...No USA players @ Fulham - would you still support them...

This has really got the board buzzing so for that LBNo11, Thank you!

Couldn't the question have been posed as well as "...Fulham in the Championship - would you still support them..."

I am sure both of these questions are on all of our minds right now. Each person will have their own response and each is valid.

My personal response to both these questions is Yes and Yes. And as a side note, I didn't feel attacked by the first question. Everyone breathe easy today. The match isn't till tomorrow.

COYW!!!

 

It's a reasoned answer. Even for an old geezer like me, 'TID' is a long time.

Long ago I wrote a piece on here: "Why I'm a follower, not a fan!".

I follow too many sport teams to get all caught up in it; the stuff that happens AROUND the team is of just as much interest to me and I still think that way.

 

I agree that this is a great thread. However, just because people may not come out and say they won't support the team without Americans does not mean there are not those out there that don't feel this way.

Only time will tell whether the Fulham fans that got on board because of the Americans will stick around after they leave. I would like to think many will stay, but I do not write that confidently.

 

I will be staying too. I became a Fulham fan when there were no Americans on the team.

 

RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: ...No USA players @ Fulham - would you s

I've been pulling for Fulham, since McBride joined and I'll continue to be long after the American players leave. I enjoy the smaller market teams and being the underdog in all sports. It's all about working harder and making things happen, even when the odds aren't in your favor. It may be tough at times (like now), but it sure beats the pulling for the All-Star teams with endless budgets.

 

No worries LB seems a very reasonable thread and I'm certainly not insulted (only speaking for myself of course). I was never exposed to the premiership until the last few years (simply was no channel that showed games). I think most newer fans (not the HatterDon, Dave and Heather near and in DC, etc) are followers of the USMNT team first and once the guys started going overseas and we actually got to see them play we picked a team.

Echoing a lot of people I came because of McBride, but I'm staying because of the colors. While I want to see all our boys do well I for one truly only root of 1 team (genuinely pissed when Beasley scored last week). To answer your question I believe the VAST majority of fans on this board will be FFC fans no matter if the team fields a squad of all martians or no Yanks.

 

I thought I would chime in...
I was here before the Yanks & I am here for the duration.
MK

 

Re: ...No USA players @ Fulham - would you still support the

oops, sorry about the double post!

 

Re: ...No USA players @ Fulham - would you still support the

I'm probably the only one of that lot who actually remained to this day. Sure, I was sad to learn about his leaving the club, but at the same time, I did grow fond of the club. Staying behind as a Fulham supporter was an easy decision.

Some fans just tend to follow the players rather than teams. I used to be that way when I first started paying attention to soccer, but not anymore.

 

470 views and about 22 staying on board for the duration?

...is that it? If you are not sufficiently enamoured by our little club situated like a diamond mounted on the side of the river Thames, (or as a Texan who I was showing around London said "call that a river, back in Texas that's a crick {creek} then you will be in the company of many thousands of football fans who will abandon us, as they have done before, only to return if Fulham 'do alright' again.

These are the glory hunters - the ones who demand success because they are too weak or immature to stand up and be counted - they do not want to be associated with failure as they think it reflects their own inadequacies.

If you want the easy option, there are other 'brand names' out there who will more easily suit you, more comfortable, they give you what you want, peace of mind, being part of a winning team - another number, another punter. For me that would almost be a luxury; but I have chosen my path and despite the many bad fortunes, sometimes punctuated by the odd good patch I am happy in myself to remain true and Fulham - no matter what.

I hope that those of you who have looked and not commented will at least feel the sense of pride I feel for Fulham, and perhaps, now and again, when you don that Man Utd or chel$ea shirt to show that you are part of a winning team - you may still glance - just to see how little ole Fulham got on, at least that will show you have heart...


FTID - with luck another 25 years odd....

 

Look LB I don't know why your coming at us like this now. No body on here has left and picked up a Man u shirt. Surely some will yes; throw stones at them then.

If you think the majority or even a large portion of American EPL fans support Fulham becuase of the yanks your mistaken. Go to any soccer pub on a Saturday morning in the US and you will see throabs of Arsenal, Man U, L'pool, and Chelsea fans. Hardly a FFC supporter in sight.

If the people on here were glory hunters they would be Man U fans with everyone else and most certaintly wouldn't call themselves Fulham.

 

now... LBNo11, if we were on the pitch, and I were the ref, I'd be having a few words with you for that last post.

Oh.. WAIT! I AM the ref.


Well, here's the words.... Despite the fact you know there's several Brits on the offal board that claim FTID, who wont be anywhere in sight in ten years, and there's no doubt that some of us wont be around, either... asking the question is valid but to complain of poor response to it is not.

Here's why... what you're demanding is much akin to a marriage commitment. Most of us are already working to maintain ONE life commitment and we dont need pressure to make another.

You might as well ask me to choose between Fulham and the Crew. If there was some unavoidable circumstance, that it was ONLY possible to follow one or the other, then I say... so long, boys, I loved knowing ya!

But I dont have to so I wont. {And here's a good sidebar thread to go along with that}

But if someone tells me I cant be a Fulham fan because I'm not fanatical enough to shun all local interests, such as he Crew, to prove myself, I'll just smile and say:

"You can bleep my bleep! And you're lucky I dont have a few beers in me, cause if I did, I'd club your ass.. and I would too!"

Hmm.. that sounds sorta familiar dont it.

 

..great thread eh!

...well courting controversy, I sailed close to the wind and stand suitably admonished.

I know that many recent Fulham fans in England who have latched on in the years of plenty, will depart to other clubs as the famine takes hold.

My last post could just as easily fitted in on any site in any country where interest in Fulham was prevalent.

It is frustrating being a Fulham fan, and I have seen this scenario time and time again in my 'marriage' to this little club, and yes, perhaps I cannot understand anyone who abandons us even when the grass looks greener (unless of course you are from Kentucky - but you know what I mean). I know that there will be a hardcore of you converts, just as there will be back here, and your recent - or established alliance is appreciated.
See my introduction post on here when I first joined to see what you will get as a fan of Fulham.

I apologise to those who genuinly are affronted by my comments, I still think I asked relevant questions and it prompted passionate answers so that means some of you at least thought about the subject...

 

It certainly was a spirited thought provoking discussion, #11. And that's what these boards are for.

Sadly I couldnt go into all aspects of this fandom issue... but there are parallels aplenty in other sports.
For me, Cleveland Browns fans come to mind (I wont even go into Ohio State or Univ of Alabama football or Univ of Kentucky basketball fans).

For there is a cadre of Browns fans who seem totally unreasonable in their fandom, and their standards of fandom. Which greatly annoys and amuses those of us who consider themselves more rational.

Now, when Browns owner Randy Lerner bought Villa, there were a certain few Villa fans who already had an interest in NFL... so the guys on Villatalk started a forum for UK Browns fans.

If you browse back on there, I dont think you'll find any of the "Dawg Pound" asking them if they are "BTID". Of course the context is a little different, just as Randy Lerner's interest was seen in a whole different light than the Glasers' buying ManUre.

The bottom line is, though, that we all appreciate the "dyed in the wool" fan and their devotion, but the best fan is the one who comes in curiosity and stays out of the affection and appreciation of the club and all that's a part of that. To scare them off before they reach the critical mass of mindset leading to continued interest, seems counterproductive.

Unless, of course, your aim is to preserve an "Old Boys Club"

 

...far from it PF, an old boys club would become insular and stale, I have always appreciated the new or lapsed fan joining the ranks.

There are in fact paralells with McBride and the 'newbie' fans and my reason for supporting Fulham. My interest in football was gained from older friends - they supported Spurs and Burnley (both in the early 60's top teams) England winning the 1966 WC made an impression on me, and I liked the was George Cohen played so I started to support Fulham with little knowledge of it's history or other players. Then one day my Dad said to me "come on son, I'm going to take you to see the best footballer in England" that turned out to be in his (and many others) eyes Johnny Haynes, a supreme master of ball skills. As things like this go, the player I was most impressed with was a certain Les Barrett (he played in the number 11 shirt) and in the corner of the ground was a cottage next to the River Thames, alongside a lovely park - that was me won over. The next season we were relegated, and the season after that likewise, but the whole experience was sufficient to pledge my 'troth' to the club.

I definately do not want to frighten new fans off by asking "where were you when we were - err, faeces" (!) I embrace all support, and commitment to the unique FAMILY that is Fulham Football Club...

But you knew that anyway...

 

As you knew there would definitely be fans, like Mikey, who would come and catch the disease... and other of us who followed Brian, Boca and Clint in... {I was further captured by the brilliant Simon Elliot transaction} who would stay out of a less rabid interest.

But you posted this, anyway.

:twisted:

 

Put it this way. Fulham will be around long after you, me or anyone else are pushing up the Daisies.

When the ebbing tide retreats
Along the rocky shoreline
It leaves a trail of tidal pools
In a short-lived galaxy
Each microcosmic planet
A complete society

A simple kind mirror
To reflect upon our own
All the busy little creatures
Chasing out their destinies
Living in their pools
They soon forget about the sea...

Wheels within wheels in a spiral array
A pattern so grand and complex
Time after time we lose sight of the way
Our causes can't see their effects

Wave after wave will flow with the tide
And bury the world as it does
Tide after tide will flow and recede
Leaving life to go on as it was...