Fans are the best judges in football. Leaving early doesn’t make them any less of a ‘true’ supporter
IT’S a cheap insult to supporters who walk out at half-time if their team is 4-0 down to say they are not “proper fans”.
West Ham supporters left London Stadium in droves when the Hammers were being put to the sword by Arsenal – and why shouldn’t they? It sparked a huge debate on 606 about being “true” Hammers if you don’t stay to the bitter end of a 6-0 thrashing at home.
What a load of nonsense. Fans are the lifeblood of the game. Over a season, each one will part with disposable income running into thousands of pounds to follow their club, home or away, and it’s their prerogative to stay for the full 90 minutes or leave earlier if they wish.
When you pay £50 (or more) for a ticket plus petrol money, parking, food and drink, perhaps a bit of merchandise or a matchday programme, the cost of football is often £100-plus per game.
Why should you sit there and suffer if your team is getting a good hiding on the pitch when you’ve made the effort to turn up?
It doesn’t make you any less loyal, or inferior, if you vote with your feet.
As a player, one way or another, you get the message. The swathes of empty seats speak for themselves as condemnation of your performance on the pitch. And when the diehards stay to the bitter end, they vent their frustration by giving you both barrels.
In Derby’s record-breaking season of 2007-8, when we were relegated from the Premier League with just 11 points and a goal difference of -69, we lost our last three home games 6-0 against Aston Villa, 6-2 versus Arsenal and 4-0 against Reading.
Fans who stayed to the end chanted ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’, and we had to face the music because they had paid good money to support their club and we had let them down. But that didn’t make them any ‘better’ than supporters who walked out before the end or stayed away altogether.
There is no definition of being a fan which says one size fits all, just as there is no law which says which team you should support.
If you can only afford to go to three or four games per season because your heating bill or mortgage has gone through the roof, does that make you any less a fan than a neighbour who goes every week? Of course not.
I will never berate ordinary punters for making an early exit if they are trying to beat the traffic, dodge long queues outside the station or simply can’t bear to watch any longer.
And here’s why – because fans are the best judges in football.
They know their clubs better than anyone. They hate it when pundits try to forcefeed season ticket-holders their opinions when they don’t have to pay for their seats or car parking places.
I was lucky enough to be in Prague last June when West Ham won their first trophy for
SOME things in life are more important than football.
Get well soon, Roy Hodgson. 43 years in the Europa Conference League final, thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s last-minute winner.
It gave David Moyes his first trophy in 1,100 games as a manager and the Hammers fans’ celebrations were incredible.
Those East Enders were in a joyous world of their own that night, so I’m not going to lecture them now about staying until the final whistle when the view is more grim. They are ‘proper’ fans who are all entitled to an opinion about their team – and to decide when they leave the scene of a triumph or dismal defeat.