Tall Red Poppy Devils
May. 15th, 2011 09:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
threemonkeysThe whole business of supporting a sports team is a peculiar one. There often isn't a lot of logic to it. Sure you may support your local teams - or at least the teams that were local when you were young. But what about following a team from the other side of the world - perhaps from a place you have never been and following a team you have never attended an actual match for. It is strange and I'm not saying this as somebody looking from outside - I know what it is to follow a team like this.
When I was a kid my parents supplied me with magazines/comics from the UK. Many of the stories involved people playing this strange version of "football" that was very different from the football we played at primary school. I kid you not - living in rural South Canterbury at that time, there was virtually no awareness of the existence of Association Football. Rugby was almost literally the only game in town. Nevertheless at that age I became fascinated by the round ball code and the magazines fed that with fictional stories of Roy of the Rovers and other teams. But they also had articles about the real teams that played in the English league.
One team in particular stood out for me. It had a great although somewhat rocky history and had featured some of the great names of the sport. That team was Manchester United. What I didn't know at the time was that I was attaching myself to the most popular team in the world. In fact at that point they were in a decline. Not long after I figured out how to find the results and league tables, they were relegated to the (then) second division. It was not a happy time for the club.
The side quickly got back in the first division (i.e. premier league) under manager Ron Atkinson but they never threatened that division title. Luckily for me, by this time I was finally able to see English football on TV and occasionally see my team play. They played a very open attractive type of game - they seemed to be a team where style was more important than winning. But they did win big sometimes, picking up a couple of FA cup titles. It was enough to keep this fan happy.
I was at University at this time and there was plenty of football awareness around. Liverpool were winning everything and it seemed that most folk jumped on that bandwagon. It felt like everybody you met was a Liverpool fan. It is a funny thing being a Man U supporter. It may be the most supported sports club in the world, but it is also the most despised. The two things probably naturally go together and it is not difficult to work out why. But it could be tough at times - you learn that sometimes it is best to not to open your mouth about who you support. I remember turning up to a FA cup final party to find everybody but the host (a fellow reds supporter) wearing "Anti Man U Fan" rosettes. The abuse was friendly but it went on for a long time. Luckily, that night, Norman Whiteside shut them up in the last minute of extra time.
Alex Ferguson took over from Atkinson at United in controversial circumstances. Personally, I wasn't happy - I don't like the idea of people getting fired for what happens in their personal life. When I next saw United play, it seemed like the old flair and style had gone. They were playing just like another ordinary team. But at the time I thought "at least they will probably win more games this way". I was right.
Why tell you all this now? Simple, Alex Ferguson is still managing the team and Manchester United have now claimed their 19th Premier League/First Division title. This now beats the previous record held with Liverpool. Happy fan.
When I was a kid my parents supplied me with magazines/comics from the UK. Many of the stories involved people playing this strange version of "football" that was very different from the football we played at primary school. I kid you not - living in rural South Canterbury at that time, there was virtually no awareness of the existence of Association Football. Rugby was almost literally the only game in town. Nevertheless at that age I became fascinated by the round ball code and the magazines fed that with fictional stories of Roy of the Rovers and other teams. But they also had articles about the real teams that played in the English league.
One team in particular stood out for me. It had a great although somewhat rocky history and had featured some of the great names of the sport. That team was Manchester United. What I didn't know at the time was that I was attaching myself to the most popular team in the world. In fact at that point they were in a decline. Not long after I figured out how to find the results and league tables, they were relegated to the (then) second division. It was not a happy time for the club.
The side quickly got back in the first division (i.e. premier league) under manager Ron Atkinson but they never threatened that division title. Luckily for me, by this time I was finally able to see English football on TV and occasionally see my team play. They played a very open attractive type of game - they seemed to be a team where style was more important than winning. But they did win big sometimes, picking up a couple of FA cup titles. It was enough to keep this fan happy.
I was at University at this time and there was plenty of football awareness around. Liverpool were winning everything and it seemed that most folk jumped on that bandwagon. It felt like everybody you met was a Liverpool fan. It is a funny thing being a Man U supporter. It may be the most supported sports club in the world, but it is also the most despised. The two things probably naturally go together and it is not difficult to work out why. But it could be tough at times - you learn that sometimes it is best to not to open your mouth about who you support. I remember turning up to a FA cup final party to find everybody but the host (a fellow reds supporter) wearing "Anti Man U Fan" rosettes. The abuse was friendly but it went on for a long time. Luckily, that night, Norman Whiteside shut them up in the last minute of extra time.
Alex Ferguson took over from Atkinson at United in controversial circumstances. Personally, I wasn't happy - I don't like the idea of people getting fired for what happens in their personal life. When I next saw United play, it seemed like the old flair and style had gone. They were playing just like another ordinary team. But at the time I thought "at least they will probably win more games this way". I was right.
Why tell you all this now? Simple, Alex Ferguson is still managing the team and Manchester United have now claimed their 19th Premier League/First Division title. This now beats the previous record held with Liverpool. Happy fan.