At the start of last season my son and I went to watch a Woking FC game as we had a free Saturday afternoon. The ground isn't too far from where we live and I'd always fancied going to a match just for the experience. We both loved it and went to the majority of home games last season. Woking got relegated to the National South. We are now season ticket holders. I grew up a Manchester United fan and still consider them my club. My son's first ever football match was at Old Trafford and he considers himself a United fan. However, the reality is that I haven't lived in Manchester in over 20 years and it's a city that he visits very occasionally. I also think the PL has become very ugly. We like going to the football together and following our local club has allowed us to do that every other weekend without it having any major impact on our Manchester United heritage. I don't think the two clubs are likely to play against each other any time soon. The closest link is that Martin Tyler sits next to Gary Neville sometimes when they do commentary together. It's also a very different experience to following a PL club as you can engage with the players, constantly have to look up info on loan signings, learn about who the **** the opposition are etc. Many of the people we have met at the matches are second clubbers who are either disillusioned with PL football or who just can't get to their PL team's matches for travel or financial reasons. This evening we went with a mate of mine who is a West Ham fan. It seems to me like non-League clubs would really struggle if fans of other clubs didn't support what has become their local team. Do you think it's possible to support two clubs? Do you regularly go and watch another team?
Ive tried being passionate about Huddersfield in the past...had access to attending their games...tried cheering them on. It just never feels genuine and like the passion I have for Spurs so I've accepted I can't do it and dont really try to. I keep an eye out for them but I dont invest myself in them emotionally
The only other teams I have been to watch regularly in the past other than Chelsea are Arsenal (my mums a gooner) and MK Dons (their stadium is 10 mins from my house). Watching Arsenal, I didnt feel it at all. My mum was trying to make me support Arsenal as a kid and I just didnt feel the same passion for them as I did when I went to watch Chelsea with my dad and Uncle. As for the Dons, watching them is more out of convenience, they are local, tickets are cheap, and there is always plenty of availability because they are a new club with no fans and a 30k capacity stadium, I always watch for their result but I get no where near as excited or passionate as I do about Chelsea, its nothing like the same.
I have three clubs that I follow, the one nearest to where I was born (Torquay United), the one that is nearest non league club to where I grew up (Sholing FC) and Saints of course. I have been lucky enough to have seen all three play at the new Wembley in finals in the FA Vase, FA Trophy and the EFL cup. I get down to watch Sholing a couple of times a season and they invariably win as one of the most successful clubs in the Wessex League. Torquay are going through a tough time atm though..
Yeah its like £15 a ticket and their average attendance is 10.5k per game with a 30k stadium so there is never any issue getting tickets.
My Woking season ticket was £99 as I bought it during the early bird period (ie before the end of last season). My son's was £20. 21 home games. 1500 crowd. There and back in 3 hours. One player this evening is an English teacher at a local school, another is a 19 year old hot prospect from Notts Forest. We stood in Moaner's Corner for the first half and then went behind the goal for the second half. It's great fun and costs next to **** all over the course of the season.
£15? I need to have a chat with ny missus!! We paid double that to sit almost at the top tier on the halfway line!
Isn't Southern TV Football commentary legend Martin Tyler the assistant Manager there?. Former Saint Glenn Cockerill had a successful stint there as Manager in the noughties IIRC.
Tyler was there this evening. He's a lifelong Woking fan so this is his dream job. On Saturdays he often appears after doing his 12.30 kick off commentary just before half time in a suit and gets changed into the horrific Vanarama blue tracksuit at half time.
I live a 15 minute walk from White Hart Lane so Spurs is my local club as well as the one I support, so never really had the chance, nor thought of having a second club. The only two teams I’ve watched live outside of Spurs are Ajax (vs PSV, amazing atmosphere and experience) and Fenerbahce (vs Sheff Utd at Bramall Lane for a pre-season game, one of my best mates is/ was the leader of the GFB so got free tickets).
I book my tickets through work. My company supply all the Dons' gym equipment so I get a nice discount.
Always loved going to games so generally followed the teams in the towns where I was based. I get a lot of stick on the Newcastle board for having season tickets at Old Trafford but the family are all supporters, its only 5minutes drive from our house in UK and I can pass it off as a business expense as we offer them out to clients (thats really not an option that would win us a lot of work with Newcastle tickets). I go when i am home and enjoy it - partly because I can appreciate the football from both sides rather than being too invested in the game. Have supported a couple of lower league and non-league teams and loved the atmosphere. Enormous respect for the players who do it more for the love of the game and can obviously hear all the abuse aimed at them.
Basically everywhere I’ve lived I’ve gone to watch the local team. Particularly liked Harrow Borough and Hungerford Town now Chaiyaphum.
Who are the actual MK fans predominantly? Locals who switched from London/Midlands clubs or ex-Wimbledon fans? It’s a shame that as time passes it’s forgotten what happened and they become just another club. They should never be welcome, IMO.
Some people just get on with it. People probably said the same thing about Arsenal in 1919 when they were voted (ie Bribed) into the football league at the expense of Tottenham. No point holding bitter grudges like Spurs fans though.
