (why weren't they supporting the mighty Gillingham FC?) but over time it made me think. Whatever their reasons for starting to support Manure they were clearly loyal fans, putting their money where their mouth was.

I suppose that a geographical/family etc tie to a club will always generate the strongest bond but, logically, it is still possible to a 'real' supporter in other circumstances, if you invest your heart and soul (and a litle cash if you've got it) to support your club.

Personally, I hope we do generate a huge fanbase around the world. The more the merrier. If someone from Cork or Cornwall can become a 'true' Gooner it must be possible (though more difficult) for someone from Malaysia or China, who are equally bereft of decent local football.

I agree with a lot of that tbh. I think the strongest bond comes from genuinely having links to a club/ area but as you say, if people are actively putting their money where their mouth is and putting in the time as well to support their side (long coach journeys etc) then its certainly much better than those who never go to matches. I think when it comes to fans with no links to a place/ club its natural to "judge" them a bit to see if they're actually a good fan or whether they are only supporting for the success/ expected success. I know a Swedish lad who supports Sunderland, no links to the area but i dont doubt his passion for the club- he started supporting us when, by our standards, we were good but since then he has been spending hundreds of quid to come and watch us when we were in the championship. Having stuck with us through record low point seasons and with us not being a successful club to begin with, its easy to class him as a very good supporter.

A lot of other foreign (or British with no link) lads havent been that "lucky" in that they've never been able to prove their loyalty. I met a plastic gooner (never been to games, blatantly not passionate) and he tried to claim hes a real fan because he's "stuck it out" despite not winning anything for 6 years- thats 6 years of constantly finishing top 4, it'd be interesting to see if he'd still stick it out in the championship. Some would, some wouldnt, its just impossible to tell- those that at least spend money and time going to games prove they have something about them though. I also think its a good sign if they support a big club but also go to watch some local games, be it Irish league, Malaysian league or whatever- if they do then it shows they genuinely love football and would rather turn up and watch a game than sit in the house watching a PL game not involving their side and it shows they still support their local football scene- people who totally shun their local teams and will "only watch man united" tend to have some totally misplaced feeling that they're too good to sit and watch what can often be not much better than a kick around standard and that feeling of smugness and entitlement is what pisses me off about a lot of plastics- they arent better simpy because they chose to support a better team.

I have a bit of a unique perspective being so far removed from the game, especially until only recently.

Why Arsenal? A friend of mine brought me in, and since then I've really made following the club "my own". I get called "Arsenal" at work and am known as a pretty loyal supporter. Arsenal's history from Graham and earlier interests me as much as Wenger's years of dominance. It's just a really storied club with character supporters, and Highbury was an absolute beauty of a ground.

I would love to go to the Em's, but obviously that's not going to be happening being thousands of miles away. I support football as a whole though. I support our start-up local team FC Edmonton in the NASL (North American Soccer League - think MLS' 2nd Tier, but with no promotion/relegation structure). I watch the Canadian teams in MLS when I can, I follow the Canadian national team progress, keep an eye out for Canadian players in world football (fyi, Stoke's Begovic grew up in this city and played for Canada until the Senior level). Generally speaking I love the game as a whole.

Point I'm trying to make? I'm not sure. I think if you're a proper supporter you'll appreciate your local teams - whether it be NASL, MLS, Championship or Prem - even if you follow another one of the usual "big" teams. I find the truest mark of a "plastic" fan is not only barely any knowledge about the one club they "support", but that they know generally nothing outside of that club either.

[safcftm]

I have a bit of a unique perspective being so far removed from the game, especially until only recently.

Why Arsenal? A friend of mine brought me in, and since then I've really made following the club "my own". I get called "Arsenal" at work and am known as a pretty loyal supporter. Arsenal's history from Graham and earlier interests me as much as Wenger's years of dominance. It's just a really storied club with character supporters, and Highbury was an absolute beauty of a ground.

I would love to go to the Em's, but obviously that's not going to be happening being thousands of miles away. I support football as a whole though. I support our start-up local team FC Edmonton in the NASL (North American Soccer League - think MLS' 2nd Tier, but with no promotion/relegation structure). I watch the Canadian teams in MLS when I can, I follow the Canadian national team progress, keep an eye out for Canadian players in world football (fyi, Stoke's Begovic grew up in this city and played for Canada until the Senior level). Generally speaking I love the game as a whole.

Point I'm trying to make? I'm not sure. I think if you're a proper supporter you'll appreciate your local teams - whether it be NASL, MLS, Championship or Prem - even if you follow another one of the usual "big" teams. I find the truest mark of a "plastic" fan is not only barely any knowledge about the one club they "support", but that they know generally nothing outside of that club either.

Aye, a lot of thats right. I think its hard to know if you're a loyal supporter or not (be you from Manchester or Malaysia) if the loyalty has never really been tested. Even Arsenal have always maintained a place in the top 4 even through these "lean" years (which most clubs would still kill for) and have always got past the group stages of the CL etc- you know you're loyal when you stick with the club through genuine bad times where you worry if you'll ever manage to compete at the top level or anywhere near it again. That being said the fact that a team has always been successful in your lifetime doesnt mean you're not a loyal fan, just that its hard to know for certain but as I say thats true for local fans as much as foreign ones. If someone foreign supports a successful club but still makes the effort to follow the local teams/ national team etc then I'd say they are probably a good supporter though as it shows an interest in the sport as a whole and an acceptance that other football outside the very top level is worth watching, and it shows they're happy to actually turn up somewhere to watch matches, not just sit on their arse watching on tele.

As you say you can tell the genuine plastics by the fact that you cant have a conversation about football with them, they think their team are "amazing", think they're superior for randomly selecting a good side to support despite never attending and if you mention your club who arent as good they know fuck all about them and are dismissive. With lads like yourself I can discuss football as a whole, or a club like Sunderland, in detail so its obvious that you actually have an interest in the game. As a result, since you realise theres life outside the PL and the CL and follow local sides etc, I would imagine you'd keep supporting Arsenal if they got relegated (even though it'd be pretty difficult to find the match online anywhere!). I dont have any problem with foreign lads supporting a PL side, even though I admit I find it refreshing the odd time I find someone who has randomly chosen Wigan or West Brom, its just the clueless arsehole plastic brigade that I hate. I imagine if I ever met "India's number one Arsenal fan" I'd want to punch him in the face after about a minute for example!

[StuartL]

arsenal have official supporters clubs from all over the uk so why dont they support there local sides as for the 5million on the official facebook page and the million plus on twitter but while we are not as bad as manu we are getting closer.

On Arsenal.com the have the figure at 9.7million or something like that - just imagine 10million red members

[SWLGooner]

I dont have any problem with foreign lads supporting a PL side, even though I admit I find it refreshing the odd time I find someone who has randomly chosen Wigan or West Brom, its just the clueless arsehole plastic brigade that I hate.

I know an absolutely fanatical Wolves fan from Cape Town

[LDB]

As you say you can tell the genuine plastics by the fact that you cant have a conversation about football with them, they think their team are "amazing", think they're superior for randomly selecting a good side to support despite never attending and if you mention your club who arent as good they know fuck all about them and are dismissive.

Spot on, i think with a lot of these arseholes to say they support a "footy" team is just seen as a really blokey thing to do. They'll trot out a few standard lines about which player is having a good season so they dont get entirely left out of conversations but you can just tell they really know fuck all about it. If you dont properly support a team then just say so, dont try to wind up and talk shit to people who take a genuine passion in both their club and the game.

[safcftm]

I dont have any problem with foreign lads supporting a PL side, even though I admit I find it refreshing the odd time I find someone who has randomly chosen Wigan or West Brom, its just the clueless arsehole plastic brigade that I hate.

I know an absolutely fanatical Wolves fan from Cape Town

legend! You see, much though some of the foreign lads supporting Liverpool and Man United etc will be really good fans, you hear of one who has plumped for Wolves and you immediately think "good lad, bet he'd be canny to have a pint with". Theres a lad on me facebook who is an american actor who has randomly chosen Sunderland (only gets small, generally non speaking parts, but hes at least appeared in nip/tuck, CSI Miami, the west wing and evan almighty, so he's got his face on a few well known shows) and its hilarious seeing him post like an american most of the time and then suddenly give a "gan on Sunlun, ha'way the lads" post, before trying to work out how to get a Sunderland t-shirt of some sort into a film, fucking class

As you say you can tell the genuine plastics by the fact that you cant have a conversation about football with them, they think their team are "amazing", think they're superior for randomly selecting a good side to support despite never attending and if you mention your club who arent as good they know fuck all about them and are dismissive.

Spot on, i think with a lot of these arseholes to say they support a "footy" team is just seen as a really blokey thing to do. They'll trot out a few standard lines about which player is having a good season so they dont get entirely left out of conversations but you can just tell they really know fuck all about it. If you dont properly support a team then just say so, dont try to wind up and talk shit to people who take a genuine passion in both their club and the game.

Exactly- thing is though, these man united "fans" could see "their" team with the champions league and never feel like we do when our sides come from a goal down to win 2-1, they're the ones missing out but they never admit it

[LDB]

Check out this one that I picked up from the BBC feed

Shaheer Farooq on Twitter: "As a Man Utd fan that hurt. As a football fan that was amazing. City deserved it. We'll be back next year."

I'm sorry, if you're a man utd fan that would not be amazing in any way shape or form.

[LyusN1]

Check out this one that I picked up from the BBC feed

Shaheer Farooq on Twitter: "As a Man Utd fan that hurt. As a football fan that was amazing. City deserved it. We'll be back next year."

I'm sorry, if you're a man utd fan that would not be amazing in any way shape or form.

Well at least we know there's less misery in Southall tonight...

[olgitgooner]

The basic reason why the manc scum have a huge fan base within the UK and Ireland is simple. The Munich airport disaster.

I was only a kid at the time (honest) but I remember the huge wave of sympathy from people all over the land. People with little or no interest in football suddenly became Manchester United Supporters. Those people had children, who had children, who had children. Who became "supporters".

This might sound very harsh.....but that disaster was the best thing that ever happened to the club.

Lets not forget that they had more money than any other club, for many years, before the new money arrived. Their success is largely due to this. Also, their recent success has been driven by money. The Glazer family bought the club and gave Ferguson an unlimited supply of borrowed money to buy any players he fancied.

They are not a lot different to man city and chelsea.

[StuartL]

The basic reason why the manc scum have a huge fan base within the UK and Ireland is simple. The Munich airport disaster.

I was only a kid at the time (honest) but I remember the huge wave of sympathy from people all over the land. People with little or no interest in football suddenly became Manchester United Supporters. Those people had children, who had children, who had children. Who became "supporters".

This might sound very harsh.....but that disaster was the best thing that ever happened to the club.

Lets not forget that they had more money than any other club, for many years, before the new money arrived. Their success is largely due to this. Also, their recent success has been driven by money. The Glazer family bought the club and gave Ferguson an unlimited supply of borrowed money to buy any players he fancied.

They are not a lot different to man city and chelsea.

Very true, even when they were not particulalrly succesfull they still acted like a big club - they bought Jordon and Mc Queen from Leeds, took Stapleton from us as they were still seen as a top club. Bryan "man of the match" Robson from West Brom, Wilkins, Strachan, Cole from Newcastle, Cantona

If you look at their signings over the years Rooney £26m, Ferdinand £30m ,Berbatov £25m, Carrrck £20m they have always tried to buy the best players off other clubs and usually succeed.

This is where Fergie is way ahead of Wenger, don't stand still, improve the team, even if it costs big money. We could have had Jones and Smalling as I think we had agreed fee's but both chose to go to utd ahead of us - we will see if that was a good choice or not in the comng years.

Now even they will struggle to keep up with the neighbours