Home team support

A couple of people I know claim to support teams other than Coventry's Sky Blues. My next door neighbour claims to support Man United. He has a MU scarf in the rear window of his car and often wears a MU shirt although he admits to never being in Manchester all his life. This to me is like him supporting Brazil or Germany in the World Cup, you just don't do it. If more Coventry football fans supported Sky Blues instead of some distant team perhaps they wouldn't be in the trouble that they are now in. I know that this is not unique to Coventry but it just seems rather strange to me. Les

Hi Les, it's a fact of life unfortunately, some people will only support the more "glamour" sides who produce continual success on the pitch. Should the Sky Blues actually start winning again I'm sure the fans will be drawn back.

Don't get me started! I live in Cheshire, married to a Liverpudlian and spend a great deal of time in both Liverpool and Manchester. No native of either city would dream of supporting any other club but a home town club. Football is tribal, anyone who says they would go to a match just to watch a good game is wasting their time and money and should go to the pictures instead. I was born in Coventry so the City is my team through bad times and bad. I don't give a fig for any of the glamour clubs and have only scorn for people who won't support their home town club. Coventry has a catchment area of over 300,000 people so should easily be able to survive in the big leagues. Selling Highfield Road to RENT a ground was utter madness. I've got to take a tablet now!

I think . . . . it's my prerogative to support the team of my own choice By coincidence, it's 45 years today (4 October) since my first visit to Anfield, to see Liverpool beat Malmo 2-1 in the Fairs Cup with goals from Ron Yeats and (Sir) Roger Hunt - I was working and living in Liverpool at the time One visit to the famous Kop, and I was hooked by it all, and I have supported the Mighty Reds ever since, through the glory years of the 70s and 80s, and Istanbul 2005, and the tragedies of Hillsborough and Heysel I am proud to be a Midland Red (Coventry born) and have enjoyed many European glory nights at Anfield as well as many miserable Saturday afternoon debacles I didn't chase a glam team - the bulk of the Reds' success came years later I still look out for CCFC scores and hope that before too long they will rejoin LFC at the top table YNWA

Hear, hear Walrus. Hubby always supported the CCFC through thick or thin. Used up all his vocabulary mind you on occasions and I was a football widow most Saturdays - during the 'good old days'. Whilst we are on the subject of the CCFC who owned the big house on the Kenilworth Road with the blue sky and clouds painted on the wall of his house ?

Whatever happened to freedom of choice?

You're absolutely right Midland Red, it's a free country - just, and we'll stay pals on the website. Liverpudlians - you'd be surprised at how many dislike being called "Scousers" - have a very strong sense of identity which in football terms translates as being a Liverpudlian or an Evertonian, nothing else. I think that Liverpool and some other middle ranking clubs are starting to come to terms with the cruel financial facts of modern football, they are not financially powerful enough to compete for the very top players even given a large and loyal following and can only compete to be the best of the rest. The superclubs, which are little more than billionaires' playthings, can buy all the world's best players so win all the trophies. The team sheets of the top clubs look like an opticians eye chart. The so called genius managers could not make a poor club successful, they simply wouldn't have players who could compete. Coventry is a sizeable city with no immediate glamorous neighbours and should, in theory, be able to maintain some stability at mid table in the top flights although it has to be said that before the Jimmy Hill years we were a very modest club. We live in interesting times! Off topic a bit but Liverpool, as part of its regeneration, has a super shopping complex called Liverpool One which draws in custom from a wide area of the North West and North Wales. Coventry planners would do well to have a look.

I can't really comment without being a hypocrite as I am a Bristolian and don't support either City or Rovers. I was a glory hunter in the mid 80's and am proud to call myself an Evertonian ever since (many many more lean times than success since), I have seen Everton play many times in the flesh though. However, I went to University in Coventry and spent many a happy time down at Highfield Road and still now look out for Coventry's results. I now live in Surrey, less than 3 miles from Chelsea's training ground but you still see many Manchester (now both colours) kits around. I suspect that few of them have been North of the Watford Gap! It is a shame that people don't support their local clubs but I'm not sure I can inflict Crystal Palace or Aldershot on my son! Simon

I wouldn't dream of supporting anyone but my home town club. But then my support dates back to the halcyon days of the early Jimmy Hill era. Since then I've supported them through thin and thinner! Your football team is one of the constants throughout life, more so even than a partner. There have always been the non-fans, those who adopt a team without any connection to them. They are normally called 'Plastic Mancs' or 'Plastic Scousers'. I read once that 98% of those claiming an allegiance to Manchester United had never been to Old Trafford. We used to mock the fake fans years ago by saying that we at least saw our club play, while they never did. It was also notable that at school the kids who supported 'big' teams were always the ones who were hopeless at sports, so they were probably desperate for a bit of reflected glory.

Seems a bit of a harsh attitude towards the people of Folkestone, Bideford, Skegness, Ludlow, Egremont, etc, who wouldn't be allowed to support a Premier or Football League team, because of their place of birth or home Oh, and no overseas fans? Try telling the planeloads who fly in week in week out from Ireland to support Liverpool that they shouldn't There's always confusion between real supporters and the bandwagon-jumpers, and between real supporters and fans/followers Those who put themselves (and their pockets) out to travel long distances to support "their" teams should not be maligned because they choose not to follow their geographical local team

Children are notorious for jumping on successful bandwagons. As a former primary teacher, I occasionally conducted straw polls of children's allegiances to football teams, particularly as our school was within spitting distance of Highfield Road. One such enquiry revealed seven Sky Blues fans out of a class of nearly thirty, of whom only two had ever been inside the ground, despite their streets being jammed with cars and fans every other Saturday for ten months of the year. The pattern shifted over the years as Liverpool dominance was replaced by Manchester United but at one stage Blackburn Rovers were briefly mixing it with the top teams and one child loudly declared "I support Blackberry!!"

Love it Charabanc! When we were kids we loved the joke "Aston Vanilla, everybody licks them".

I still support my home team even though they are now non league. Growing up it never occurred to any of us not to support them. I am also a Coventry supporter as it is my adopted home. I remember that when the Letsallsingtogether website was still running on the front page you could choose either the light side or the dark side. Selecting the dark side took you to the Villa website

Here's one for Midland Red. My pal, a Mancunian swears it's true. He went to a Liverpool v United game at Anfield. When he parked up a local "Scally" asked "Look after your car Mister?" He said "It's all right pal, there's an Alsatian in the back". The Scally said "That's OK Mister, but can it put out fires?"