Xela Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Agree with Isa, Villa seems to draw a lot more fans from more 'comfortable' surrounding counties (Warwickshire, Worcestershire, etc) as well as Sutton Coldfield while Small Heath is more associated with inner city Birmingham. Not sure how true that is in practice but the perception is there. This really winds me up (not you in particular Alex). I feel this is a myth perpetuated by sha fans to support their ludicrous claim, "real Brummies support sha". There are very few areas of Birmingham where their fans out number us, and if you go by the stereotype that the South of the city support that lot, and the North us, then it's a total contradiction! North Birmingham has a higher working class population than the South. Which is a more working class area, Erdington, or Harborne? Yes we draw support from through out the region, and beyond, but that's because we're a great institution of English football. I agree but it is the perception that has been pushed by the knuckle draggers. The North side as you say, like Kingstanding, Erdington and the Vale are Villa strongholds and they are definitely working class. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dAVe80 Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Exactly. I suppose the fact we're having this conversation goes to spread the idea further. It really is a laughable argument though. Going back to the original question, I don't think any club in the UK would have had anything other than a predominantly working class support base, for the majority of their existence. The origins of the game as a spectator sport are intertwined with the working classes, and I'd bet the core support of any club in the country is still working class, even if they've been priced out of attending as often as they'd like. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I didn't realise that the perception was formulated by Small Heath fans to be honest. Good to see it clarified. I'm not acquainted with Birmingham but I've often read that claim and it seems to be widely accepted going by my experience. I suppose having public fans like David Cameron and Prince William helps to perpetuate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I'd honestly never heard it before this thread. I'm not sure what inner city areas are Blues areas now either. Digbeth is student like and populated by out of owners. Places like Sparkbrook & Small Heath are largely Muslim these days and tend to be populated by children of immigrants who make up a large part of the Brummie Reds (Liverpool/Manchester United) brigade. I guess Yardley and Acocks Green are Blues areas but you see quite a lot of Villa down there (in my experience at least, I worked in B11 for seven years) and beyond those areas you are hitting leafy Edwardian suburbia and the more affluent areas of Solihull. I can't see any grounds for Villa and Blues being split on rich/poor grounds. It's mostly geographical within Brum and the north of the city isn't really any different from the south. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted March 25, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 25, 2015 I don't think very many areas of Birmingham class themselves as being small heath or Villa any more - frankly, this isn't a city with a football culture that's ingrained in the population - there are probably more Liverpool and Manchester United fans in Aston and Small Heath than Villa or small heath fans. It's not a city with football in its blood. Of course there's passion, in lots of people, but for the couple of hundred thousand real football fans in Brum, there are another half a million who've never been to a game and never will. There's a population that comes and goes through the city, waves of immigration that leave pockets of passionate support, but in general, I don't think this is a football city. For example, the region has five times the population of Newcastle or Sunderland and just about matches the support there on a match day, more than twice the population of Liverpool without much difference in support in each city - somewhere along the line, the city as a whole hasn't fallen in love with its clubs in the same way some cities do. That's partly Villa's fault, a history of lost opportunities. If the city loved football, we could put 70,000 a week in Villa Park. In terms of class, I think Villa are maybe seen as middle class because we're the nicer club in Birmingham, we're actually a pretty decent representation of Brummies as a whole, generally good natured, with a bit of everything, good and bad. I think when you compare that to the animals across the city I would imagine it's difficult for someone outside of Brum not to think we must be the posh kids. When you stand next to a monkey you look well dressed. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuwabatake Sanjuro Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Very strange to see Villa being the only football League club in this list. I'm very left wing myself but would not have got the perception that Villa have a predominantly left wing fan base. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 14, 2022 VT Supporter Share Posted October 14, 2022 5 hours ago, Kuwabatake Sanjuro said: I'm very left wing myself but would not have got the perception that Villa have a predominantly left wing fan base. Go read VT Off Topic. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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