Post by jdl on Nov 27, 2024 12:33:44 GMT
Fans of small clubs is something that's always interested me. We all believe that clubs are the fans - without fans, what's the point?
I'm not so much thinking of clubs like E&B, they could be on the way down or up, and, after all, we were once in that situation. But at the very 'lowest' level, clubs don't have 'real' fans - the spectators are all friends and family, or club related people. Those 'fans' are only there because they have a personal interest in the club or the players. If that connection ceases, they no longer turn up to watch. Clubs like that exist purely in the interest of the players and officials - people who play or organise football just because they want to.
Obviously I have no problem with that, I have been one of those spectators for far more cold, wet weekend mornings than I care to remember! Long may they live. But further up the pyramid, you start to get clubs that have genuine fans - people who support the club for no reason than that they want to. And it's that transition that intrigues me. At what point does a club stop being just an organisation for players and start to get genuine fans? Do clubs gradually accumulate fans, without really realising it and then, suddenly, one day think to themselves, we really ought to start charging admission, and maybe have a tea bar, or even produce programmes?
Like most of us, I have been to games where the number of fans were under 50, sometimes even under 10, and yet I've had to pay to get in and there has been a programme (although often not much more than a team sheet) and a place to buy a roll and a cup of tea. In some ways this is wonderful and heartwarming and renews your faith in humankind, but it also strikes me as a form of delusion! Why put all that effort into looking after a dozen or two of people who have nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon?
I'm not so much thinking of clubs like E&B, they could be on the way down or up, and, after all, we were once in that situation. But at the very 'lowest' level, clubs don't have 'real' fans - the spectators are all friends and family, or club related people. Those 'fans' are only there because they have a personal interest in the club or the players. If that connection ceases, they no longer turn up to watch. Clubs like that exist purely in the interest of the players and officials - people who play or organise football just because they want to.
Obviously I have no problem with that, I have been one of those spectators for far more cold, wet weekend mornings than I care to remember! Long may they live. But further up the pyramid, you start to get clubs that have genuine fans - people who support the club for no reason than that they want to. And it's that transition that intrigues me. At what point does a club stop being just an organisation for players and start to get genuine fans? Do clubs gradually accumulate fans, without really realising it and then, suddenly, one day think to themselves, we really ought to start charging admission, and maybe have a tea bar, or even produce programmes?
Like most of us, I have been to games where the number of fans were under 50, sometimes even under 10, and yet I've had to pay to get in and there has been a programme (although often not much more than a team sheet) and a place to buy a roll and a cup of tea. In some ways this is wonderful and heartwarming and renews your faith in humankind, but it also strikes me as a form of delusion! Why put all that effort into looking after a dozen or two of people who have nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon?
