Indeed, they are the worst. I was once sat near to a bunch who were standing on the steps looking back, and they were blocking my view, so I jumped up and shouted, if you're going early, then GO..! They gave me a load of back chat and one or two started back towards me. About half a dozen around me then got up to face them and they backed off down the stairs. A few handshakes and thanks got passed around after that.
Agree 100%. Was stupid that the PA announced the record breaking attendance just as Liverpool were on the attack and the score was still only 2-1. Imagine what idiots we'd have looked! People leaving early are a disgrace. If they are elderly or infirm then fair enough but most dont look anyway like that. Have to remember that there may well have been a lot of Liverpool fans sitting in with the Saints. What make me laugh though are the knuckleheads who leave 5/10 minutes early shouting about how everyone should 'sing up for the lads' or how they are so hardcore that they 'are Southampton till they die' or are 'gonna have a disco' as they disappear to get to the car park early! What utter idiots!
This 32,070 figure I keep hearing about as being the highest PL attendance at St Mary's..? I'm sure we've had a couple of hundred more than that in the stadium, i.e. very close indeed to the maximum of 32,689.
Well I agree that's annoying and I have already suggested that they should switch off the TVs in the concourse so that folks can't just watch the last 2 minutes there before running off (I assume they do show the match?) The only surprising thing about CBK raising this now is that I thought there were far fewer leaving early on Saturday than usual. Oh and St G might find he is less annoying to others on the end of a row but he will get really fed up with others passing you. For those who are as annoyed as me then dead-centre is the place to be. That's where I shall be next season after the jack-in-box season I have had this time. I don't move from my seat, other than for the benefit of those who every week need to get up 3 or 4 times at least. I don't drink before the game, i bring any food I want eat or drink with me. But at the end of the day, it is a free country and these guys have bought a ticket. The only thing that we can do is bitch about it on message boards which doesn't help especially.
Fewer people left early on Saturday than for any match....certainly no one in my row or just in front. Think everyone was waiting to applaud the team.
People who leave early are not dickheads, they are fellow supporters who, for whatever reason, wish to leave early. You or anyone else has no right to judge them. I have travelled thousands of miles and spent thousands of pounds supporting Saints. No-one on this board is going to tell me how to show my support. There is not a right way or a wrong way. I know that as I get older, the way I show support has changed. No more running with the hordes as I used to. I want to get home and have a cup of tea, and now it appears as if I am the spawn of the devil.
Life is very short believe me and you may think you have a long time to live but it goes far too quickly. As I have got older I have learned to savour every good moment in my life and to forget the crap as soon as possible. Saturday was a very good moment, a superb occasion, and I wanted to squeeze every ounce of pleasure from it and to share my joy with our players. I can wait a few minutes more for a cup of tea as it seemed more important to let our players know the great pleasure they gave me and my appreciation for their performance.
Strange thing about perception of time....my teens and twenties were long, but every decade afterwards was shorter and shorter. Was a great day on saturday and have certainly watched the highlights several times. I stayed after the Coventry game (helped being in hospitality) as I didn't want such a wonderful day to end, then I sauntered back to the ferry. The crowd had dispersed and it was a doddle. The answer may be just hang on for a bit rather than rush off early.
I totally agree with your first sentence. I am of an age where time has sped up and I most certainly recognise that I am no longer immortal. My point is that not all individuals want to spend their time in the same way. Some will stay to saviour the moment as you put it; others will go early to avoid the traffic. Neither is right and neither is wrong. It is proper that you do what suits you and others do what suits them. What I object to is people criticising others just because they choose to do something different. Not only criticise but call them dickheads and suggest that they are not true supporters.
So you did. A Freudian slip by me you might say (that Freud, he's always slipping, wrong studs probably).
I've been thinking about this post since it was put up. My excuse is that plane journeys are boring and saying au revoir to friends in Liverpool is always tough, even when my team has just given their lot a hammering. On reflection, I think CBK raises two issues that can really irk me as a fan. On the other hand nothing, but nothing was going to stop me enjoying Saturday!
I do tend to agree with Lff here actually - I've never left a game early in my life, and I don't think I ever would, but that certainly doesn't give me the right to judge others as to the "quality" of their support. To be honest with you, I've never understood those people who go and get half-cut before a game, and continue through the game/half time to drink themselves into a stupor. I only ever did that once at a match (which wasn't a Saints game) and I can barely remember the match at all. I'm one of those that watches games intently, and to me that's like going to the cinema and getting pissed beforehand. Fairly pointless really. To me, that's more daft than leaving five minutes early, but that's again just my opinion. I wouldn't do either, but neither will I sit here and judge either as a greater or lesser way to support. Right, I'm off to put on my Pipes of Peace and Ebony & Ivory collection......
I think le tiss laces has made a clever parallel point there. And drunk peopke can spoil the day more than anyone.
Good points made. I realise I have no right to demand what people do. It is upto them if they want to buy a ticket, go to the game, and then not bother to do, to the fullest extent, what they intended to do, with their day. In my ideal Saturday match day the stadium would be full, hopefully with me there, being able to afford to go and having the time off to do it as well. Everyone would be in their places come 3pm [none of that early/late SKY crap] and they would stay there until the whistle blew for half time, having sung their heads off and yet watched the game intently. Then they'd all be back and settled in time for the second half, to repeat the process, and then leave whenever they liked after the final whistle went. On the pitch I'd like Saints to have thrashed the living daylights out of any team that had had the courage to turn up. 5 or 6-0 would be fine, although the more the merrier.
Again I will say, its 90 minutes of your life, once a week/fortnight. Just plan your life accordingly to see out that 90 minutes (plus injury time). Am I saying a fan who stays to see the entire game is better than a fan who leaves 5 minutes early every week. Yes I am, because clearly they are a better fan. Same as a fan who goes to every single saints game is a better fan than the only who only goes when we play Man Utd. So it is possible to have the "who is a better fan" debate because there are quite easy ways to quantify & define it. (and before anyone chirps in, I am NOT saying I am the best saints fan around, there are clearly many many better than I am, which I have NO problem with. Same as I have no problem with saying I'm probably a better fan than many fans. It doesn't keep me up at night, lifes too short... but for the love of god, can some people just not stay a few more minutes to watch a bloody game of football they have paid to watch?)
