Local team / glory hunting, etc. and so on

[Sortmeout]

16 hours ago, bennett said:

You do realise that we've went years without anything, yet the fanbase hasn't shrunk like you suggested.

To be fair Bennett it’s not as if you were struggling your way through any of those divisions and you’ve been top 3 since getting promoted. Since the start of 2012/13 season till now I would guess your win % would be the highest in Scotland.

I think fans of Stranraer, East Stirling probably feel the same way about the other 10 top flight clubs that we do about Celtic and Rangers fans. They will see clubs like Kilmarnock and our fans talking about following our club through thick and thin and think to themselves “you’ve had it pretty good”.

[oneteaminglasgow]

31 minutes ago, Futureboy said:

The team your Dad supported is an interesting one for me.

My late Dad grew up in Glasgow, was ex Royal Navy and very much a GSTQ Rangers man. As soon as I was old enough, he took me to Tannadice, as in his opinion, I should support my local team. He switched his allegiance to United as that was "my" team. That seems more logical to me, than supporting a far away team that I have absolutely no allegiance to.

 

Which is fair enough, and I can absolutely see the logic behind it.

However, I can’t see me, if/when I have kids, taking them to see Edinburgh City or Hibs. I want them to be Thistle fans, even though they’ll grow up in Edinburgh. I don’t know why it matters to me, but it does. 

[Hedgecutter]

I can't buy the dad's team excuse when the dad is actively encouraging their kids to needlessly enter a world in which bigotry is commonplace.  Imagine living in a part of eastern Scotland where sectarianism is all but non-existent and encouraging their kid to travel an hour or more to take them to Ibrox / Parkhead (cue meltdown like some P&B Celtic fan had on here - had a number in the username) . 

Someone has to break the family link at some point, but funnily enough few want to be the one to do it, normally for gloryhunting reasons. 

In my experience, there's definitely merit in the 'majority of OF fans tend to be thickos' argument.  I've always considered it to stem back to school where the lower achievers tended to be ones who gave into following the crowd against better judgement, whilst the 'cleverer' ones weren't afraid to stand their ground against peer pressure. 

This easily-swayed nature could partly be the reason why the vast majority of Rangers fans are pro-union, the proportion of which don't reflect wider Scottish society (especially when a large chunk are based all over the place).  It's similar to religious beliefs correlating to place of birth rather than reason (cf. OF fans correlation with religious group), which is why it deserves to be laughed at, but that's a whole separate thread in itself. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Hedgecutter

[The Other Foot]

1 hour ago, AJF said:

Does this apply equally to the plethora of Hibs and Hearts fans you find outside of Edinburgh? 

Yes.

Though 'plethora' is a stretch. Hibs fans don't get far outside Edinburgh before the ankle bracelet starts beeping. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by The Other Foot

[TommyLeePwns]

Grandad and his brother were Hearts and Hibs fans. My dad was good pals/Team mates with a couple of lads from Glenrothes strollers and Glenrothes Juniors who went on to get trials at Rangers. I was born Kirkcaldy so using the local team logic I should be a Raith/Dunfermline Fan ( even though I look out for their results ) But given my dad's connection to Rangers early on and the fact we moved into the central belt it was the first football I was exposed to so it stuck. 

I think I'm one of the few Rangers fans who enjoyed the journey through the leagues as I loved going to the smaller grounds and taking in the history of the local clubs. 

When I got into my early teens I fell in love with how Ajax went about their business on the park despite being saturated with Italian football in the 90's. But no club has ever come close to replacing The Rangers as my #1 and only club I follow. 

It doesn't stop me from having soft spots here and there and admiring certain clubs for how they conduct themselves but Rangers are it for me. I don't subscribe to the idea that you have to be born on the door step of Ibrox with a tattoo on your backside to have the right to call yourself a Ranger. 

I know a couple of lads who ditched Rangers as soon as we got dropped down to the bottom tier. If I remember rightly one went on to support Spurs and another Man City. 

Getting all bent out of shape over football team choices is an unnecessary headache. 

[coprolite]

11 minutes ago, TommyLeePwns said:

Grandad and his brother were Hearts and Hibs fans. My dad was good pals/Team mates with a couple of lads from Glenrothes strollers and Glenrothes Juniors who went on to get trials at Rangers. I was born Kirkcaldy so using the local team logic I should be a Raith/Dunfermline Fan ( even though I look out for their results ) But given my dad's connection to Rangers early on and the fact we moved into the central belt it was the first football I was exposed to so it stuck. 

I think I'm one of the few Rangers fans who enjoyed the journey through the leagues as I loved going to the smaller grounds and taking in the history of the local clubs. 

When I got into my early teens I fell in love with how Ajax went about their business on the park despite being saturated with Italian football in the 90's. But no club has ever come close to replacing The Rangers as my #1 and only club I follow. 

It doesn't stop me from having soft spots here and there and admiring certain clubs for how they conduct themselves but Rangers are it for me. I don't subscribe to the idea that you have to be born on the door step of Ibrox with a tattoo on your backside to have the right to call yourself a Ranger. 

I know a couple of lads who ditched Rangers as soon as we got dropped down to the bottom tier. If I remember rightly one went on to support Spurs and another Man City. 

Getting all bent out of shape over football team choices is an unnecessary headache. 

This is the most tenuous yet, well done. 

"My Dad's mate had a trial with Rangers and we lived within 100 miles." 

[Hedgecutter]

Just now, AJF said:

You actually believe that sectarianism is all but non-existent in eastern Scotland? I've received numerous sectarian insults when attending matches in Edinburgh, for example.

As you say, the religious aspect is probably another topic for another thread, but I think it's disingenuous to claim that it's an issue confined to Glasgow.

I was waiting on this.  I specifically said a part of eastern Scotland, not all of eastern Scotland.  Thank you for supporting my point though. 

[AJF]

Just now, Hedgecutter said:

I was waiting on this.  I specifically said a part of eastern Scotland, not all of eastern Scotland.  Thank you for supporting my point though. 

I've deleted my reply as I realise I was doing what I've been against (hijacking a thread topic).

I think I'm going to avoid getting into the discussion of sectarianism here.

[HibeeJibee]

Has no sociologist or doctorate student ever done a PhD on this?

My own speculation is family (largely paternal) allegiance is foremost, with place of residence significant, plus the obvious "community"/schooling factor in the west central belt and migrated areas.


In that respect any phenomenon of "glory hunting" is probably inherited or assimilated more than it is consciously decided upon from scratch.

That said I've a family member who supports Aberdeen for no obvious reason except he was a kid during 1980s. So it can be cultivated in isolation.


Sometimes residence will supercede paternal/"community" allegiance. Possibly the old team are too far away, or the old loyalty decreases in strength while local sentiment increases. Again my speculation is such breaks are usually paternally-led, but perhaps not where kids grow-up playing youth football for local clubs without intense household-based competition.

It's also a question of definition. Even within (say) Perth most locals eschew Kinnoull or Jeanfield and make for St Johnstone.

Edited December 3, 2020 by HibeeJibee

[PB1994]

1 hour ago, TheScarf said:

I'm a Drakies man myself.

What a place to grow up.

[TheScarf]

I like how the OF fans on here are saying we should all support the lowest ranked team in our respective towns, otherwise we are all glory hunters too.  So I should support Inverness Athletic in the North Caley instead of The Caley in the SPFL.

Folk from Perth should support Jeanfield Swifts instead of St Johnstone.

Folk from Edinburgh should all support LTHV in the EOS league etc.  As if it's the same fucking thing.

[Forfinn]

The one mitigating factor I'm prepared to tolerate from non-Glasgow OF fans is parental indoctrination. Free will does exist though and nothing forces them to continue on that path when they're older, but I understand why they do.

I went to school in the rural Highlands surrounded by a mix of fans of Aberdeen (nearest "big" team) and Rangers (I'm sure it's just a coincidence Rangers were winning everything in the mid-late 90s). I don't remember any Celtic fans in my year, but as the Martin O'Neill era took hold, there were definitely more Celtic fans in lower years.

At that point, Ross County and ICT were in the seaside leagues. Some of the Aberdeen fans had County as their wee team, but not the Rangers fans. There weren't any ICT fans at all.

My dad doesn't have any strong football affiliation. He loosely supports his original hometown team from the seaside leagues but has certainly never pushed that on me. He took me along to the occasional Ross County game as they were our nearest league team, and I was a rare exception that they were my primary focus despite only being in the Third Division.

I live in Edinburgh now and am self-aware enough that I risk being a hypocrite if I had a child here and encouraged them to be a Ross County fan. That said, the world can probably afford a few more non-Highland County fans without distorting the competition. I wouldn't feel any need to "force" them to support the same team as me because I'm not a narcissist. I'd probably take them to a few games simply because I'd be going anyway, but if they end up supporting a local team instead, that's fine. Rangers, Celtic, Man Utd, Barcelona etc would actively be discouraged though. I might even take them to see lower league football that's in our vicinity like my dad did.

So it's a complex topic, but I'm sure the one thing we can all agree on - including Rangers and Celtic fans - is that Scottish football would be improved immeasurably if more people supported their local team rather than gravitating towards the Old Firm, regardless of their reasons for doing so.

[Dons_1988]

28 minutes ago, TommyLeePwns said:

I don't subscribe to the idea that you have to be born on the door step of Ibrox with a tattoo on your backside to have the right to call yourself a Ranger. 
 

Stunned by this.

[coprolite]

6 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

Has no sociologist or doctorate student ever done a PhD on this?

My own speculation is family (largely paternal) allegiance is foremost, with place of residence significant, plus the obvious "community" factor in the west central belt and migrated areas.


In that respect any phenomenon of "glory hunting" is probably inherited or assimilated more than it is consciously decided upon from scratch.

That said I've a family member who supports Aberdeen for no obvious reason except he was a kid during 1980s. So it can be cultivated in isolation.


Sometimes residence will supercede paternal/"community" allegiance. Possibly the old team are too far away, or the old loyalty decreases in strength while local sentiment increases.

It's also a question of definition. Even within (say) Perth most locals eschew Kinnoull or Jeanfield and make for St Johnstone.

I think there's probably a lot in what you say.

I think the glory hunting probably works in a more insidious subconscious way than somone deciding they want to support a winning team, although i was mates/ colleagues with one guy who switchex from Aberdeen to Celtic because he was "sick of watching them lose". 

If all the factors you've described lead you to a team, then that team winning will probably make following that team more enjoyable. If you have family leading one way and geography the other, the casting vote may well go to the warm fuzzy feeling of a win. You probably wouldn't be aware that it had swung you in that way and probably think that you'd have followed them anyway.

We'll never know, and i'm not sure it even matters. 

[TommyLeePwns]

7 minutes ago, coprolite said:

This is the most tenuous yet, well done. 

"My Dad's mate had a trial with Rangers and we lived within 100 miles." 

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. 

[AJF]

3 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

I like how the OF fans on here are saying we should all support the lowest ranked team in our respective towns, otherwise we are all glory hunters too.  So I should support Inverness Athletic in the North Caley instead of The Caley in the SPFL.

Folk from Perth should support Jeanfield Swifts instead of St Johnstone.

Folk from Edinburgh should all support LTHV in the EOS league etc.  As if it's the same fucking thing.

Yeah, I don't really subscribe to this argument either.

My main counter-point to the Glory Hunting suggestion is that being brought up a Rangers fan, this was embedded in me before I was able to appreciate that I support a team that have historically been more successful than most. I really think @HibeeJibee summed it up quite well above.

Of course, when I was younger I'd always hold the opinion that Rangers were the best, but I'm sure most kids held the same opinion in respect of their own teams.

[ZingaliMan]

Everybody at my primary school supported Rangers. I went to the odd Saints game with my father. Then my father put me into St Mirren Junior  supporters  aged 7.  From there it was home and away games the rest is history as they say. 

[Gus Setsniffer]

7 minutes ago, Forfinn said:

The one mitigating factor I'm prepared to tolerate from non-Glasgow OF fans is parental indoctrination. Free will does exist though and nothing forces them to continue on that path when they're older, but I understand why they do.

I went to school in the rural Highlands surrounded by a mix of fans of Aberdeen (nearest "big" team) and Rangers (I'm sure it's just a coincidence Rangers were winning everything in the mid-late 90s). I don't remember any Celtic fans in my year, but as the Martin O'Neill era took hold, there were definitely more Celtic fans in lower years.

At that point, Ross County and ICT were in the seaside leagues. Some of the Aberdeen fans had County as their wee team, but not the Rangers fans. There weren't any ICT fans at all.

My dad doesn't have any strong football affiliation. He loosely supports his original hometown team from the seaside leagues but has certainly never pushed that on me. He took me along to the occasional Ross County game as they were our nearest league team, and I was a rare exception that they were my primary focus despite only being in the Third Division.

I live in Edinburgh now and am self-aware enough that I risk being a hypocrite if I had a child here and encouraged them to be a Ross County fan. That said, the world can probably afford a few more non-Highland County fans without distorting the competition. I wouldn't feel any need to "force" them to support the same team as me because I'm not a narcissist. I'd probably take them to a few games simply because I'd be going anyway, but if they end up supporting a local team instead, that's fine. Rangers, Celtic, Man Utd, Barcelona etc would actively be discouraged though. I might even take them to see lower league football that's in our vicinity like my dad did.

So it's a complex topic, but I'm sure the one thing we can all agree on - including Rangers and Celtic fans - is that Scottish football would be improved immeasurably if more people supported their local team rather than gravitating towards the Old Firm, regardless of their reasons for doing so.

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?

[Ric]

I'm not from Paisley, I've never lived in Paisley and I've got no family connection to Paisley. I'll happily admit I'm a glory hunter, that's why I support the team I do.

[sergie's no1 fan]

My dads family all supported Rangers apart from him.

Thankfully he supported StMirren and passed that onto me. Otherwise i dread to think what could have happened.

We stayed in a flat above Cosmos chippy on Love Street, so it was always going to happen you'd imagine. He first took me to Cairters Corner in Love St, absolutely loved it. Played on the benches more than watching the game. Then moved to the terracing behind the goal then the Northbank. Miss that place so much.

As for folk who want to glory hunt, or support the gruesome twosome from all corners of Scotland, ach let them. Life is too short to get wound up about that pish, even the sectarian element. It will always be about.