The Non-attending Fan

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So should I weigh in?:D if you support two teams...

I honestly don't care as long as the ones who go to the game are alright. It must be different for those, who like me, grew up around the area. Everyone was either Woolwich or spurs. There must be a different connection. I am being diplomatic not saying it is better just different.
I think you're right.

When I was a kid and only went two or three times a year, I was so excited by those games even if they were the shittest games imaginable (end of season games when we're already definitely finishing 10th, early rounds of the league cup etc). Now I would go out of belonging and duty to those games but with only a fraction of that initial buzz.

It does change when it becomes a constant part of your life. Not saying fans that don't go aren't fans, but it's not the same. Some of the feelings we go through are all the same but some are different. I think the more you go the more of an attachment there is to the club. It's like a relationship, as you get older and grow together, in some ways it becomes less exciting but the bond gets stronger.

I think growing up in the area, living there, or having roots there, changes the nature of the attachment as well. That's why I could never understand people who wanted us to go to Stratford but if you don't have ties to the area then you might feel differently about that kind of thing. Having said that there are people from miles away who still regard Tottenham as a spiritual home and would always support the area not just the team.

As for the money yes it's a lot if you're hard up, but look how much cigarettes, takeaways, restaurants, alcohol, drugs, clothes, going out, holidays etc cost. A lot of people who watch Spurs cut down on other things. The far flung trips are expensive but for me they often act as holidays as well. Luckily my wife likes travelling to the likes of Azerbaijan.

For me I've found my level which is pretty much all the weekend domestic games, plus one European trip a season, maybe two if we go far. For some that's a massive commitment but it's only a fraction of the commitment made by others. When I've gone more than this I felt as though I was giving more than I was getting, it wasn't a good feeling so I cut back, it's nice not to wake up for work feeling knackered because you went to Sunderland the night before. Let alone travelling to Australia for friendlies etc. At the same time I don't know what I would do on a Saturday/Sunday if it wasn't for football.
 
Agree with most of your post, but to be fair, the away lot are there on merit (unless they've got someone else's ticket). Sure there's people who go more now we're winning more often, and I don't agree with it, but the sort of person you're talking about maybe now goes to every away game and before went to half of them...they still went to half before, therefore they've earned the LPs and the right to go more often now IMO.

I know a few people like that. Personally I don't think I go to many more games when we're doing well. If it's a midweek away game far from London, I guess I'll only make the effort if it's an important one, but weekends I'll always be there whether we're first or last in the league.
You're Mr spurs mate
 
I wouldn't say they were less of a fan, the only thing that winds me up is people who don't go but moan at the atmosphere and say the fans were shit..

Perhaps you have to feel that they are moaning because if they could afford to go or if they could be there because circumstance allows they know they would be making the very most of it. They perhaps feel that other fans who get to go see Spurs every other week start to take it for granted?
 
if you gave me a weekly wage that can afford match and a job that did not clash with any matches including week days ones then yes i would always be at tottenham on the weekend but working at wetherspoons i spend most my weekends working and mostly always work midweek too so barly get a chance to go tottenham unless i book it off as holiday or just have the luck of having a day off that day
 
if you gave me a weekly wage that can afford match and a job that did not clash with any matches including week days ones then yes i would always be at tottenham on the weekend but working at wetherspoons i spend most my weekends working and mostly always work midweek too so barly get a chance to go tottenham unless i book it off as holiday or just have the luck of having a day off that day
Mate I still need to come into the mossy well to use your staff discount.:levyeyes:
 
If you love the club regardless of whether you go to games you are a real supporter.

Alot of our fans who followed us home and away in the 70s 80s including when we relegated can't afford to go to games. Does that make them any less supporters then people that go to games today.

I remember after we lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the league cup final I was walking through my area gutted and an old boy came up to me to talk about the match. He said to me at least you got to go. I haven't been for years can't afford it.

Sadly football has become gentrified and many people why love the club can never go to a game. That's why the cheap Europa league games at Wembley were a touch of class from the club.

You also have all our fans around the world who get up at stupid hours and travel for miles to watch games. Those guys clearly love the team as well.

If you are privledged enough to have the funds and to live close enough to go to games then you are a very lucky supporter.
 
I wouldn't say they were less of a fan, the only thing that winds me up is people who don't go but moan at the atmosphere and say the fans were shit..
Do you remember that cunt who popped his head in here a few months back? Don't doubt he was a Spurs fan, but openly admitted to not singing but posted multiple times about trying to improve the atmosphere. Fucking knob, he got right on my tits and he had to be told. I know not everyone sings at games, that's fine, not everyone does, I'm sat around a few around me that don't sing, but none of them tell me to sing louder or what song to sing.
 
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Can I say,whether you go on a regular basis or not whether you can afford it or not it's......Tottenham Hotspur we are speaking about for feck sake we have only won two trophy in the
Just to clarify - I wasn't just talking about attending matches. If you buy a shirt or any official merchandise, you're supporting the club in your own way.
Well that's my input for the majority of the time I'm afraid! Logistics and money are the issue as far as I'm concerned,but am I any less of a supporter/fan? My visits to Tottenham have been few and far between over the years but I've stucken with them which I know is easy sitting in rural Aberdeenshire watching from afar, but this is Tottenham Hotspur we are speaking about here,no regular champions league appearances,no championships won,the odd cup final,the very odd cup win! There is one thing you definitely can't say bout anyone who chooses Tottenham they ain't doing it for the glory! Whether you go week in week out you or you order a keyring from the shop it all counts in one way or other! But mind if you have supported them over the last twenty years or so,you've given them more than they've given you! Even if it is only a keyring from the shop.
 
The whole argument does remind me of when I was a kid at school (many years ago) when everyone supported someone but the real "proper" fans where those who went to games, or at least said they did! Id been telling everyone id been going to spurs games for ages before I finally agreed to meet a mate at Golders Green bus station and get the 102 to sterling way and saunter down the high road and enter the Paxton road for the first time.. The rest is history!
Football is so widely watched, followed these days that most people have an affinity with a team and I know people who have never been to a game in their life still have the whole weekend ruined if "their" team loses. They are still fans, they show an interest in a team, they read about them, talk about them develop an irrational attachment to them etc etc.
Being based in Brum with a young family for the last 18 years getting down to WHL has been a struggle on average managing 2/3 games a season but the number of televised games has meant we have felt involved in the clubs progress.
This year has been fantastic with a change of circumstances meaning we could attend every game if we could get tickets and we expect to be regulars next season.
Regarding the being there or watching live on TV debate there is absolutely no contest. After the Watford and \Bournemouth games we will have watched Spurs 11 times this season, each game will have been shown live on TV but we wouldn't have missed a single game there really is no comparison!
 
What makes Tottenham great is something completely unique, intangible and unquantifiable. And so is what makes you a good fan.

That's really it, as far as I'm concerned.
 
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