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Local team / glory hunting, etc. and so on


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Incidentally we could use the city of Dundee for a kind of laboratory test here.

Historically the position of Dundee and Dundee Hibs/United was not dissimilar to that of Hearts or Hibs and St Bernards or Leith Athletic - or that of Falkirk and East Stirlingshire. Dundee United were younger and basically a lower league outfit till 1960s while Dundee were competing for league titles, reaching cup finals and going on runs in Europe. Unsurprisingly we find Tannadice crowds averaging a fraction of Dens.

Yet gradually over last 40-odd years this situation first balanced (and in allegiance not just attendance) then moved well into United's favour (at least in attendance). Have their fans just had more kids? Unlikely. There has been 'loyalty shift'. Is that shift unconnected to United's greater success since 1980s? Again unlikely.

Edited by HibeeJibee
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Born and brought up in Livingston in the mid 80's. Dad and older brother who "supported" Rangers (my Dad was in Barcelona in 1972, my older brother rarely went to games at all). At the age where yer pals are all talking football, early teens, Rangers were winning everything, so they were the easy choice. Went to a few games, had a few strips, the usual guff.

Fast forward to when I started working, and Livingston were formed, and my eyes were opened politically etc, and I quickly fell out of love with Rangers (maybe I wasn't in love with them, not really anyway). Meeting folk who I really respected who supported other teams (after having for years been led to believe that "diddy teams didnae matter") was an eye opener too.

Have had a season ticket on and off at Almondvale, and can safely say that their biggest moments (play off success a couple of years ago most notably) have meant more to me than any Rangers success ever did. 

I see the constant "banter" between both Rangers and Celtic fans towards each other, and for the most part it is utterly pathetic. 

Edited by mozam76
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20 minutes ago, TommyLeePwns said:

The three lads went through nautical college in that time so they weren't 100 miles away but they supported the team at Ibrox whenever they were on. I then came along and it was the first dose of football I got so it stuck. I didn't start to learn about the clubs success until I got into my teens proper and as my old man doesn't have a sectarian bone in his body I was never exposed to that side of things  or even understood it, still don't. 

I think it’s understandable why  you follow Rangers. You liked posters with trophies in them, it's fine. 

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Supported Rangers when I was wee, because they won everything and all the kids at school supported them. Family had no interest in football. Got to my teenage years and realised I disagreed with pretty much everything they represented and that actually supporting a team from the other side of the country because they happened to be in the middle of 9 in a row when I was growing up didn't mean I had to spend the rest of my life amongst union jack waving neanderthals.

Started going to Easter Road  with my best mate (who had a season ticket and often had a spare) for something to do on a Saturday and the excuse to have a couple of pints. Had my own season ticket within a couple of years. Winning stuff very occasionally when you are shite the rest of the time is much more fun than winning every week.

 

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19 minutes ago, Gus Setsniffer said:

So you're suggesting people change teams ? Whatever happened to you can change your job, your wife, your politics and your religion, but you can never change your team?

Of course people can change their team. Particularly among the Highland teams' supports there are plenty of people who would have considered themselves primarily Aberdeen, Rangers or Celtic fans before County and ICT climbed up the leagues. There's nothing wrong with people deciding that supporting their local team is a better option than following a bigger team from afar.

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2 minutes ago, Forfinn said:

Of course people can change their team. Particularly among the Highland teams' supports there are plenty of people who would have considered themselves primarily Aberdeen, Rangers or Celtic fans before County and ICT climbed up the leagues. There's nothing wrong with people deciding that supporting their local team is a better option than following a bigger team from afar.

I know of a good few people who used to support Caley, and now support Rangers funnily enough. Mostly because of Norman Miller and the, erm, *circumstances* behind the merger.

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41 minutes ago, tree house tam said:

^^^ P-Ric

:(

I'm hurt. I mean if this was said by some shit talker I'd have ignored it, but seeing as it's someone with the standing of yourself I best take note.

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13 minutes ago, TommyLeePwns said:

Never once had a poster of a man on my wall mate. 

Homophobe. You could have had big Lorenzo, looking all mills and boony, or Laudrup if you prefer the boyband type. Plenty to choose from if you just wanted a bit of rough. 

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3 hours ago, Forfinn said:

There's nothing wrong with people deciding that supporting their local team is a better option than following a bigger team from afar.

I'm an anomaly in that my main allegiance changed to a smaller, non-local team. 

Cards on the table, my parents (both from the WoS) moved to the Dunfermline area from Brechin when I was four.  I had reportedly been taken to Glebe Park on occasion at HT because it was free, but that was it.  I have absolutely no memory of these games though. 

When I first took an interest in football in P7, my mum's friend took me along with her to my 'first' game.  Pars lost 2-0 to Dundee Utd I believe, but it didn't stop me taking a passing interest and going to some more.  In high school, I would start coming into some more money from birthdays, paper rounds etc which would let me go to EEP along with friends (Premier League football isn't cheap if your parents don't pay for it).  I had the various Pars strips as presents, the bedroom poster, the pencil case, destroyed match programmes as jotter covers, the lot. 

Then, Brechin went to Cowdenbeath for a big promotion decider, and I made the short trip over out of interest with that historical link to Brechin. I liked the terracing, the end swapping and the affordability, a stark contrast to the refurbished EEP.

After that and being old enough to go further afield by myself, I found myself going to Falkirk, but for East Stirlingshire v Brechin.  The direct bus from my village to Stirling let me go to the Binos v Brechin games, and East Fife, Stenny, further games in Cowden, and sometimes Raith were fairly handy too.  I could get a decent (then adventurous) day out and a game for less than a Dunfermline ticket (and my PE teacher who played for Brechin at the time gave me his complimentary tickets as nobody else wanted them :lol:) .  So, I found myself supporting both the Pars and Brechin, but attending games involving the latter more frequently.  Funnily enough, this started with the Dick Campbell era so half the team were Pars reserves, almost. 

The priority choice was cemented when I went to Aberdeen for uni and Brechin became much more local.  As Brechin became a yo-yo team and £1 Megabus tickets became a thing, I got to most grounds around Scotland, partly explaining my reputation on here for knowing many a bus route. I also liked the small fanbase and you gradually get to a point where you go to the pub and know most away fans there, which I value a lot.  I can travel a long distance on my tod, but never be alone at a game even when I go on a last minute whim. 

This was a big team and wee team system that worked well for a while... until the Pars went into admin and started playing Brechin what felt like a million times in recent times.  This was rather awkward, but you've got to pick an end at EEP, and Brechin it was out of principle. 

I go mostly to Brechin games when available, but I still go to the occasional Pars game which gives me a good chance to bond with my younger Fife-born brothers who I probably wouldn't see as much otherwise.  As a result, I have some sympathy when OF fans mention the bonding thing, although it goes to show that it doesn't have to be with one of the duopoly. 

So there you go. 

tl;dr, I know

Edited by Hedgecutter
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17 hours ago, coprolite said:

Some genuinely insightful and intelligent posts on this thread that I'm afraid i'm going to have to ignore on a purely ad huninem basis because they don't confirm my biases and are clearly excuses for glory hunting.  

My Grandad was a Rangers man from Fife, in a family of Rangers men in a community of Rangers men with the lodge playing a big part in their lives. 

He "had enough of all that nonsense" and pretty much recanted. He always told me he was an East Fife fan. My Dad never really had a team. I think he prefers rugby. 

But he took me to Pittodrie when we moved to a commuter dormitory town on the A90 in the early 80s and kept taking me. 

But Aberdeen weren't my local team. We had to drive past cove and banks o dee to get there. It seems a bit arbitrary to say that it's only senior/pro/ full time clubs that you can ignore.  So i guess i'm a glory hunter. Or at least was, unless you count 3rd and the league cup. 

your only going to ignore The Rangers posts?

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54 minutes ago, coprolite said:

I do note that none of the other cheek have made an appearance so we can assume that they're comfortable with their glory hunter status. 

Either that or they still, despite the mass of evidence to the contrary, consider themselves to be the hard-done-by victimized underdogs in Scottish fitba'.

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1 minute ago, Aim Here said:

Either that or they still, despite the mass of evidence to the contrary, consider themselves to be the hard-done-by victimized underdogs in Scottish fitba'.

"i support Celtic out of solidarity with the oppressed people of Palestine" 

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6 hours ago, Ralstonite said:

By the 'fringes of Paisley' what do you actually mean? Ralston or Glasgow itself - Hillington, Penilee, Crookston?

As for your (laughable) claim that you weren't glory hunting, given that it was the late '70s:

In the 1970s Rangers won:

Four Scottish Cups: 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979.         - they were runners up in 1971, 1977.

Four League Cups: 1971, 1976, 1978, 1979         

Three League Ttiles: 1975, 1976, 1978          - they were runners up in 1970, 1973, 1977, 1979

UEFA Cup Winner's Cup 1972

 

You might not be aware that St. Mirren have won the Scottish Cup three times since 1877, and have won the League Cup once.

Spot on.

This notion that their fallow spells were anything of the sort, is laughable.

 

I'd even include the banter years as being actually successful for Rangers, not relative to their resources of course, but then their nine in a row ones weren't that either.   The fact is though that they won the vast majority of their matches, generally won the divisions they were in and reached cup semis and finals.  

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4 hours ago, TommyLeePwns said:

The three lads went through nautical college in that time so they weren't 100 miles away but they supported the team at Ibrox whenever they were on. I then came along and it was the first dose of football I got so it stuck. I didn't start to learn about the clubs success until I got into my teens proper and as my old man doesn't have a sectarian bone in his body I was never exposed to that side of things  or even understood it, still don't. 

What bloody rubbish.

You attached yourself to the big team that wins all the time because you wanted to.

 

Nothing illegal in that of course - it's entirely up to you and well within your rights.  You know it's a bit pathetic though, hence the hilarious contortions you're performing.

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