Does anybody else feel sorry for plastics?

[blue lewj]

We all know them and they are up and down the land. Dressed in their new replica shirt they bought in Sports Direct or online. Sitting in the local pub shouting at the TV (usually calling players by their first names) while calling each other Scousers and Mancs.

Now, if we're honest a lot of us will have had our heads turned by the big clubs in our early years because for many seeing them on TV at a cup final or on Match of the Day was the first exposure we had to football. Thankfully a lot of us, certainly on here, came to our senses soon enough and got passion for real football.

There is nothing worse than talking to a 'fan' of the club who has a day out to their Premier League club once every few years and treats it like a day out akin to going to a theme park. It's all a bit sad really seeing the photos of them skidding up, standing in front of various landmarks for photos and ransacking the club shop because they won't be back for a good few years.

You won't find many people in the land who get football so wrong. For them it is a TV show that inconveniences them momentarily when their team loses and have bragging rights, albeit hundreds of miles from the home grounds of the teams they support, for a short time when they win. Usually the bragging rights are over another plastic fan of the big four though so does it really matter all that much?
Football is about so much more than that. They aren't even getting the bare minimum of what football has to offer but they just don't see it.

The behind closed doors trophy lift witnessed by many a South Wales 'Scouser' recently was viewed by many looking on as weird in many ways due to Covid. If you think about it though it isn't that different to what they have witnessed recently when winning the Champions League for example. Only difference being they could not see fans in the background on their TV screens. Many of them probably watched both trophy lifts on the same TV.

The funniest part of it all for me is the way your fans of the big four seem to have pity for fans of clubs who don't win things or challenge regularly and seem to try to talk down to you in some way.

I find their deep need to have some kind of success in their empty sporting lives to make them feel worthwhile is all very sad.
I feel sorry for them because they have something in front of them in football that could be very, very special and get it so wrong. It is so different to what real fans do and experience in a season that it might as well be a different sport. It's no different to what I do when tuning in to the darts on Sky (my Michael Van Gerwen replica looks quality).

In short, as much as they think they have the upper hand on us due to the success of their hand picked team they just don't seem to get it and I actually feel very sorry for them and how very little they get from this great game.

[Toadstool]

I have a "soft spot" for a big four club and have seen them win things live ( FA Cup & 1st Division ). but even then it was not as good as seeing promotion from Division 4 with City.

And to be honest I get more out of the last game of the season fancy dress outings.

When I tell my son about the days out we had the experience is better than anything else I've been involved with - the camaraderie of being a city fan in a group of city fans from the city itself and the surrounding valleys gives you a sense of "belonging" that nothing else does.

I guess it goes back to tribalism - but I'm much prefer to be in my tribe than try and infiltrate someone else's where I know I'd never really belong

Part of being a city fan is the lows as well as the highs - they would never get this.

[blue lewj]

I have a "soft spot" for a big four club and have seen them win things live ( FA Cup & 1st Division ). but even then it was not as good as seeing promotion from Division 4 with City.

And to be honest I get more out of the last game of the season fancy dress outings.

When I tell my son about the days out we had the experience is better than anything else I've been involved with - the camaraderie of being a city fan in a group of city fans from the city itself and the surrounding valleys gives you a sense of "belonging" that nothing else does.

I guess it goes back to tribalism - but I'm much prefer to be in my tribe than try and infiltrate someone else's where I know I'd never really belong

Part of being a city fan is the lows as well as the highs - they would never get this.

Totally get it.

There is infiltrating a tribe and there is seeing a tribe on TV and mimicking them while dressing the same though. It is as far removed from that tribe as you can get.

[Toadstool]

Totally get it.

There is infiltrating a tribe and there is seeing a tribe on TV and mimicking them while dressing the same though. It is as far removed from that tribe as you can get.

I wonder what the true scousers / mancs think of the south wales fans?

[The Lone Gunman]

Do I feel sorry for 'plastics' who don't feel the need to devote large percentages of their time and money to a professional football club?

In a word, no.

[Allez Allez Allez]

Do I feel sorry for 'plastics' who don't feel the need to devote large percentages of their time and money to a professional football club?

In a word, no.

Hold onto your hats folks, TLG is here with the crucifix nails sticking out of his hands.

Martyrdom is defined by his principled stance, he has found boycotting easier the last few months. Here he is not devoting large percentages of his time to a professional football club.

[cardiff55]

After our League Cup Final I bumped in to a Liverpool fan......he was from Exeter! bAll the Liverpool or Man U fans I have met mostly have Welsh accents! They probably don't understand what it's like to be a fan or Cardiff , Swansea , newport or even Macclesfield. And also don't get the experience of actually going to a football match.

[Toadstool]

After our League Cup Final I bumped in to a Liverpool fan......he was from Exeter! bAll the Liverpool or Man U fans I have met mostly have Welsh accents! They probably don't understand what it's like to be a fan or Cardiff , Swansea , newport or even Macclesfield. And also don't get the experience of actually going to a football match.

Thats the thing - even when you go as a supporter from somewhere else the whole experience is different than when you support your local club.

[J R Hartley]

After our League Cup Final I bumped in to a Liverpool fan......he was from Exeter! bAll the Liverpool or Man U fans I have met mostly have Welsh accents! They probably don't understand what it's like to be a fan or Cardiff , Swansea , newport or even Macclesfield. And also don't get the experience of actually going to a football match.

What does it matter where they are from if they attend matches? Theres a few boys a year or two older than me from the village I grew up and they are all Spurs season ticket holders and have been for years. Long before they started challenging for the top honours. I know of several Liverpool fans from Merthyr whove got season tickets. One of them goes to every match, home and away. Europe, pre season friendlies the lot. I wouldnt call him a plastic he just doesnt happen to support his local team geographically speaking.

Plenty of Cardiff fans from North Wales, perhaps they should support Wrexham bby your logic?

[splott parker]

What does it matter where they are from if they attend matches? Theres a few boys a year or two older than me from the village I grew up and they are all Spurs season ticket holders and have been for years. Long before they started challenging for the top honours. I know of several Liverpool fans from Merthyr whove got season tickets. One of them goes to every match, home and away. Europe, pre season friendlies the lot. I wouldnt call him a plastic he just doesnt happen to support his local team geographically speaking.

Plenty of Cardiff fans from North Wales, perhaps they should support Wrexham bby your logic?

Fair play to those Spurs fans who’ve supported them before they challenged for major trophies, they must be well over 100 years of age, they won the FA Cup in 1901 and their first League Championship was 70 years ago, must have been supporting them when Queen Victoria was about seven stone

[splott parker]

I wonder what the true scousers / mancs think of the south wales fans?

Proper scouse Liverpool fans refer to them as excess baggage.

[The Lone Gunman]

Hold onto your hats folks, TLG is here with the crucifix nails sticking out of his hands.

Hold on to your hats folks, my gutless, spineless stalker is here. Cowardice is his specialist subject. I'm sure you can guess what he's holding in his hands.

[Tuerto]

They don't bother me in the slightest. I don't understand it because I've devoted my footballing supporting life to one club, that's not under suffrage, it's my choice and I'm more than happy with it.

Other people decide to support a successful team outside of their locality, their choice. There isn't a handbook on the rules of being a football fan.

[Trigger]

I think they miss out on a lot, the ups are far sweeter when you experience the very real downs of following a local club. You have a connection, a real connection, be that it's where you are from, have lived or perhaps a family connection. The deepest that connection gets for many plastic fans is their father watched Liverpool on the tele on the 80s.

Clubs were created across the country to represent an area, why would you feel the need to support someone 200 miles away purely because they are successful? It's an easy route into football, gives them a buzz without it needing to necessarily effect them too much emotionally.

Funny thing is if more clubs attracted more local support, their local club would probably be far healthier than it currently is.

Nothing more cringe worthy than my cardiff born mate in a London pub last year talking about man United with a cockney red and then having the front to offer me some banter about it.

Most of our battle hardened fans can't cope with the up and down nature of following a local average sized club, there is no way the plastics could.

[NYCBlue]

Their expreience of football is just different from ours. I don't necessarily feel sorry for them, but the highs and lows just can't be the same. I will say: I do think it's pathetic and a little cringey to hear someone on 606 with a South Wales accent calling themselves Mancs or Scousers.

[Optimistic Nick]

TLG makes a valid point though. There is more than one variety of plastic:

1) Do I feel sorry for the people who watch a bit of footy on the telly; convince themselves they are a Liverpool fan and get enjoyment out of lording it over their "Manc" mates? A bit. I always tell them that they support Liverpool in the same way I support the Inbetweeners or Poldark. But each to their own - doesn't really bother me. I imagine most "football fans" fit into this category. But they do tend to have the ability to shake off a win and crack on with their day; miss games if there is something better to do etc. And I certainly don't pity them for that - football probably has a more healthy position in their list of priorities than your average season-ticket holder.

2) Do I feel sorry for the daft saps who do actually try to be Liverpool's No.1 fan by watching every game, doing the research, spending hours on messageboards, calling Robbie Savage on the radio, learning their history etc etc but not actually going to games? Absolutely - they get none of the benefits of being a football fan, all of the drawbacks of devoting far too much time (and possibly money) to a game. (Although they do still benefit from not having to actually go to Liverpool). And I really feel for them when they have a perfectly decent local team on their doorstep - they are investing their time, energy and money in the wrong place. To be fair though, these are rarer than the first category.

2a) There is a subcategory of (2) though of people I really do pity for different reasons: Liverpudlians who are fans, but are priced out of going to games. Relegated to being armchair fans, simply through ticket price inflation. I went to the Liverpool Spurs game this season. A mate took me: his company has a box, and about a dozen seats in one of the stands. They rarely use all of their allocaiton. The taxi driver who dropped me off told me that he used to go to games with his dad when he was younger but can't afford to go himself any more. He was going home to watch it on the telly with his kids, who also never get to go. (He also told me Ronnie Whealan is a dick-head, but I think all Liverpool taxi drivers are contractually obliged to tell you about the footballers or musicians they have had in their cab). I do feel sorry for them. In deed they are the same as the other category 2 plastics, but the reasons behind it are so different- football on their doorstep is denied to them, and why should they go and find another club that they can afford to watch?

[Hilts]

Do I feel sorry for 'plastics' who don't feel the need to devote large percentages of their time and money to a professional football club?

In a word, no.

Just wondered. This isnt a pisstake. But as you dont support us anymore but have said you watch a lot of football and were looking forward to it resuming have you become a plastic fan of any side.?

If Swansea went up as a Welsh side now if you were watching them in a TV game with now no allegiance to us would you want them to win or have no interest in the result.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

I wonder what the true scousers / mancs think of the south wales fans?

true mancunians and scousers hate the idiots from South Wales, Dorset, Surrey, Berkshire etc , United have always been a huge club with a big Irish following and pulled in support from much of the North West of England but since the Premier league was formed coachloads of morons from all over the country swamp Old Trafford and working class mancunians have been priced out of the game .....these four or five times a season day trippers can afford it

Same applies to liverpool , arsenal etc

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

to answer the question I dont feel sorry for them at all in fact I think they are clowns and when one of the big four or five clubs they hang onto lose , I have a right laugh

When its to someone like burnley its all the sweeter

[J R Hartley]

Fair play to those Spurs fans who’ve supported them before they challenged for major trophies, they must be well over 100 years of age, they won the FA Cup in 1901 and their first League Championship was 70 years ago, must have been supporting them when Queen Victoria was about seven stone

Ok smart arse I know Cardiff fans ridiculously cling onto an FA Cup win nearly 100 years ago but most people dont put that much importance on honours won decades before they were born. They are 44/45/46 so have won 3 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and an UEFA cup in their lifetime. I cant remember them challenging for the league or playing Champions League until this last few years so they are hardly glory hunters.

[The Lone Gunman]

Just wondered. This isnt a pisstake. But as you dont support us anymore but have said you watch a lot of football and were looking forward to it resuming have you become a plastic fan of any side.?

If Swansea went up as a Welsh side now if you were watching them in a TV game with now no allegiance to us would you want them to win or have no interest in the result.

Question one: no, but I try to watch Manchester City whenever I can. They can be genuinely sensational at times. Spurs have also been really good to watch in recent seasons, but not this year.

Question two: while I don't feel any great animosity towards the Jacks these days, I certainly don't want them to win simply because they're a Welsh team. When they were last in the Premier League, I didn't watch Swansea on TV any more often than any other team of a similar standing and the same has been true in the Championship during the last couple of seasons, while I haven't been too bothered by their results either way. I'm looking forward to their game tomorrow night, it has all the ingredients of a decent contest. However, I certainly won't be cheering the Jacks on and neither will I be upset if they prevail.

[splott parker]

Ok smart arse I know Cardiff fans ridiculously cling onto an FA Cup win nearly 100 years ago but most people dont put that much importance on honours won decades before they were born. They are 44/45/46 so have won 3 FA Cups, 2 League Cups and an UEFA cup in their lifetime. I cant remember them challenging for the league or playing Champions League until this last few years so they are hardly glory hunters.

C’mon though, regardless of Spurs’ achievements in your mates’ lifetimes, Spurs are a glamour club, if they wanted to follow a London club without glamour why didn’t they choose Leyton Orient or Millwall or Brentford? No, they chose Spurs because Spurs are traditionally big time.

[J R Hartley]

C’mon though, regardless of Spurs’ achievements in your mates’ lifetimes, Spurs are a glamour club, if they wanted to follow a London club without glamour why didn’t they choose Leyton Orient or Millwall or Brentford? No, they chose Spurs because Spurs are traditionally big time.

But if they were just glory hunters they would have picked Liverpool, or changed allegiances. I dont class them as plastics anyway, they spend a lot of time and money travelling back and forth to London and away games.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Question one: no, but I try to watch Manchester City whenever I can. They can be genuinely sensational at times. Spurs have also been really good to watch in recent seasons, but not this year.

Question two: while I don't feel any great animosity towards the Jacks these days, I certainly don't want them to win simply because they're a Welsh team. When they were last in the Premier League, I didn't watch Swansea on TV any more often than any other team of a similar standing and the same has been true in the Championship during the last couple of seasons, while I haven't been too bothered by their results either way. I'm looking forward to their game tomorrow night, it has all the ingredients of a decent contest. However, I certainly won't be cheering the Jacks on and neither will I be upset if they prevail.

I fecking will, feck em , come on brentford

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

C’mon though, regardless of Spurs’ achievements in your mates’ lifetimes, Spurs are a glamour club, if they wanted to follow a London club without glamour why didn’t they choose Leyton Orient or Millwall or Brentford? No, they chose Spurs because Spurs are traditionally big time.

Indeed

South walians following Liverpool, United, Chelsea, spurs, the arsenal, Leeds do so because they are or were big clubs

I would rather chat to a lad from South Wales who supports Lincoln City because his grandfather was from there and took him as a kid to a bunch of planks from Cardiff, who have a team on their doorstep but choose to follow Chelsea, Liverpool or arsenal

And why do they support these big clubs ?

Well its success isn't it ? It certainly isn't because they all had fathers born in liverpool or West London because if it was there are fecking loads of people with scouse dads and Cockney mums in South Wales

Feck em , they are plastics , I don't care if they spend loads of money on shirts or expensive premier league tickets , they made their choice and as the saying goes you don't choose your club