Price of Football

Poor effort on the trolling there !

What trolling? Less than a third of Liverpool fans live in the north-west.

I got restricted view tickets for one of the Euros games. I think it was Sweden in the Stade De France. I emailed UEFA and asked about it and they said they might need extra space for camera men and it could potentially obstruct your view. They’re just covering themselves. No restricted view where I was for that game.  

YouGov did a poll a while back, it said 29% of Liverpool fans live outside the North West, but ,to be honest, it doesn't matter. The fact that an Irish fan of a Liverpool football team, who lives in Hampshire or Berkshire or somewhere, even cares just proves my point. The groupthink of football fans is always fascinating, but with Liverpool fans, especially those not from Liverpool, it must be a psychoanalysts wet dream.

Football fans love myths and legends, but with Liverpool it is mental. It all has to feed into not just the club, but the myth of the city. There is a huge edge of what Joe Strummer brilliantly referred to as 'phoney Beatlemania'. That the music and culture of the city has imbued the football team, which of course it has, to an extent; football clubs are, or in some cases were until recently, products of their community,  but if you then suggest to Tommy from Tullamore that a lot of those on the Kop are 'woolybacks' and 'day trippers', when they are, and, as I am sure you well know, are often referred to as such by the locals,  he takes it personally as an insult to the people of a city he has no connection to.

If I were to make a similar comment about Manchester United fans or to Manchester United fans, you would barely get a reaction, even if they are from Manchester(or Salford. They can get antsy up there about not recognising the difference). Which is why Liverpool fans(from outside Liverpool)  are so easy to wind up, even when you aren't trying to wind them up. They take themselves incredibly seriously.

As I mentioned elsewhere, you don't get the 'Shannon Stretford End', but you do get the 'Clonakilty Kop', it has even moved pubs a couple of times. You don't get 'Guardian' videos about Manchester United fans hanging banners and flags over pubs on the other side of the country, but they are the ones who get mocked for being from the other end of the country!

Worst of all, for a long time it ruined the image of the city and people of Liverpool in my mind. I can  confirm that I was wrong. Liverpool is a wonderful city,(although it could play down the 'phoney' Beatlemania) largely because of those people and their brilliantly self-deprecating sense of humour, something Liverpool fans from outside the city often fail to appreciate or take on board when they are shouting at each other in Scouse. Most of them don't even know what scouse is; I know because I usually ask.

 

There's a Man United bar in Belfast, the Red Devil, if that's any good to you?

The club have statistics on the locations of who buys match tickets - Was in minutes of the fans committee and the more recent fans focus groups. I can also tell you that most of the people who sit in and around me are locals. 

You'll also be aware that the club allocate a certain portion of tickets to all home league games only to people who have an "L" postcode : Right ? And you'll also be aware that, for example, the auto cup scheme for the league cup and FA cup is open to everyone and isn't always fully subscribed ? Or did none of that show up in your ancedotal search of twitter ?? 

And where did I actually say I care what people think ? I go to the games - I know and I'm not arsed what others think. Was just pointing out a factual inaccuracy in your attempt to try and troll somebody into responding to your jibe. 

Next thing you'll be telling me that Everton are the real club of Liverpool because they are "The People's Club"! 

And the lad sitting near them isn't. Again, I don't think there has been any factual inaccuracy on either side, largely as there has been very little fact, on either side. The only 'fact'(Rafa voice) is the YouGov poll. although I am the first to accept that it is open to being questioned.
 Yes, I am aware of the attempted improvements, although I don't use Twitter. Other sources are available. The first time I really thought about it was in a pub in Liverpool, where Liverpool fans from Liverpool were moaning about it. One of them had assumed I was in town for a game and referred to me in the terms mentioned.It is wonderful to see such anger in a post though.   

I do have a soft spot for Everton myself, not a fan or anything,I have soft spots for certain clubs like Everton, Nottingham Forest and Norwich. Apart from my old football coach at home and a few North Walians, most Evertonians I have met have been from Liverpool. A couple were even from Everton. All of them were 'sound as a pound'. You can take that whichever way rattles you most.

 

I had restricted views for all 3 matches in euro 2016

 

Paris - had a camera man about 10 feet below me

Bordeaux  - had a 6 inch perpex screen on top of a waist high concrete upstand

Lille  - hadn't a clue what the restriction was