This 'plastic fan' thing......

[abc]

I dont get why some people are determined to disparage fellow fans by referring to them as 'plastic', JCLs etc. Surely anyone who forks out for a season ticket or even a single match ticket and then supports the team is simply a 'fan'? Of course some are more vociferous, dedicated, obsessed than others but by being there they are, by definition supporting, their club.

Some people have either limited knowledge of the past or selective memory. I recall going to a Div 1 league game (Wimbledon I think) at the Goldstone when the crowd was only slightly over 7000. Does this mean that we only had 7000 true fans and all the other 23000 that crammed in for that first game against Arsenal were all 'plastics'?. Of course not!

Thankfully football has moved on in many ways since the '70s and '80s when loyalty was judged (by some) by the size of your firm or who 'ran' first. I prefer flags and music to seeing familes with small children being terrified and never returning.

One down side of the game now is that it is alot more expensive than it used to be. Anyone who spends say £25+ to go and watch their team is making a commitment and in my book is welcome regardless of whether it is their first ever football game or whether they were previously a season ticket holder at Chelsea.

I smile every time I see someone in an Albion shirt, see a seagulls car sticker or hear how many season tickets we have sold. I dont think about whether anyone is as 'good' a fan as I am.

But then why would you?

 

[Ernest]

Apparantly Chelsea tickets on sale first to all of us who were at the Chelsea cup tie in 1972/73

 

[Vegas Seagull]

I bet you don't recall having a ST at Gillingham?

 

[stss30]

JCL

 

[Blackcap]

Agreed. I had a rant about this last year. I expect to hear it from fans of other clubs jealous of our success but not from our own. Doubly annoying when I hear it from the mouths of people half my age who never knew the Goldstone.

 

[El Presidente]

A social anthropologist writes.......... It's nothing to do with football, and everything to do with self esteem and self worth.

By being critical of 'JCLs' a person can boost their own self esteem as it gives them a feeling of superiority, as in their own mind, a ST at Gillingham/Steve Penney autograph/ Ticket stub from an away match at Halifax on a Tuesday night from 1998 etc is an achievement that should be acknowledged/appreciated by others.

We all like to feel good about ourselves, and in society there is a pecking order, so the JCL issue helps people to put themselves further up the ladder of Albion loyalty if they have ticked certain boxes.

 

[Simster]

I dont get why some people are determined to disparage fellow fans by referring to them as 'plastic', JCLs etc. Surely anyone who forks out for a season ticket or even a single match ticket and then supports the team is simply a 'fan'?

They're not mate. It's only jealous Palace fans who are doing that these days, and that's because no-one goes to their tin pot ground any more.

 

[Triggaaar]

I dont get why some people are determined to disparage fellow fans by referring to them as 'plastic', JCLs etc.

A few points: We have a lot more fans going to matches than Palace do at the moment, so naturally they come here saying that our fans aren't real, but plastic. Fans of small clubs, like ourselves, think that people growing up here should support their local team, and not Man Utd, so we call southern Man U (et al) fans plastic.

I smile every time I see someone in an Albion shirt, see a seagulls car sticker or hear how many season tickets we have sold. I dont think about whether anyone is as 'good' a fan as I am.

Likewise. Much of this JCL banter is tongue in cheek.

 

[brightonlass2009]

Agreed. I had a rant about this last year. I expect to hear it from fans of other clubs jealous of our success but not from our own. Doubly annoying when I hear it from the mouths of people half my age who never knew the Goldstone.

So basically anybody who never knew the Goldstone can't call another fan a JCL? It's hardly our fault we were born this side of the 1990s.

 

[Mellotron]

Do we have to have this exact thread once a month? Maybe we do.

 

[shaolinpunk]

 

[Oddsocks]

My interpretation of a plastic fan is someone who (so called) 'supports' a team from another town or city to where they were born.

I.e. Thousands of Man U, Chelsea, Spurs etc fans that live all round the country. I know people who say they support Spurs but have never even been there! TWATS!

You can't possibly have as much passion for another city's team as the one you are from. (In my oppinion)

You don't choose your team, your team chooses you!

 

[Albumen]

Everyone is a JCL at one point, it just takes some longer than others. All fans are equal but some are more equal than others.

 

[Muzzy]

My interpretation of a plastic fan is someone who (so called) 'supports' a team from another town or city to where they were born.

I.e. Thousands of Man U, Chelsea, Spurs etc fans that live all round the country. I know people who say they support Spurs but have never even been there! TWATS!

You can't possibly have as much passion for another city's team as the one you are from. (In my oppinion)

You don't choose your team, your team chooses you!

I agree... We do have a percentage of 'plastics' that have never even seen their club play apart from in an armchair at home!!! I have no issue with their right to change their minds now that we are finally on the up, as long as they now support us through thick and thin forever? Ditching their shitty prem shirts would be a start!

 

[BBassic]

My interpretation of a plastic fan is someone who (so called) 'supports' a team from another town or city to where they were born.

I.e. Thousands of Man U, Chelsea, Spurs etc fans that live all round the country. I know people who say they support Spurs but have never even been there! TWATS!

You can't possibly have as much passion for another city's team as the one you are from. (In my oppinion)

You don't choose your team, your team chooses you!

You'd think that but I've got a "mate" who fervently supports Liverpool despite having A) never been to Anfield and B) never been within 100 miles of Liverpool and insists the Albion are a joke.

 

[nwgull]

My interpretation of a plastic fan is someone who (so called) 'supports' a team from another town or city to where they were born.

I.e. Thousands of Man U, Chelsea, Spurs etc fans that live all round the country. I know people who say they support Spurs but have never even been there! TWATS!

You can't possibly have as much passion for another city's team as the one you are from. (In my oppinion)

You don't choose your team, your team chooses you!

I was born in Horsham, does that mean that I should support Crawley now?

 

[Muzzy]

I was born in Horsham, does that mean that I should support Crawley now?

Not at all....























Horsham!







Just kidding mate! I'm sure you're not a BHA armchair fan coz we're not live on TV very often;-)

 

[piersa]

They do it it to increase their feeling of self worth to the club and to quench their insecurity. We should welcome all fans, the more the better.

 

[trueblue]

The more the merrier. However, I think most of us have a deep suspicion of fans we know who have shifted allegiance before and seem certs to jack in watching the Albion the second it's no longer the fashion...

Overheard this conversation in town today which made me laugh but did kind of sum things up:

Bloke A "Can your contact get me four tickets for the Brighton game against xx ??" (couldn't hear which team)
Bloke B "I'm not sure. I can give it a go"
Bloke A "Yeh. I really want to go. I'm asking absolutely everyone to make sure I get in - don't want to miss out'.
Bloke B "Good about the new keeper wasn't it?"
Bloke A "Yeh. Fantastic. Although he never actually played for Manchester United you know* but looks a good signing for us" (*he did)
Bloke B "Didn't he? Oh well, I think he'll be better than Brezovan"
Bloke A "Who?"
Bloke B "Brezovan. The Albion keeper.."
Bloke A "Oh..."

Hmmmmm.....obviously a MASSIVE fan then.

 

[elninobonito]

I am a 'JCL' apparantly due to only posting every now and then and only finding this site recently. does that make me less of a fan? I still have my Nicky Rust albion shirt that he gave me after the 3-3 draw away at Birmingham in 1995. I was 10 years old that day and thought it was one of the best moments of my life. The shirt drowned me but seeing one of our hero's from on the pitch in real life was a dream come true.
JCL or non JCL, Albion is in my blood, its where I was born so I can be called what you want....I am Albion.