Why did you start following your club?

**bullit** · 15/07/2010, 11:16 PM

My dad "sent" me to games C.1974 and i thank him all the time.(you could duck under the turnstiles then) when cash was a no go i hopped the walls or sold programmes(packet of tayto,a coke &free in the stand) I knew phillip greene well and told him that i didnt like the song that we made up about him

and i still have the same enthusiasm today as i had back then

**Spudulika** · 15/07/2010, 11:42 PM

A year later than Bullit, 1975, I don't remember much but there's a photo of myself and my Dad on the Carrick Road going into Oriel. The first game I remember was from 1978 with Bohs.

**poster** · 15/07/2010, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by Rasputin

bring all the lads togethor every other week since many are scattered all over Ireland now.

I love you too.

**Battery Rover** · 16/07/2010, 12:10 AM

My Grandad played for Athlone in the late 1800s until the cup winning year in 1924.

I was born in England and started going to my local club Watford from about the age of 4 with my uncle. Moved to Ireland when I was 5 and now going every week since 1971 totally hooked.

Now involved at committee level and it is a hobby that costs me 15k plus a season and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else on a match night. Lucky enough to have seen us win the league, play in europe and win a couple of the lesser cups. I will hopefully before my time is up fingers crossed will see us win the FAI Cup and that is highly likely as any team whatever standard they are can win that as Longford have proved twice.

On Saturday for the Midlands' version of El Grand Classico I will be a ball of nerves all day until after the game. I can feel it building inside already.

**pineapple stu** · 16/07/2010, 8:52 AM

Poll added.

Interesting to note that promotional activities by the club, or links with the junior clubs, haven't made a single post yet. Maybe clubs aren't doing it long enough, or maybe bringing kids along with their coaches to play half-time games simply isn't a good way of getting them to come back - it's just a treat for the kids. Anyone ever involved in anything like that?

Also, BR - I hope that's a typo!

Even us mere non-committee member mortals should never think about how much we spend following the team...

**Sam_Heggy** · 16/07/2010, 9:19 AM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Also, BR - I hope that's a typo!

Even us mere non-committee member mortals should never think about how much we spend following the team...

Please refer to the Euromillions thread, BR is loaded.

**A N Mouse** · 16/07/2010, 9:42 AM

As a kid all my friends 'supported' a team, I don't think I was all that interested. Trying to fit in: I became a bit of a glory hunter - liverpool, spurs, man u, whoever was winning.

But when City came back I was brought along to the brandy - realised this was special, not just something on tv or radio - been my team ever since.

**seand** · 16/07/2010, 10:30 AM

I ticked a, c and f, the 'other' being that it's not that uncommon or weird to follow the local League of Ireland team in Dundalk. (Unlike, say, Dublin where jaws drop when you express an interest in "that ****e")

**Dodge** · 16/07/2010, 10:48 AM

When I was just a little girl, I asked my father what would I be, will I Rovers, will I be Pats, here's what she said to me

**Rasputin** · 16/07/2010, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by seand

I ticked a, c and f, the 'other' being that it's not that uncommon or weird to follow the local League of Ireland team in Dundalk. (Unlike, say, Dublin where jaws drop when you express an interest in "that ****e")

True that, I always wondered what it was like to support your local team where it was not the norm.

**ped_ped** · 16/07/2010, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by Rasputin

True that, I always wondered what it was like to support your local team where it was not the norm.

I spend most of my week in Tipp, and most of who I know is from there. I know ONE other League of Ireland supporter who follows Cork City, and apart from that the fact that I value Limerick over Man United / Liverpool / Chelsea / Arsenal is looked on with complete confusion

**Ash** · 16/07/2010, 11:41 AM

Combination of many reasons but mainly ...

My auld fella played for The Town and had some sort of falling out so he had no time for them ... naturally I started supporting them to annoy him

Dont remember being at game regularly until players visited my school with free tickets so started going to games with mates

**srfc1928** · 16/07/2010, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by Rasputin

its the one thing that will bring all the lads togethor every other week since many are scattered all over Ireland now.

Thats always been a problem with Sligo, so many people have to migrate/emigrate to get work. We lose so many fans by lads having to move away.
it gets harder to come back for home games as responsibilities grow. I was looking at old youth team photos the other day, theres about 16 lads in the photo and only about 4 still live in Sligo. Of the 4 left all of them would be die hard Rovers followers.

Originally Posted by seand

I ticked a, c and f, the 'other' being that it's not that uncommon or weird to follow the local League of Ireland team in Dundalk. (Unlike, say, Dublin where jaws drop when you express an interest in "that ****e")

I was reading a newspaper recently where it described following LOI was like being in a cult.
As seand said it's not that uncommon or weird to follow Rovers here, you're more unusual, sad if you dont

**KevB76** · 16/07/2010, 12:50 PM

I wasnt into football at all when I was younger, with the exception of International footie which I got hooked on during Italia 90. I started to develop an interest in club football when I lived in England, a few of my pals were into it in a big way so I ended up watching a bit of it and got hooked. Problem was I never felt a true connection to any club, I followed Aston Villa just becasue most of my pals did, but it never truly felt like my club.

Came home in 2003 and the love affair with EPL and Champions league and all that continued to grow, then one random day in summer 04 my brother said lets go watch a Limerick match. It was not as I imagined it - felt the same as a junior match to me (we were playing at Pike Rovers ground at the time) but nevertheless I enjoyed it and decided there and then this was definitely my team and I wanted more - it just felt right, despite being nothing like I had assumed it would be based on the footie I'd watched up to that point.

Over the next few seasons I got sucked in deeper and deeper, I've only missed one home match from 2007, and one away match form 2009. I even go to most A-Champs and U-20's even the away ones, so deep is my affliction. Even my whole social life revolves around club activities and the people I've met through following Limerick. And to top it all off, since the start of this season the club has given me a role behind the scenes - it doesnt get any better than that for a fan of any club, but that would never have happened in a million years as a Villa fan!

**PartySaint** · 16/07/2010, 3:11 PM

Just a point to the parents on here who bring their kids to the games, Never underestimate how much it means to your son or daughter to be going to matches with their mam or dad

**Martinho II** · 16/07/2010, 6:18 PM

:

Originally Posted by Ash

Combination of many reasons but mainly ...

My auld fella played for The Town and had some sort of falling out so he had no time for them ... naturally I started supporting them to annoy him

Dont remember being at game regularly until players visited my school with free tickets so started going to games with mates

whats was your dads name ash and when did he play for them? Its a wonder you never made it in the first team considering your goalkeeping ability!

**GUFCghost** · 16/07/2010, 9:17 PM

I took an interest when Galway United visited the school,then my dad brought me to a match against UCD,it ended 2-1 to united.I got hooked!

**SkStu** · 16/07/2010, 9:59 PM

similarly got hooked at a game involving Bohs and UCD... in Belfield on a Tuesday night.... weird.

**Schumi** · 16/07/2010, 11:06 PM

It's good to see that UCD can get fans for other clubs at least.

**eamoss** · 17/07/2010, 2:37 AM

When I was younger I "supported" Man Utd but then my friends like Guinny would slag me for not being able to name more then 5 players. My first game was a friendly against Newry City but TBH I didnt care for football at the time.

Then when I was 13 after I realising how sad WWF was I got out of it I needed something else to occupy my spare time. At the same time Dundalk had reached the semi finals of the 2002 FAI cup and I watched the game on TV even though I had been invited to go by my friends. Started getting more into football after then and then the 2002 World Cup made me really interested in football. When the next season started I went to almost every home game with my mate.

I got slagged like no tomorrow in my school for supporting them but less so outside of my school. Since I have gone to college (4 years) ago I have been to less and less games. This season especially as it was my last year in College I didnt come home for months at a time and now being in America I have only been at two games all season.

It seems the more successful we become the less I go to games