Neville's Breakfast
Well-known member
They have pretty much all turned up since we have been in the PL. Success in the PL has only accelerated the trend.
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[Albion] Brighton Your Life
- Thread starter NYCGulls
- Start date
Yes, agreed. But would you rather that we hadn't got any new fans? I think it's great that people outside the UK choose to support us rather than going down the easy 'Pick a Big Club' path.
Neville's Breakfast
Well-known member
I don’t mind really and happy to welcome them to the club. I just find it difficult to connect to the idea of this being a choice. A lot of the inane plastic attitudes from Man U and Chelsea fans seem to come from people who have done this whether they be Brighton born and bred Man U fans or Beijing born and bred Chelsea fans. Surely there has to be something more whether it be family connection or where you live.
Seagull58
In the Algarve
That's my opinion also. If you're living in Lagos Nigeria, for example, and you have no connection to Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool why would you randomly select one to follow "till I die"? It's pathetic. Why not support your local team in Lagos and go to matches?
Shuggie
Well-known member
Some right curmudgeons on here.
I was in Ghana a few Christmases ago and watched the game against Chelsea in the hotel bar being served by a local Chelsea fan. He was infinitely knowledgeable about his own club and genuinely curious about the Albion. Ali’s bicycle banger had him in raptures. He was more delighted for me than I was for myself (go figure!). He just loved his football and wanted to watch the best he could. One of the things that also struck me out there was the number of fishing boats sporting a Big 6 banner. Maybe they all infest Twitter once they’ve done mending their nets, but, really, come on.
Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago: the man sat next to me in a Brighton shirt proudly announced that he had driven four hours from Long Island with his family, spent a fortune on tickets and replica kit and was really looking forward to seeing his beloved Ecuadorians play. When I told him that Sarmiento was out on loan and the other two had been given another week off, he couldn’t have been more crestfallen. He’d promised his wife and kids this amazing day out and was so bitterly disappointed. Sure, his loyalties are probably with the players rather than the club but right now Brighton is the connection between the country he left and the game he loves.
The Asian faces at the Amex, clutching a bag full of goodies from the club shop, are probably as plastic as they come. But at least they have some connection with one of our players, unlike me on the odd occasions I’ve been lucky enough to see a live game in MLB, NFL, Serie A or La Liga.
I just don’t understand the need to diminish others who are enjoying BHA. No matter how tenuous their connection or their affection, we should welcome them all and tell them our story if they show an interest, not forgetting our duty to warn them of the evils that lurk at the other end of the A23.
Mind you, away fans in the home end? Well, that’s another story (unless it’s me of course).
I was in Ghana a few Christmases ago and watched the game against Chelsea in the hotel bar being served by a local Chelsea fan. He was infinitely knowledgeable about his own club and genuinely curious about the Albion. Ali’s bicycle banger had him in raptures. He was more delighted for me than I was for myself (go figure!). He just loved his football and wanted to watch the best he could. One of the things that also struck me out there was the number of fishing boats sporting a Big 6 banner. Maybe they all infest Twitter once they’ve done mending their nets, but, really, come on.
Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago: the man sat next to me in a Brighton shirt proudly announced that he had driven four hours from Long Island with his family, spent a fortune on tickets and replica kit and was really looking forward to seeing his beloved Ecuadorians play. When I told him that Sarmiento was out on loan and the other two had been given another week off, he couldn’t have been more crestfallen. He’d promised his wife and kids this amazing day out and was so bitterly disappointed. Sure, his loyalties are probably with the players rather than the club but right now Brighton is the connection between the country he left and the game he loves.
The Asian faces at the Amex, clutching a bag full of goodies from the club shop, are probably as plastic as they come. But at least they have some connection with one of our players, unlike me on the odd occasions I’ve been lucky enough to see a live game in MLB, NFL, Serie A or La Liga.
I just don’t understand the need to diminish others who are enjoying BHA. No matter how tenuous their connection or their affection, we should welcome them all and tell them our story if they show an interest, not forgetting our duty to warn them of the evils that lurk at the other end of the A23.
Mind you, away fans in the home end? Well, that’s another story (unless it’s me of course).
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Seagull58
In the Algarve
The problem is the plastic big 6 fans on twitter with all their "know your place", "small club", "modern day slavery" malarkey. They have no genuine appreciation of football.