I fear for the future of the traditional Swans fan. I am talking about the people, including many on this board that used to go to the Vetch on cold wet and windy nights along with 3,000 others to watch us playing the likes of Exeter and Carlisle and see players like Paul Raynor make complete tits of themselves. These are the same people that travelled away on a regular basis and still do of course. The people that work hard and make sacrifices just to save up for their season tickets and also for their away days. To you people I salute you. However these people are in danger and the reason I fear for their future are the new breed of fans. Glory hunters, plastics whatever you want to call them but these people are taking over and our recent success has made these people come out in their droves. Now I'm all for new fans of Swansea City, we need new fans for the club to prosper but not at the expense of the old die hards. These people are often season ticket holders and some will travel away too, but hiding behind being a season ticket holder doesn't change the fact they are a plastic. You know who they are too, they are the ones who spend half the game looking at their mobiles and texting or taking. They bring their kids who don't watch the game, they are too busy playing on their hand held games or updating their Facebook status. All of this remember when there are genuine fans out there and on here who can't afford season tickets and their chance of watching the Swans is stolen from them by these new brand of plastics. Perhaps worst of all is what I have witnessed at Fulham, Norwich and Stoke this season. Plastics sitting in their seats and complaining to the stewards about our fans standing up and making an effort to get behind the team. That's right Swans fans and I use that term lightly complaining about other Swans fans. To me that is unacceptable, trying to get the stewards to eject Swans fans just cos they're standing up and singing because they want to sit down and fiddle on their phones. I'm no masogonist but the worst are women. I witnessed one particularly nasty piece of work at Norwich telling a few lads if they didn't sit down she would get them kicked out. After they told her where to go she actually did try to get them kicked out, I saw her complain to the stewards myself. To say it was soul destroying would be an understatement. To conclude and I apologise if I've bored anyone but I think this is a problem not just for the Swans but for any other club that gets an upturn in fortunes. It pains me when I read this forum and I see that there are people on here who passionately follow the club but can't see them because of the new plastics. For anyone who can't get tickets I feel for you and I wish you all good luck in getting them for future games. I was just wondering if anyone else out there feels the same as I do.
I can concur with this. I myself live quite far away, but would happily spend 1500 a year to hey down and watch every home game. Sadly, the "new"fans that appeared once we got promoted stole that chance. But, it's money for the club i suppose.
I dont see the point of this, i love watching Pl football but if im honest i dont watch the lower leagues where the players and football is actually very poor. maybe it would be nice for some if the same 3k watched every match but isnt becoming a global brand that attracts the top players in the world you can watch locally at your local stadium the main advantage of being at this level. Whats wrong with loving swansea because of the football they play and wanting to watch the matches/ buy the shirts etc. Its the plastic money that pays the wages needed to get the top players needed for this level. Imagine for a minute what the 2 manchester clubs would be like if their only supporters lived locally. Maybe im wrong but i have loved in and supported swansea all my life but if im honest i have never had the urge to watch crappy low league football but its people like that who got the club where it is today but lets not be snobby and insult people who want to watch a good team playing good football. p.s. im pretty sure any hardcore fan from seasons past would already have a season ticket if they wanted it, if they only want it now because of the PL teams we face well arent they plastics also.
@Morgan, I have no objection to anyone who actually watches the game. My grievances are with the ones who don't watch, the game players. If they're not watching then what are they doing there in the 1st place ? It's not just us either a lot of clubs have them
**** i watch any game i can on tv being a plastic myself. we actually had the newport v wrexham i think it was a few weeks ago. i can actually understand ppl telling others to sit down, thats why there are seats there - to sit on. i have applied for a season ticket, no response so i figure i will not get one, i would gladly fly over to watch 3-4 matches and let someone else use the ticket for the remainder. we will see what happens, especially with the proposed upgrade.
Dreyfus, Like many on here I have supported the Swans for many years living in the North now I have been one of the very few watching Huddersfield or Rotherham away in league two on cold mid-week January nights. With personnal circumstances I cannot make every home game but try to get to away games as often as possible. The fact is that the problem is not only restriced to Home Games getting tickets for away games if not a ST holder is now very difficult because of the new supporters. However, the club should put some thought into those that have supported them through thick and thin, but I guess they wont as they wll take us for granted and know we will be there when and if we get relegated.
There are two arguments here i.e. the genuine supporter v the "plastic" who is not really bothered about the team and the other argument is standing v sitting. Not sure if you can merge them into the same. There are probably lost of loyal supporters who wish to sit now they have the facilities as opposed to stand and this is the case at all clubs will only be resolved into offering supporters the choice which I am not sure will happen.
Interesting post there, Dreyfus..getting things off your chest My own opinion is that everyone will gravitate towards the part of the ground they feel most comfortable in. The majority of people will sit for most of the game and get to their feet for a goal/near miss/incident and then sit down again. That's what happens where I sit (south-west corner) and it's what is expected. Anyone who persistently stood would probably get told to sit down. If you want to stand for the game you go to the north-east corner because that's what is the norm over there. It goes hand-in-hand with singing a lot a having 'banter' with the opposition fans who are close by. Great. I don't sing so I would feel out of place in that area. A problem occurs for away games when you get all different types of supporters squashed in a smallish area of the away ground. Those who like to sit and watch get annoyed with those in front of them who always stand and the ones standing feel their rights are being infringed upon. I've heard stories about this at Wembley as well where you have no control over where you sit or who with. As for 'plastics' who go to games and talk or spend most of the time texting or playing hand-held games, I never see any evidence of this where I am. My brother-in-law goes to rugby internationals at Cardiff and complains of this though; women who go along for the occasion and talk but have no interest in the rugby itself. Very annoying. [I'm in no way tarring all women with the same brush.] Finally, I don't go to away games (apart from Wembley and went to Wigan in the League Cup). I find it too time-consuming and expensive and I have other interests to pursue other than watching football. I don't feel guilty for that.
what really annoys me are people who leave ten minutes or so before the end of a game no matter what the score is, i will stay til the end and applaud the players win, lose or draw. my seat is next to the stairway so when they leave i Cannot see the game, especially if we attacking and they just stand there and watch, RANT OVER!!
You beat me to it northbank, I also have a seat next to the steps and this really p**ses me off! I usually stay on a good few minutes after the game has finished before walking back to the car at the Landore club and guess what - some of those who get up early to leave the ground are waiting in a queue of traffic to get out of the car park!
i wonder how long season ticket holders on here have had season tickets for. myself its only been for the last six seasons,however many reasons behind this.started watching the swans age 8 , would watch my brother play rugby first and then he would take me down for to watch swans home games.when i started playing senior football the only games i would be able to go to would be midweek or early/late season or when my games were called off.stopped playing senior football due to knee injury age 48 and only then really went to watch ALL swans games.yes fans want to see the swans play now we have premiership football and in comfortable surroundings, would they they go and watch on the old east terrace getting soaking wet by the old scoreboard and old fourth division football?
GMRFB has hit the nail on the head, and as a long standing supporter knows the club, that much is obvious from his comments above. I don't have any issue with us recruiting new fans, they are after all the life blood of the club, but when we go back down, how many of them will be around to watch the Swans then in the lower leagues? When we first moved to the Liberty, we had about 12000, coming along, and it steadily increased to approx. 14,500, we struggled on many occasions to get above the 15,000 until it was clear we were in with a chance of being promoted to the Premier League, and of course out came all the plastic for our Wembley play-off! Bloody hell were did that 40,000 come from, I wondered when at Wembley, then we had the club panic over the fact that they didn't have the money to pay the players their bonus for going up, and instead of being up front with the loyal fans, and asking for support, they simply created a free for all sell out of the ground, where many long standing season ticket holders, and those that had paid at the gate for decades, were caught out, yes it got the club the funds for the bonus to the players, but it took no regard for the loyal supporter, and many of us will not forget that. I agree with all that Dreyfus has posted, and have noticed these issues too, and that there seem to be many of these plastics scuttling off ten minutes before the game is over as Northbank has rightly pointed out. I for one have had my name down for a season ticket since Wembley, I've even completed another application recently, when the club revealed that there were season tickets to be had, but I won't hold my breath. These issue will not go away, and it's my view that they are now a feature of where we are at the moment, but the sooner the club get the expansion underway, the sooner we can get the lost grass roots supporters back, and believe me when I say there are thousands that were caught out with this shabby free for all back in that season we went up! Good post Dreyfus, now sit back and enjoy the 'Im all right Jacks' spouting their garbage!............. PS: I would just like to take this opportunity also to thank Ffsdon who has been a true gent in sharing his season ticket, for me and my boys to have enjoyed some memorable fixtures this season, many thanks Mr G!.........................
Top post Dragon The issue of plastic fans is a sticky one for mw, i dont like the term tbh, we need to increase our support and everyone was a plastic once right ? Ive always paid on the door and never felt the need for a season ticket as of course there were always seats available, i could have got a season ticket when we were on our way to the prem league but spending alot of time away meant that it would have been a bit unfair on somebody thaat perhaps would be desperate to get that ticket and support the boys every week. yes we all remember the Vetch days and the low crowds but as mentioned above some people want to see the best players performing at the top level and not the likes of Lee Jenkins,Tommy Mutton,aiden newhouse,john ford,Tony bird etc,etc players that wernt much better than local league standard if we are all honest about it! So with prem football come the sold out stadia, nothing wrong with that,it will drop back down to 16,000 if we are relegated to the championship and there is nothing wrong with that either. The longer we get people coming to watch the more our core support will grow that is critical for us,of all the plastic fans that have jumped on the band wagon there will be some that will stick with us so overall we must be thankful not hateful of new supporters. If those hard core fans are so hard core they would have bought a season ticket,they could have renewed before the play-offs if they loved the swans so much,it would have been a win win situation! my opinon on some of the old guard is that they would much prefer pissing up against a brick wall and eating half hot half cold pasties with 2,500 of their closest friends at the vetch instead of moving to the liberty, you will never please everyone,im just glad we are growing our fan base alot more organically than other teams,our climb has been steady and so has our attendances There will always be genuine swans fans that missed the boat but there will always be dickheads looking at facebook on their phones, we are talking small fractions with both arnt we ? I get to about 8-10 games a year at the moment, i always manage to source a ticket by hook or by crook! ive watched the team for years and i still get to watch the team regardless of these ticketing issues, so is the problem really as bad as people are making out ? if i can always get hold of a ticket im sure the other hardcore fans can too ? People leaving early? well, that really winds me up ! each to their own and all that but i think its a disgrace that people have started to do that,the least you can do is clap the team off the field win,lose or draw, its not like people have to battle through london traffic or the underground is it !! i couldnt say if its all plastics or a mix of both but i do know these people need their head testing! The good the bad and the ugly of premier league football is mentioned in alot of the posts above, but would anyone of us trade what we have now for what we had 8 years ago? rome wasnt built in a day(but i wasnt in charge of that job!) there will soon be tickets for all,give it a bit of time.Meanwhile if you cant get to the game live then its on the telly, if we get relegated we will have less people going to watch so tickets will be readily available again !! its what i call a luxury problem !
