Changing your football team

atypical_boro

atypical_boro

Well-known member
I’ve known a (what I thought was) die hard Chelsea fan for years. Has followed them over land and sea since he was a teenager. Ex-Headhunter as well, holds Boro in great affection from the ‘88 shenanigans. Not what I’d call a mate but, without being judgemental, he’s a nice enough lad to talk to and loves his football and has a good knowledge etc. He’s about 52ish.

Not seen him for a while until tonight, and he told me he “isn’t quite finished with Chelsea” and that he still has his season ticket (but flogs the seat on stubhub every week) but that he has gone back to following his hometown club, Luton, as he just isn’t interested in them anymore and loves the Championship.

Now you might think as he’s not from South London maybe that’s why it’s easy to just change teams, but I have another mate who is a City fan (comes from Denton and now lives in Stockport) who has been following County home and away for the last two years and told me recently he’s far more passionate about County now.

I never thought you could just change teams but I’m finding it is becoming something fans of “big 6” sides are perhaps more prone to do? I have a few other examples too, including a mate whose an Arsenal fan from Wycombe who, on their promotion to the second tier during covid, basically switched allegiances entirely.

Personally, don’t think I’ll ever understand it but I suppose if you’re taken over by a group of absolute charlatans it is easier to change your tune, especially if you’ve won a few league titles etc. With City/Chelsea I suppose their fans remember what it’s like to be nothing special and being “successful” is less familiar.

Anyone else know of such goings on?
 
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atypical_boro said:
I’ve known a (what I thought was) die hard Chelsea fan for years. Has followed them over land and sea since he was a teenager. Ex-Headhunter as well, holds Boro in great affection from the ‘88 shenanigans. Not what I’d call a mate but, without being judgemental, he’s a nice enough lad to talk to and loves his football and has a good knowledge etc. He’s about 52ish.

Not seen him for a while until tonight, and he told me he “isn’t quite finished with Chelsea” and that he still has his season ticket (but flogs the seat on stubhub every week) but that he has gone back to following his hometown club, Luton, as he just isn’t interested in them anymore and loves the Championship.

Now you might think as he’s not from South London maybe that’s why it’s easy to just change teams, but I have another mate who is a City fan (comes from Denton and now lives in Stockport) who has been following County home and away for the last two years and told me recently he’s far more passionate about County now.

I never thought you could just change teams but I’m finding it is becoming something fans of “big 6” sides are perhaps more prone to do? I have a few other examples too, including a mate whose an Arsenal fan from Wycombe who, on their promotion to the second tier during covid, basically switched allegiances entirely.

Personally, don’t think I’ll ever understand it but I suppose if you’re taken over by a group of absolute charlatans it is easier to change your tune, especially if you’ve won a few league titles etc. With City/Chelsea I suppose their fans remember what it’s like to be nothing special and being “successful” is less familiar.

Anyone else know of such goings on?
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I’ve spoken to a fair few Americans who thought they could just pick whichever England team they wanted to support.. instead of the correct way of being told by a genuine English fan of a club telling them what team they are allowed to support.. and they only get one and they can’t change it.
 
I’ve got a Londoner mate who simultaneously supports Palace and Arsenal. Think he liked Arsenal as a kid but Palace were his local team.
 
My cousin supported Grimsby Town for years from him being a kid, followed them home and away. Saw him a couple of years ago on Facebook.. wearing a Chelsea shirt. WTF?

Very disappointed
 
newyddion said:
Who does he support when they play against each other?
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I’ve asked/taken the pish before and I think Palace edge it for him… he definitely supports both though but is not fanatical or too invested as he’s not lived in London/UK for many years.
 
I suppose it's more acceptable when someone downgrades (eg from Chelsea to Luton as you describe, although those two clubs aren't too far apart in the pyramid at the moment) but obviously anyone who gives up on a struggling side to support a more successful one deserves nothing but shame and abuse. I certainly don't understand how anyone could claim to support two different clubs in the same league - that's madness.

Agree on the point about Americans - I spoke to one recently who explained how he'd moved from Arsenal to Man Utd (or some such combination of big six teams, I can't remember exactly which ones) last season because he fancied a change. I smiled politely as he was a work client, but my heart was full of pain.
 
Know a few people who have "switched" from Man U to City, or let their kids be City fans. Mind, they are more plastic than Barbie's t*ts.

I totally understand the appeal of following a smaller club - I could never stop following Boro, it's my life choice, but due to price and locality go to as many Stockport games to get a footy fix.

Probably why I'm not bothered about Boro being in the PL 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️
 
From being 10-16 (1977-84 ish) everyone at school seemed be Liverpool or Spurs fans, with less interest in Boro at that time. I liked Man Utd then - they won very little at that time.

I moved to London, on my own, to find work at 17, the 86 crisis happened and suddenly I'd grown up and there was only one team - even if I was 200 miles away from them. The Boro.
 
I think when your a fan of a team like the Boro or even a one team city like Newcastle then it's a bit harder to just swap allegiance. If you stick with them through the hard times then you'll probably stick with them forever.
If you've chosen a team based on success then you've probably missed out on all that emotional investment and it'll be easier to move on.
Bit like relationships.
 
Both mine & my Mrs's families are all boro fans, I do know a couple of lads that were Manu and Liverpool but have switched over to boro in the past 6/7 years (all local lads i may add) almost like they finally seen the light!
 
I would never change teams but I’ve been going to watch Maidstone United for the past couple of seasons, and Dulwich Hamlet. I see more of those two than I do Boro now. It’s a bit sad actually but one of the things that I noticed about going to games at that level was you can sort of see where your money is going. You know if you buy an extra round for your in-laws or everyone buys a pie and chips, it’s going into that till and it keeps them ticking along. They are very grateful for your pound coins.

At Boro’s level, it’s sort of hard to see it in that way. I mean I’m not saying they aren’t grateful but it just feels different. You see all the sports cars parked up and the squad players wearing Rolex watches and you just wonder about it. Or I do.

I never thought I’d be someone who would go and watch other teams at one point but have made a real habit of it now. And my best mate’s Dad has broken from watching his Stoke City team - had followed them home and away since the late 70s - to go to Man City, Stockport, Macclesfield, plus Newcastle Town and Hanley. He goes to Stoke as and when now.

I think it’s more common than we think it is. People drift. I would never proclaim to be anything other than a Boro supporter but can see how people change over time. Especially with what football has become, and what it costs to attend and watch on TV.
 
I think if you make a conscious decision to support a particular team, you don't really support them.

It's more a case of waking up one morning and thinking "oh s***, I'm a Boro fan, and I love them".
Real support is in spite of rational decision-making, not because of it.
 
In my close friends group there are 8 of us from around the country. I am the only one with a single team I think. One supports an English PL team but also follows Celtic, 2 are Arsenal fans and also support Leyton Orient (local team growing up) or Bristol City (local team now). 1 supports Liverpool (scouser) and he lives abroad now so supports his local team there. Another is a Blackburn fan but his wife and their family are big fans of another club so he follows them. Another has moved around a bit and supports several teams (which varies depending on how well they are doing). The other one doesn't really follow anyone. They all have a primary team though so even though they might support another team they know which one they want to win if they play each other and only one of them has teams that are in the same division.
 
atypical_boro said:
I’ve known a (what I thought was) die hard Chelsea fan for years. Has followed them over land and sea since he was a teenager. Ex-Headhunter as well, holds Boro in great affection from the ‘88 shenanigans. Not what I’d call a mate but, without being judgemental, he’s a nice enough lad to talk to and loves his football and has a good knowledge etc. He’s about 52ish.

Not seen him for a while until tonight, and he told me he “isn’t quite finished with Chelsea” and that he still has his season ticket (but flogs the seat on stubhub every week) but that he has gone back to following his hometown club, Luton, as he just isn’t interested in them anymore and loves the Championship.

Now you might think as he’s not from South London maybe that’s why it’s easy to just change teams, but I have another mate who is a City fan (comes from Denton and now lives in Stockport) who has been following County home and away for the last two years and told me recently he’s far more passionate about County now.

I never thought you could just change teams but I’m finding it is becoming something fans of “big 6” sides are perhaps more prone to do? I have a few other examples too, including a mate whose an Arsenal fan from Wycombe who, on their promotion to the second tier during covid, basically switched allegiances entirely.

Personally, don’t think I’ll ever understand it but I suppose if you’re taken over by a group of absolute charlatans it is easier to change your tune, especially if you’ve won a few league titles etc. With City/Chelsea I suppose their fans remember what it’s like to be nothing special and being “successful” is less familiar.

Anyone else know of such goings on?
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I think you've always had the odd chancers who've switched between claiming to be Man Utd/ Liverpool fans and supporting Boro (with their Boro supporting changing according to how well we're doing). But i don't class them as proper fans anyway.

Genuinely changing between decent sized clubs i find hard to comprehend, but I can see how someone following a club like Chelsea could become disillusioned if they feel the club has lost it's soul and identity, and being seduced by "proper" football is understandable.
 
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I can't help think his wavering is down to chelseas current poor form, and quality of football as a spectacle. If we're honest, our support always dips in poor-footy times doesn't it? some people will go thru thick & thin... some will waver. as a bormuff fan, I took a season off once when jimmy quinn was manager, and the football was dire. I followed poole town for a year, home & away. and it wasnt glory hunting, they got 1 point in the whole season!
 
afcb_acklam said:
I can't help think his wavering is down to chelseas current poor form, and quality of football as a spectacle. If we're honest, our support always dips in poor-footy times doesn't it? some people will go thru thick & thin... some will waver. as a bormuff fan, I took a season off once when jimmy quinn was manager, and the football was dire. I followed poole town for a year, home & away. and it wasnt glory hunting, they got 1 point in the whole season!
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I'd honestly say not. In poor times you get fed up, but my position as a Boro fan hasn't ever wavered. Obviously Bournemouth have been much lower down the pyramid, so it's not been tested to that extent.
 
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I don't think I would have ended up supporting Exeter City after moving down here but if I was going to support another club then it would be them, with the fan ownership and the community outreach then they are genuine club in my eyes , with their fans travelling up and down the country in numbers But I didn't, there is only one club for me I invested large chunks of my childhood, teens and adult years in watching them, it's why I come on here, it's why when I didn't actually watch them in person for years I could still feel like my whole weekend had been destroyed by a defeat, their in my DNA .
UTB
 
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