On the Ball (new Football Focus)

[Annasfield]

Must be a hard life being a united fan.

[Atila Reincarnate]

Yes we were rather good then but we were playing better football, I think anyway, and better to watch in season 2001/2002.

[matthew123]

Yup half their songs are about Liverpool - and the other half they've stolen from Liverpool...

[ratty]

Question to people who support top 4 sides. Does winning a trophy give you much pleasure?

I am guessing that Spurs fans loved winning the coca cola cup last year and I know that our FA Cup win was one of the greatest days of my life, so how does that compare to supporting a team that has an expectation of silverware? Surely it cannot be as good?

I have always wondered this so any thoughts on it would be very interesting.

[red devil]

Yea, and the team that is 15 points ahead of you, even your one-eyed leader has given up...'in Arsene we settle for 4th/5th place'...

Atila Reincarnate Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> red devil Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

>

> > You really do need to learn to form your own

> > opinions, you gooners are so gullible, you even

> > think you've still got a great team...;-)

> >

> This would be the same team that beat you 2 -1 at

> our place, yea?

[Atila Reincarnate]

I support my side come hell or high water, I've followed them through the lean times in 70's & especially the 80's and for me silverware and titles are the icicng on the cake. Just being there to roar your side on and take the piss out of the opposition gives me a real buzz, the bloke at pompey with the bell and the silly hat, now he is the epitome of a real fan. Unlike some of the tw*ts that occupy seats in the hospitality areas at clubs like United, Arsenal, and Chelsea.

[Sandperson]

Nah, winning trophies is boring. It's just more stuff to polish.....:))

I for one enjoy united winning trophies. Only one team can win and it's a wonderful feeling when it's your team. 1999 was one of the best nights of my life and last years European Cup win was close to it. FA Cup wins, league wins they are all special. I'm even excited about 1st March!

[matthew123]

Yes winning a trophy gives me great pleasure, as does getting a seat with a table on the way home from Anfield with a cold 4 pack of lager :)

Seriously, I enjoy all trophy wins... to date, the Champions League final when I was in Istanbul was incredible. I've never been so happy at the final whistle as that game, that was what football is all about! The most shell shocked occasion was when I sat at Anfield when a Mr.M.Thomas shoved the ball in the back of the net..

So there we have it two extremes - and then you can really measure what pleasure and pain on the football pitch is all about...

[Atila Reincarnate]

red devil Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Yea, and the team that is 15 points ahead of you,

> even your one-eyed leader has given up...'in

> Arsene we settle for 4th/5th place'...

>

> Atila Reincarnate Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > red devil Wrote:

> >

> --------------------------------------------------

>

> > -----

> >

> > > You really do need to learn to form your own

> > > opinions, you gooners are so gullible, you

> even

> > > think you've still got a great team...;-)

> > >

> > This would be the same team that beat you 2 -1

> at

> > our place, yea?

Still beat you 2-1 though. And I remember a time when you were 12 points ahead and still lost the league, to guess who? You've not won the league yet, but if you don't I'll be first in line to rip the piss out of you. The league is yours to lose. I'll take our one eyed leader over your purple nosed pr*ck any day of the week. Oh dear, the mist is starting to descend. United fans can give it large once they've won the league.

[Jah Lush]

Of course I thoroughly enjoyed being at Wembley to beat Chelsea last year in the League Cup final and I'll be there again on the 1st March to stuff Man Utd too.

[ratty]

I guess winning in Europe is a step up and something that no team does often.

I for one would like to see Arsenal do that as for some reason I think they deserve it more than Liverpool, Chelsea or Man U. (I don't know why I think this)

The bloke with the hat and the bell at Pompey is of course the epitome of it (even if he is a total pain in the arse if you are sat next to him at an away game).

I wet my knickers when Liverpool beat AC Milan - thought it was ace, and in 99 when Man U beat Bayern I was equally damp. Did not give a toss about Man U last year though (just glad we stopped them doing the treble :p )

[Atila Reincarnate]

Remember 2005 FA cup final. Man U were all over us and by far the better sid on the day, BUT oh how we laughed when Paddy stroked the ball home to win us the cup with his last kick as an Arsenal player. Now normally I wouldn't have posted this but the red devil geezer is getting on my wick.

[lard]

matthew123 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Yup half their songs are about Liverpool - and the

> other half they've stolen from Liverpool...

I noticed this the other day when I watched them. They are literally obsessed with us.

Have fun in Madrid yous that are going..jealous over that..will be special in the Bernebeu.

That Micheal Thomas game I can still remember that second of silence everywhere in the ground whilst seeing them go mad in the far corner....was a weird sensation almost as if the sound took longer to come out than the movement...like "deafening silence" in action.

[red devil]

Good question Ratty.

Absolutely, I never take anything for granted. It felt like winning it for the first time when we won the league a couple of years ago when it looked like Chelsea would be on another planet and dominate for decades.

After winning the European Cup in '68 we were relegated in '74. So things can change quickly. Look at Leeds' situation now(stifles snigger).

Some football clubs are a credit crunch pack of cards waiting to collapse, and I'm sure one day a biggish club will come a cropper...

ratty Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Question to people who support top 4 sides. Does

> winning a trophy give you much pleasure?

>

> I am guessing that Spurs fans loved winning the

> coca cola cup last year and I know that our FA Cup

> win was one of the greatest days of my life, so

> how does that compare to supporting a team that

> has an expectation of silverware? Surely it cannot

> be as good?

>

> I have always wondered this so any thoughts on it

> would be very interesting.

[red devil]

Calm down Atila, if you can't take it don't dish it out...peace

Atila Reincarnate Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Remember 2005 FA cup final. Man U were all over us

> and by far the better sid on the day, BUT oh how

> we laughed when Paddy stroked the ball home to win

> us the cup with his last kick as an Arsenal

> player. Now normally I wouldn't have posted this

> but the red devil geezer is getting on my wick.

[Atila Reincarnate]

Trust me I can take it, ask others on this forum, I just have a dislike of London based Man U fans always have had, always will.

[red devil]

What do you mean by London based?..

Atila Reincarnate Wrote:

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> Trust me I can take it, ask others on this forum,

> I just have a dislike of London based Man U fans

> always have had, always will.

[Atila Reincarnate]

I hate Londoners latching on to teams like united when they have a choice of so many other, more local clubs, my support stems from the fact that I lived in North London until I was 8 and then moved to south east London but never changed my club. Too many London fans only latched on to Man U when the success started to come along & that is unforgiveable. It was the same when Liverpool were successful, suddenly everyone was a Liverpool fan. So if you come from Manchester then good luck, if not you at least now know why I'm so anti London Man U fans.

[Sandperson]

It's pointless getting into a conversation with Atila. He's turning again. No one who supports United is a proper fan, we're all plastic, the only team who plays decent football is Arsenal blah, blah, blah. Typical Gooner basically.

Oh, I forgot the classic Fergie's a purple nosed alcoholic. That should about cover it.

And it was all going so well.

[Atila Reincarnate]

Sandperson Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> It's pointless getting into a conversation with

> Atila. He's turning again. No one who supports

> United is a proper fan, we're all plastic, the

> only team who plays decent football is Arsenal

> blah, blah, blah. Typical Gooner basically.

>

> Oh, I forgot the classic Fergie's a purple nosed

> alcoholic. That should about cover it.

Not at all, Londoners or anyone not Mancunian and supports Man U I have no time for. I've never said all Man U fans are plastic fans. A good example of this was guy I met on holiday some years ago who was born and bred in Pompey, lived in Pompey and supported, yup, Man U. We got on famously..........NOT

[Sandperson]

Well, I'm neither a Londoner or a Mancunian and still love my team and have done since the mid-seventies when we were shit and all around me supported Liverpool.

[Ladygooner]

Enough you boys! Everyone is allowed to support whatever team they like - regardless of where they come from or where they currently live!

[Keef]

And from where I'm sitting Atila hasn't started anything.

[red devil]

Utd have always had a tradition of a strong London following even during the bad times, remember the Cockney Reds of the 60's and 70's, as well as the more recent good times. You might be of an age when watching football on TV wasn't as common as it is now. It was an easy choice to support your local team. All my mates at school were either Utd or City fans. One of my teachers played local non-league football and had a trial at City. But it's a different world today. The game has gone global, children can watch games from all over the world, played by players from all over the world. Local heroes are now few and far between. I'm sure there are plenty of Arsenal fans outside of a North London postcode that follow Arsenal because of players like Henry. Do you not welcome them into the fold? Are they not welcome at the Emirates? How do you feel about the strong Irish following that Arsenal enjoy. Should they only be allowed to support Shamrock Rovers instead?..

[matthew123]

If people insist you should only support your local football team, then maybe they should work and live in that same said local community if they want to be consistent in their prehistoric argument.

In this country we have the freedom of choice to do many things, one of which is to support which ever football team we like without having to go on a guilt trip explaining why!