Selling the soul of your club to be successful

[Galloping Foxley]

Look at the state of City fans when they score a goal now, polite applause. Listen to the atmosphere at the Ethiad, completely dead. Sit yourself at Manchester Piccadilly a couple of hours before one of their games and watch the hordes of clueless tourists arriving from every destination.

That’s all coming Newcastle’s way. You can’t have it both ways anymore, if you’re going to be consistently successful you are going to have your fan base fundamentally changed. More corporate at the expense of long standing fans. Tourists with deep pockets.

There’s no glory in winning under these regimes. The sheikh at city could have taken over Hartlepool and had the exact same results, might have taken a few seasons more but exact same result ultimately. Same for the geordies, all victories will be hollow.

Majority of them won’t give a fuck, majority of most success starved fans wouldnt, ultimately though there won’t be much satisfaction once everything has been achieved.

That's nothing new though. I recall going to Anfield for the first time in the 80's when Liverpool were Kings of Europe and swept all aside in the top flight.
As an away fan it was incredibly exciting only to realise that they hardly ever sang. It was loud when they scored but not as loud as some places. The Kop looked ok but was so sedate.
The reason was they were so spoiled by repeated success they were casually confident and expected to win most games. Even in those days they would have had thousands of glory hunters diluting their support.
Constant success can make you soft.

 

[framed]

That's nothing new though. I recall going to Anfield for the first time in the 80's when Liverpool were Kings of Europe and swept all aside in the top flight.
As an away fan it was incredibly exciting only to realise that they hardly ever sang. It was loud when they scored but not as loud as some places. The Kop looked ok but was so sedate.
The reason was they were so spoiled by repeated success they were casually confident and expected to win most games. Even in those days they would have had thousands of glory hunters diluting their support.
Constant success can make you soft.

Well yeah that’s the whole point. It is impossible to be successful for a sustained period and not be flooded by tourists. There’s no exceptions.

The question is are you prepared to watch the support base change massively in order to have sustained success?

People might say “well I’d still be there and our core support would still be there” and that’s true but what happens over a number of years is that the corporate side increases, the corporates start to get little perks including access to the away tickets first and then there’s your away support going down the toilet.

 

[Georgewhitt]

I feel like that’s a really hard thing to define. You say you might not come back. What if the club was filled with people who were new to it, it meant little to, and who the world perceived us through? Your relationship might still remember 1973 etc, but the core of the club would shift.

For me, and it genuinely hurts me to say it. Appreciate what you’re saying, but we probably won’t agree here (which is fine)

I didn't say I might not come back at all.
I said I'd be back after any murdering regime had gone.
Different thing marra.
And I totally understand that others would stay. Not making a judgement.

@BackhouseParkRangers said how Wembley last year brought 3 generations of his family together, and thats a great thing. He may stick around if it happened because of the shared love for the club through the generations of his family. That has to be a good thing.

And yes you're right, the core of the club might shift.

But the SOUL of the club would stay the same in my heart marra..
That's how I would reconcile it.

No right or wrong really if you look at differing points of view.

 

[woodlebert]

I didn't say I might not come back at all.
I said I'd be back after any murdering regime had gone.
Different thing marra.
And I totally understand that others would stay. Not making a judgement.

@BackhouseParkRangers said how Wembley last year brought 3 generations of his family together, and thats a great thing. He may stick around if it happened because of the shared love for the club through the generations of his family. That has to be a good thing.

And yes you're right, the core of the club might shift.

But the SOUL of the club would stay the same in my heart marra..
That's how I would reconcile it.

No right or wrong really if you look at differing points of view.

I actually agree with you on loads of the points. No judgement to those staying and appreciate that you’d step away for a bit. I just don’t think fans are in control of the soul in the same way you do.

 

[Georgewhitt]

I actually agree with you on loads of the points. No judgement to those staying and appreciate that you’d step away for a bit. I just don’t think fans are in control of the soul in the same way you do.

Think thats my point right there marra.
NOBODY controls the soul of the club. It can't be controlled. It's a soul, not a thing. The soul is etherial, not owned, not controlled, not bound by restrictions.

But it will carry on, and always be worth more than any billions of Pounds that any temporary custodian may hoy at the club.

 

[wrighty]

Unless you’re one of maybe 3 or 4 top clubs in world, your players are always for sale.

Absolutely this. Real Madrid took Ronaldo from United, Chelsea took Torres from Liverpool etc etc ‘‘twas ever thus

That's nothing new though. I recall going to Anfield for the first time in the 80's when Liverpool were Kings of Europe and swept all aside in the top flight.
As an away fan it was incredibly exciting only to realise that they hardly ever sang. It was loud when they scored but not as loud as some places. The Kop looked ok but was so sedate.
The reason was they were so spoiled by repeated success they were casually confident and expected to win most games. Even in those days they would have had thousands of glory hunters diluting their support.
Constant success can make you soft.

Well that must be why we are so f*****g hard

 

[yossarian31]

TBH I think all the big clubs have already done this -