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What defines 'Quality support'?


daz39

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Ok, so following on from a 'discussion' i've been reading on a social media outlet, what exactly defines a good support? not wanting to turn this into a dick waving comp but want serious discussion and opinions on the matter please.

The arguments i've seen are thus:

Teams with lots of fans attending their games are, regardless of the amount of actual support given even if they're just there to 'spectate'

Teams with not great numbers but who turn up and offer lot's of encouragement and vocal support to their team regardless of form/league position etc

Fans of teams who are still watching their team long after any success they had has dried up instead of jumping ship like most would've.

 

My view is quality support is judged not by numbers but by noise and a constant in crowd sizes despite a lack of success.

As an example a Wigan fan claims his team have better support than Huddersfield or Salford because there are more of them, the Salford or Huddersfield fan claims they have better support because they make more noise and get behind their team, the Bradford fan claim their team have better support because they still get 3,500 fans watching them despite the recent fall from the top.

Discuss, in an adult manner.

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Hang on. You are going to try and introduce the concept that Hudds fans are "quality" because they, despite their low numbers, get behind the team and make a lot of "noise"?

An annoying cowbell and droning "Fartown" are nothing to draw attention to!

Seriously:

Good - Cas/Hull KR fans for being loyal through relegation. Always enjoyed Rervers fans and Cas fans can count to 12,

Good - London for amazing dedication. Doing their bit to counter global warming, by all travelling in one car.

Good - Wigan create a great atmosphere, big numbers, good songs.

Bad  - Wigan for "the Wigan Walk", when they don't perform.

Bad - Leeds for being utterly entitled, ill-educated and bloody boring.

Good - Hull FC for good numbers (though they foolishly believe their own hype EVERY year), quite loyal, but never like their coach.

Bad - Saints fans are grey and anonymous. Massive credit to the bloke with the white van though! And Johnnie Vegas.

Salford - lol.

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I’ll be honest, I don’t really care. I don’t go to games to be judged by others and I don’t support the club I do based upon what the overall support is like. 

However, anyone who attends live sport in this day and age where sport is so much more accessible via TV deserves some credit. 

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1 minute ago, dboy said:

Yeah, that is a bit weird - taking the mick out of other clubs support, when they are the ones who are actually there! 

It's like laughing at the fat bloke in the gym - at least he's there.

 

You’ve just taken the mick out of the support of a few clubs. Make your mind up.

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For the first two homes games at Widnes , the atmosphere was a bit flat. Maybe cos of the mess at the turnstiles. 

Meanwhile, the Batley fans cheered their team on throughout.

Big hand to the Broncos supporters. Especially the one shouting 'Larndon' loudy through the game. Hope he didn't suffer too much the next day!

Look forward to the Oldham crowd next weekend.

 

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Interesting topic... clearly some people watch professional team sport for the tribal nature of the experience... and the singing, standing in large groups and taunting the opposition is the valuable part of the match day ceremony. 
and it does make the atmosphere at the ground exciting...

watching the game in Australia, you rarely get that tribal ritual... I’ve often found myself getting fractious as people wander up and down the aisles getting food and drink, toilet breaks or just chatting to friends whilst the game is in full flow. It seems their expectations are social rather than for the sport.

personally I watch the game, and rarely make a noise... I love the way the game develops, manipulated by clever coaching or off the cuff brilliance...  it’s like watching a giant chess game where strategy is the ultimate winner, and mistakes are punished ruthlessly.
 

I have never stood in a big throng of singing fans.... I would hate that; and I don’t judge their enjoyment by my preferences.

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It's easy to offer your support to a successful, winning or at least competitive team. Such clubs naturally attract a bigger following, so can seem to have a "quality support".  If success dips, then a club sustaining that would indeed be quality - hence my admiration for how Cas and HKR weathered their tougher times.

Those who turn out, buy their STs and club clothing, even when every game threatens a beating - they're "quality".

Wigan & Wire always seem capable of generating a "quality" atmosphere.

Always found fans of all the clubs I encounter to be pretty friendly - 9 times out of 10 we share the love of the game. That's "quality".

It's hard to define or quantify.

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20 hours ago, Copa said:

I think quality support is when a newcomer feels a sense of belonging to a community. 

Hear hear!

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On 18/02/2020 at 17:08, daz39 said:

Ok, so following on from a 'discussion' i've been reading on a social media outlet, what exactly defines a good support? not wanting to turn this into a dick waving comp but want serious discussion and opinions on the matter please.

The arguments i've seen are thus:

Teams with lots of fans attending their games are, regardless of the amount of actual support given even if they're just there to 'spectate'

Teams with not great numbers but who turn up and offer lot's of encouragement and vocal support to their team regardless of form/league position etc

Fans of teams who are still watching their team long after any success they had has dried up instead of jumping ship like most would've.

 

My view is quality support is judged not by numbers but by noise and a constant in crowd sizes despite a lack of success.

As an example a Wigan fan claims his team have better support than Huddersfield or Salford because there are more of them, the Salford or Huddersfield fan claims they have better support because they make more noise and get behind their team, the Bradford fan claim their team have better support because they still get 3,500 fans watching them despite the recent fall from the top.

Discuss, in an adult manner.

Anything other than Salford or Huddersfield and it's quality!

Seriously though, in my personal opinion, there's different criteria which determines how i perceive a fan base.

Let's all be honest though, it's pretty easy to support a team when they're doing well isn't it? much harder to support when things aren't going so well.

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7 minutes ago, meast said:

Let's all be honest though, it's pretty easy to support a team when they're doing well isn't it? much harder to support when things aren't going so well.

Which is the inherent quality of the fans of those clubs - they aren't the problem; the people who we need to turn up are the problem.

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On 18/02/2020 at 17:27, dboy said:

Seriously:

Good - Cas/Hull KR fans for being loyal through relegation. Always enjoyed Rervers fans and Cas fans can count to 12,

Good - London for amazing dedication. Doing their bit to counter global warming, by all travelling in one car.

Good - Wigan create a great atmosphere, big numbers, good songs.

Bad  - Wigan for "the Wigan Walk", when they don't perform.

Bad - Leeds for being utterly entitled, ill-educated and bloody boring.

Good - Hull FC for good numbers (though they foolishly believe their own hype EVERY year), quite loyal, but never like their coach.

Bad - Saints fans are grey and anonymous. Massive credit to the bloke with the white van though! And Johnnie Vegas.

Salford - lol.

And this is why opinions are great, i happen to disagree with some of those,

Cas and HKR aren't as loyal as you make out, of course they have very good support in terms of numbers and noise etc, but i remember going to Castleford when there was 3,000 there and of course HKR, regularly struggled to pull in 2,000 pre 2007 promotion.

I find most Saints, Wigan and Leeds fans extremely entitled, Hull fans can never seem to make their minds up one week to the next whether they back their coach/players/club etc

Some of the older Leeds fans can be alright but most of the under 35 are condescending pains in the backsides!

Warrington have an extremely unlikeable football style element to their support, as well as a "happy clappy, dancing housewive" element and i see them as a bit whiny lately.

Wakefield fans seem to have a massive sense overkill, they seem to think they are world class at times, and for a strange reason love to mock and put down other clubs fans.

Huddersfield probably have the biggest set of negative fans, some of it borders on madness!

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11 minutes ago, meast said:

And this is why opinions are great, i happen to disagree with some of those,

Cas and HKR aren't as loyal as you make out, of course they have very good support in terms of numbers and noise etc, but i remember going to Castleford when there was 3,000 there and of course HKR, regularly struggled to pull in 2,000 pre 2007 promotion.

I find most Saints, Wigan and Leeds fans extremely entitled, Hull fans can never seem to make their minds up one week to the next whether they back their coach/players/club etc

Some of the older Leeds fans can be alright but most of the under 35 are condescending pains in the backsides!

Warrington have an extremely unlikeable football style element to their support, as well as a "happy clappy, dancing housewive" element and i see them as a bit whiny lately.

Wakefield fans seem to have a massive sense overkill, they seem to think they are world class at times, and for a strange reason love to mock and put down other clubs fans.

Huddersfield probably have the biggest set of negative fans, some of it borders on madness!

I struggle to see where you disagree with me in truth (even though there was an element of me being tongue-in-cheek).

And believe me, us Wakey fans know exactly where we are in the pecking order, but we see the potential the club and the team has, but just can't seem to realise it.

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