Most will probably be aware of my hatred for the Premier League and its affect on the modern game. So a question what is your definition or personal experiences of glory hunters? Web definition: Any fan who only follows a team because they are successful.
A fan that sticks through the thick but not through the thin. Or a person who is a fan when losing but a supporter when winning
brb In Lenny38's thread, "one more year" I have stated that the modern football 'fan' is fickle & it will take a 'winning' team for them to get out of their armchairs on a cold Tuesday night. I have also suggested that the technology of television will 'sex up' even the dullest of games - this is to satisfy the instant gratification required by modern society. We have come a long way from when it was customary to trudge to our local football club on a Saturday afternoon, regardless of their results.( At a time when footballers wages were the same as 'ordinary' workers ). We live in a throwaway society ! - wether that be in terms of litter, jobs or (especially) relationships. There seems to be decreasing loyalty, tolerance & fortitude. Why should football be protected and immune from 'normal', modern human behaviour ? Now, more than ever, people want to be entertained - not a bad thing per se, but with the coverage of 'top' global football 'for free'', I do not see things improving for lower league teams. Unfortunately the money that our Premiership players receive, can distort the opinion of fans of lower league teams, regarding the wages at places such as Gillingham. I would doubt that at our club the wages are ridiculous - yet if you look at our average crowds in the different leagues we have occupied since 2000, you will see that in our Championship years we had highs of nearly 9000, dropping to barely 5000 in League 2. This clearly shows that people want / demand success and value for money. This is probably best illustrated by the number of 'fans' we have taken to Wembly ( 5 times our top average crowd in the Championship ). These people are not supporters of Gillingham FC. - they are 'Glory Hunters' - who have some tenious link to the town. Where are they now ? . Before I offend our exiles, I should like to say that this statement does not include those precluded because of distance. It will be interesting to see what happens to the crowd at Wigan now that they have been relegated. Their average crowd this season is 18867. When they were promoted from League 2 in 2002/3 the figure was 7287.
Well there is usually two teams, red and blue, and they are often seen around carboot sales with David Dickson... ... Oh wait they are Bargin Hunters
BSG please respect the seriousness of brb's thread. (please put your humour / rubbish in 'my' thread) Have you noticed that brb & I have updated our signatures in honour of this thread ?
Obviously being the age that I am, most of my school years were full of football arguments. I still have quite a lot of them now with some of my mates, especially the Man United fans. About a year ago, Arsenal were going through quite a rough patch and all of a sudden the guys were started screaming for Wenger out. Sorry but anyone who ever claims that one of the club's most successful manager's ever to be sacked needs their head examined. Same go with Chelsea fans, constant revolving door of managers, Rafael Benitez was never given a chance there and could still win them a very prestigious European tournament. Every time I tell them, look actually you're team are doing that badly, you're currently the third best team in England but there are teams a lot lower than you that keep with their managers even through the bad times. Look at John Still, spent 9 years at Dagenham took them into League One and then nearly back into the Conference but the chairman/men stood by him. Dario Gradi has been at Crewe Alexandra since time began through a number of promotions and relegations. They are like yeah that's true I guess, but fifteen minutes later they start moaning about the boss again. Come on get some Perspective!
Love the new signature alwaysright and thanks for attention to detail of noticing my addition... alwaysright - I am a fan - not a glory hunter. brb - SUPPORTERS not CUSTOM£R$
Glory hunter:- someone who always follows the winning team (whoever that might be) Fan:- someone who likes a particular team and will follow the results of said team. Supporter:- someone who has serious mental problems! will spend vast amounts of his disposable income on match tickets, travelling, team merchandise, all of this is regardless of team performance on the pitch.
Glory hunters are not just a creation deriving from the premier league. Back in the mid 70s four or five of my brothers mates were Derby County supporters / fans on the back of two league championships. Don't suppose they stuck to their childhood team though!
Thankyou grumpygit - I will take that as a compliment. As for the vast amounts of my disposable income, I am grateful that I can easily afford my extravagances - I don't smoke, drink only in moderation - that just leaves women, & trust me the amount that I spend on following the Gills is but a small fraction compared with that expense. ( regardless of performance ) <I must remember to wipe my search history and lock my laptop> (coward)
alwaysright - can I refer you back to your signature and then to grumpy's statement of the three categories, I thought even you would have noticed the slight administration error
brb - for clarification: I like to watch Barcelona on the TV. I have been to the Camp Nou - you know - when I missed my first Gills game for 20 years - just to see Messi score 4 goals whilst Gills struggled to get a late equaliser v York (Cody). Does that make me a 'fan' ? I definitely spend a lot of time & money following Gillingham all over the place. Does that make me : 1. a fan 2. a supporter 3. both All I am certain of is that I am mad - that's my excuse - I told you all in the AlwaysrightGRS thread that according to Albert Einstein I can plead insanity, because I keep repeating something and expect a different outcome.
I don't think 'Glory hunting' is black and white to be honest. Towards the back end of the season it was hillarious for my group and the bunch of ST holders around us to see the 'fans' crawl out of the woodwork and pack into Priestfield. The amount of faces we had never seen sporting their 'Wembley 2009 Final' scarves and shirts... Myself and my brother nigh on got into a fight at the last home game when some late shows decided to stand in the aisle fully blocking our view while the game went on. Being asked nicely to move didn't work and their return of some choice language was quickly matched by our own words and those of several ST holders around us, plus a gent who sits opposite us starting a chant of 'YOU'RE NOT REAL SUPPORTERS!' They then left before full time and missed the celebrations... Frankly I hate them, I lived in Germany for a year, missed a whole season and EVERY saturday you could find me wearing my shirt, beer in hand and wishing I could be there, as soon as the whistle went on the phone to my dad or brother getting the details that the online commentary miss out! There is another side to it though, we saw towards the end the parents with young kids, some of whom knew EVERY name and obviously follow the team but don't get to come very often, perhaps because of their parents budget or perhaps because the mums and dads dont enjoy football and won't spend the money, right there we are breeding a new generation of supporters, you can bet your bottom dollar my girl will be a Gills supporter. But then again the old argument always comes in - Do we want 4k season tickets and regulars who give their all, or 11,500 bums on seats pumping pounds into the club that we love so much. I respect the proper supporters and would stand back to back with any one of them. I love the glory boys because they are so easily parted with their hard earned. Like Alwaysright I have 'another team' in Arsenal, I like watching their football on TV and should the chance come up would like to go to Emirtates one day, would I call myself a supporter? Not a bloody chance, that is an insult to their real fans.
throwoff I loved every bit of my experience of going to the Camp Nou with my two sons. I will definitely do it again ( but not on a home day ) - The 'next' away game was at Bradford - where Cody scored the only goal. I did comment at the time that, as brilliant as was Messi, for sheer pleasure watching a Gills player score a goal could not be bettered. I know I am fortunate to be able to afford to be a fan and follow & support my team wherever they play. I could easily do the same with any of the 'more successful' Premier League teams, but Gillingham is in my blood. I have also said before that anyone who cannot get to games for reasons beyond their control has my sympathy, but whilst we may need the money from those who only come out on a glory hunting exercise, I'm not overly comfortable with being labelled as their peer,and it makes my blood boil when I see those 'plastic' fans leave a game 12 minutes before the end of a game in which Gills achieved promotion. ( looks like they were in all parts of the ground that day )
I think that quote glory hunters are given a bad rep. How else can a club attract new fans? When I first went to Gillingham as a kid (mid 80s) the average fan base was 1,500 to 2,000 in L2 (or div 4 as it was), now in the at the same level we are getting considerable more fans. In between we had the "glory days" assuming that every new fan was a glory hunter than the last few season we should have returned to the same number of fans. So that suggest that some of the glory hunters have switched to real fans while other have slunk back into the woodwork. It is naïve to suggest that a club can attract a significant number of new fans without a level of success, so glory hunters are a necessary evil but some become regulars so they should be welcomed not hated
It really does take 'all sorts'............... I am passionate about my home team. I left the Medway Towns when I was 20 1n 1974. I have lived in another county working shifts since then and have worked overseas full time for the last two years. I treasure my boxes of late 60s and 70s programmes. The number of games that I can now get to a season can be counted on one hand. Last season, one I would have dearly loved to have got to, I made it to the grand total of zero. Would my attendance have qualified me as a 'plastic supporter' to be abused? I (of course) don't think so. We need to encourage people to come to the matches and experience first hand the passion, the pain, the glory and the misery first hand. Those that leave before the end of a game will probably never come again......that is their choice and does not give others the right to single them out for abuse. This 'real' supporter thread I actually find quite disturbing. I mentioned earlier the word 'choice' and that is what the motivation should be. I work in an environment where there is real hatred between two religious factions over an event that happened in AD 600. They worship the same God and yet due to 'administrative' differences continue to blow each other up in the name of sectarian supremacy......just as has happened closer to home since the time of Oliver Cromwell. The 'I'm a better supporter than the next' is purely subjective and the greater the social mix, the better. If not, football will never totally climb out of the mire that has beset its history with the pain of violence, tribal attitudes, tragic events and remain a pass time of those perceived to be less intelligent, less tolerant and less accepting of change. We don't own football, we share it and cannot choose those with whom we do.
WINDYROG - - - No, you are not a 'plastic' fan. You are on my 'sympathy' list of those who are exiled for reasons beyond their control. You are perfectly correct when you say that each of us has a choice, and entitled to leave a football match at whatever time of our choosing. The same consideration for choice must be given to those who have a contrary opinion to oneself. I am sure that plenty of people may disagree with me as do those who concur. What is more important ( to me ) is that there is respect. As you touched on the subject of the time certain people chose to leave a game - and given that I voiced an opinion of those people ( at the time I remained in silent disgust )- I feel that those who left 12 minutes before the end of the Torquay game, were being disrespectful of the players on the day that promotion was achieved. The players deserved to be shown appreciation. I won't be drawn to say if the majority of the crowd, who did stay to applaud the team are 'better' fans. You may not like the answer - but those who did stay to applaud the players showed proper respect. You say that those who leave a match early probably won't return. Forgive me if I say that this sounds to me that you feel that these people are not 'true' fans, and, if they do not return, then I would agree with you. I have recently raised the point about the 'following' we have taken to Wembley in our 3 visits. I have asked where are they now ? The answer is that the greater majority of these people were Glory Hunters.( I obtained tickets for several friends who had never been to Priestfield - nor likely to go there). I may not be a better 'person' than ANY of them - but - YES, I am a better fan/supporter.
I used to go all the time, home and away, but these days I only get to about 10 games a season due to family commitments and working alternate weekends getting in the way! I always saw myself as a dedicated fan, who would go to all the games whatever the circumstances! Now, I see myself as a supporter following my club from Buckingham, but promoting them with wearing my shirts with pride!
Always, of course I respect your opinion. That in itself is a outward projection of choice and you are correct to deem yourself a more 'complete' (if you like) supporter than those who show less respect for the team and other supporters. However, we do live in a world that is far from black and white (a computer screen has in excess of 24 million coloured pixels) so the chances of meeting totally like minded people is pretty rare. My point is, those that show less respect for fans, the team etc have to be tolerated by those of us with the depth of character and understanding required. That makes us more complete people and more complete fans too........in my subjective opinion.
Does that make me a plastic fan then? I went to my first Gills match when I was 8 years old, we were in Division One and we played Premier League Leeds in the FA Cup. Every year since then I have gone between 2-5games a season and managed to see all of the big games during that time (apart from play-off semi-final and Plymouth this year) due to my age, lack of funds or simply because my Dad could not be bothered to take me. Even though now I drive, I still don't have the financial capability to go week in week out, but still spend hours searching the web for any new Gills news or related items and have known every player's key statistics going back to when I first started going.
