Why are there not Blackburn Rovers fans around the World in vast numbers , they have had the exposure and they have won the Premierleague ?
India is a vast country with a vast population and vast numbers of new Blackburn Rovers fans due mainly to Venky's. Liverpool FC's rise in the 60's coincided with the rise of the Beatles and the Merseybeat era, maybe that was the catalyst eh? Considering we hadn't yet won the European Cup etc etc LFC had support coming over from Ireland for example at a time when getting where you wanted to go wasn't as easy as it is today, those lads should be given a medal not getting slagged off as 'clingons'
errrrmmmmm... no i don't think so. LFC rose o nthe back of great young players callaghan, hunt), good signings (st jonh and yeats) and a great manager... nothingt o do with the beatles. blackburn wil be bankrupt in a couple of years due to terrible owners... sadly jack walker's legacy was betrayed totally but morons... (worse than moores? probably)
They were a flash in the pan, a couple of seasons before they won the PL they were in Division 1 and quickly fell from grace again. There was one lad I knew in school who supported Blackburn, probably down to that PL title as he was from no where near Lancashire. But they have never been consistent winners like Liverpool previously, Arsenal previously and Man Utd. Chelsea gained a lot of fans overnight because they became a team filled with superstars and started winning things, which was new at the time. Man City will gain some fans, but it's quite a common thing nowadays with the likes of PSG and some of the Russian clubs buying top players who they could only dream of buying 10 years ago.
I'm a bit confused here. The OP seems to be confusing a moral judgment he holds about what makes a "proper fan" with a financial argument to improve smaller clubs. In between he seems to be taking the tribal loyalty out of the game competely that it inherently relies on. or alternatively he's taking it to ludicrous levels Finance first: Big clubs have more non local (not born there) fans because of their brand image, previous success. This is true but a vast majority of those fans don't go to the games of the adopted club, at least regularly and if they do (depending on the distance to travel) already pay large sums of money to get there. How does adding a few quid to their ticket make them stop and say "Hold on, I'll support Kilmore Rec instead". You are also assuming that they dont already have that dual loyalty i.e. Most Saturdays they are down their 'local' ground and its a treat that once, twice a year to go see Liverpool (using them since its on our board). So either you have the occasional non local fan or the die hard, pay anything to get there. Either way I don't see how the numbers are so great coming from each area to undermine local clubs. And in the existing structure you're idea is a drop in the ocean money wise. If you don't already have the ability somehow to do well in a national event such as the COC or FA cup then a few extra supporters each week wont matter financially. Moral argument of only supporting my 'local' club: lets define 'local club': Is it the closest club professional, semi professional, the closest amateur sunday league side? I live in a tiny town called Saintfield; It has 2 amateur clubs within an equal distance to me: which do I support? I spent my childhood moving every 2-3 years throughout the UK. Which club should I have supported? Or should I change everytime I moved? This plan of yours would have guaranteed amateur status to every club in the land. No national league would exist, no matches on national tv, if even regional. Even within a city you have hundredds of small amateur clubs which is invariably the way every club started. Now maybe thats what you want but then you are talking about a purist sense of the word fan and I doubt you'd be going to Liverpool or Southampton games. I doubt we'd even be on a forum such as this discussing it. Your idea is either flawed or a facile attempt to call LFC fans glory hunters. well, either way you are wrong IMO. Your idea carried out to its full would gurantee football mediocrity.
What a stupid question, i haven't got their names and addresses for you at hand but i've been 'told by Irish reds in person' at the game that they used to travel over for games in the 60's on the 'cattle boat' from Dublin. You could of course use the internet to find out. Type 'cattle boats liverpool' into Google, hope this helps.
And football is not mediocre now ? Is it not sterile ? Christ I am bored with and I mean that , only some form of sense of dread and foreboding keeps me coming back , football has not improved , sure the selling practice of it has , the saturation point has been breached not reached , what I am asking should clubs like Liverpool , Everton offer cheaper tickets for their local fans , should also smaller local clubs offer this as well ? Are the Bundesliga prices in stadiums subsidized r is it actually profitable to have tickets to be sold for $20 Euro a game ? If there , why not here ?
Argh consistent winners , nothing to do with exposure ? I agree fully with this , Liverpool when they were very successful were not exposed as they are nowadays so there is probably something in that somewhere , you win a lot you get a lot of glory hunters whether you are on the telly or not .
I know a couple of Blackburn fans to come out of their mid-nineties blip. I know a lot more Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and even Everton, Tottenham and Man City fans though
Oh really , of course you did not have masses of people coming over for the game from Ireland ? Dublin maybe a few and possibly Belfast but how many on a weeknight ? Get real you have been sold a dream , a romantic fairytale , I have lived in Ireland and can tell you to travel from Cork to Liverpool even nowadays taking the train and boat to Liverpool via Holyhead takes forever , I dont need to look at anything mate , sorry thats crap .
Come on Einstein i'm still waiting for you to disprove we had Irish supporters that came over for games before we were successful, so?
No , I think thats for you to support your claim , I cant find anything as it does not exist your mate told you a rosy picture over a pint or two nice but crap , I think thats how it works anywaynot the other way around , I flew to the moon with Steve this morning , thats true until you can post on here that I did not
fans taking the cattle boat from Dun Laoghaire in the 1950s and 1960s, to the easier accessibility of today, the pilgrimage to Anfield is one that has always involved much camaraderie and no little excitement. The book captures the essence of that journey; the rush for tickets and how television whetted the appetite for having to be there in person http://www.rte.ie/ten/2009/0721/theirishkop.html I've lived in Ireland myself and you talking bollocks, BusEireann and Larnrod Eireann will get you from the west coast to the east coast easily, it might surprise you but you can drive onto a boat direct to Liverpool from Ireland and vice versa.
I wouldn't say it is all down to glory hunting, although it does play a major factor for a lot of people. It's also about security, supporting a team that is likely to still be in the Premier League in 10/20 years time. Supporting a team that is likely to get a lot more air time than others, such as ourselves. You also have to remember that most people make their choice of football team as young kids, you can't expect them to think logically on choosing a team considering where they are geographically and what good it is to the community. When I started getting into football I lived about 15 miles from Liverpool, Manchester and Wigan and I wasn't even aware of that. Most kids in school supported Manchester... my best friend supported Liverpool (as did his family) which in turn influenced me to support Liverpool. I didn't have footballing parents to influence me otherwise and the rest is history.
