Just lately a lot of people have been saying that decent fans wouldn't do this or that or that decent fans don't agree with this, that or the other etc. and I have started to wonder just what is a decent fan. Is a decent fan someone who enjoys football and follows one or more teams in a passionate way without being prejudiced against others and is someone who can see all the faults and weaknesses of his favourite club as well as its strength? Is it someone who can see the good and bad things about other clubs, players and fans without prejudice? Is it someone who values sport and fair play above business and financial interests? Is a decent fan someone who believes in true competition and sportsmanship and despises any gain achieved through cheating and financial chicanery? Perhaps the answer to the question can only be achieved by approaching it from its corollary - what is an indecent fan?
If I separate 'decent and fan' and then reapply my musings to your question possible answers it might become clearer. Decent, in the context of the question, means polite or respectable, I would take a more liberal view and perhaps think of someone with sound ethical judgement who has considered one's own behaviour as to how it affects others and then acts accordingly not wishing to cause undue hurt or suffering. I take fan to mean 'supporter' of a cause although I accept 'fan' may have connotations of being 'fanatical'. Once in the world of fanaticism the concept of decency becomes at best blurred and probably corrupted. I hope my suggestions go some way to clarifying the the issues in the question. Of course the extractor in my bathroom ceiling has been working well for several years and is by definition a 'decent fan'. I shall leave the question of an indecent fan unanswered as it might involved indecent fantasy..
Is there such a thing as a decent fan? By it's very nature surely the word Fan describes someone as being dedicated to a team or teams and therefore would be prejudiced towards their preferred team or teams. So under those circumstances you might consider yourself to be a decent fan but others would not because of their own preference. Interesting point though as that would suggest a decent fan is one that is open minded towards their support for all teams perhaps? Including Pompey.....
A "fan" is by its very nature partisan towards their club. A decent fan, IMO is one who can support their team through thick and thin, but who appreciates good football from the opposition. They will appreciate effort, even when things don't go right. They will applaud good football, but not boo when things are not working. Booing your own players is negative and will almost always be counterproductive during a game. Boo at the end if you need to show displeasure. A decent fan will not be racist or homophobic, but will enjoy "spirited" banter between the fans, but can walk out side by side with the oppostion fans with no hint of malice or threat. A decent fan is one who really does appreciate that football is "only a game" and NOT a matter of life and death. An indecent fan is one who walks around with his john thomas hanging out of his trousers.
I could never really understand when people said (usually about Pompey fans) it's the decent/genuine/proper fans I feel sorry for. The way I see it is, the only proper fans are Saints fans. Then there are the rest. After that comes Pompey. They are all Pompey fans (not genuine, not proper and certainly not decent) and those that see it otherwise are trying to convince themselves that some of them are even likeable.
One distinguishable quality about a decent fan is that they have no sense of entitlement. No "I'm a better fan than you" rampages, no condescending attitudes towards people who can't go to as many games as them, not thinking that Southampton football club would cease to exist without them. As soon as I hear someone describe another person as a "plastic fan" I switch off.
A decent fan is somebody who hasn't supported Man Utd etc etc for the last 7 years and suddenly turned back to Saints now we're in the Prem and then claim to be a proper fan and have followed Saints all their life - that's the only type of fan that pee's me off
I think I am an indecent fan. I'm too prejudiced against other teams and see things through red tinted glasses. I like to mock people I know who support other teams when they do poorly. I like to gloat when Saints are doing well.
An indecent fan would be someone who shouts abuse at the players when it's not going their way. The kind of person who treats a sport as seriously as you would a war. The kind of person who has literal hatred for the opponents. They need to sort their priorities out. I suppose a decent fan is exactly not that.
It's perfectly fine to support a team casually in that way. They're just not as into the sport as you or me.
And I can't be bothered with all that. Other teams don't exist, but I'm polite enough not to tell opposition fans my view. I gloat when Saints are doing well, which has meant that at various times in the past, that has been an underused emotion. I only gloat with fellow Saints fans, not to opposition supporters. I used to consider myself a decent fan, but nowadays I'm not really a fan of football. More of a Saints fan only. Fact is, as a sport only, I'm just as interested in MotoGP. Possibly more so. As far as doing, rather than watching, Sailing has them both beat.
Decency in a football fan is the same as decency in any human being. It's to do with having respect for others. That said, football wouldn't be football without a bit of edge and aggression, and nor would life. It's knowing where to draw the line that counts.
Made me laugh watching World's Most Dangerous Roads the other night, with David Baddiel debating with an Ethiopian truck co-driver whether ManU were always a much bigger club than Chelsea. Baddiel is a Chelsea fan, and presumably the programme was made before Chelsea's recent Euro success, as Baddiel made no reference to it. They were both high on Khat at the time,
Is it not true though that success breeds success.......So you are always going to get those that like to be associated with success. I agree though that in the main they are not what most would say are true fans. These are the fans that follow their team through thick or thin, success or failure. When United were relegated all those years ago, for a couple of years their world wide following dropped dramatically. I am not sure it actually has returned to the dizzy heights that it was back then even today. Whether you would call that type of fans a decent fan would depend surely on your interpretation of the word decent?
