I have to say I'm sick of people who say "where were you when we were ****", closely followed by the "genuine fan" tag, what a stupid statement. Surely anyone, no matter where they are from, how often they go or how long they have supported QPR is a genuine fan if they have decided to support us. Some people may have the money and live close enough to be able to go week in, week out, but does this mean that people who don't have the money, live too far away or just simply have too many commitments to make it every week, aren't true fans?? Everyone one of us 'started' supporting QPR for whatever reason, but who among us would have liked to have been called a fake or un-commited fan just because we'd just started supporting the R's?? Everyone has to start somewhere and surely if we are to succeed and fill our new stadium, we should welcome new fans with open arms and encourage them to come as often as possible, not mock them and say they aren't true fans. The funny thing is most of the people who spout this rubbish are under the age of 25, which fair enough means they started supporting us when things were bad, but guess what, I've seen us **** several times over, where were these 25 year olds then??? Doesn't mean I'm going to spout crap at them for not being old enough to remember how it used to be before they were born. I'm just glad we do have young fans coming through. So please think before you talk such crap, because every single supporter could have had this monocle thrown at them when they first started. It doesn't matter to what level someone supports the team, it's just important that they do. Besides, who wants to be the only R in the village?
Good piece, TLR. I do think there's a small difference between being a 'fan' or a 'follower', though. These days, owing primarily to commitments and logistics, I sadly have to put myself more in the latter category than the former. But that doesn't mean my passion for the Rs is any less than others. If we're going to enjoy a period of success in the PL - which we all want, surely? - then a bi-product of this will be growing support. It has to be, as it's the lifeblood of the club and will support the growth, help attract new talent and help justify the relocation to new premises.
I am the only genuine QPR fan on here ... the rest of you are all fakey cakes. "Where were you when we were s**t"? is something I have ever heard come from a QPR crowd and as I am the authority and oracle on all things QPR I can't understand what the point is of this is. I have already told people that we will need to brace ourselves as or if we become a brand as it's not rocket science to see we will need to fill up any stadium ... I am sure I will sharing my QPR box in the future with the odd tourist.
Just said the same sort of thing apart I had to comment about this as its drivel ... can't we discuss the nasty ways of Simon de Montfort until the 18th instead
I never heard it when i watched Crawley and then Rochampton Vale last year ... why? because at LR i was the only ****er there.
When I was younger, I had cash on the hip and nothing to spend it on (well, in truth I had nobody telling me what to spend it on). So I was in the Lower School End every other week, watching us play well and watching us play badly, watching us win, draw and lose, and loving every minute of it. Then came marriage, mortgage, and kids, and cash became significantly tighter, and the number of games I could make significantly reduced. I still make games where I can, but it's more like five a season rather than every single game. That's just part of life - my life is my family, my friends, my work, my music, and my football. In answer to the OP question, this is where I was when we was ****: living and breathing every second, kicking every ball, but sometimes from a distance and increasingly rarely at the ground. Yes I do consider myself a better fan than some plastic that turns up only when the going is good, or when we hit the Premier League. That's why I generally giver Reading fans such a hard time, because there are so many of them where I live and work. Same with Chelsea fans, although I do know a few who were around when they were **** as well. Do I consider myself less of a fan than those who are able to get to every game? No - because if I had the money and the time, it's exactly what I would do. In the words of Esther Rantzen, however..... That's Life. When I know what games I can make, I'll be sure to let you guys know, so we can catch a pint ahead of the game. It won't be often, but it'll be an adventure....
I'll think you'll find the issue with this, is that after a certain amount of time, certain people feel like they own the club......like it actually belongs to them, as a part of their extended family (the tune "we want our Rangers back" was testiment to this when Flavio ran the club). When things start to change and the club starts to grow, you get a lot of new people coming to watch and entering into this so called "family" and a lot of people resent that. This was also highlighted when watching the games in Asia on Ustream....there was a chat box on the side, where many of the QPR "real fans" started abusing the new Asian fans, giving the good old "where were you when we were sh*t" and "I bet you didnt even know who QPR were till Park joined" (probably true, but you dont need to say it) Its pathetic and really can hamper the growth of a club when a group of fans....who are no more connected to the club than any old johnny come lately...start to abuse and insult any new fans. I've been going to QPR games since I was about 7 or 8 (im 26 now) and I dont consider myself to be some QPR elite fan and I would always welcome new fans to the club.....it helps the thing I love grow.
The only other team I would sing that song to is, Fulham. Where were their 25K when they were getting 2-3k? If any opposition fans sang that song to us, I would break down with laughter as our crowds have remained more or less the same no matter what league we were playing in. We were getting 16k in league 1.
Actually, I now recall I divided my time between the garden centre and the car wash in the seasons we were ****. I wasn't going to waste money watching **** was I? That would be stupid. However my car is filthy and I have had to concrete over my garden now.
Just part of the human condition isn't it to want to feel superior to some other group of people; reminds of comments about driving, always the great drivers commenting on the other type, funny how we never hear anybody admitting to being a crap driver, or making a mistake on the road. I suppose even ****-collectors have their class differences, the ones who collect a superior type feel the common or garden **** collectors are somehow beneath them and wouldn't know how to behave at their dinner parties.
QPR are a team that has a growing fanbase at the moment Should we then slag them off for being new The more fans who want to watch Rangers the more it will benefit everyone in the end Without that growing support we would not need a new stadium and be stuck in a ground which needs replacing The only bad thing at the moment is some fans that have been going to Rangers for years will not be able to get tickets for games but that's tough
Once we have a new stadium no Rangers fan will ever miss a game, unless intentionally. The more the merrier, that means more kids watching and then a whole new generation of new QPR fans.
I remember watching Derby away 2 years ago and we took a few up there and drew 2-2 in injury time ( you'll all know the game ) and there was a moron who was chanting to our fans whilst queing up to pay to get in , 'where were you when we wer ****'. Quite a few fans had made the journey that day as there was a sense we could do something ( and we did ). I then see the same guy fighting with our own fans about 30 mins into the game. You will always get planks at football and this will never go away , at least there is less of these guys around these days compared to 20/30 years ago.
Watching the mighty Chelsea reign supreme!! Don't shoot, don't shoot!! It was a joke ffs.......... ;-)
Cannot believe anyone could say that about us? Even when we were in League One we had similar gates within 2-3K. Away support is about the same maybe a few more. infact due to our stadium size that comment is crap. Doubt Newcastle even care about us? But if they do ask then where they were in the 80's? or better still show them this... http://www.nufc.com/html/where-mackems.html
