R.I.C.O. Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 I was having this debate with a mate of mine last night. We are both from Brum, both of us support Villa being the nearest team to where we were born and the fact that most of our families also supported Villa through the ages. Now, a bit of background. Both of us either hate or pity Small Heath (of course). We've never met a Small Heathen who we could say that we liked, or was able to have a decent conversation about football with, without the obligatory decent into the slanging match. However the only redeeming feature we had was that despite many crawling out of the woodwork in summer 2002, at least you could say they supported their local team. Despite all the guff that happened from 2002-2005, and what will invariably happen if they come back up, at least you'll find a majority of brummys going to their games. However, despite the fact that the city is quite polarised between Villa and SHA, more often that not I will see an abundance of Man Utd fans walking through town, or on the bus. These plastic mancs have brum accents, with no connection to Manchester. Last night I was walking past a bar on broad street on my way home from work. It was only 7 PM but it was already rammed with Man Utd fans, all with strong birmingham accents. Many of which probably jumped on the corporate glory hunting bandwagon during the 1990's (lifelong fans, no less :roll: ) So we questioned who was the worst - SHA "fans" or Brummy reds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 5, 2007 VT Supporter Share Posted April 5, 2007 I voted for Brummie Reds being worse. At least the Noses support a local team. I might make an exception, e.g. if it's someone who was born in Brum, but to a family of Mancunians who have supported United from way back when they were shit. Otherwise, no, they're gloryhunting clearings in the woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddysi Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 I voted for Brummie Reds being worse. At least the Noses support a local team. I might make an exception, e.g. if it's someone who was born in Brum, but to a family of Mancunians who have supported United from way back when they were shit. Otherwise, no, they're gloryhunting clearings in the woods. I agree, whatever you think about the city, you can't accuse their fans of being glory seekers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancsVillan Posted April 5, 2007 Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2007 Can I just say that this 'local' team thing is something that for years has been used as a stick to beat people with, not in an Italian police way but still, how do we define locality for a team. Aston Villa Football Club is based in Birmingham and yet I would say that about 40% of it's support on match days comes from at least an hour away. Well from Preston I can be in either Manchest or Birmingham in a similar time. I bet there are days when you can get from say Tamworth / Lichfield area to Manchester as quickly as you can to VP, the M42 and local transport being what they are. I supported Villa because in those times you did support your local side, although it was becoming more fashionable to support the successful sides. If I had pushed that onto AJ, I would no longer be attending at all as he would want to go to another teams games. There are numerous reasons why people support there team and for me locality no longer has a place in that decision and is also disrespectful to those members of this very site who have no connection with Birmingham, the Midlands or even the UK. And to those I would like to apologise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc443 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Aston Villa Football Club is based in Birmingham and yet I would say that about 40% of it's support on match days comes from at least an hour away. I'd contest that. Around where I sit, neary everyone has a Brummy accent, and I speak to a lot of people at gesm I haven't met before, and I've never come across one from outside the West Midlands. I'd say its more like 25%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancsVillan Posted April 5, 2007 Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2007 Aston Villa Football Club is based in Birmingham and yet I would say that about 40% of it's support on match days comes from at least an hour away. I'd contest that. Around where I sit, neary everyone has a Brummy accent, and I speak to a lot of people at gesm I haven't met before, and I've never come across one from outside the West Midlands. I'd say its more like 25%. There a fair few brummy accents who live more than an hour away! It was a guesstimate. There was a survey about locality of season ticket holders does anyone remember it's findings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted April 5, 2007 Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2007 Neither are "worse". That implies they are "bad" They are not bad, just because they follow the fortunes of one team or another. Sport is a "free" choice - a small boy in the most dictatorial country can follow the fortunes of any team from anywhere in the world, and the results can make him happy or sad, same as for us lot. I guess that once upon a time, people just went along and watched their local team(s), but it's not like that now. Electronic communications and the like have made the world a small place. 'Noses mainly follow their local team, Brummie Reds follow Man U on the telly, some go, I guess. It's their choice, their decision. So what? I guess people who never go might not be (able to be) "supporters", but they are still "fans". They're them, we're us. We're not so different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted April 5, 2007 Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2007 I agree entirely with Al. Its a bit disrespectful to the Norwegian fans who came over on Monday for their second visit of the season. Are they any less of a fan than the rest of us because they live further away. In fact if I supported my "local" team I should be supporting West Brom or Walsall (not sure which one is the closest as the crow flies), VP is definately third in the how far the ground is away from my family home league table and I'll wager theres absolutely plenty of other Brum based fans who are closer to either sha or the Baggies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 I think the point that the initial poster is trying to make is that whilst you don't have to support the club closest to where you grew up as the crow flies, to support a club (in this case Man U) simply because they are a) famous with lots of media attention and pretty darn good and win trophies is maybe a little "fickle" for want of another word. My mate is a Liverpool fan (although almost never goes to the games). Currently lives in Macclesfield. Born & brought up in Wolverhampton. Aged 34. Liverpool were the best team in the 70s & 80s. I see a connection. it's why we as outsiders see many Man U fans as Gloryhunters from London. People support them becuase they're successfull. I don't rate these sorts of fans as highly as someone who follows stockport county for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardo Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Ive voted for the reds purely because I know more of them, and they really are very hard to take when they are winning... They despise any team that beats them, a good example being Arsenal and Chelsea. A few years ago when Arsenal were on top, they hated Wenger with a passion, purely because he had the upper hand on them.. They now have softened towards him and Mourinho is now the subject of their 'hatred'. Some of them even have the cheek to say that they never 'hated' Arsenal and how they admire them for playing good football.. I cant stand them to be honest!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted April 5, 2007 Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2007 Ah but the other side of that coin is our success in the eighties Jon, how many non-brummy fans did we pick up during that time? Its the same for every team sucess breeds fans. If we break into the top 4 on a regular basi, kids all round the country will start supporting us. I don't see how you can avoid it and any club to be succesful needs that to fund its growth. Criticising people not from manc for supporting manc is to me a bit like admitting we're jealous of their success Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.I.C.O. Posted April 5, 2007 Author Share Posted April 5, 2007 I only fronted the question because I find it very frustrating when I see loads of Manure/Arse/Chelsea/Liverpool shirts being worn by youngers nowadays in Birmingham, when they have 1 at present and maybe 3 potential (next season) PL teams WITHIN A TEN MILE RADIUS. It can be hard to find a Villa shirt in a sports shop in brum nowadays - the worst culprits are JJB Sports. If you only support a team because they are/were successful and have a lot of media exposure, then more fool you! I also know that if any of those brummy red sods had ever been to Mancland, they'd see how much of a shithole it is and would renounce their flimsy "allegance" immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancsVillan Posted April 5, 2007 Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2007 ooh the Manchester is shit, Brum is ace debate. Sorry but there is very little that Brum has that Manc doesnt'!! Other than Villa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted April 5, 2007 Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2007 I think theres a good argument to say that apart from maybe the NEC for Large exhibitions Manc actually has more in terms of facilities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wainy316 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 I have no respect whatsoever for brummie reds, the majority of them have no idea what being a football fan is about. They rarely if ever attend games, they selected their club in most cases based on success factor, and have no idea what it feels like to be at the arse end of the table. Being a football fan is about highs and lows, and don't we just know about that being Villans. I bet there are days when you can get from say Tamworth / Lichfield area to Manchester as quickly as you can to VP If you walk to Villa park yeh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancsVillan Posted April 5, 2007 Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2007 I have no respect whatsoever for brummie reds, the majority of them have no idea what being a football fan is about. They rarely if ever attend games, they selected their club in most cases based on success factor, and have no idea what it feels like to be at the arse end of the table. Being a football fan is about highs and lows, and don't we just know about that being Villans. I bet there are days when you can get from say Tamworth / Lichfield area to Manchester as quickly as you can to VP If you walk to Villa park yeh. Lichfield to Brum by train 35 minutes Lichfield TV to Manchester 1hr 33. M42 v M6 - could easily be the same. It's an example not a literal thing. Being a football fan is supporting your team in the way you see fit it is not as dictated by others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timharding Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Aston Villa Football Club is based in Birmingham and yet I would say that about 40% of it's support on match days comes from at least an hour away. I'd contest that. Around where I sit, neary everyone has a Brummy accent, and I speak to a lot of people at gesm I haven't met before, and I've never come across one from outside the West Midlands. I'd say its more like 25%. A survey last year showed that the club with the highest percentage of fans living further than an hour from the ground was indeed Man Utd. Second was Southampton at, you've guessed it 40%. Villa did not merit a mention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timharding Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 oh and bradford were the best with 83% living within ten miles of the ground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderPower_14 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Over here every bloody person is a fan of one of the big 4 teams. It's a joke. No-one bothers with family heritage, they just glory hunt. Over there it's even worse. Every person has a relatively local club, and unless you have parents or family who follow a different club, your local club should be the one you support. A brummy Manchester United "fan" is a joke. SHA fans may be scumbags, but at least they support the team that represents them, and not one of the big 4 just so they can support a team that wins a lot of silverware. Silverware isn't what supporting a club is about. Over here in Aussie Rules football we have a salary cap and draft system, so no club is ever up or down the ladder for too many years in a row. We like to say that if you don't support the club with all your heart during the bad times, you dont deserve to enjoy the good times, and they wont be as sweet anyway. The Brummy Manure fans decided they were too good to support a club that would have bad times, and I guarentee they wouldn't enjoy Man U winning the Premiership anywhere near as much as every member of this site will when Villa next win the premiership. Just out of curiosity, because my Brummy born Dad has an Aussie accent and my memory is foggy on the accents of my Grandma and Grandad, what makes a brummy accent a brummy accent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc443 Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Aston Villa Football Club is based in Birmingham and yet I would say that about 40% of it's support on match days comes from at least an hour away. I'd contest that. Around where I sit, neary everyone has a Brummy accent, and I speak to a lot of people at gesm I haven't met before, and I've never come across one from outside the West Midlands. I'd say its more like 25%. A survey last year showed that the club with the highest percentage of fans living further than an hour from the ground was indeed Man Utd. Second was Southampton at, you've guessed it 40%. Villa did not merit a mention. Mate do you know where I can find this survey? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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