Who cares anymore?

[MikeMcKenna]

I **** care! And always will. I have invested too much of my life not to.

 

Having witnessed relegation several times, shit managers, useless players and had to suffer under the likes of ellis and latterly Lerner it has never made sense to care but that is the life of many a football fan. Apart from my family, AVFC is one of my few passions and it is impossible for me, at least, to be rational.

 

In all my time supporting the club I have never said "I don't care" quite the reverse like many "I care too much" which means it hurts unbelievably when we have to go through this shit year after year!

 

As I write sitting in my office I am surrounded by photographs and artifacts that are reminders of the great times we have had and while they can **** up the future they cant take away my memories! Lambert, Lerner etc etc will have left AVFC long before I do and then my hopes for the future will return!

 

BUT I WILL ALWAYS **** CARE!

Edited February 11, 2015 by MikeMcKenna

[villa89]

I just heard that in terms of percentage of capacity filled we have lowest attendance in the league. Says a lot about the current the state of the club.

[Brumerican]

I thought I didn't care as much as I used to but I genuinely lost sleep over Villa last night.

 

[Stevo985]

Same. It's horrible.

[Ikantcpell]

I live in sweden and really dont have any connection to anyone in england or birmingham, But yet i feel very strongly about Aston Villa, i haven't missed a game i could watch for the last 20 years.

 

Aston Villa will always be in my heart, ive been in love with diffrent girls and the love has only lasted a while, ive had great friendship that has ended ive lost jobs that i really loved and ive gone a long time without speaking with people in my family but Aston Villa has always been there, Ive lost alot of things in life but never my love and passion for Aston Villa.

 

Even if we would get relegated to league 2 i would still travel over to Villa Park and i would still check the news about Villa evry day.

 

They say you don't choose yourself who you fall in love it, for me it's the same with a football team.

[Nath182]

Part of me just wants us to get relegated so that (in theory) we don't have the constant relegation battles every season any more, but I'm well aware that relegation will mean serious changes to the club and it's also not guaranteed that we won't do a Wolves and get relegated again.

It's massively frustrating, I'm fed up of this shitty football club ruining my weekends but yes, I still care. Wish I didn't though.

[kevpants]

 

This is the final season in this club's life for many people. Either it's saved and the poison is removed for good or it's doomed and gone and it's the end of it all.

Overreaction much? We'll still be around this time next year, albeit in the Championship probably.,

 

For some of us the only way to watch Villa is on streams on the internet. They'll dissapear once we end up in the championship. The chance to support the team is being taken away. I know local supporters will be gutted by relegation but for us in other countries it's almost like a death in the family.

[Wishin'nhopin]

Who cares anymore? – Unfortunately I do and I’d guess anyone who reads, and / or contributes to this forum, and a whole lot of others.

 

Our frustrations become so acute because we realise that when it comes down to it there are few positive ways we can affect the fate of our Club. Every course of action suggested seems to have an associated negative impact. Although I think people beginning to stay away from games is an inevitable consequence of what is on offer.

 

The current hierarchy seem to be contentedly sleepwalking us into the Championship. We keep waiting for someone to come up with a ’cunning plan’ that will change our fortunes in the nick of time, but I fear it’s a case of ‘not this time Baldrick’.

 

I (and I suspect a lot of other contributors) followed the team down to the old Third Division and back again – plenty of dark days around then too. I remember sitting on the concrete terracing before the match, and standing up when the teams came out only because it seemed the polite thing to do. With crowds of less than 13000 you were never going to get your view blocked. Those number of people spread around Villa Park made it look a desperate place, and I feel that with the ground now being all-seating it could look even worse – people can’t spread out the way they did then.

             

The most positive thing I took from those times was that I’m left with the conviction that it’s better to be challenging at the top of any division than struggling at the bottom of any division. I know this may sound like ‘stating the bleeding obvious’ but I remember feeling a whole lot happier when we were heading for promotion from the Third Division than I feel now.

 

I saw this opening paragraph on a ‘mental health’ website (yes I know – what brings a Villa supporter looking at ‘mental health’ websites – can’t imagine, however):

 

“Football can have a major impact on mental health. It is thought to affect emotions, relationships, identity and self-esteem. In a recent study, one in four fans said football was one of the most important things in their lives.”

 

-       I think they may be underestimating.

[blandy]

This may be a strange thing for a moderator of a Villa website to say, but I don't care.

 

Here's how that happened.

 

For decades I used to go to the games, used to enjoy them, win lose or draw, but especially win. I first went in the 70s - you'd just pay a quid or whatever it was on the gate and go in. All you had to do was get to the game. Sometimes there was trouble, sometimes you'd freeze to death on an exposed, crumbling terrace. SOmetimes the police would be absolute a-holes for no apparent reason, but I loved football and loved it all.

 

Then the Premier league came along and all seater stadia and prices started going up and it was more of a hassle to get tickets. I liked the reduction in trouble and generally better state of the grounds, and was OK with having to sit, as no one actually made you sit, you could still stand up in front of your seat. It was good and I enjoyed it as much, if not more.

 

Then the prices started going up even more, more games got moved for the telly, or the police and the media started concentrating on just a few sides. Then there was Champions league and the resultant loss of focus on winning things, more on money and "top 4 ambitions".

 

And the prices went up, and more games got moved for TV and clubs stopped thinking what all this meant for supporters. I started to think "they're taking the mick, here" I didn't like that. With travel costs, travel time, stewards telling you to sit down all the time (I'd always comply if asked) and the club no longer even pretending to either care about what it cost in time and money and not even pretending to try and win anything and the prices going up and more games being moved for the telly...

 

And then my work sent me to work abroad for most of last season, so I couldn't use my season ticket even if I wanted to. I had the season ticket to get away tickets, but away tickets were often 40 - 50 quid and games were moved to whatever time suited telly, not me. The way the team was so devoid of ideas and clueless when I did get to see them left me thinking "I'm not enjoying being here at all". So I decided not to renew at the end of last season.

In the summer, with the transfers and so on, I thought "we'll go down, there's no reason to change my mind and buy a season ticket, or matchday tickets". So I didn't. I haven't missed it, I have hardly watched a game on the telly, either. I don't bother with MoTD, occasionally watch some other game on the telly, but mostly don't.

I'll look at the score at some point of an evening and shrug. Occasionally I'll see the goals on a link someone posts, but mostly not.

I'll occasionally post something in the football part of the site, but I've nothing new to add to what I said 6 months ago, say. My view as an observer of what's going on hasn't changed. Lerner's not interested, Lambert is the luckiest manager alive to still be in a job, we'll go down - all that's the same as it was 6, 8 months ago.

But I don't think I'm lying to either myself or anyone who reads this when I say I'm not bothered by it all. It doesn't affect me. I don't go to games any more, I don't watch 'em on the telly, in the main. I see no reason to change that, or to buy tickets or travel to games.

 

Being obliged to read threads as a mod. means I get to see some varied and interesting and well thought out posts, and the emotion others have for the club, and I like that. I admire it. It's just not me anymore.

Maybe if stuff changes I'll get back the Villa mojo, but I doubt it, I really do.

 

I don't "blame" anyone. I don't have any anger towards anyone. They did what they did, probably what they thought was best, but I decided I didn't like the way things were and stopped bothering with it. It wasn't giving me anything at all in return for the time and money.

 

I have loads of good memories though, from when I did care. They won't go away.

 

I need another hobby though, I suppose.

[mjmooney]

Brilliantly put, Blandy. Very much the way I feel, too.

[Designer1]

Great post Pete, pretty much exactly how I feel about it all too.

[krisagg75]

weird but this is taking me back to the time when doug was ousted from the board.can't remember if it was 78/79 though,christ i'm an old sod.

Edited February 11, 2015 by krisagg75

[Xela]

On the money Blandy. 

 

Football as I used to love it is long gone. I'll never get that buzz back anymore from the current game. I will always be grateful of the wonderful memories I have though.

[AValon]

I remember watching us in a thoroughly entertaining goalless draw, probably forty years ago now....against Walsall I think. All I could think was 'one day, just one day'. And bit by bit, game by game, we clawed our way back to the top tier and became champions of Europe.

Now, we're in the doldrums....it happens. But if one things for certain with Aston Villa, my club, we will be back! All the heartbreak just makes the good times that much better when they come.

I care.

[useless]

I don't care about football as much as I used to. I can't let something that is external to myself and I have no affect on, dictate my emotions.

[mjmooney]

I remember watching us in a thoroughly entertaining goalless draw, probably forty years ago now....against Walsall I think. All I could think was 'one day, just one day'. And bit by bit, game by game, we clawed our way back to the top tier and became champions of Europe.

Now, we're in the doldrums....it happens. But if one things for certain with Aston Villa, my club, we will be back! All the heartbreak just makes the good times that much better when they come.

I care.

Sadly, this time we WON'T be back. The game has changed too much.

[hycus-flange]

I stopped caring a couple of years ago, looked at how much money it was costing for me n the kid to get to VP, pay for parking, tickets for the game, summert to eat etc and what I was getting for that money. I was getting 2 hours parking, 2 trays of lukewarm chips, 2 bottles of pop with no lid and a football team that passed the ball sideways a lot then hoofed it forward, lost it, chased(loosest term) around after it, sometimes won it back, sometimes got it back when the other team had a shot, when they got it back they started the whole sideways,hoof,chase,retrieve cycle again with no desire, no passion and no direction and I decided that I wasn't getting any value for the £80 to £100 I was shelling out per game

I started going down to watch Telford, I still get 2 hours parking, 2 trays of hot chips, 2 bottles of pop with lids and the added bonus of a team that trys to attack the other team, a team that has a bit of fire in their bellies, they may not be the best players in the world but they are at the bottom and the only way is up, every one of those players play to get noticed by higher teams scouts so they put a shift in for the shirt.

It's this attitude that has rekindled my love of football but only for the football not spoilt by sky's money, it's like football used to be in the days when you could actually tackle an opponent.

On a side note, Hereford United were wound up owing £168000. The whole town lost its club for half the weekly wage of Wayne Rooney. Football is ****. The new premier league deal works out at £10,000,000 per game, how much of this will filter down to the lower leagues, I don't know, but I can bet that it will be a shitload less than what ends up in agents and "top" players bank accounts.

[sir_gary_cahill]

I do, villa is in my blood, i find it hard to articulate myself but i don't half love this football club, every aspect of it, always will

[CVByrne]

Top post blandy. For me it's similar. I used to be so passionate, I remember when we blew the 2-0 lead against Stoke back under MON and that literally ruined my day, it was up there with Stern Johns equaliser in most horrible moments that would define your mood for a weekend. 

 

But since Eck took over coincided with my year off travelling I never really got back to the connection and passion of the MON days. I attribute it to a few things, firstly football is a boring sport to watch. Strange thing to say but it is. IT can't compared to Rugby in engagement, for most of the match nothing happens. 

 

Combine that to the turgid stuff we've seen for the past 4 years and it's not hard to understand my disaffection. Villa will always be there, you can't be brought up with Shoot and Match posters of Deano on your wall to just have a clean break from it. But what hurts me more Leinster losing in Rugby or Villa losing in football, no question it's Leinster. Saturdays is about horse racing not football for me, racing is on tv. I never watch match of the day, I've probably seen less than half of Villas goals this season (all 12 of them). 

 

That's the way things go. Football is a closed shop and all the money about is ruining it not making it any better tbh. 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

To be honest, if none of you care anymore then there's more choice of seat for me. Bonus.

I care just as much as I ever have. Within reason of course, I'm not a wide eyed 10 year old anymore. The game may have changed, it's expensive and what not, but it's still football. Je suis Aston Villa.