Why did you start following your club?

Inspired by a post in the Man United friendly thread, what made you start following your team?

Parents, brought along by a friend? Or a glamour friendly? :p

I started following Limerick in the papers and match reports about two years back, but couldn't get into a game. Finally got an excuse to get into one when Limerick hosted Pat's in the Ford Cup. Hardly a glamour friendly but a big enough time for a Limerick team that were consigned to a midtabl finish from the offset. We lost 1 - 0 but I was hooked and Colin Scanlon's chip of the Pat's keeper that bounced over the bar nearly killed me :p

So yeah, I'm a relative newbie.

I realised when I was around 10 that sitting on your arse on a Saturday afternoon watching Man Yoo was boring.
That's around the time I started going to all the Rovers home games, before then it was just something my dad and I did every few weeks.

Where's the option to add a poll?

Fire ahead with stories alright, but it'd be interesting to break it down between, say -

a) brought to games at a young age by parent/older relative fan
b) went to a glamour friendly
c) wanted to support local team
d) local team coming to your school or junior football club and
e) Other

Option c for me.

First games i remember were a Liverpool friendly and European cup match against Kispest Honved in 1991. Brought to LOI games earlier by my dad but don't remember them really. Started going to games properly a year or two later because all my friends went.

A

Wasn't much to do in the 70's in Sligo either. Then electricity and the TV came and ruined it all.

Mixture of a) and c) for me.

Went to a couple of games when i was younger and really enjoyed them but didn't get back to matches because of where i was living there was no way a kid was going to be able to make his own way into games. Started going again about 6 years ago and have probably missed about 10 home games max since then.

Option c for me.

Brought myself along to the opening game of the "almost" season in 2000/01. Ten points clear by Christmas, I knew nothing but success.

Now into my eleventh season in this god-damned division and no sign of escape.

my parents owned an abrakebabra and we were one of longfords sponsors so my dad always went to matches when we played finn harps in the fai cup in the late 90's i was mascot i was about 8 :D

stephen o brien gave me a whole 2 euro and the ref a tenner :D thats one of my earliest memories , that and seemingly playing either bray or finn harps every week and loosing my wallet somewhere near the old guinnes shed as i called it

Sort of a cross between a and c

My dad grew up in Stoke, and was a season ticket holder at City for years before he moved to London, eventually got Thatchered out of a job, and ended up marrying my mum and coming to Ireland (It's a terribly romantic story!). To him, supporting your local team, and watching live football was just something you did. I'd never had much more than a casual interest in football before that, kicking a ball around, and looking out for Stoke and Bray results in the paper, watching a bit of MOTD, but he decided when I was about 15 to take me to a Stoke game to show me what it was really all about on one of our trips over to visit my Nan. If I remember right, it was a dismal 0-0 draw with Mark McGhee's Millwall. Dennis Wise got a lot of abuse! After that, I was hooked, so myself and Dad decided to start heading down to the Carlisle to get our fix of live football, instead of waiting for the biannual visits to the Potteries.

Things just started getting more and more regular, until the ritual every second Friday was to walk down to Bray, order a curry from the Indian on the way past, and pick it up after the match. It was as much a way of spending time with my dad as it was watching football, really. Then I began going to matches on my own, and with any friends I could drag along when my dad wasn't available, and the rest is history (I've just looked down and realised I'm sitting wearing a Wanderers shirt in my flat in Edinburgh while typing this). Some people think you can't support two clubs. I'd like to think that myself and my Dad are evidence against.

Option C I guess, Oriel Park is across the road from my house so couldn't really avoid it, even if I wanted to. Kinda went to matches sparsely when I was younger and then moved away for college but over the last 3 years, especially since Dundalk got promoted I've hardly missed a home game.

My dad is originally from Dublin, but got a job down here when he was 19, and he's been living here since. He's been going to Town matches since he came down here and I was brought along since I was about 5 or 6. 14 years later, I've seen some seriously great highs, and some awful awful lows. Wouldn't change it for the world though!

My dad started bringin us(me and my bro) from the age of about 5,was always a tough decision back then as my mum used to offer to bring us to our cousins in Newry and buy us a comic and sweets.

Luckily the Bovril and milky moos ,got the nod and here i am 23 years later still Dundalk mad!!!

B and E.

Went to a few glamour games years ago, always wanted to know how they did after that. Results, Table etc.

Then one day in school a mate of mine suggests to a few of us to come along to the next game, it was a rovers game. So a few of us did and we loved it!

Then we went to a few other games before we finally started going to every game.

Then the 2009 season came and no-one went anymore..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by atfconline

Option c for me.

Brought myself along to the opening game of the "almost" season in 2000/01. Ten points clear by Christmas, I knew nothing but success.

Now into my eleventh season in this god-damned division and no sign of escape.

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Serves you right for bandwagon hopping in 2000 ............ ;)

My Dad used to bring us to the showgrounds on Sunday afternoons in the late eighties.
I was only around seven or eight when i went to my first game and I distinctly remember the cup games with Shams and Vinny Arkins coming to town. When you're that age you get so sucked into the whole atmosphere that Arkins may as well have been Lionel Messi (or to use a player of the time Kenny Dalglish)
Been going since.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Where's the option to add a poll?

Fire ahead with stories alright, but it'd be interesting to break it down between, say -

a) brought to games at a young age by parent/older relative fan
b) went to a glamour friendly
c) wanted to support local team
d) local team coming to your school or junior football club and
e) Other

Option c for me.

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You forgot to add,
(f) mentally unstable
(g) Into self harm in a non violent way
(h) didn't want to be part of the "majority"


Mixture of a, c, f and h for me.

My grandfather was a member at Bohs back in the dark ages so family always had an affinity with the club and I was dragged along to Dalymount from a young age. Used to go to Tolka (nearest ground) to watch Shels when Bohs were away and before I was old enough to "travel". Somewhere along the line a mad evil red and black virus infected my bloodstream and I have been unable to shake the Dalyer habit since.
Several attempts at treatment (usually involving pubs) and a radical treatment of Prem (fathers family from Liverpool) have failed to treat this most insideous of addictions and at this stage I have just learned to accept my drug of choice.;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sam_Heggy

You forgot to add,
(f) mentally unstable
(g) Into self harm in a non violent way
(h) didn't want to be part of the "majority"


Mixture of a, c, f and h for me.

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and (i) I heard there'd be rioting.

I went to a couple of the games in a triangular friendly held in Belfield Park between Coventry, UCD and Dublin City. Ran into Pineapple Stu, who'd captained/managed an old team I was on, and got mixed up with the wrong (singing) crowd. It's cost me money, time and relationships. THE BRAINWASHING HAS TO STOP.

went to school in crumlin not far from richer (for you culchie lads) we used to go drinking before hand and then went to the match

good times.......