Fans of the future ?

[saint lard]

When my Pa introduced me to Saints he was so proud and enthusiastic for me to carry the Saints supporting mantle on.

 

I did,I remember going into the family centre with Dad and a box painted in red and white stripes that he had made, for me to stand upon.

 

They were brilliant times.

 

I am now try to pass this same passion onto my son,he has the kit and and various other Saints merchandise.

When he watches football,which he appears to love watching,i constantly try to instill that supporting Saints is the way to go.

He is only young, but it is going to prove very tough to pass down the same passion that my father had,when i am becoming less passionate myself.

Ok, i will have plenty of you having a pop at me,i can understand that,i so much want my son to follow me in my support.

But with the lure of the "bigger,fashionable" clubs it is surely going to prove difficult to do so,especially with what appears so much apathy towards Saints,just look at some of the threads on here,from many quarters.

I can only speak for myself, but it does appear that apathy reigns,if so,how are we going to entice the next generation of Saints fan?

[VectisSaint]

When my Pa introduced me to Saints he was so proud and enthusiastic for me to carry the Saints supporting mantle on.

 

I did,I remember going into the family centre with Dad and a box painted in red and white stripes that he had made, for me to stand upon.

 

They were brilliant times.

 

I am now try to pass this same passion onto my son,he has the kit and and various other Saints merchandise.

When he watches football,which he appears to love watching,i constantly try to instill that supporting Saints is the way to go.

He is only young, but it is going to prove very tough to pass down the same passion that my father had,when i am becoming less passionate myself.

Ok, i will have plenty of you having a pop at me,i can understand that,i so much want my son to follow me in my support.

But with the lure of the "bigger,fashionable" clubs it is surely going to prove difficult to do so,especially with what appears so much apathy towards Saints,just look at some of the threads on here,from many quarters.

I can only speak for myself, but it does appear that apathy reigns,if so,how are we going to entice the next generation of Saints fan?

I think you owe it to the lad to encourage him to support Liverpool or Manure or even the Arse. I don't think anyone deserves to be depressed the rest of their lives

[Hatch]

My kids were taken to a few games when they were younger, now they are older and can think for themselves, Arsenal have gained another couple of 'fans'.

[exit2]

I told me 4 yr old that Saints lost today, his reply

 

"what again, Saints are rubbish"

[exit2]

I told me 4 yr old that Saints lost today, his reply

 

"what again, Saints are rubbish"

[Alan56]

I took my very young lad to the Dell in the early 90's and he loved it.

 

Born in Northampton, the son of a caulk head, he lived for his trips south. He went on to study at S'pton uni, worked for the club in his student days and now...........

 

feels no affiliation to the club anymore, loathes the way these over paid, underskilled players laud it about town and take the **** out of their fan base everytime they go out on to the pitch and takes more of an interest in whether Luton and Bomo, can get out of the predicament that they are in.

 

I bet he is not alone!!!

[Alan56]

I took my very young lad to the Dell in the early 90's and he loved it.

 

Born in Northampton, the son of a caulk head, he lived for his trips south. He went on to study at S'pton uni, worked for the club in his student days and now...........

 

feels no affiliation to the club anymore, loathes the way these over paid, underskilled players laud it about town and take the **** out of their fan base everytime they go out on to the pitch and takes more of an interest in whether Luton and Bomo, can get out of the predicament that they are in.

 

I bet he is not alone!!!

[chi saint]

Understand completely where u r coming from my middle son of 14 is Saints through and through, as opposed to his brothers who's grandad converted them to Man U.

 

I must say i'm surprised after all the disappointment he's experienced i'm surprised he's stuck with them, especially with the ribbing he gets at school.

 

Still i'm confident having been thro so much he's now firmly infected with Saintitus and can't be cured!

[chi saint]

Understand completely where u r coming from my middle son of 14 is Saints through and through, as opposed to his brothers who's grandad converted them to Man U.

 

I must say i'm surprised after all the disappointment he's experienced i'm surprised he's stuck with them, especially with the ribbing he gets at school.

 

Still i'm confident having been thro so much he's now firmly infected with Saintitus and can't be cured!

[rick1976.4.38]

my son is 14 and get his first season ticket next year,he loves the saints whatever the ribbing he gets up here in the smoke,wears his saints shirt with pride,good on him, cos ive had enough,i cant be tormented by our losses anymore,now i just get on with it.dont blame jp,i blame the pr**k at the helm of sfc,and he has to go,unfortunately,even if he does its too late,coyr

[rick1976.4.38]

my son is 14 and get his first season ticket next year,he loves the saints whatever the ribbing he gets up here in the smoke,wears his saints shirt with pride,good on him, cos ive had enough,i cant be tormented by our losses anymore,now i just get on with it.dont blame jp,i blame the pr**k at the helm of sfc,and he has to go,unfortunately,even if he does its too late,coyr

[homesick-saint]

When my Pa introduced me to Saints he was so proud and enthusiastic for me to carry the Saints supporting mantle on.

 

I did,I remember going into the family centre with Dad and a box painted in red and white stripes that he had made, for me to stand upon.

 

They were brilliant times.

 

I am now try to pass this same passion onto my son,he has the kit and and various other Saints merchandise.

When he watches football,which he appears to love watching,i constantly try to instill that supporting Saints is the way to go.

He is only young, but it is going to prove very tough to pass down the same passion that my father had,when i am becoming less passionate myself.

Ok, i will have plenty of you having a pop at me,i can understand that,i so much want my son to follow me in my support.

But with the lure of the "bigger,fashionable" clubs it is surely going to prove difficult to do so,especially with what appears so much apathy towards Saints,just look at some of the threads on here,from many quarters.

I can only speak for myself, but it does appear that apathy reigns,if so,how are we going to entice the next generation of Saints fan?

I have 2 sons 26 and 32 and they are Saint's through and through. Nothing would pursuade them to desert the Saints, I re-married and live in Scotland now with a 7 year old son. My boys and I took him to the Forrest game....his first ever game of football. He listen to the 3 of us moaning after the game and then said "I'm going to support Liverpool(his Mum's team) or Rangers. Saints are rubbish. " What could we tell him?

[homesick-saint]

When my Pa introduced me to Saints he was so proud and enthusiastic for me to carry the Saints supporting mantle on.

 

I did,I remember going into the family centre with Dad and a box painted in red and white stripes that he had made, for me to stand upon.

 

They were brilliant times.

 

I am now try to pass this same passion onto my son,he has the kit and and various other Saints merchandise.

When he watches football,which he appears to love watching,i constantly try to instill that supporting Saints is the way to go.

He is only young, but it is going to prove very tough to pass down the same passion that my father had,when i am becoming less passionate myself.

Ok, i will have plenty of you having a pop at me,i can understand that,i so much want my son to follow me in my support.

But with the lure of the "bigger,fashionable" clubs it is surely going to prove difficult to do so,especially with what appears so much apathy towards Saints,just look at some of the threads on here,from many quarters.

I can only speak for myself, but it does appear that apathy reigns,if so,how are we going to entice the next generation of Saints fan?

I have 2 sons 26 and 32 and they are Saint's through and through. Nothing would pursuade them to desert the Saints, I re-married and live in Scotland now with a 7 year old son. My boys and I took him to the Forrest game....his first ever game of football. He listen to the 3 of us moaning after the game and then said "I'm going to support Liverpool(his Mum's team) or Rangers. Saints are rubbish. " What could we tell him?

[georgeismyname]

I have been a Saints fan since I can remember and I got my first season ticket when I was 13. I still supported the Saints with all my heart even with all the abuse I got from going to school in Portsmouth. I didn't care.

I was proud to be a Saints fan and I wasn't ever going to lie about who I supported to save face.

I still have a season ticket now and I would rather die than support another team. It breaks my heart to see the situation the club is in put I am Saints til I die and I will continue to turn up every week

[georgeismyname]

I have been a Saints fan since I can remember and I got my first season ticket when I was 13. I still supported the Saints with all my heart even with all the abuse I got from going to school in Portsmouth. I didn't care.

I was proud to be a Saints fan and I wasn't ever going to lie about who I supported to save face.

I still have a season ticket now and I would rather die than support another team. It breaks my heart to see the situation the club is in put I am Saints til I die and I will continue to turn up every week

[70's Mike]

My 2 boys 21 and 14 have both had season tickets for years , the eldest had one at The Dell the youngest when we moved to SMS.

Both have attended many away games with be including the Fratton disaster game and both are hurting , we live in an area which has seen the growth in plastic skates which has concided with the fall of plastic saints.

The youngest cannot be arsed to go these days , better mucking about with his mates, the eldest still goes but has so much anger towards the club owners

[70's Mike]

My 2 boys 21 and 14 have both had season tickets for years , the eldest had one at The Dell the youngest when we moved to SMS.

Both have attended many away games with be including the Fratton disaster game and both are hurting , we live in an area which has seen the growth in plastic skates which has concided with the fall of plastic saints.

The youngest cannot be arsed to go these days , better mucking about with his mates, the eldest still goes but has so much anger towards the club owners

[SoccerMom]

I took my very young lad to the Dell in the early 90's and he loved it.

 

Born in Northampton, the son of a caulk head, he lived for his trips south. He went on to study at S'pton uni, worked for the club in his student days and now...........

 

feels no affiliation to the club anymore, loathes the way these over paid, underskilled players laud it about town and take the **** out of their fan base everytime they go out on to the pitch and takes more of an interest in whether Luton and Bomo, can get out of the predicament that they are in.

 

I bet he is not alone!!!

That must break your heart. I think there's something about being about the same age as the players, feeling all the passion that you can tell they don't feel. I bet if my kid were old enough to play for the club he'd be just about as disgusted. And perhaps if the players showed any pride in the shirt, your lad wouldn't be nearly as down about it as he is. But how does anyone develop any pride in a club anymore? Players are traded like so many cattle - overpaid and underskilled they may be, but to them loyalty is only something you can buy at a price. Players like Kelvin - who really does seem to *want* to be here, regardless of pay or position - are few and far between. And who knows what pressure is put on players by their agents? Agents? When did that happen, anyway???

 

My kid, as I said somewhere else, is still desperate to keep going to Saints, even though he knows, and says, they're rubbish. To him it's not about winning, it's about caring about something, it's about spending Saturday afternoons with me, it's about running on ahead to buy a programme, getting that first sight of the pitch, sharing a cup of tea, and walking home looking at the rest of the results on the phone. He's too young to understand about the money and the loutish behaviour (of the players, not the fans....)

 

You don't choose these things, like you don't chose where you're born - if you love going to the footie, you just go.

 

What am I going to do to keep him a Saint? Not moan about losing all the time (it's not the end of the world), wash his kit as many times as it needs (he's been wearing his new away shirt for two days now, and is determined to wear it tomorrow to his gran's, and Sunday for the match), keep taking him to meet the players at open training, laugh with him when he mocks the glory hunters, and most of all keep taking him to matches.

[Wilko]

When my Dad started taking me at age 10 I used to wear a ManYoo shirt. He was instructed by my Mum and maternal grandmother not to interfere and to let me make my own mind up, so my first game was not until I was just about to leave primary school.

 

However, once I had been to a few games at The Dell I was in no doubt where my allegiances lay. The character of the ground, the special atmosphere, the full stadium, the excitement of the backs-to-the-wall relegation battles, Matt Le Tiss and Super Kenny Monkou were all there. Every game seemed amazing, even the 3-0 (or was it only 2) home defeat to Arsenal third XI (Micky Evans' debut game, for those who remember) was great fun. The old Ugly Inside fanzine was witty and subversive and each home match was a real treat.

 

I think if he had started to take me to home games as a 10-year-old now, I would probably tell him where to go and would have carried on in my bad ways. None of the things that got me into Saints are there any more and it's really ****ing sad.

 

I remain,

 

Wilko

 

P.S. Tickets were £5 for kids when I started going. I dread to think how much they are now.

[Panda]

I was eleven when my dad took me to the Dell for the first time in 1959. It was only Div 3 againt Norwich but it was magic and I was hooked. There was no live TV in those days and so the only football I saw outside of the school playground and on Hythe Recreation ground was Saints. Fifty years later I am still red and white despite everything and despite we may well be back where we started 50 years ago.

 

For kids now it is so different. It is so easy 'to support' anyone they choose (Manure, Cheskie, the arse, et al) but, like everything else now, it is not real. There is no commitment, no passion, no feeling in the guts. If 'their team' has a dodgy run then they will change to someone else. TV means there is only time for winners these days.

 

I am encouraged though. Recently I was on the train back home from Soton and there was a lad on the train with his dad and they both had Weymouth shirts on, they support the Terriors and wanted you to know it. Then, on Radio Solent, John Cuthill asked a lad on the phone who his favourite football team was and he said without hesitation "Saints Reserves". "Why?" asked an astonished Cuthill and the lad said "The only time I get with my dad is when he takes me to see Saints Reserves." I guess dad could not afford to take his nipper to see the first team and obvioulsy from a broken home. I had a tear in my eye when I heard that.

 

Fans of the future? There will be some of course but how many will depend on where we are in the pyramid.

[Whitey Grandad]

I was eleven when my dad took me to the Dell for the first time in 1959. It was only Div 3 againt Norwich but it was magic and I was hooked. There was no live TV in those days and so the only football I saw outside of the school playground and on Hythe Recreation ground was Saints. Fifty years later I am still red and white despite everything and despite we may well be back where we started 50 years ago.

 

For kids now it is so different. It is so easy 'to support' anyone they choose (Manure, Cheskie, the arse, et al) but, like everything else now, it is not real. There is no commitment, no passion, no feeling in the guts. If 'their team' has a dodgy run then they will change to someone else. TV means there is only time for winners these days.

 

I am encouraged though. Recently I was on the train back home from Soton and there was a lad on the train with his dad and they both had Weymouth shirts on, they support the Terriors and wanted you to know it. Then, on Radio Solent, John Cuthill asked a lad on the phone who his favourite football team was and he said without hesitation "Saints Reserves". "Why?" asked an astonished Cuthill and the lad said "The only time I get with my dad is when he takes me to see Saints Reserves." I guess dad could not afford to take his nipper to see the first team and obvioulsy from a broken home. I had a tear in my eye when I heard that.

 

Fans of the future? There will be some of course but how many will depend on where we are in the pyramid.

I think you'll find that it was the first team.

[hughieslastminutegoal]

I went off my own bat when I was 11, with a mate who had been taken by his grandad a few times before. Saints were in Div2 (1963) then, and it was exciting, and real value for money, when kids hanging around for autographs were much more than tolerated, and weren't regarded as nuisances.

 

I have taken 2 sons along in the past, one of whom came to regard himself as a fan, but these days he really can't be bothered. He'd rather play Sat and Sun leagues than watch go-nowhere football at inflated prices, played by spoiled brats who think the public owe them a living.

 

But I have a feeling this is more to do with the over-hyping of Prem & Euro football, and anything less than challenging for promotion to the Prem just doesn't cut it with many people these days, especially at these prices.

 

There is just too much else to do nowadays than have to wrap yourself up in being a die-hard fan of an unsuccessful club.

 

That's just how it is now, and I do't hold out a lot of hope for there continuing to be 4 full-time professional divisions for an awful lot longer.

[J Bizzle]

I had a season ticket from the 1994 season till the end of last season as i am now at uni. over 15 years of my sort life has been spent in love with this club. i lost my ex due to it(good ****ing riddence, ***** wouldnt let me out on a saturday). I couldn't dream of supporting anyone else, southampton is my club, my city and my home. There is one big thing i miss and the thing that probably bought about most of our fans, and thats the old atmosphere at the dell. The thing i mainly miss from the dell is the smell of linament coming from the changing rooms, wish we could go back to those days. Saying that i will carry on to support my team through thick and thin. Speaking to my Grandad over christmas, he was a regular through the 50's, 60's and 70's untill they moved the away fans. He said when they were playing in the old 3rd division saints had a support of around 12-13,000 that would turn up week in week out, looks like it is going to revert back to this for a while.

[Sad Sam]

There seemed to be a lot of kids at the game today, and not just the teams from the kids league who are to be frank a pain in the ***e.

 

My Grandson goes with me cos he loves to spend time with me, if he ever sees them win he might even enjoy the day out!

 

My mates all take their kids with them, all between 5 and 8.

 

We are not dead yet.

[L1Minus10]

My son is 4. I am praying that Saints are on an upturn in the next 2 years or else it's going to be very hard to find a reason to recommend them, aside from them being my team and being local.

 

My dad took me to my first game when I was 7 - a 1-0 win at Fratton Park... next game I went to was the Charity Shield. We won a wee trophy between those two games - support cemented for life even though the one trophy per season ratio has dropped off a bit since then.

[EFM]

Funnily/sadly enough, today was the first time I have ever said to anyone I wish I had been brought up to support a different club. After nearly 40 years a fan.

 

But it's just not conceivable is it. And along with a fxxk load of misery they have brought me many of the happiest days of my life. The 76 Cup Final being THE happiest day of my life (not sure whether that is a sad reflection of my life?) and unlikely to be surpassed. SFC is in my blood and always will be.

 

However, I converted my nephew to Saints many years ago and in his late 20s he moved up to Grimsby with his girlfriend from up there. He had a son who he dressed in a Saints top from about 6 months old and is now about 10. His son asked him the other week if he could support Grimsby as Saints were ****e and everyone at school took the pxss! Now I have always detested those kids who do for the glory teams but swapping Saints for..........Grimsby? :-(