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Which other club (or clubs) do you follow?


Professor

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One thing I'll never understand is following a foreign club. I don't see the attraction in getting excited about a team playing in a country you'll rarely, if at all, visit.

 

It's mostly a baseless affinity. I might decide to just support Bayern Munich because they are good and them winning a lot makes me feel good about myself.

 

What's there to understand? I'm a Feyenoord fan for almost 50 years now but there were always other clubs I could sympathise with... There are several clubs in Europe I like, in England it's Southampton for me. I took an intrest in the Saints back when le Tissier played his marvellous game and didn't bother about playing for a big club. I was pleasantly surprised when Ulli van Gobbel became a Saint. He wasn't a great player but I did like the guy who was some kind of cult figure at Feyenoord. I saw the downfall of the Saints but wasn't heartbroken like a real fan and I wasn't in high spirits when The Saints made it back to the PL, it did move me however. Why? Because I somehow feel connected to this club from some small town across the channel I will probably never visit as it is not likely that Feyenoord will meet Southampton in a European game... (That would be the day!) My sympathy for the Saints is comparable to having some good memories of former girlfriends who do have a place in your heart. Does that make any sense to you? It is nice to visit this forum every now and then and to read what's going on and yes, the fact that Koeman, Clasie and Pelle are part of Southampton these days does matter to me...

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Doncaster Rovers are my second team, due to family connections. Spent a lot of time there growing up too. The brief period they were a league above us felt a bit odd to say the least.

 

Also have a soft spot for Nuneaton (birth place) and St.Johnstone (family in Perth, been to a few games. Also a member of the Saints-sphere). Keep an eye out for Blackpool results for my gran, a bit of a joyless exercise. She has some good stories of seeing them during the Stanley Matthews era.

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I watch Maidenhead United reasonably regularly in the Conference South and you can drink by the pitch there. They've even opened a second bar there this season!

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

It's a local authority thing. Apparently, Hamlet have been told that if they go up to the next level that they won't be given a licence for pitch-side drinking & that it'll be restricted to the club house bar. There are many clubs in the Ryman who won't let you take booze pitchside, frustratingly, so it's all down to the man rather than the level.

 

Didn't stop us sneaking cans in at Whitehawk last saturday though! :D

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What's there to understand? I'm a Feyenoord fan for almost 50 years now but there were always other clubs I could sympathise with... There are several clubs in Europe I like, in England it's Southampton for me. I took an intrest in the Saints back when le Tissier played his marvellous game and didn't bother about playing for a big club. I was pleasantly surprised when Ulli van Gobbel became a Saint. He wasn't a great player but I did like the guy who was some kind of cult figure at Feyenoord. I saw the downfall of the Saints but wasn't heartbroken like a real fan and I wasn't in high spirits when The Saints made it back to the PL, it did move me however. Why? Because I somehow feel connected to this club from some small town across the channel I will probably never visit as it is not likely that Feyenoord will meet Southampton in a European game... (That would be the day!) My sympathy for the Saints is comparable to having some good memories of former girlfriends who do have a place in your heart. Does that make any sense to you? It is nice to visit this forum every now and then and to read what's going on and yes, the fact that Koeman, Clasie and Pelle are part of Southampton these days does matter to me...

 

Good reply. Many of us will now follow Feyenoord due to Koeman connections but there is not the euphoria when they win.

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Doncaster Rovers are my second team, due to family connections. Spent a lot of time there growing up too. The brief period they were a league above us felt a bit odd to say the least.

 

Also have a soft spot for Nuneaton (birth place) and St.Johnstone (family in Perth, been to a few games. Also a member of the Saints-sphere). Keep an eye out for Blackpool results for my gran, a bit of a joyless exercise. She has some good stories of seeing them during the Stanley Matthews era.

 

Also worth mentioning Chappers scored the winning goal in a Doncaster - Barnsley Derby yesterday. Dany N'Guessan also played for Rovers, while Oscar Gobern didn't make the game.

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Results I look out for rather than teams I follow:

 

Cheltenham Town (local team)

 

Then Exeter City, Plymouth Argyle.

 

If I had to nominate a team in Scotland , as was a trend in the 80's, then Hearts.

 

Europe: with RK here and the great posts we have from Feyenoord fans I occasionally glance at the Dutch league and wish them - and Arnham - well.

 

In the premiership the only other club I have historically had a passing interest in is Newcastle. But now of course we all look fondly on our little cousins, the Cherries (not that they reciprocate of course!!, which makes it all the more fun.).

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Europe: with RK here and the great posts we have from Feyenoord fans I occasionally glance at the Dutch league and wish them wel

 

Thanks Badger! Feyenoord is at the top of the table right now though we still don't play very well. Luckily we have Elia this year, trying to get back in his old form by playing regularly. Hopefully he will make the difference when we play Ajax twice in the Kuip later this month (competition and cup). Would be nice when the Saints give them something to think about next thursday... :D

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Thanks Badger! Feyenoord is at the top of the table right now though we still don't play very well. Luckily we have Elia this year, trying to get back in his old form by playing regularly. Hopefully he will make the difference when we play Ajax twice in the Kuip later this month (competition and cup). Would be nice when the Saints give them something to think about next thursday... :D

 

A couple if knocks you mean? [emoji6]

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Football has the ability to make you utterly crazy. I played the original Football Manager (then called championship mgr) back in 1994 and played as Walsall in the bottom tier. Started following their real results culminating in me travelling to Elland Rd to see them take on high flying Leeds in the FA cup. 2-2 after 90mins then Phil Massinga came on and scored a hat trick. It was a phase... I love saints but I've never travelled that far to see us play! Bonkers.

 

I went to see Middlesbrough v Chester in the FA Cup 3rd Round in 1997 for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I'm going to Notts County v Plymouth on Sunday (my 4th ever Notts County match but first at Meadow Lane). Some people just like football.

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I now follow AFC Totton home and away. I followed Saints since 1975, went to lots of away games through the McMenemy, Nichol and Branfoot eras. I still love Saints massively, but I don't get to see them as often nowadays, I have been to St Mary's twice this season (FC Midgtylland and Man Utd). I gave up my season ticket in the summer of 2006 but kept going to a bulk of the home games until the end of the 2007/8 season. I got worn down by the Lowe, Crouch, Wilde fueds that engulfed the club in 2007/8 as that was all we seemed to talk and argue about, the football became secondary to the politics at the club. I have followed Totton home and away ever since really and I really enjoy it despite some of the results! By the way with no Saints game this weekend AFC Totton are charging just £5 for adults £3 for Oaps and Students and a quid for under 16's. They are playing Tiverton Town in a Southern League game at the Testwood Stadium.

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I keep an eye on Bashley and Fareham Town. I followed both everywhere in my teenage years due to my dad managing those teams (before that it was Totton) and had an absolutely great time. Fareham doing Scarborough away in the FA Trophy was probably the best trip ever and a young Paul Moody scored an absolute belter in that game.

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I had a soft spot for Stoke, mainly because I lived there for a few years back in the 80s and went to a lot of matches. They used to play some decent football back then, but over the last few years I've lost interest in them altogether.

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Greece - Olympiakos. Met them on the way to Cyprus for UCL match in old Athens Airport. I was wearing a Saints shirt so almost got invited with them. Mrs Winnersaint wanted to go home as did Miss Winnersaint. Made the wait home very entertaining though.

Spain - Athletic Bilbao.

Germany - Eintracht Frankfurt

Netherlands - Feyenoord and have done for many years, I think with them and Bilbao it's the port city link.

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Saints are my club first and foremost, I don't feel the same way about any team although I do follow a couple.

 

St Johnstone - Where I saw my first ever game (0-0 vs Aberdeen in 2000ish - not the best choice!), have family in the area so have been to McDiarmid plenty of times.

Eastleigh - Mate I used to work with dragged me to a few games, seen them a dozen times or so home and away. Good bunch of people, well run club on the up.

Hartley Wintney FC - Where I grew up, can almost see the pitch from my parents house! Another club on the up - former Saint Sam Argent is banging in the goals this season.

 

Guess that doesn't make me a proper Saints fan :(

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I watch all televised premier league matches, purely because I love the game and find the prem the most entertaining league in the world. Games like West Brom v Norwhich I might record and watch if there's nothing else on. But games like Sunday (Merseyside derby and Arsenal v United I love watching). I tend to support the side that benefits Saints or hope for a draw, but I do love the "big games and rivalries). I also watch all Real Madrid v Barca matches (el clasico?) and the Madrid derby (Atletico vs Real). I also watch the big teams in the FA Cup and Carling Cup or whatever it is now (League Cup) and el clasico and Madrid derby in the Copa del Rey. Then the Champions League I watch quite reigiously. I usually watch all English teams until they're knocked out and then follow the remaining big teams through the knockout. When ITV and Sky had the English games you had to watch the Sky game first as the ITV idiots used to show the score updates in the top left of the screen and verbally read it out to you. Where as Sky flashes up down the bottom with a blank blue box giving you a few seconds to look away before they showed the score updates along the bottom of the screen. They never verbally read out scores which was really nice. Now the BT lot have control they do what ITV used to do. However as they have all the matches there's no getting away from it... I would write in and ask them to not show the scores as my UCL viewing has been halfed this season. Thanks to BT... I also follow the English teams in the Europa but like the League Cup I can take it or leave it a bit.

 

Football aside I watch F1, Six Nations, Rugby World Cup, Football World Cup, Olympics and UFC (Big Rousey and McGregor fan, though I have great respect for Aldo so not sure what camp I'm in there. Also a Bisping fan.

 

I quite like my sport. Whatever means I dont have to watch Eastenders, Corrie, Emmerdale, Geordie thingy, TOWIE, Big Bruda or Ex Factor.....

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My other team these days is Plymouth Argyle - no real surprise as my father/brother in law are both fans and they are my local team nowadays. Have seen them play at Home Park a reasonable amount over the past five or six years.

 

To be brutally honest, it's about the only football I can afford to watch these days with a young family; matchday ticket for a Premier League game and transport etc to St Mary's would easily cost me in excess of £60 + a good six hours travelling, whereas my Argyle ticket the other day was £21 plus free transport of course with the in laws!

 

I have also been to watch Bristol City several times over the past few years as one of my best mates has a season ticket there, and I used to live in Cardiff so it wasn't all that far to go to games. So I keep an eye out for their results too.

 

Other clubs I keep an eye out for are Cardiff and Exeter due to them being the local team at various points in my life.

 

Will always be a Saints fan first and foremost though:)

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Dulwich Hamlet were my local team for a few years - I used to go to the gym that overlooks the pitch!

 

Dulwich Hamlet were my local team as a lad. I used to bunk into the ground round the back of the reserve pitch - that was the old ground before it became a Sainsburys. That was 50 years ago!

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Anyone go to Eastleigh tonight? Was free entry, they beat top of the table Forest Green 3-2 with an injury time winner.

 

 

 

I actually wanted to go to that one. Was going to combine it with a meal at the Concorde, but I'm afraid John Cooper Clarke and Squeeze at Bournemouth Pavilion ended up taking precedence. :)

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Anyone go to Eastleigh tonight? Was free entry, they beat top of the table Forest Green 3-2 with an injury time winner.

 

Cracking game. Despite being without Constable, their main forward, they played really well and the last minute winner was well deserved. Special mention for Odubade, normally a winger, who played on his own up front against 2 massive centre halves and ran them ragged.

 

They have now beaten 3 top sides in Wrexham, Tranmere and Forest Green in the past 4 games. Pity about the Braintree home game in between.

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Dulwich Hamlet were my local team as a lad. I used to bunk into the ground round the back of the reserve pitch - that was the old ground before it became a Sainsburys. That was 50 years ago!

 

Ha, yep that's definitely before my time - I was there 2005-2008 and it was very much a Sainsburys. If I recall I think there are still some training pitches there though...

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