Prof
Happy Clapper or Moaning Ungrateful
Last night I was thinking about the anger (fury), vitriol & hate that is occasionally raising its head in the football forum. True fans furiously hating on their team, attacking fellow fans and not enjoying their football and I think it's a mixture of PTS (Post title syndrome) and the reality of "modern football".
Firstly the PTS, until 2014 we were a decent yo-yo club, followed by honest East Midlanders, who worked hard during the week and went to watch their beloved boys in blue on a Saturday. We enjoyed the wins, the draws and even the losses before going out for a Saturday night beer and then spending Sunday lunch with the family. In 1980/81, for example, I was an ST holder, we'd just won division 2 and we had a mix of experience and talented youth and we were beaten into relegation, we had back to back 5-0 wallopings (the second at the hands of Forest) we conceded 4 or more at least 5 times (forest and Cov included) and yet we sang hard every match, enjoyed the football and the atmosphere and supported the team. Alan Young was our hero and he only scored 5 or 6 the whole season. We were disappointed but we weren't angry and we didn't turn on our players, club or fellow supporters.
Any Leicester fan who died before 2014 would never have imagined the next few years. Champions of England, European "big boys", FA Cup winners. The fan base changed, the fan mentality changed, you couldn't get a seat very easily and when you did the atmosphere in the ground was different. And then when we lost a few matches the crowd turned on the players and manager, actually booing them on the pitch and anger at not winning started to rise. The last few years have seen our club disintegrate and the results have too. Fans are angry, depressed and not enjoying the football - yet they continue to go and just get angrier and more depressed. Partly this is the comedown from the high, as with any drug, you have to pay for the highs and it isn't new. We, as Leicester fans, have laughed at Forest, Derby, Leeds and other fans who have experienced similar in the past but this vitriol is worse than that and I think it is a consequence of modern football.
The Premier league was the big catalyst. Money became more important than the sport. Players began to be paid ludicrous wages, some more in a year than the fans could earn in a lifetime. Owners bought teams as vanity projects or personal advertising. The Celebrity concept entered football. Teams became more diverse in their origins makeup, foreign players and managers began to dominate teams which then attracted country/player fans who "supported" a team whilst a certain player was there and then shifted their "loyalties" when they left. Fans and teams lost their identities, lost their anchor and started to adopt the "winning is everything" mentality that money had brought into sport.
Most of the posters on this forum ARE long time (lifetime) "true" Leicester supporters. Many lived through the "bad times" of which there have been many during our own supporting lifetime. They didn't stop enjoying watching their team, they didn't turn their hate on the players or on each other - occasionally on ownership and managers. Yet now like football they are broken.
I'd like to apologise to Adumass and any other Leicester fan that I've annoyed by misinterpreting their "fandom". I don't understand why you don't take a break or at least a step back until you can enjoy watching Leicester again because the anger and hate will probably kill you. The few years we all have left should be spent doing things that make us happy, not sad or annoyed. A few Saturdays with your loved ones maybe enough or a season walking in the forests and parks or sitting down your allotment. Modern Football is broken but we shouldn't let it break us. Personally, I can still enjoy watching the team and I love to see our own lads playing, Braybrooke, Page, Alves Aluko and JJ are exhilarating me and I can enjoy those moments whilst the team loses. It's probably why I have a different view on Choudhury and Thomas to most on here. They are Leicester, Choudhury spent 21 years here, he wasn't a premiership star but he was a local lad, not a 2 year loan, who played for his local team, Thomas lived down the road from where I lived. They are "one of our own". These are the reasons I enjoy watching Leicester City, my team.
Modern Football is broken. Don't let it break you.
Firstly the PTS, until 2014 we were a decent yo-yo club, followed by honest East Midlanders, who worked hard during the week and went to watch their beloved boys in blue on a Saturday. We enjoyed the wins, the draws and even the losses before going out for a Saturday night beer and then spending Sunday lunch with the family. In 1980/81, for example, I was an ST holder, we'd just won division 2 and we had a mix of experience and talented youth and we were beaten into relegation, we had back to back 5-0 wallopings (the second at the hands of Forest) we conceded 4 or more at least 5 times (forest and Cov included) and yet we sang hard every match, enjoyed the football and the atmosphere and supported the team. Alan Young was our hero and he only scored 5 or 6 the whole season. We were disappointed but we weren't angry and we didn't turn on our players, club or fellow supporters.
Any Leicester fan who died before 2014 would never have imagined the next few years. Champions of England, European "big boys", FA Cup winners. The fan base changed, the fan mentality changed, you couldn't get a seat very easily and when you did the atmosphere in the ground was different. And then when we lost a few matches the crowd turned on the players and manager, actually booing them on the pitch and anger at not winning started to rise. The last few years have seen our club disintegrate and the results have too. Fans are angry, depressed and not enjoying the football - yet they continue to go and just get angrier and more depressed. Partly this is the comedown from the high, as with any drug, you have to pay for the highs and it isn't new. We, as Leicester fans, have laughed at Forest, Derby, Leeds and other fans who have experienced similar in the past but this vitriol is worse than that and I think it is a consequence of modern football.
The Premier league was the big catalyst. Money became more important than the sport. Players began to be paid ludicrous wages, some more in a year than the fans could earn in a lifetime. Owners bought teams as vanity projects or personal advertising. The Celebrity concept entered football. Teams became more diverse in their origins makeup, foreign players and managers began to dominate teams which then attracted country/player fans who "supported" a team whilst a certain player was there and then shifted their "loyalties" when they left. Fans and teams lost their identities, lost their anchor and started to adopt the "winning is everything" mentality that money had brought into sport.
Most of the posters on this forum ARE long time (lifetime) "true" Leicester supporters. Many lived through the "bad times" of which there have been many during our own supporting lifetime. They didn't stop enjoying watching their team, they didn't turn their hate on the players or on each other - occasionally on ownership and managers. Yet now like football they are broken.
I'd like to apologise to Adumass and any other Leicester fan that I've annoyed by misinterpreting their "fandom". I don't understand why you don't take a break or at least a step back until you can enjoy watching Leicester again because the anger and hate will probably kill you. The few years we all have left should be spent doing things that make us happy, not sad or annoyed. A few Saturdays with your loved ones maybe enough or a season walking in the forests and parks or sitting down your allotment. Modern Football is broken but we shouldn't let it break us. Personally, I can still enjoy watching the team and I love to see our own lads playing, Braybrooke, Page, Alves Aluko and JJ are exhilarating me and I can enjoy those moments whilst the team loses. It's probably why I have a different view on Choudhury and Thomas to most on here. They are Leicester, Choudhury spent 21 years here, he wasn't a premiership star but he was a local lad, not a 2 year loan, who played for his local team, Thomas lived down the road from where I lived. They are "one of our own". These are the reasons I enjoy watching Leicester City, my team.
Modern Football is broken. Don't let it break you.
in an all new English Welsh league …I av a dream as Martin clunes said ….i think 
