Support your local team.

[darren woolley]

My friends support Man Ure and Liverpool I couldn't understand why they support them it was always Villa for me I've tried to convert them when I was younger but to no avail.

[Nev]

Don't get angry, have sympathy.

They will never have the feeling we do, that bursting sense of pride following a victory miles from home. Then the coach journey home watching the miles to Birmingham tick down as you speed towards the midlands, the view of the ground from the elevated section of the M6 and the towering presence of the Rotunda as you head into the city.

And the pride swells once again, this is my city and they are my club and right now, at this precise moment I would not wish to be anywhere else or support any other team.

Ok so that sense of pride soons wears off if it's raining and you get chased through the deserted streets by some Zulu wankers, but I'm sure you get the picture.

[The Laughing Policeman]

There's one guy comes in my local who has a Brummie accent to rival Carl Chinn's and "supports" Man Ure. Every time they are on TV he's there in the latest shirt and jumping up and down because his team are playing. The thing is he is a bright chap with a good job and fairly well off but he admits that he never goes to watch them live not even when they are playing one of our local teams.
We got him into conversation about why he follows Man Ure, and he admits that it's because they will win something every season. So it was asked what if they started struggling and another team took their place would you still be a Red. His answer was well there'd be no point if they weren't winning stuff every season.
Now that to me is totally illogical when it comes to being the supporter of a team.

[MarkM]

A quick note on the costs for children, my sons season ticket in the lower Holte wing was £75 last season.

I tried to make sure he follows the Villa, his bedroom is covered in claret and blue everything he had a season ticket at 5 and has a family where we all support the Villa.

I converted a mate of mine from Liverpool to Villa about 20 years ago, he still goes now and takes his kids, do you think the Villa would back date my re recruit a friend voucher!

[pablopicasso_10]

A friend of mine who's a Plymouth Argyle supporter was round this afternoon. We were drinking tea and listening to the football on the radio, and I asked him when he would take his little boy to an Argyle game.

He looked at me like I was stupid. He says he's going to encourage his boy to support Manchester United or Chelsea or Liverpool. If he wants to follow them, he argued, he will be able to see them on TV or read about them in the paper. He won't have to travel hundreds of miles to watch a game.

`Why not take him to see Palace?' (our nearest league club).
`Because then I'd have to watch Palace.' (good point).

At that point the Argyle score was read out. They'd been beaten by Port Vale to stay 4 points adrift at the bottom of the league, and one step ahead of administration. He just looked at me, eloquently.

he is part of the reason why argyle are deep in the shit...

devon and brummy reds really grip my shit...

arrogant arseholes who give it the big one when a club from the opposite end of the country wins, who they allege to support mainly because their dads uncles nephews second cousin twice removed watched george best in black and white once back in the day and now they are die hard "fans" of a club who just happen to have the happy coincidence of being one of the most successful, all the while never actually visiting within 200 miles of the city, let alone going to matches...

my devon red mate, who has been to the theatre of wankers once, and in the process, proceeded to act like an eager happy snapping tourist because, and i quote, he "needed to prove" he went, is your stereotypical manure wanker... always slating the villa, always putting down my views on players, teams, etc, this despite the fact that i have been to more live villa youth games in one week, than he has been to live games full stop... i am deluded when i think someone at the villa is good, and an "ABU" when i dare to make a single negative comment on manure...  ash young was shit when at the villa, now he is as good as messi... apparently...

i have many mates from devon and birmingham who are exactly the same... i love them to bits as mates, but as football "fans", they are c*nts...

my old man was a small heath fan, as are two of my brothers because they were from that side of the city... i was brought up when liverpool were dominating... i am a villa fan because right from an early age, i knew they were my local team after my family moved to erdington before i was born, and i didnt have a choice but to support us... i could never find any connection like i have with the villa from some hanging onto the glory of another city... it just seems hollow, and generally reflects the person as being an insecure wanker because they NEED to support the best...

thats what i tell my mates anyway... cocks...

if i ever had a kid, i will make sure my missus gave birth in the villa side of birmingham, otherwise, they will have to be a plymouth argyle fan...

[Chris Smith]

When I was about 10 I converted my cousin who had just come out as a nose by throwing him down the stairs at our nan's house. To be fair to him his old man was in the army with no interest in footbal and they didn't live in Brum  so it was on a visit back that an evil uncle had tried to claim for the dark side. As soon as I found out I organised the intervention. As we got older we travelled all over watching the Villa together until he relocated to the Caribbean.

I suggest that you all give my method a try.

[martin]

The first and hopefully last time I ever embraced a nose was at the end of a second city derby in a Tokyo bar full of sneering plazzy Manc, Scousers and Cockernees from Devon and Hampshire.
 

[RunRickyRun]

A lot of brummie reds I knew growing up now pretend to be blues fans (but disappear into the woodwork whenever they get relegated.)

A point I remind them of every time I see them 

[adrenachrome]

If they don't have a father-figure who supports Villa, I find it difficult to believe that many would choose to support us, unless we can get children going to games froma young age.

Good point.

I guess I only support Villa because my dad does.

my Dad supports Man utd

And you said...

to be honest i didnt say that, as he's a preacher man, and it wouldnt have gone down very well at the time !

Dusty Springfield famously used to sing that that the only man who could ever reach her was the son of a preacher man. Great pair of lungs, Dusty, but I think she came out as a lesbian.

[john e]

If they don't have a father-figure who supports Villa, I find it difficult to believe that many would choose to support us, unless we can get children going to games froma young age.

Good point.

I guess I only support Villa because my dad does.

my Dad supports Man utd

And you said...

to be honest i didnt say that, as he's a preacher man, and it wouldnt have gone down very well at the time !

Dusty Springfield famously used to sing that that the only man who could ever reach her was the son of a preacher man. Great pair of lungs, Dusty, but I think she came out as a lesbian.

great song, which was obviously written about me