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Post by superckat on Feb 15, 2014 11:11:28 GMT
Saw a kid about 6 years old in my area of East London wearing a Chelsea rucksack on the way to school. My initial thought was, why doesn't he support West Ham, Orient or even Arsenal or Spurs. Then I thought perhaps his Dad was a supporter who grew up in the area and then moved East when he got older. So it makes sense that the kid would support them too.
Then I thought should you support your local team and not just follow the team your old man did, if you have moved out of that area? Or do kids now feel some kind of affiliation to the team they see most on TV and support them instead.
The days of following your local team doesn't seem to exist much with people moving all over the place and the amount of TV exposure at the moment. Also with the influx of foreign players and foreign owners coming in. The sense of identity is also quickly being lost.
The only thing keeping any form of identity going now really are the old school fans. Even QPR are trying to become a global brand. In a few years time the passion felt in local derby rivalries will be a thing of the past. Players and fans won't care about it.
In posting this I've actually answered my own question. You should follow the team that gives you a sense of identity. Whether that is the team your old man followed or the area you grew up in where you go to games with your mates. That's if you want to keep the passion alive and actually feel something for the team you support, appreciate local rivalries and wear your shirt with pride.
Unfortunately I think TV and the businessmen with not so hidden agendas have turned our beloved sport into an emotionless soulless corpse that has had all the life sucked out of it.
That 6 year old. I bet his dad never lived around the Chelsea area. His dad may not even have lived in this country and when he did, came to East London. But his son supports Chelsea. The new generation of zombie fans, devoid of all feeling. Chelsea fans have been like that for many years now. So kinda proves my point.
Or does it?
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Post by Marc on Feb 15, 2014 11:34:43 GMT
Has it changed that much over the years? I remember when I was a kid, there were plenty supporting teams from all over the place where none of them had lived. Liverpool was the team of the day back then, bit like Man Utd are today.
I was born in North London so I should have supported Arsenal or Tottenham I suppose. In fact, until I was 7, I did in fact support Arsenal which probably explains my dislike of Tottenham. But my dad was born and raised in Shepherds Bush and was probably stood alongside gramps at Loftus Rd in the late 40s. He certainly wasn't going to take me to Highbury so I morphed into a QPR fan at a time when there was Marsh then Bowles and the team that so nearly won the league in '76.
Would I go back and change anything? Would I feck!
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Post by grenqpr on Feb 15, 2014 13:09:07 GMT
Yes. And the best, most loyal supporters are probably those who support their local team. I can't imagine supporting any other team. Having lived in the vicinity of the Loft and attended Chris Wren it seemed to me so natural to support QPR. Some of my friends supported Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and even Fulham.
Support for these other "local" teams I could tolerate but I could not respect those who supported MU or Liverpool and it seemed to me that they supported these teams solely because they were successful at the time. Arsenal gained lots of support because of their success a few years ago but are now losing out to Chelsea and Man City. I will also tolerate supporters who follow their parents because my daughter is a QPR fan even though she never lived close to the Loft.
I spent some of my time in the Caribbean, Grenada to be precise and the only QPR fans there are Expats who once lived in the Bush. Most locals fans in Grenada support Chelsea, Man u, Man City and Arsenal, no surprise there.
Last year I was watching a City/Arsenal match in a bar in Grenada and started an argument about why people were supporting a team they have never seen play live. I was asked which team I supported and proudly answered QPR. My response was greeted with howls of laughter and advice that I should change my allegiance to a more recognised team. Seems to me they failed to understand what genuine support is all about.
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Post by sharky on Feb 15, 2014 15:14:30 GMT
Comment from an overseas fan.
Brought up in the Southern hemisphere I initially supported Liverpool because they were doing well. In the late 80ies I came to London on a working holiday and ended up living within the lights of LR.
I last saw QPR play in 1991, but I have never supported another English team.
With regards to supporting your local team, in most occasions I do, for cricket, Aussie Rules and the A League, but I always have standbys. My mother was born in Scotland and my father in Argentina so in the world Cup once Australia is out, I'll be supporting Argentina. Also when Australia is out in the rugby I support our ANZAC comrades the All Blacks.
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Post by RoryTheRanger on Feb 15, 2014 15:57:05 GMT
Well if I supported my local team I would be either a Southend United fan or a Chelmsford City fan.
I support QPR because of where I was born I guess, St Mary's in Paddington. No history of QPR fans in my family whatsoever, I'm the only one. Couldn't imagine supporting any other team in England.
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Post by sharky on Feb 15, 2014 17:11:11 GMT
I support QPR because of where I was born I guess, St Mary's in Paddington. That's where my wife did her nurse training! I knew there was something special about you Rory!
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Post by Macmoish on Feb 15, 2014 18:15:16 GMT
Of course wherever in the world you were born, or live - you SHOULD support QPR
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Post by marshbowles10 on Feb 15, 2014 18:18:33 GMT
I'll use my own son to make my point. I've been supporting the Hoops for 50+ years, born in Hammersmith, lived in Acton and had my first visit to Loftus Road at the age of 5. However at the age of 16 my parents moved out to leafy Buckinghamshire. No change, the die was cast. You can change your job, your wife, your car, but you can never change your football team.
Advance 20 years and with the birth of my son I want him to be the next generation. I take him aged 5. He enjoys it. QPR are his team. He is now 26 years old and we go, father and son together.
However when he was 7-8 he came under huge pressure at school. QPR were awful. His mates 'supported' the winning teams.
Had I stopped going to Loftus Road because it was too far or too expensive and he wanted to go to the local team which is Wycombe Wanderers I would have supported him. 'Dad I'll always have a soft spot for QPR but I'd like to support Wycombe as I can go to games'. Had he said he wanted to support Man U or Liverpool or the unmentionables then I would have disowned him. What son?
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Post by Lonegunmen on Feb 15, 2014 19:31:43 GMT
Yes you should support your local team, I haven't missed a Phoenix game yet within New Zealand in the A League, this afternoon will be my 90th consecutive Home game. As for QPR, my friends and I had to choose a team at the time in 1975, I saw Dave Thomas in a shoot mag and thought what a cool kit and I saw them play Aston Villa and my choice was made for me. Such style! Although I guess i could've become a Villa fan. Still, coming up to 39 years of QPR support.....
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2014 19:52:31 GMT
I'm quite happy with kids supporting/following a team other than there local one.
If they all did then qpr would not be the club we know it is for all these years.
We are a very exclusive club dontchano
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Post by RoryTheRanger on Feb 15, 2014 20:15:51 GMT
See I was born in Paddington, lived in Wembley until I was two, moved out to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire until at the age of 9 moved to Essex where I've been ever since.
So does that make my local club QPR, Southend or some club around Buckinghamshire?
I say QPR, I have no affiliation with any other team.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2014 20:48:36 GMT
See I was born in Paddington, lived in Wembley until I was two, moved out to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire until at the age of 9 moved to Essex where I've been ever since. So does that make my local club QPR, Southend or some club around Buckinghamshire? I say QPR, I have no affiliation with any other team. And that my friend makes you a very unique supporter, just like the rest of us. We few.
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Post by terryb on Feb 15, 2014 20:51:52 GMT
marshbowles.
Whatever you do, don't let your son be associated with the devil incarnate.
That club next to the M40 must be avoided at all costs!
Just travel down the road to watch Chesham United. A real club in a town with a lot of Rangers fans!
maude
Once again you are correct.
We are a special band that follow the R's.
COME ON MY TEAM!
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Post by deannw10 on Feb 15, 2014 20:52:05 GMT
Most certainly.Not necessarily the team closest to you, but In the case of west London then you support a west London team, whether it be us, chavs, fools or even Brentford...not united, Liverpool or even arsenal and spurs and the same goes for north/east/south London.I've got know problem with someone from Kensal Green or Ladbroke grove supporting the chavs even though we would be the 'local' team, i do however get irritated when I see people around here in there utd/lpool/arse/spurs tops...what would they know about the Manchester/merseyside/north London derby??!!.That kid you saw should have had a west ham or orient bag, how would the likes of orient improve if there losing the local support to a club the other side of the city...
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Post by Roller on Feb 15, 2014 21:03:37 GMT
My local team is Palace, my Dad is a Gooner. I was of no fixed abode until I saw that Venables/Francis free kick and I was hooked. I guess (or at least hope!) that fits in with a "sense of identity", I've always loved a maverick.
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Post by Macmoish on Feb 15, 2014 22:19:36 GMT
....until I saw that Venables/Francis free kick and I was hooked..." 15 minutes into the video... Venables chips it over...Francis scores
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2014 22:52:08 GMT
My dad saved me from being a Man u fan, i was about 5 or 6 and used to put the pannini stickers of Man u players all over my bedroom as well as posters of the team, one day he came in and saw all the Man u stuff, the next day he came in and said come on son were going to the football, my first game and not expecting it i was excited, but didn't know where we were going, so i remember asking and my dad said QPR, he then told me years later he had basically abandoned his post by letting me nearly becoming a Man u fan.
He himself had been a rangers fan for years and thought i would just follow him without the guidance a young fan needs if he is to follow his dads team, so like marshbowles10 did with his son he went back to his post and done the right thing by taking me on a regular basis.
And am i glad he did, those memories are special memories from my childhood, we used to meet my dad's mates he worked with at Watney's, big Ernie was the size of a house i will always remember him, we would go to the ground, well my dad and his pals would go upstairs in the springbok and play cards for a few hours, whilst i went with my mate to his nan's who lived in batman close, she would feed us up give us a few bob each then we would go knock on other kids doors for a kickabout, then use the money for some more grub from the chippy, then old man would come out of pub half pissed, buy me a programme then watch the R's, i told you all that because if he didn't take me i would be a Man u fan i'm sure of that, so whether its your local or dads team follow them because if you live in london you wont get to have those memories like i did if you support Man u or City, or Liverpool.
Now i know its different for people born and bought up in another country who dont have a family tie to the club, so this is why i really respect those who chose us as their team, not glory hunters, football fans who understand the hurt and joy the same, its a privilege to have those fans and i hope you can spread the word more, educate those so called fans like grenqpr talks about who are i would guess in the main clueless when it comes to the beautiful game.
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Post by Roller on Feb 15, 2014 22:53:32 GMT
....until I saw that Venables/Francis free kick and I was hooked..." 15 minutes into the video... Venables chips it over...Francis scores That'll be the one, and it still makes me smile. Thanks Mac.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2014 23:09:33 GMT
Saw a kid about 6 years old in my area of East London wearing a Chelsea rucksack on the way to school. My initial thought was, why doesn't he support West Ham, Orient or even Arsenal or Spurs. Then I thought perhaps his Dad was a supporter who grew up in the area and then moved East when he got older. So it makes sense that the kid would support them too. Then I thought should you support your local team and not just follow the team your old man did, if you have moved out of that area? Or do kids now feel some kind of affiliation to the team they see most on TV and support them instead. The days of following your local team doesn't seem to exist much with people moving all over the place and the amount of TV exposure at the moment. Also with the influx of foreign players and foreign owners coming in. The sense of identity is also quickly being lost. The only thing keeping any form of identity going now really are the old school fans. Even QPR are trying to become a global brand. In a few years time the passion felt in local derby rivalries will be a thing of the past. Players and fans won't care about it. In posting this I've actually answered my own question. You should follow the team that gives you a sense of identity. Whether that is the team your old man followed or the area you grew up in where you go to games with your mates. That's if you want to keep the passion alive and actually feel something for the team you support, appreciate local rivalries and wear your shirt with pride. Unfortunately I think TV and the businessmen with not so hidden agendas have turned our beloved sport into an emotionless soulless corpse that has had all the life sucked out of it. That 6 year old. I bet his dad never lived around the Chelsea area. His dad may not even have lived in this country and when he did, came to East London. But his son supports Chelsea. The new generation of zombie fans, devoid of all feeling. Chelsea fans have been like that for many years now. So kinda proves my point. Or does it? So if you was to wear a QPR shirt in your local area, people could say the same about you
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