It’s the summer and the new football season is nearly on us. That makes it, for many clubs, season ticket renewal time. A time for debates, whinges, and showing off about who has (and who is not able) to go to the game every week.
These discussions always come back to “loyalty”, and an idea held be some fans is always that the more games you go to, the more “loyal”, you are. This is often the idea presented by fans who have the money, the working shift cycle and the level of commitments (such as family or caring responsibilities) where they can be there every week. Home and away. With no problems at all.
But are these fans more “loyal” than other fans? I put to you three different fans and their situations for you to make up your mind:
Fan 1: There every week
Fan 1 is there every week. If it’s a home game, nothing stops them making it. They spend more than they realise following the club week in-week out and throw in as many away days as they can get tickets for. They barely miss a match.
Fan 2: Does maybe 10 games a season
Fan 2 hasn’t got the money to commit to being there every week, but takes advantage of the club’s membership scheme to get tickets to around half the games.
Fan 3: Lives clear across the country
Fan 3 lives clear across country and the cost (not to mention time) of getting there makes some games impossible to do in a day. Fan 3 finds a trip to the game a big commitment so can only do maybe one or two games a season, and finds some away trips to teams much closer to home far easier to commit to (assuming they can get a ticket!).
Who is more loyal? I can tell you who has been to more games. I can tell you who tries to squeeze more out of every match they attend, knowing they won’t be back for another year. Heck, I can tell you who spends more following their club. But stacking each fan’s loyalty against the other? I couldn’t tell you.
The writer of this piece is in a weird position because Fan 1, 2 and 3 are all situations where I have been in. I have been in situations where I cannot afford to go to more than one or two games a season, and have been fortunate enough where I can go to pretty much all of them.
As my situation changed, did my loyalty change? I don’t think so - I still support the same team, went to as many games as I could (even if there were years with none), and the feeling of a goal - whether by a phone notification, a teletext update or seeing it in the flesh - still gave me that rush.
Frankly, it’s time fans moved away from the weird notion that “I spent more/went to more games, therefore I’m more loyal/more deserving/a better fan than you”, as it doesn’t reflect the nationwide (or sometimes global) nature of club support. And the secondary idea that if your situation has changed and you can go to more games, you are a “fair weather” supporter not there through thick and thin. Or even the tertiary idea that if your situation changes and you can’t go to so many games, your loyalty comes into question.
Because when you discuss something as abstract as “loyalty”, something which cannot really have a measure as such, crude dick measuring over the number of games you go to or the money you spend are completely unrelated to the love you have for your club.
I just needed to get that out there.
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