I’ve got an interesting story for ya’ll.
When I was about 8/9 years old, my Dad was offered free tickets to Poopey home game back in League One(Champ) he had to collect me from home from my mum as he was at work.
I knew I was going to a football match and had a few ‘kits’ Saints, Man U and Newcastle GK shirts and an England kit. Obviously being at the tender age of 8/9 I assumed football was football so put on my Saints shirt under my coat.
Well at the game, we were sat pitch side and sat next to two very lovely ladies aged 60+. It was a bright sunny day and I was boiling hot so removed my coat, to my Dads horror he soon realised I had my Saints shirt on!! He was approached by a steward requesting I covered my shirt up or would be asked to leave. With that, both of the ladies turned around and told the steward to leave me alone and let me wear my Saints shirt and ‘support’ Pompey. Apparently my Dad was receiving a fair few threats from your typical skate asbo fan as he took me up the stair to the toilet, all I could hear was the most frightening rendition of ‘Scummer’.
Of course I didn’t understand what the feck was going on and who ‘scummer’ was aimed at. Now my old man is a sensible bloke, wouldn’t do anything to upset anybody, including the skates, he got me to turn my shirt inside out (**** load of good that did) and now I think about it, I can’t imagine how intimidating that must have been for him.
So they are the same as any other side: they have their asbo thugs, arm chair fans, genuine supporters.
But: they laughed at us!