Football league 2014/15

[budgetmeansbudget]

Taking my boy to watch Wycombe for the first time tomorrow. Bury at home isn't the biggest game of the season, but I hope they bring a couple of hundred down. I hope he enjoys it. Boredom may set in by the second half......for him as well.

Good luck with that DR, he should get in free, up to eights free at Dean Court. My seven year old son shows absolutely no interest at all in attending any Bournemouth games yet, to be honest he's not really that bothered with kicking balls about in the garden, he's much more into dragons and ninja.

Took my eldest daughter a couple of years back to three or four games, and even signed her up as a junior cherry to get reduced priced tickets. First game she was really into it, well the swearing at the away supporters at least with the rest of the mindless yobbos! After three or four games she got bored and spent most of the ninety minutes making videos of herself, the game and reactions of other spectators on her phone with running commentary. Videos were actually very entertaining to watch back but needless to say I refused to waste any more money on her lack of interest and she hasn't been since.

Cheers Budget.

I'm thinking he's a bit young, and his attention span might be tested. We are going with a friend and his son, so they should keep each other company if and when they get bored. He loves playing Football outside, but watching for 90 minutes is a bit different.

I hope it's a 4-3 to Wycombe thriller, nothing like a nil-nil for your first game putting you off going again.

[sussexpob]

I start going games at about 5, my dad used to travel a lot to Sunderland games and take me, and a lot of Newcastle games with his brother (One was red, one black and White, both kind of followed both teams though). I loved it, not really the football quality or the goals, just to be at a spectacle with loads of people singing and shouting. Unfortunately, we went to a Newcastle game vs Derby with my uncle and got caught in violence when I was about 7... I don't remember being scared by it, quite the opposite, it was exciting and intriguing.

Not long after at a Newcastle v Leicester game, when the Filbert Street animals spent all game throwing coins at the Newcastle fans only to blind some poor lad who got hit in the eye. After he was taken away the Newcastle fans got restless and attacked the Leicester lot, the ensuing row made headline news, and my dad was told he would be divorced if I ever set foot in a football stadium again.

Hell of a lot different now I guess. My dad still tells me that people used to shun him at work when they found out he went to games at the weekend.

[budgetmeansbudget]

Sadly, it doesn't matter what walk of life you're from, or your temperament, there is something about being in the middle of a crowd of football supporters, you all seem to tune in to the same series of emotions, from the elation of a goal to the abuse and aggression towards opposition supporters. Don't seem to see it at any other sport, for some reason football bring out the base tribal instinct in us all.

I would suggest that things have improved to how they were in the early eighties when I went to alot of football. It was rare that a game would go by when there wasn't an incident of some kind or another. Have been caught up in situations on a number of occasions from the the famous Luton v Millwall game when the Millwall supporters starting ripping out the seats throwing them at us and then charging at us at the end of the game, to coming into contact with a group of Swansea supporters down a sidestreet in Luton and getting punched in the head a few times for no good reason except I wasn't one of them.

[sussexpob]

Sadly, it doesn't matter what walk of life you're from, or your temperament, there is something about being in the middle of a crowd of football supporters, you all seem to tune in to the same series of emotions, from the elation of a goal to the abuse and aggression towards opposition supporters. Don't seem to see it at any other sport, for some reason football bring out the base tribal instinct in us all.

I would suggest that things have improved to how they were in the early eighties when I went to alot of football. It was rare that a game would go by when there wasn't an incident of some kind or another. Have been caught up in situations on a number of occasions from the the famous Luton v Millwall game when the Millwall supporters starting ripping out the seats throwing them at us and then charging at us at the end of the game, to coming into contact with a group of Swansea supporters down a sidestreet in Luton and getting punched in the head a few times for no good reason except I wasn't one of them.

These were the later 80's. My dad always thought I would be fine at matches, until the Derby day. I think he was disappointed about that match, he said it made him think about quitting going to games because we all got chased by a group of Derby fans, and he thought that having a kid with him might prove he wasn't there to fight. It upset him a lot to see grown men happy to attempt to kick the life out of someone at a football match, while their young kids watch. He didn't attend any matches after the Leicester one for a long while, it must have been about 4 years or so. We ended up going to somewhere, an old ground that still had terraces post hillsbrough, with the gates at the front. Craig Russell scored for Sunderland, and in attempting to jump onto the advertising board he in fact jumped head first onto the cage, smashing his nose open and splattering a few fans at the front....

The best memory I have was going to a Forest game vs Peterborough in the early 90's, my aunt lived at the time near Rutland and my dad wanted to go the game, as Forest needed a win to be promoted, and Posh a win to maintain their Div 2 status. So many Forest fans turned up, their was about 10 people sitting on the floodlights, and the away end was packed.

At 3-2, Forest scored a 4th late on and Ill never forget the roar from the away end. It was carnage. The ref had to stop the game a few minutes early because the crowd lost it. Coming back to the train station surrounded by 1,000 of Forest fans cheering.... it seemed a great moment.

[Alviro Patterson]

Was the reverse for me, brought up in a non-football household (or family for that matter). Mum wouldn't even allow football on the television.

Didn't go to my first Bradford City game until I was 11 and that took a lot of persuading. Prior to that I was a plastic Man Utd fan, then Dad told me about Bradford winning the Division Two playoff final and how they came back from 2-0 down to beat Blackpool 3-2 in the semi-final. To my reply was, "Bradford have a football team?"

Then Bradford were away to Huddersfield and that created a buzz at school, with the game on Sky I watched it at the local. Chris Waddle scores directly from a corner to put Bradford in the lead and from there I was hooked.

Thinking about it, what made going to football matches special was the side events rather than the result. Whether it was the atmosphere, goalkeeper Jonathan Gould getting sent off and seeing centre back John Dreyer go in net, the less fashionable but cultured players of Rob Steiner, Ole Bjorn Sundgot and Ediniho. Tommy Wright and Nigel Pepper performing a set piece duo against Charlton Athletic and QPR to retain Division One status, Peter Beagrie's somersault goal celebarations, Gordon Watson on the end of a reckless challenge against Kevin Gray and ruled out for 18 months. Then makes his 1st appearance by coming off the bench against Barnsley in the 86th minute with Bradford 1-0 down and scores twice in 2 minutes to win the game. You can never got those moments by watching it on the big screen.

[sussexpob]

Was the reverse for me, brought up in a non-football household (or family for that matter). Mum wouldn't even allow football on the television.

I think that was quite common in the 80's or early 90's. I was the only real person at school who liked football, I think at that point football was a dirty word and people who went to games were looked upon as hooligans. As I said, my dad apparently used to get judged by a lot of people, and my friends parents would judge me for walking around with football shirts.

I still remember watching Newcastle with my uncle at St James Park when we went to visit him, and no one was there. Went to a game against Wolves when Steve Bull scored 4 goals, and the attendance was about 7,000. That must have been pretty close to Hillsbrough time, very end of the 80's.

Hell, I even remember being given a Norwich shirt at Carrow Road. We went on holiday to Great Yarmouth and watched Norwich v Man City. I was so small I couldn't see over the wall at the front, and a local bloke left the game for five minutes to go get me some milk crates to stand on. They give me a shirt and a scarf and I supported Norwich for a week after....

[SaintPowelly]

I used to go to alot of Aldershot games when I was a kid, and never encountered any violence ( years before they hit the football league ), it was only when I started going to Saints games that I encountered anything.

Home to Cardiff, I was seated m my own at about 16right next to the fan cordo andnd next to me was a massive black guy, who was quite clearly a target for them, so a fair few coins got thrown in my direction and some racial abuse.

Went away to Cardiff the next season and they won with the last kick which sent their fans into a frenzy and a groupof thugs were waiting outside the away end and a riot ensude, in which we had to walk through to get to the coach, a 13 year old lad with us got thrown to the floor and I got smashed in the face by a policeman trying to defend himself from a thug who convienently moved.

Also went to a friendly at Millwall with only 6 Saints fans there, 1 of which was in the Millwall end intoxicated and winding them up when we scored, after promptly being removed by stewards decided to come and sit by my Brother and me and continue the wind-up, which resulted in the 3 of us being chased back to the train station by baseball bats, hammers and all sorts, that was genuinely frightening.

On the other hand I've had trips to Ipswich and Derby and both times had walks back to the coach involved conversations with home fans without a cross word spoken.

[Gingerfinch]

Well, not the classic I'd hoped for, though not expected. 0-0 but we should have won, and would have but for poor finishing. The boy enjoyed himself, especially the occasional singing and clapping.

[Aidan11]

We won again.

[yuppie]

Big game today for Forest. No love lost with Derby

[mikesiva]

Huddersfield Town on the verge of appointing Chris Powell as manager

Now, the only black manager in professional English football....

[SaintPowelly]

Huddersfield Town on the verge of appointing Chris Powell as manager

Now, the only black manager in professional English football....

Not a very good football manager though.

[Gingerfinch]

Powell and the championship go well together, like many others.

[Gingerfinch]

The worst kept secret in Football.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/26328068

[yuppie]

I guess Cardiff had to do something. A very tough league to get out of, and alot of teams pushing for promotion. Still a long way to go.

Interesting that he resigned, and was not sacked?