The Round Ball Game - II

[Edgy 2]

Liverpool fan to Man Utd..... you've already got the manager you need right under your nose - don't ruin it by seeking a high-priced superstar instead....
But of course, we'd really LOVE it if you did.....

I hear it’s Michael Carrick who is running the show

[Lat-Literal]

Still not sure which team to support in Scotland. Recently I have been toying with Queen of the South. Minus point - artificial turf. Plus points - Accessible in border terms - could actually get there - and closeness to the railway station. Interesting - old stadium where football has been played since the 1870s, a clock, pleasant fans with "no room for songs which feature religion, violent vendettas or centuries-old battles that took place in other lands" according to the Scotsman, and a dodgy claim to being the only club mentioned in the Bible.

Luke 11:31. Readers will recall this. "The Queen of the South shall rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them". See also Matthew 12:42. I say dodgy because The Guardian checked out the Bible in 2005 and discovered it also contains "arsenal", "bury" and "reading" as well as some occasional references to "hearts", "wolves", "forest", "hammers", "spurs" and "man's field". Oh and Dougie the Doonhamer, a human-sized border collie dog, is Queen of the South's official mascot and he has been successful, winning the Ladbrokes SPFL mascot race at Hamilton Park in 2017 and 2018. There is half hour of the 2017 one on YT but this is the sort of thing in short which probably took place elsewhere:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki3FXJQoFrI

[LMcD]

Still not sure which team to support in Scotland. Recently I have been toying with Queen of the South. Minus point - artificial turf. Plus points - Accessible in border terms - could actually get there - and closeness to the railway station. Interesting - old stadium where football has been played since the 1870s, a clock, pleasant fans with "no room for songs which feature religion, violent vendettas or centuries-old battles that took place in other lands" according to the Scotsman, and a dodgy claim to being the only club mentioned in the Bible.

Luke 11:31. Readers will recall this. "The Queen of the South shall rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them". See also Matthew 12:42. I say dodgy because The Guardian checked out the Bible in 2005 and discovered it also contains "arsenal", "bury" and "reading" as well as some occasional references to "hearts", "wolves", "forest", "hammers", "spurs" and "man's field". Oh and Dougie the Doonhamer, a human-sized border collie dog, is Queen of the South's official mascot and he has been successful, winning the Ladbrokes SPFL mascot race at Hamilton Park in 2017 and 2018. There is half hour of the 2017 one on YT but this is the sort of thing in short which probably took place elsewhere:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki3FXJQoFrI

Why not support Fort William, a team of which it can be surely be said that the only way is up! (We shall be staying in Fort William later in the year - perhaps we'll pop along to the ground and ask to see the club's Honours Board...)

[BBMmk2]

Liverpool fan to Man Utd..... you've already got the manager you need right under your nose - don't ruin it by seeking a high-priced superstar instead....
But of course, we'd really LOVE it if you did.....

Oh please do!

[Lat-Literal]

Why not support Fort William, a team of which it can be surely be said that the only way is up! (We shall be staying in Fort William later in the year - perhaps we'll pop along to the ground and ask to see the club's Honours Board...)

I have been there actually so perhaps it would make sense.

Also, Claggan Park is often regarded as one of the most picturesque grounds in the United Kingdom.

[vinteuil]

Still not sure which team to support in Scotland.

... why 'support' any team. What does it mean?

.

[BBMmk2]

Lays, support Glasgow Rangers!

[LMcD]

... why 'support' any team. What does it mean?

.

Surely support can take many forms.
In the case of Fort William, for me it means to take a kind but long-distance interest in the hope that things will improve. I suppose that, by attending local concerts, I am 'supporting' the arts, and by helping out twice a week in a charity I am supporting desperately ill children and their parents.,

[Lat-Literal]

... why 'support' any team. What does it mean?

.

Thank you for the question which has encouraged me to think about it. I would define "support" here as "wanting to do well or better" rather than being merely indifferent and "to the extent that progress or otherwise would be naturally checked regularly". I have rarely been one for leaping up and down with joy at the failure of opponents. In that way, I probably don't play the game of support in the most typical way.

Ideally - and usually - this occurs naturally. Some meaning arises to create support for something specific rather than simply being pulled out randomly from a hat. There have been times when I have met people who follow football and claim not to support any team. One I know even watches a lot of it on Sky Sports. I do find that a bit weird. It suggests to me not quite getting one of the key points and even something in the background that is a bit sad.

Generally, of course, supporters who have a sense of their team are wedded to just one or two. That historically was true of me although I later realised other connections, not fully acknowledged, were made along the way. Going to the old Velodrome, for example, was so memorable for me that I came to see that Marseille was my French team. There is also a Manu Chao link which I won't bore you with at this time.

So then I thought about it more. Studying family history led to links I chose to build upon. Some I even never knew existed. So I have now broadened my palette, even visiting new clubs. Footballers themselves are interested in the full range of clubs they played for and are affiliated with several in that sense. Why should supporters be different? To have a team in every region is just like having a favourite restaurant in whichever area you happen to be.

Lays, support Glasgow Rangers!

Oh, I don't think so BBM, nor Celtic.

But thank you for the suggestion anyway!

[teamsaint]

... why 'support' any team. What does it mean?

.

Do you mean in Lats terms of choosing a selection of teams, or in the sense of having one particular team to support ?

Anyway, should the mood take you , you are spoilt for choice in West London, and Brentford are moving to a swanky new stadium. Theirs is one of the few London grounds I have never been to, so I ought to get down there while the old place is still open.

[jayne lee wilson]

... why 'support' any team. What does it mean?

.

A deep, long-lived, emotional attachment - often about where you live (or somewhere you identify with), born of a sense of identity, a spiritus loci both geographical and cultural....
Yes, leaping around the room when they're on live - and feeling fed up for a few days when you lose... cheering or jeering in the midst of a crowd....

Other forms and associations.......I lived in Switzerland for a while, became friendly with Italians there, so my pre-existent attachment to, and admiration for their footballing flair (which all began with one match in 1970) was intensified to an impassioned support - just in time for the 1982 World Cup... ...

Perhaps not finding "joy in the failure of opponents", though, not for me at least, though one might joke about doing just that... some supporters do feel these bitter rivalries...(especially in Italy!)..... "stand up if you hate Man Utd" can be bitter, or it can be humorous...
I'm usually indifferent to Everton's result, but often I like to see both teams from Liverpool doing well....(as long as they're not playing us )

But support for your team doesn't feel like a choice - it is just there, really - even if you can't watch them, you'd always look for the result....

[teamsaint]

A deep, long-lived, emotional attachment - often about where you live (or somewhere you identify with), born of a sense of identity, a spiritus loci both geographical and cultural....
Yes, leaping around the room when they're on live - and feeling fed up for a few days when you lose... cheering or jeering in the midst of a crowd....

Other forms and associations.......I lived in Switzerland for a while, became friendly with Italians there, so my pre-existent attachment to, and admiration for their footballing flair (which all began with one match in 1970) was intensified to an impassioned support - just in time for the 1982 World Cup... ...

Perhaps not finding "joy in the failure of opponents", though, not for me at least, though one might joke about doing just that... some supporters do feel these bitter rivalries...(especially in Italy!)..... "stand up if you hate Man Utd" can be bitter, or it can be humorous...
I'm usually indifferent to Everton's result, but often I like to see both teams from Liverpool doing well....(as long as they're not playing us )

But support for your team doesn't feel like a choice - it is just there, really - even if you can't watch them, you'd always look for the result....

If somebody recalls an event, I often have no idea what year it was, but I can usually remember the Saints result if they were playing that day. The joy of an away point sealed while the best man makes the most coherent speech he can manage......that sort of thing.

( we got a handy draw at Stamford Bridge on April 20 1987, IIRC....and believe me, I still feel the pain of missing the legendary 4-1 beating of Liverpool the day my twin nephews were christened......)

When we moved to Portswood, about a mile from the Dell in 1970, we could hear the crowd roar when we scored. Saturday afternoons were never the same again......

[jayne lee wilson]

The feelings do run deep.... I still can't think about The Miracle of Istanbul without laughing, shaking my head - I guess because, recalling how we felt at halftime (very, er, tired and emotional) it really did feel like a miracle.... (but as for Kiev.......long days of gloom, the neighbourhood even the city, very quiet...)...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEDvtpJX4co

I had a similar experience to your 4-1 thing when I was in Norwich. I didn't go to the Liverpool game (working on an essay) but kept hearing feverish roaring....(my god what on earths going on over there...etc...)

No wonder it was so noisy - with a large contingent of away supporters . The match was a famous one: Norwich 3 Liverpool 5, including one of dear Justin Fashanu's finest moments...
So it goes! Still, the landlady invited me down to see it on MotD....

Have some of us given you some idea of what support means, vinteuil...?

[antongould]

Blackburn 2 Toon 4

See you at Wembley cloughers .........

[johncorrigan]

[QUOTE=Lat-Literal;718305]Still not sure which team to support in Scotland. [QUOTE]
If I wasn't a Buddy, Lat, and had the choice to support any other team (apart from them) I think I might be inclined to Brechin City. Mostly I have to say because of the ground with its iconic beech hedge, and also Brechin is a pretty crazy place. I often think that Oor Wullie looks like he comes from Brechin and that the Stoorie Burn is in fact a tributary of the Esk. Nothing to do with the footie - just a good place to watch it! But we just don't really have the choice, do we?