Do you support the club or the team?

Winchester Royal · by **Winchester Royal** » 24 Jan 2007 14:52

What are you there for?
The 14 players who'll play on a Saturday, or the whole enterprise of Reading FC, profit seeking and all?

I was thinking about this while writing about the standing issue, and it occured to me that theres a lot of things about this club that people don't like (Standing issue, Stewards, 'Plasticity', Treatment of fans, ticketing policies), and that they only come because they support the team.

So the question is...

Are you there for the team, or there for the club?

EASTENDER MARKY · by **EASTENDER MARKY** » 24 Jan 2007 14:57

Tough question. I'd say a bit of both.

Wycombe Royal · by **Wycombe Royal** » 24 Jan 2007 14:59

It has to be both, as without the club there is no team.

Seal · by **Seal** » 24 Jan 2007 14:59

Very difficult. When the team are sh1te people will probably say the Club, but when the team are great and club policies annoy them then it will be visa versa.

Matt de K · by **Matt de K** » 24 Jan 2007 15:06

Has to be Club, surely. I've seen it on loads of cars in their back window.

But I sing for the team, I don't turn up at the ticket office chanting "there's only one person working, one person woooooooorking...."

Coppelled Streets · by **Coppelled Streets** » 24 Jan 2007 15:29

I support Reading Football Club. Therefore I support the team.

Winchester Royal · by **Winchester Royal** » 24 Jan 2007 15:34

So are you more interested in the success of the club financially than you are interested in the success of the team on the pitch?

While it might look like a stupid question, if you think about it, its not...

SpaceCruiser · by **SpaceCruiser** » 24 Jan 2007 16:02

But without financial success, the team is not likely to succeed.......then again, without team success, the financial side of the club is not likely to succeed either.......

Alan Partridge · by **Alan Partridge** » 24 Jan 2007 16:31

Winchester Royal wrote:So are you more interested in the success of the club financially than you are interested in the success of the team on the pitch?

While it might look like a stupid question, if you think about it, its not...

I understand what you mean, it's very hard to write a reply!

I hate 'Plasticity' our home games over the last few years have been absolutely desperate and have been cause for some of the worst things I've seen/heard at a football ground!!

I hate things about modern football generally that Reading fall under, cheap, tacky merchandise, over priced tickets, the game has changed in lots of ways and not always for the better. I hate the press and their idiot views making huge things out of nothing incidents. I hate the way that the genuine loyal Reading supporters have been treated like absolute shite by the club.

Get your 200 quid increased ticket oh and also there is ANOTHER new strip coming out 'yeah something about the numbers and the back of our shirt has to look like Chelsea's' BOLLOCKS, but don't worry as you've been a season ticket holder for years we'll reward you with a 10% off voucher. Cheers

However despite all the nags and niggles when it gets to Saturday or 2am on a Tuesday night to cater for Malawi TV and Reading are playing still there supporting the team and then will be on here in hours to vent my disgust/happiness to my net buddies.

So in summary bit of both, supporting Reading is great but shit!

Tony Le Mesmer · by **Tony Le Mesmer** » 24 Jan 2007 16:46

Good question.

I would say the team as we all go primarely to watch a football match.

i dont think you can really call it a football "Club" anymore. This applies to most other teams, not just Reading.

A Club is somthing that exists for the benefit of its members (ie the players, fans, & local people). Thats not something you can say about any premiership or championship "club" really.

Like you say "clubs" have now become financial enterprises, often for the benefit of the owner or shareholders.

A true Football Club would be run like Barcelona, who are owned wholly by the fans. If i supported them, i would say i supported the club.

Huntley & Palmer · by **Huntley & Palmer** » 24 Jan 2007 16:56

My viewpoint on the whole support thing is this :

I enjoy watching football in general, I have chosen Reading FC as my means to watch the game. I do not buy into the club side of things unless I have to, therefore I do not purchase merchandise or partake in any club scheme. My ticket money is what I consider to be my investment, this directly leads to the running of the club and is a big enough contribution on it's own and I expect that the club would handle this investment wisely and therefore the quality of the players at the club should improve accordingly.

If Reading FC were to suffer a period of poor investment in players, infrastructure or anything else that soured the quality of the league they played in then my interest would probably wain. Post the disappointment of finishing 7th in the Championship two seasons ago, I did not renew my season ticket instead preferring to go to games as I saw fit. This was not due to lack of funds but purely through lack of enjoyment. I took the opportunity to invest in an away season ticket this term so I could see Reading play at the highest level around the country, post this season I will not invest in it again and will switch back to picking and choosing my away visits. Should Reading be relegated to Championship or lower, I would probably give up my home season ticket and pick only the games that interested me. My love for Reading is not so deep that my life revolves around it, I am quite happy to miss games on a regular basis and do other things even if that costs me financially.

Overall, I see football as something to do of a weekend. I enjoy a match for more than just the football itself, I like to share a few beers amongst friends before and after. There has been many a time when the game has almost been of no interest to me and the day has been saved by enjoyment of the trips away.

To summarise, could I walk away from regular football watching for a period of time and do something else with my weekends? Probably. Would I still go and watch games at some stage no matter what league Reading were in. Definitely

SWLR · by **SWLR** » 24 Jan 2007 17:02

The team is for now, the club is forever.

Forbury Lion · by **Forbury Lion** » 24 Jan 2007 17:13

I go as an observer, a customer, a fan, a supporter.

Take away the football team and I won't have any interest in the business that remains.

Take away the stadium, the money, the decent players, league status and I'll still support the club.

I admire the way the business is run.

The club sell tickets stating it's an all seater stadium and fans should remain seated, If fans can not remain seated they shouldn't buy tickets. Sitting on your bum for 90 minutes is a small sacrifice to make.

Royalupnorth · by **Royalupnorth** » 24 Jan 2007 17:18

SWLR wrote:The team is for now, the club is forever.

Well said!
All those that talk about Elm park and slag off "plastics", must be fans of the "club", because not one of the members of our current "team" played at EP.

Rhys The Royal · by **Rhys The Royal** » 24 Jan 2007 17:26

Wycombe Royal wrote:It has to be both, as without the club there is no team.

Without the team, the club would still be hanging around pointlessly in League 1 or somewhere.

ScottishRoyal · by **ScottishRoyal** » 25 Jan 2007 11:13

The club I suppose, just because the club has always been there and always will be. The team (or the players in it) will come and go.

Stranded · by **Stranded** » 25 Jan 2007 11:26

Royalupnorth wrote:
SWLR wrote:The team is for now, the club is forever.
Well said!
All those that talk about Elm park and slag off "plastics", must be fans of the "club", because not one of the members of our current "team" played at EP.

Well Murty did, albeit in a friendly.

Think I have to say I agree with most of H&P's post.

Hoop Blah · by **Hoop Blah** » 25 Jan 2007 11:27

AP, T le M and Forbs seem to sum up my feelings.

I support the team and the club. They're basically the same thing, functioning together to try and poduce the best possible team that we can.

I see, or used to see at least, the club as for the fans and local community. It's moved along with the rest of the football world to represent a corporate money making machine chasing a dream that is becoming ever more difficult to achieve.

As H&P says, it's not all about the 90 minutes of football though, it's the day out, the opinions and views, the tribal nature of being associated to a club that brings me back each week.

Team or Club? Same thing really but the club is working for the team so ultimately I suppose I'd say team, but then they're just a representation of the club so maybe not!

shadesrwrf · by **shadesrwrf** » 25 Jan 2007 11:35

Don't think it's a case of either or is it?

1) RFC the team - support is unconditional.
2) RFC PLC - support is very much dependent on its attitude towards me as a fan.

Unfortunately, because of the nature of 1) I'm pretty much lumbered with 2) whatever happens.

RG30 · by **RG30** » 25 Jan 2007 13:26

Tony Le Mesmer wrote:Good question.

I would say the team as we all go primarely to watch a football match.

i dont think you can really call it a football "Club" anymore. This applies to most other teams, not just Reading.

A Club is somthing that exists for the benefit of its members (ie the players, fans, & local people). Thats not something you can say about any premiership or championship "club" really.

Like you say "clubs" have now become financial enterprises, often for the benefit of the owner or shareholders.

A true Football Club would be run like Barcelona, who are owned wholly by the fans. If i supported them, i would say i supported the club.

Spot on. It was only last Friday on BBC Berks when Nigel Howe mentioned the word 'brand' which suggested the different attitudes we'll see adopted, but he's just doing what needs to be done to survive at this level.He also mentioned that there is a real possibility of seeing us do a pre season tour of Asia. Financially, the club would rake it in but of what benefit would it serve to the players travelling half way around the world when we've had good service out of Sweden for the past few years.Although players and fans tend to forget at times, the purpose is to get them match fit for the season ahead, not go full pelt in order to win the games.

I'll always support the team but the "club" side of things will depend on how they act over the next few months.