Jump to content

Why do you go to games?


Turkish

Recommended Posts

I've been going regularly for 25 years. I've done this for one reason, my love of football and specifically saints. I have also been to non saints games though, sometimes just to see a different ground, different teams and a different atmpshere. It seems to me though that some people on here have other motives for going to games other than enjoying a game of football. Rather than enjoying the game people expect Gordon ramsey quality refreshments, they moan that they cant get a pint at half time (if you were in a pub with 21,000 other people and only a handful of bars open would you expect to only queue for 5 minutes for a beer?) that the music the team enters the pitch too doesn't get them motivated enough for the game, that there is no smoking areas, the standard of the PA system "ruins the day" for some people, the panels around the ground aren't clear and people bang on them-"moronic yoof" apparantly.

 

Personally i couldn't give a toss if the PA system isn't of O2 arena standards and it certainly doesn't "ruin the day". I dont care if its take me 5 minutes or 10 to queue for a pint or that the burgers aren't hand made by a michelen cheif. All i am interested in and care about is that primarliy saints win, secondly its a good, entertaining game with hopefully plenty of goals and a decent atmosphere. Am i alone in this or do other people go to football for other things than what happens on the pitch?

Edited by Turkish
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Without football, Saturdays are as dull as Sundays.

 

Surely you could moan about an extend queue for a pint in most CC pubs anyday of the week though? Surely you could go to a Hungry Horse pub and have a non-michelin standard meal for a fiver any day of the week? Surely the PA system in Yates "ruins your day" because you can make out every naunce of every instrument of every song played any day of the week though?

Edited by Turkish
Link to comment
Share on other sites

poor PA system

 

I am sure one or two will have, probably turned up for the Huddersfield game, saw a display of class attacking football and 5 goals but vowed never to go back because they couldn't hear the second sentance of Pardews pre match interview and the mustard wasn't colemans on their half time hot dog, it ruined the day. :smt009

Edited by Turkish
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same as PhilB and ESoulBoy - I go because I love live football, love the Saints and want to pass this passion onto my son (who is now hooked - but he's seen some real rubbish from Saints but also some memorable games - vs Sheff utd to stay up in the CCC, Poopey FA Cup and of course Wembley).

 

Two other reasons: I would also say I love the atmosphere at the live game and you see a different game live than when you watch it on the box

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To check that no b'stard's in my seat.

 

I have only recently (half way through last season) been able to go again on a regular basis and feel that I am making up for lost time. I've absolutely loved this season, I haven't been to so many games in one season since the late 70s.

What has been unexpectedly strange is the tension I've felt, growing throughout the season. I need to be slightly more chilled and enjoy the match, not just worry about the result at all costs.

I truly have rediscovered how much Saints mean to me, and now wish I hadn't missed so much over the years. But that's life and it leads you (well me anyway) all over the shop. So I'm trying to deal with guilt as well, FFS!!!

 

'You know, football,

 

Isn't it?, Saints,

 

You know,

 

Marvellous.'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love my club and I love spending time with my son and watching Saints is a common interest to us both (thanks to me I hasten to add)

 

Thats what gives me the most pleasure, spending time with my sons watching Saints together and then spending almost all week digesting all things Saints...lol.

 

The JPT Final was our first chance together to see Saints at Wembley and i could not have been happier.

 

I still play league football at the age of 45 and its because my son now plays in the same team, the love of football with him keeps me going.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally i couldn't give a toss if the PA system isn't of O2 arena standards and it certainly doesn't "ruin the day". I dont care if its take me 5 minutes or 10 to queue for a pint or that the burgers aren't hand made by a michelen cheif. All i am interested in and care about is that primarliy saints win, secondly its a good, entertaining game with hopefully plenty of goals and a decent atmosphere. Am i alone in this or do other people go to football for other things than what happens on the pitch?

 

My sentiments to a T, since 1962-63 when I started to watch Saints, and always will be.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stupid thread. Of course everyone goes because they like football, want to meet their mates, spend time with their kids and support saints. The other things don't ruin the experience just help to make it better and more comfortable.

 

You go to the cinema to watch the film. A comfortable chair and box of popcorn just help with the experience. I guess you would have us watch the film on a bench in a room which stinks off ****?

 

There is nothing wrong with asking for the experience being made better. I don't want to wait 20minutes for a pint but would still go if that was what the service was/is like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stupid thread. Of course everyone goes because they like football, want to meet their mates, spend time with their kids and support saints. The other things don't ruin the experience just help to make it better and more comfortable.

 

You go to the cinema to watch the film. A comfortable chair and box of popcorn just help with the experience. I guess you would have us watch the film on a bench in a room which stinks off ****?

 

There is nothing wrong with asking for the experience being made better. I don't want to wait 20minutes for a pint but would still go if that was what the service was/is like.

 

Well it isn't stupid is it, if a poor PA system "ruins the day" for some people, as per a previous thread, then clearly they aren't their just to see the match. Something as insignificant as not hearing clearly an interview played over the noise of 20k+ people entering a sporting arena would not ruin the day if you were there just to see the game. Many of the modern football fans are consumers/customer not just football fans so what else do they expect? Maybe they should have gone twenty years ago when you couldn't get a beer, had to get in the ground an hour and a half before kick off to get a realtively decent view (looking back most were **** on the milton terracewhere i used to go) and spend the whole time in the freezing cold or ****ing rain. What would the soft, replica shirt wearing, modern "i had to queue for 10 minutes to get a hot dog" fan make of that?

Edited by Turkish
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't be bothered to trail through the other thread to find where someone said the PA system ruined their day. Did someone really say this? I'm sure you will post the link. If they did then they are idiots.

 

I can't help but feel that this is a 'look at me aren't I an uber fan' thread. I understand it in kids, I have more stickers than you so I love football more than you mentality but don't get it in adults who watch football.

 

It is strange that football has this type of mentality that other entertainment\sports don't. Do people at cricket say "you don't love Hampshire as much as me as I am able to watch them play while sitting on a bed of nails and talking like danny dyer"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I go because I'd hate to not go on the day we smash someone 10-0, or score 2 in second half injury time to win.

 

Also, to see mates that I would otherwise never had met. And because, in a strange way, I feel very much at-home at St. Marys, almost like I can get away with anything because it's mine.

 

Similar reasons for getting aseason ticket, you never know when we might be in a final, win a league, get p*mpey in the FA Cup or some-such.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You go to the cinema to watch the film. A comfortable chair and box of popcorn just help with the experience.

 

There ya go. I do go to the cinema to watch a film. Sometimes I go to listen to it as well. And you're the "fellow" who ruined that with constant rustling of your skip-sized box of popcorn.

 

Everyone wants something different from an entertainment "experience", Turkish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Southampton Born, Southampton Bred

It is is my tribe

I love football as well,help run local youth club, but it is Saints for me never really cared or wanted to watch any other club, 2 sons (22 and 15) are now the same, do not like what Sky etc have done to the game

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't be bothered to trail through the other thread to find where someone said the PA system ruined their day. Did someone really say this? I'm sure you will post the link. If they did then they are idiots.

 

They were actually taking the ****, although admittedly it's sometimes difficult to tell on this board!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have a drink, meet mates, stand, have a sing song and watch a bit of footy. When Saints aren't playing I still have to get as much footy as possible - going to Charlton and Millwall play-off games with a group of mates on Monday and Tuesday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't be bothered to trail through the other thread to find where someone said the PA system ruined their day. Did someone really say this? I'm sure you will post the link. If they did then they are idiots.

 

I can't help but feel that this is a 'look at me aren't I an uber fan' thread. I understand it in kids, I have more stickers than you so I love football more than you mentality but don't get it in adults who watch football.

 

It is strange that football has this type of mentality that other entertainment\sports don't. Do people at cricket say "you don't love Hampshire as much as me as I am able to watch them play while sitting on a bed of nails and talking like danny dyer"?

 

http://www.saintsweb.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=22518

 

A whole list of of grumbles with the first one being, and i do stand corrected, that the PA system "spoils the day" not ruins it as per my previous posts. Loved the bit about not minding if they put their photos up on the score board as well, how generous. Do any of them matter if you are there to see the game?

 

As for loving Hampshire, people might say that at cricket i dont know, i've never seen anyone sitting on a bed of nails at the Rose Bowl. I'd do it at football of course but you try getting a bed of nails into a football ground. You'd be jailed and banned for life for carrying an offensive weapon and inciting a riot and to cap it all get a cracking thread on here from the self righteous majority jumping on the real fans dont carry beds of nails bandwagon.

Edited by Turkish
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I go to games to watch my team play. I didn't use to - I shed my plastic status for this season just gone, and I'm very glad I did. I don't live in Southampton, I wasn't born or raised in Southampton, but Southampton are my team and have been since '89. I have made a few games before this season, but used to suffer from mild agoraphobia so they were few and far between. I'm much older and wiser now, and crowds don't bother me so much, and have thoroughly enjoyed my visits to SMS.

 

Not another season will go by where I avoid games - in spite of shiftwork, I will always try and attend every game I can make - I love the crowds now, the spirit, the singing, I love the football, even when we play badly, and I love the pre- and post- match rituals that I have developed - wouldn't change it for anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I go to see the team play mainly, but a very close second is the chance to spend time with my mates and see how they are/have a good time with them.

 

It's a bloody long way to travel though, so the facilities and standard of things in/around the ground do help a lot. A two hour drive followed by a dreadful prematch point can be quite an anticlimax.

 

I don't care about pre match entertainment, I don't care about half time shows or anything like that, i'm there for league 1 football, all they should be doing is keeping us informed of what's happening elsewhere in relevant competitions. I do care about the standard of consumables at the stadium and the speed of service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

to meet old and new friends.to have a drnk and to sing and shout for ninety plus minutes and to escape the grind of the working week.win or lose,as ive got older the losing is more bearable,i can sleep now,when i was younger it would be in my head all week.the main thing is watching saints and having a crack,who cares if the pa isnt good enough,we havent gone to watch a concert.its football ffs.roll on next season,cant wait

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love it.

 

Someone sets up a thread asking what improvements people would like to see at the ground, which was generally an interseting thread. Then we get this thread moaning at the people who gave their opinions!

 

Apart from the guy who said the PA system 'ruins' his day (who was either joking or a prat) the people were just honestly saying what would make their day that little bit better, not that they only go to the football for that reason. We ALL go because we love football and the Saints, seeing our mates, having a break from home life etc.

 

And I don't mind saying that having to go down to the bar at 35-40 mins to stand any chance of getting a beer p*sses me right off and isn't good enough. I'm sure NC knows this and is addressing it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love it.

 

Someone sets up a thread asking what improvements people would like to see at the ground, which was generally an interseting thread. Then we get this thread moaning at the people who gave their opinions!

 

Apart from the guy who said the PA system 'ruins' his day (who was either joking or a prat) the people were just honestly saying what would make their day that little bit better, not that they only go to the football for that reason. We ALL go because we love football and the Saints, seeing our mates, having a break from home life etc.

 

And I don't mind saying that having to go down to the bar at 35-40 mins to stand any chance of getting a beer p*sses me right off and isn't good enough. I'm sure NC knows this and is addressing it.

 

Personally the only improvements i would like to see are to the playing staff. I am sure NC has more pressing matters to deal with than reducing the queues for the gutty ****s who cant go 90 minutes without drinking or filling their face with burgers and pies.

 

So having a half time pint is so important to you that your would miss 1/9th of the game, plus injury time, just to have a beer. How many goals have you missed this season going downstairs with 35 mins on the clock?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't class myself as a football fan, I don't watch much football at home, I don't even have the Sports package on Sky anymore... the odd game that I do want to watch I will go round a mates.

 

I don't really pay attention to much going on in the league apart from our league position and the teams close to us.

 

Football for me is a social, meet the lads and have a few beers and a laugh, I am not too bothered about the 90 minutes, normally it's just a drunken haze, unless it's a midweek game.

 

On 36 minutes me and my pals make our way downstairs for a couple of pints and watch the final 10 minutes of the first half on the TV ( if it's working ) , sometimes we are back in our seats for the second half, more often than not the stewards tell us to drink up and we make our way up on 50 minutes.

 

Depending on the result, we are rarely there at the end, in quite a few cases, we are back in the pub before the final whistle goes... infact for Gillingham away, we were back in London before the final whistle went.

 

Yes I am a super fan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wouldn't class myself as a football fan, I don't watch much football at home, I don't even have the Sports package on Sky anymore... the odd game that I do want to watch I will go round a mates.

 

I don't really pay attention to much going on in the league apart from our league position and the teams close to us.

 

Football for me is a social, meet the lads and have a few beers and a laugh, I am not too bothered about the 90 minutes, normally it's just a drunken haze, unless it's a midweek game.

 

On 36 minutes me and my pals make our way downstairs for a couple of pints and watch the final 10 minutes of the first half on the TV ( if it's working ) , sometimes we are back in our seats for the second half, more often than not the stewards tell us to drink up and we make our way up on 50 minutes.

 

Depending on the result, we are rarely there at the end, in quite a few cases, we are back in the pub before the final whistle goes... infact for Gillingham away, we were back in London before the final whistle went.

 

Yes I am a super fan.

 

Shut up you ****

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally the only improvements i would like to see are to the playing staff. I am sure NC has more pressing matters to deal with than reducing the queues for the gutty ****s who cant go 90 minutes without drinking or filling their face with burgers and pies.

 

NC's got loads of cash, good ideas and organisation, so I don't see why he can't do the lot. I don't see the point of this thread...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...