I don’t know if any of you are football fans, but a subject which often comes up in our house is which team the Bug and me should support. Daddy’s home team is Ipswich, but since these days we live a lot closer to Chelsea and Arsenal (and because, let’s face it Ipswich are rubbish) Mummy argues that we could get more out of supporting a premiership team that actually has a chance of winning something 😉
This debate gets quite heated when other adults are involved. (Whoever said it is possible to have a grown-up argument has quite clearly never been round our house during a dinner-party!)
Now I know this will dredge up some opposition from my friend’s Daddy, who is an avid West Ham supporter, like his Dad before him. Mummy once challenged his insistence on the need to support your father’s team, and how important it was to the father-son relationship. Is it really better to insist on your child’s allegiance to your own team, or should you allow him/her to share your passion on his own terms? Some years back even David Beckham allowed his boys to wear Chelsea strip! So man up Dads and drop the ego!
Daddy took the Bug to his first ever football match at the weekend. They made the long slog up to Ipswich, using a Happy Meal, a family-sized bag of chocolate buttons, a sugary drink and the iPad as bribery for the journey.
Luckily, it was a good day for Ipswich, who beat Brighton 3-1, otherwise their returning mood might have been pretty grim. Even on a high the journey home still required Fizzers, the iPhone, and a stopoff for a Chinese meal (the Bug is partial to a bit of crispy duck). They arrived back exhausted but jubilant, proclaiming a brilliant day out, but as Mummy said goodnight to the Bug I heard him say he never wants to go again!
In the early days of their partnership, Daddy once invited Mummy on a ‘romantic weekend in the Cotswolds.’ Thinking the relationship was looking up, she agreed and started planning the venue. A few days later Daddy mentioned that some friends were planning on joining them. Surprised, but not unhappy, Mummy booked 2 rooms in the idyllic B&B. The day before the trip Daddy slid in the killer: as well as a romantic break, the two couples would also be attending the Ipswich away game at Swindon! Swindon has an uncovered stand. It rained. Luckily for Daddy Ipswich won 6-1 and Mummy was hooked!
There followed a year of football ‘dates’ for my parents, during which time Ipswich won the playoffs for the premiership and Mummy got to visit such grounds as Old Trafford, Anfield and Arsenal where she got well and truly into the chants.
As regards these chants, I’m not always my brother’s greatest fan, but I certainly don’t want people in his face chanting stuff like ‘you can’t read and you can’t write but you can drive a tractor,’ just because he has to follow his Daddy’s team. So this is my take on being a football fan: pick a good football team. Or pick your local football team (even if they never win anything). Pick a team you feel something for. But don’t pick Daddy’s home team just because he tells you to. Who wants a lifetime of slogging up and down motorways to watch a team from a town that means nothing to you?
Sky Sports? 🙂
Ah but I think all the ‘proper’ fans are going to say that to really support a team you have to schlep over to their ground once in a while and hang out with the masses. For me that puts a different spin on who to support. Snob, moi?
Oh no! Touchy subject football in this house! We only support one team in this house…Inter Milan and my son’s daddy will be taking him all the way to Italy to watch them if he has to! It’s not even his local team from Italy either but he has always supported them and will always support them.! I have also funnily enough said I don’t really want my son playing football in Glasgow as the local teams are Celtic and Rangers and I am not a big fan of what goes on between supporters here! There are lots of other sports he can play…right???
Ah, interesting take Sabrina. International football – I like your thinking – much more fun than the local ground in the rain! Yes, local derbys get a bit messy sometimes – I remember feeling very uneasy at Nottingham Forest too as the fans taunted each other. (Wouldn’t get that with rugby!)
When was Ipswich v Forest a local derby? I dont think you’ve ever been to the Old Farm derby?? Ipswich v Naaarwich??
You might want to post on TWTD?
My home team is York City, but I’ve supported Tottenham for longer – my theory is you can do both.
However, being a parent means the cost of going to a Tottenham game actually works out at the same price as my weekly delivery of food, so there’s no way we could actually do it any more 🙂
When we’re back up north though, the cost of a York game is much more wallet-friendly, and I can’t help thinking a good place to take our little one once she’s more aware of football – get her to understand the underdog… or something!
oops and I also meant to say, I’ll let H make her own mind up once she’s old enough, as long as it’s not Arsenal or Hull City 🙂
We always wind Daddy up by saying we support Norwich!
Great post – come on let’s be reasonable and keep it local …. perhaps we can use the ‘save the environment’ line ….?
Exactly – reduce your carbon footprint – I never thought of that one! Another compelling reason to support Accrington Stanley (remember that advert?)
Oh dear…my son’s daddy is grooming him to be an Inter Milan supporter! I even encouraged it by hanging up a team jersey in his room…dadddy was touched to say the least. He has also already got an Inter teddy bear and some of his other toys are named after team members!!! The cherry on the top here is that I am not a footie mum and am not really keen on my son supporting the local teams here in Glasgow…celtic and rangers…well just because of all the carry on from the supporters. I know I probably won’t be able to prevent it and will try my best not to inhibit it if he wants to support either team….cross my fingers and hope to die promise. I cannot account for any future actions of daddy though!
sorry for the double comments…not sure what was happening yesterday!
Sabrina, sorry – you got put in my spam folder by mistake. I think it is because I installed comment-luv, which is great, but I’ll have to stay on top of my spam in case anyone gets sent in there.
no it happens to everyone I am trying to respond to these days…rather frustrating…don’t think wordpress likes me 🙁
I was in the crowd in Ipswich Town centre cheering when they brought the UEFA cup home in (dregs depth of memory and probably gets it wrong) 1980 (?). Why Ipswich? Cos we lived there but Dad was a Arsenal supporter. We went there because a) we could afford to go to reserve matches and b) it was local. Dad now lives in norfolk and supports Norwich and Arsenal. Go whichever way suits your budget and your heart. Bug will soon make up his own mind based on a favourite player or colour of shirts!
Favourite player yes! That’s why I support Man U, no LA Galaxy, no um…..where did he go next??
Actually Daddy is impressed – 1981 so you were only a year out apparently! Budgets make a big difference – perhaps I should encourage them to support poxy local team then 😉
Well impressed! 1981. We got to semi final of FA Cup, 2nd in the league to Villa (and we beat them 3 times – once in FA Cup, twice in the league) and eventually won the UEFA Cup (We beat AZ 67 Alkmaar in the final – having beating Cologne, St Etienne amongst others along the way – that was before 17 teams got into the Champions League. Oh and John Wark set the record for most Euro goals in a season – 17 or something? Worth mentioning, though it was season before we beat Man U 6-0 and missed 3 penalties. And just for the record the team: Cooper, Burley (though injured for most of season & replaced by McCall), Butcher, Osman & Mills, Muhren, Thijssen & Wark, Gates, Brazil & Mariner. TWTD!
Footie is always on in our house, hubs is an everton fan…. I have never actually understood not supporting where your from tho. We’re letting our son decide when he’s older, considering I ahte the sport he won’t get pressure of me. I’m a rugby gal.x
That’s exactly how I feel – so how come all this pressure from the Dads? C’mon Dads have your say!
Me too, but Rugby is frowned on in our house by Actually Daddy – he thinks they’re yobs!??????
I had to play it at school. Played fly half as it was nearest thing to real football!
Jo, I’m also a York City supporter, they are my home town team but as you’ll appreciate there is only so much disappointment you can take in life so I also support Man Utd (although have done for about 30 years, in case in accusations of glory supporting start getting bandied around) My dad is a Liverpool fan and one of the reasons for supporting Man U was to wind him up, my brother is a Leeds fan – so what does that say?? With my lot, my eldest, the only girl, started life a Derby fan like her dad but soon saw the light and came over to my side at the age of about 4, our middle one, eldest boy is, at the moment, a Derby fan but he is only 3 and a half , so he may see sense yet, as for the baby, he’s such a little terror I can only guess it will be Millwall for him 🙂
Ha! That made me laugh 🙂
Remember the 9-0 drubbing well – I was there, but also the 6-0 home win mentioned elsewhere, there for that too!
I love football! But until today I had never even heard of Ipswich much less watched them. My love is more of the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers variety. 🙂
Ah now American football would be an interesting one! To put it into perspective for you, comparing Ipswich with Chelsea in English soccer is a bit like comparing table wine with Champagne (although someone will no doubt lynch me for saying that!)
LA Raiders were my team.
In our house we always have this battle. I am a fan of one team and my husband is the rival’s fan. We always debate who the kids should route for.
Oooh that’s a difficult one 🙁
My little man will have a dilemma when he’s born (well when he’s older, he won’t have a choice he’s born). His daddy supports a local(ish) team Leicester City as does his daddy’s bro, and as his daddy’s dad did. They used to support Brighton as they were originally from that area but switched allegiances when they moved up here around 8 years ago. So if daddy has anything to do with it he will support Leicester. However, my dad supports Brighton as that’s where he’s from originally so wants little man to support them. Whereas my bro supports Man U and wants little man to support them…. bloody minefield! I say let him choose for himself. Heaven forbid he chooses rugby over footy!
I just don’t get why men are so fervent about this – poor child! I wish someone could make me see what the big deal is!
My step brother was an Ipswich fan, then moved to Birmingham & supported Birmingham City – unforgiveable on so many levels!