My Dad is Pompey too. He's lived walking distance from Fratton Park for the past 30 years. In fact I must have gone with him to 20/30 games at FP before I ever became a regular at the Dell. I remember being so disappointed that time Liverpool knocked Pompey out of the FA Cup semi-final replay in '92. They were 4 minutes away from the final in the first game, until Ronnie Whelan equalised. And yes, Darren Anderton was my hero before Le Tiss back then. It was the 92-93 season when I finally started to see the light, despite Branfoot still being in charge. Maybe it was the heartbreak of that semi-final that caused me to switch allegiance. If so, then Ronnie Whelan is the reason I'm a Saints fan. Sort of.
I completely agree with you Fran. When we were in the Premiership, I only saw one game against a 'big' club, Man United in which we lost... 3-1 I think... I wasn't fussed about seeing any of them. I'd rather see us win a game against say Wigan, than lose against someone like Arsenal or Man U. Saying that, for much of the time we'd probably lose against the lesser clubs too haha.
I loved the Pompey fans singing "Can we play you every week" while losing 5-0 at home against Arsenal. Gallows humour at its best.
You always talk sense PL But it's about how you deal with it I watch in my football bubble and always try and concentrate on the football. The media may not care about is but we do and that's what matters. It may be impossible but I can't change that so let's keep trying anyway My Dad was Netley Central Sports so no glory hunter I have watched Basingstoke and other non league games. There is football everywhere if you can't get to a Prem game Good to get Nietzsche in See my signature
As an experience, getting beaten by a top class team is always worth watching. I am glad I got to see the likes of Denis Law, George Best, and Ian St. John in my youth, just as I enjoyed seeing Saints thrash lesser sides. It's all part of life.
My grandfather was born in 1897 and when he stopped playing football in his forties he would go to watch both Southampton and Portsmouth as well as going to see Reading or Aldershot if neither of these teams were playing at home. I can appreciate this and I think that there is a tribal element amongst football fans which is a bit ridiculous albeit I still would look forward to a derby against Portsmouth more than any other match. There is an interesting chapter about the points raised by PL in the book "Why England lose and other football statistics explained" which considers the point about larger clubs ruining the competition for the smaller ones and it comes to the conclusion that , statistically, the smaller clubs rely on the more celebrated teams both to stoke up the attendance figures as well as raise interest whenever there is an element of giant killing. I would tend to agree with the points raised by LP but for the fact that whilst the professional game has been hijacked by the likes of Sky and the eye-watering sums of money involved means that not all the teams are playing on a level playing field. For me, the success of Leicester City last season and well as seeing the likes of Bournemouth shows that fairy tales in football are still possible. I think that the biggest argument against this is the fact that there is still the alternative of following the non-league game where admission fees are generally reasonable and you can see some very good games of football. It is a shame that the people who complain about being priced out the game and the lack of what is considered genuine competition don't try the alternative of following the nin-league game. All clubs would welcome the additional support. Yesterday there was just over 130 people watching Winchester City beat Shortwood United 4-3 in an exciting match and the Director of Football remarked that this must be the only club where he can name all the home supporters! This must be disheartening. The football played at Winchester this season has been excellent of late and this was from a similar starting point as Saints with key players moving on and a new coach. I can appreciate the disillusionment with the professional game and would urge football fans to follow their local non-league teams where a less cynical approach to the sport can be found.
I think languishing in the 4th division may provoke these feelings of hopelessness! (but he's probably right) but I will always need something on a Saturday afternoon so that I can say "sorry love can't go shopping Saints game on" long live football! (especially when it's too cold to enjoy an hour in the shed)
A man's shed is a place of refuge and relaxation - I have a radio, kettle and fridge in mine, along with power tools, nothing more is required.
Ian, really good points in here and actually has made my mind up to take my sons to a home game for Basingstoke. It is a long walk but do-able with two young boys and my 2yo will have his first taste of live football... Thanks for the heads up and I had planned to do this a couple of seasons back, and some Saturdays I'm kicking my heels for things to do.
I had a brief spell at Basingstoke. Not sure what their crowds are now, but always felt they should have been bigger than they were back then.
