Comments on: Do fans need to suffer to appreciate football?

By: Jim ORourke

Jim ORourke — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 17:14:45 +0000

The cost of attending matches is far too expensive. More people would grow to love the beautiful game if it wasn’t totally dominated by wealth and greed.

By: Me

Me — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 08:55:44 +0000

I would just like to say that Spurs suffering makes me very happy!

By: 2_goal_tino

2_goal_tino — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 20:26:12 +0000

You are talking about despair, but I think it is a very different case in the other emotional extreme, happiness. I think teams who support worse teams get more joy from winning an individual game than successful teams. For many beating the likes of Man U or City is akin to winning a trophy – i.e something the fans reminisce about for years. The reason for this is because it is contrary to the norm. The best teams expect to win, others don’t. It is for this very reason that I would say there is in fact an argument that it hurts more for the fans of successful teams to lose- simply because they didn’t see it coming.

In footballing terms, I think sadness is triggered by two things: surprise, as above, but also a loss of hope. While successful teams may suffer with the former, fans from ‘lesser’ teams are more familiar with the notion of a loss of hope. A feeling which better teams only sometimes have e.g why your friend felt as he did in the champions league final.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 19:37:08 +0000

DK about that. For a very long time Man Utd supporters have not felt anguish at an inept manager like Blackburn, Spurs, and Villa supporters did last season. I don’t think relegation and Champions League final can even be compared. Relegation is a season-long feeling that one obviously sees coming long before it actually happens. Man Utd losing would be more painful imo due to its immediacy. Although I still think your friend is a winy prick for crying; like he hasn’t seen Man Utd win enough trophies already. As a Spurs fan I am comfortable with the club finishing fifth knowing that at least their still in the top flight. I long for Champions League but also know that I am very fortunate to follow a currently successful side. It did really hurt when Chelsea won the final last season and I was fucking pissed following the Real Madrid match two seasons ago. But I didn’t cry, goddammit. The beauty of football is that one can always be comfortable knowing there’s always another season (unless you’re a Portsmouth supporter).