Does literally everyone have a ride or die football club?
Posted by Lower-Savings-794@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 35 comments
In media portrayals it seems everyone from the UK has a football club that is practically a part of their ancestry. Does everyone take it this seriously? Does anyone have more than one, or even not like any? Have one from a different region? Lose friends or family?
Sirlacker@reddit
Beyond the World Cup, I think football is one of the most boring sports to watch.
I avoid all football talk if it becomes more than 'did you watch the game last night' because it just sends me to sleep.
When I get asked who I support I just tell people that I don't watch it and it's a non-issue for most.
Pleasant-Doctor-5711@reddit
It’s done at the hospital. They check your postcode, stamp your birth certificate, and ruin your Saturdays for life.
EstablishmentNo7239@reddit
I don't care at all, and it has made me a social outcast in some situations. I literally tune out of conversations and my friends have to prod me to let me know the football chat is over.
Lower-Savings-794@reddit (OP)
At least you still have friends, no? Does it make you less popular? How do new acquaintances handle you not having one?
TonyBlairsDildo@reddit
It's easier to break the ice by telling people you're on the child sex offender registry than telling them you don't follow football (and, no, you're not a rugby man either).
EstablishmentNo7239@reddit
Yes I'm not a complete loner 😅 There's countless times I've met people, they've asked what football team i support, and it's an instant mutual ick. For them I guess it's a big enough part of their life that if I don't have that as a shared interest, I'm not worth knowing. Meanwhile I find it so dull. Theres a mitchell and web look sketch on the topic - i feel like david mitchell satirises it quite well. I worked in sales and definitely lost out on some customers because I couldn't fake an interest in football.
Super-Craig@reddit
I don't follow sports and is of no interest or value to me.
For a long time, the only thing that I really knew about football was a South American footballer who was so ridiculously untidy that it had become his moniker. And I only got that because one of my sons had heard about him at nursery.
It was only recently when I took another one of my son's to the LEGO store to purchase the new Pokémon LEGO that I learned that his actual name was Messi and that he played for Argentina.
Wandering_ENTJ@reddit
This is sooo relatable.
Super-Craig@reddit
Yeah, you're not the first ENTJ to say that to me.
It gets even more funny though.
One of my long standing work collegues is Doctor David Beckham, and the only thing I really knew about his personal life is that he has really posh wife from old money. That led to some very interesting conversations over the years, though it was only in a conversation with another one of my sons that the missing piece finally clicked into place.
Wandering_ENTJ@reddit
That is funny.
I'm curious. Even though you put no stock into it, do you support your son's interest in football?
Super-Craig@reddit
All my children a free to pursue they're own interests.
But that's not the question you asked, so be it...
I'm perfectly fine with giving them my financial support, to buy clothing, memorabilia, tickets ect. and even leaning on my connections to arrange inperson meetings with the players themselves, but I don't invest any of my time into it. I've never attended a football match, and have no intention of ever attending one.
Wandering_ENTJ@reddit
I was literally just thinking 'but that's not the question I asked' 😆. That felt more like a politicians answer to my question.
But yeah. I appreciate that you acknowledged the real question that I was asking. Especially since that answer doesn't paint you in a favourable light.
Creepy-Rule-4571@reddit
Wow that's fucking expensive! Lego prices are insane. I have the green lambo set, but for something flat like that with no moving parts... Seems ridiculous
Super-Craig@reddit
I suspect it's licensing and not piece count that's the real culprit behind that high price point.
I also felt that the Pokémon sets were a bit on the pricey side despite their (relative to cost) low piece count.
Zealousideal-Low3388@reddit
Did everyone clap at the Lego store?
Wandering_ENTJ@reddit
Rule no.1 Don't be a dick.
prustage@reddit
I don't have a football club. I don't watch football. I'm not even sure what the rules are. I couldn't name a single player. I also don't have any friends who think any differently to this.
No, not everyone in the UK is like you suggest. But the ones that do support football seem to always under the illusion that everyone else does.
AnastasiaRomanot@reddit
I don’t particularly like football, but I did go a lot with my Dad as a kid (in hindsight I just liked spending time with him so did anything he liked) so that’s somehow “my” team now.
Oddly though, his Dad wasn’t interested in football, so he didn’t inherit a team, but picked based on it being a sweet he liked, and his brother picked a different team at the opposite end of the country.
TheOneWithoutGorm@reddit
I show an interest in local teams and the small team from my hometown, but I don't follow or watch football. I will follow the World Cup and the Euros.
It's not football I dislike, it's the die hard dickhead fans that I can't stand.
Johnny_Vernacular@reddit
The statistics show that the majority of British people do not watch football regularly or have a team that they support. But for the people that do they often find it hard to recognise that or accept that.
ambergriswoldo@reddit
A big majority of men do, women not so much
Momotaro6@reddit
No. I despise football. Even most of the people I work with aren't all that bothered by it. Apart from maybe one or two younger guys.
XPiiRed@reddit
out of interest what field are you in?
SgtBushMonkey69@reddit
A lot of times it’s passed down through generations, I myself am a 3rd generation Chelsea fan. My grandad had my old man in Chelsea clobber before he could walk and mine did the same with me and my sister. There are pictures of us in our cribs with little Chelsea hats and such and when it’s that deeply ingrained from such a young age the sense of loyalty runs a lot deeper.
Lower-Savings-794@reddit (OP)
Will you and your sister keep this going? Are your kids donned in the same stuff?
Perfectly_Other@reddit
Nah, However a lot of people assume that most men will support a football club and if they don't they're into a sport like rugby instead.
I genuinely know some guys who will pretend to follow a team to avoid having an awkward conversation about he actually they couldn't care less about football or sports in general.
There's a good example of this in the IT crowd when the protagonists pretend to be arsenal fans
ActionBirbie@reddit
Yes, but as Reddit is a bolt hole for incels and all sorts of other detestables, this might be the worst place possible to ask such a question!
PaulBradley@reddit
God no. Tribalism of any kind is a low IQ activity.
Zealousideal-Low3388@reddit
As opposed to pejoratively categorising people based on perceived IQ scores, which is enlightened behaviour. Definitely not snobbery or elitism, based on Victorian pseudosciences. That would be tantamount to tribalism, which a high IQ elite such as yourself would stoop to
Tell me, have you done any phrenological studies on the football-loving troglodytes?
TheGeordieGal@reddit
A lot of people are big into their local team but I don't care at all. Means I'm left out of some conversations (I'm good at zoning out and daydreaming lol) and I have to make an effort to see if it's going to be busy getting to town or not. That's it.
reidyjustin@reddit
No, I really dislike football
DenM0ther@reddit
Hahaha it is a big part of identity. It’s also often one of the first things ppl ask you when you travel. I was never that fussed, i tell them the main thing I like watching football for is their legs 😜. People tend to laugh , often awkwardly and don’t know what to say 😂
LingonberryNo3548@reddit
You’re assigned a team at birth and if you ever stop supporting your assigned team you get sent to the Falkland Islands.
scare_crowe94@reddit
It’s very common, it’s part of your identity to an extent.
The football was the corner stone of a lot of communities and support goes back generations.
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