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Post by citynickscfc on Feb 20, 2024 19:00:08 GMT
Giving up SCFC, that’s how they have made me feel, we are now into 7 1/2 years of decline, in that 7 1/2 years I can think of maybe half a dozen matches that have made be genuinely believe we are onto something, only for that optimism to be smashed to pieces - again. Like most I have called for managers heads, called for the CEO’s head, more managers heads, and now the DOFs head, but it just feels we are going in ever decreasing circles as the gravity crocodile drags us down the plug hole. I wonder what a genuine sporting excellence consultant would make of all of our processes, procedures, policies, staff, resource level, facilities etc - a David Braillsford type, I suspect we know, which makes it all the more galling, watching a billionaire bang his head into the same wall time and time again. It really does make you question your sanity of rocking up on a Saturday knowing you are going to be made bloody miserable, if it was a normal relationship you would have bowed out long since! Well clearly like many others I am reaching that point that I can’t just keep putting myself through it, I will use my season ticket, if a glimmer of hope arises, I will not be re-newing it, instead will take a little break, maybe watch Tamworth or Litchfield so I can get my footie fix without ruining every Saturday, I will obviously keep an eye on what’s going on, you can’t help it after 50 years, but I need to soften the impact until they deserve that we return in numbers. I couldn’t agree more. You’ve literally written down how I feel about Stoke City right now. As a Stoke fanatic for over 50 years I honestly feel like I’m done. I seen us through the good times, the not so good times, promotions, cup finals, relegation scraps, Valencia, one of 1000 Stokies to commemorate relegation to the third tier with a relegation party at Brighton….etc etc etc…..But I feel exhausted witnessing this never ending shit show off gross incompetence. Players & managers come & go and the common denominator in all of this is John Coates. If he was an employee he would have been sacked for negligence & gross misconduct in any other job. For me as a season ticket holder and having to endure a 260 mile round trip for home games, I feel done with it. To both of you, you can still watch stoke without going. And then you get to choose to watch too. Yes you waver your "true supporter" privileges, but they were only in your head anyway. Why do something you don't enjoy. I watch it mostly because I want to watch 1 game of football a week with a beer usually and perhaps a pizza m I still shout at the TV but I've got used to us loosing. I vent on the oatcake and read about stoke but try to not let it bother me.
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Post by Scouse on Feb 20, 2024 19:12:05 GMT
attendances ebbing and flowing is nothing new ..relegation , promotion or the boredom factor brought on by large periods of mediocrity throughout our history impacts our club as it does many of others , possibly more so ..it’s not rocket science , something new or a surprise , some ( sensibly 🙃 ) don’t go when we’re shit ..and we’re shit a lot of the time
Serious question , is posting a confessional type thing , do people feel a bit better , or more resolved once out in the open though on a messageboard built on pseudonyms do people really know or care if someone posted they weren’t going and kept their word or not ..are people hoping to find similar thinkers or kindred spirits to help make them feel better or simply letting off steam and showing the same frustrations most of us are feeling ?
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Post by bigjohnritchie on Feb 20, 2024 19:13:57 GMT
For some of us older ones, or for me at least, I don't think the disillusionment is the current plight of Stoke. I think it is also to do with changes in how the game is played now, perhaps the money in the game and the impact upon loyalty.....and the thought that " We've been here before "... plus there are a lot of other things I want to do.
In fairness perhaps if Stoke were doing better, I might feel differently.
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Post by Seymour Beaver on Feb 20, 2024 19:15:19 GMT
What do you do on Sundays? Take a wild guess🤣 Church?
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Post by stoke1989 on Feb 20, 2024 19:15:20 GMT
What else are you gonna do on a Saturday? Sit in your fuckin' armchair wankin' off to Pop Idols? Then try and avoid your wife's gaze as you struggle to come to terms with your sexless marriage? Then go and spunk your wages on kebabs, fruit machines and brasses? Fuck that for a laugh! I know what I'd rather do. Barrow away, love it! What do you do on Sundays? Church
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Post by wozzerthepotter on Feb 20, 2024 19:33:47 GMT
I can only add to this discussion. For over 50yrs I had been attending games with a season ticket for over 35 of those years travelling over 100 miles to home games and attended 70% - 80% of all games. I was looking forward to the Spurs game at Wembley we all know what happened in that match at the end of the game I knew we going to be relegated. I had enough it wasn't the despair that got me it was the hope and at that point I had lost all hope. I gave my season ticket away I haven't been to a game since. It was strange at first but I can honestly say I haven't missed it I have seen the team on TV 3 or 4 times but that's it I have saved £££'s I am not depressed most Sunday or Monday's life is just better. How do I spend my time at the weekend it varies. The only thing I do miss is the comradeship at away matches.
Don't know if that helps anybody Stoke are still my team but I don't watch them
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Feb 20, 2024 19:36:01 GMT
I can only add to this discussion. For over 50yrs I had been attending games with a season ticket for over 35 of those years travelling over 100 miles to home games and attended 70% - 80% of all games. I was looking forward to the Spurs game at Wembley we all know what happened in that match at the end of the game I knew we going to be relegated. I had enough it wasn't the despair that got me it was the hope and at that point I had lost all hope. I gave my season ticket away I haven't been to a game since. It was strange at first but I can honestly say I haven't missed it I have seen the team on TV 3 or 4 times but that's it I have saved £££'s I am not depressed most Sunday or Monday's life is just better. How do I spend my time at the weekend it varies. The only thing I do miss is the comradeship at away matches. Don't know if that helps anybody Stoke are still my team but I don't watch them Talk about melancholy
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Post by Waggy on Feb 20, 2024 19:38:27 GMT
What else are you gonna do on a Saturday? Sit in your fuckin' armchair wankin' off to Pop Idols? Then try and avoid your wife's gaze as you struggle to come to terms with your sexless marriage? Then go and spunk your wages on kebabs, fruit machines and brasses? Fuck that for a laugh! I know what I'd rather do. Barrow away, love it! Sound like my Saturday when I don’t go away games
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Post by wozzerthepotter on Feb 20, 2024 19:42:09 GMT
I can only add to this discussion. For over 50yrs I had been attending games with a season ticket for over 35 of those years travelling over 100 miles to home games and attended 70% - 80% of all games. I was looking forward to the Spurs game at Wembley we all know what happened in that match at the end of the game I knew we going to be relegated. I had enough it wasn't the despair that got me it was the hope and at that point I had lost all hope. I gave my season ticket away I haven't been to a game since. It was strange at first but I can honestly say I haven't missed it I have seen the team on TV 3 or 4 times but that's it I have saved £££'s I am not depressed most Sunday or Monday's life is just better. How do I spend my time at the weekend it varies. The only thing I do miss is the comradeship at away matches. Don't know if that helps anybody Stoke are still my team but I don't watch them Talk about melancholy Melancholy is a good word for it which is not a good way to feel having spent £100+ and driven a 100 miles just saying the product wasn't worth what I was paying for it.
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Post by Trouserdog on Feb 20, 2024 19:55:43 GMT
Imagine buying your lad a stoke strip for Christmas or his birthday. And imagine him only ever knowing them being this shit. Say he’s 8 or 9. He will hate you forever. This is a generational problem and Stoke fans will soon be a thing of the past. One of the things I used to look forward to as a new dad was taking my kids to the match when they were older and sharing that same thing my Dad shared with me when I was a kid. I just assumed they'd be the same as I was at their age when I'd look forward all week to Saturday afternoon. My daughter is 15 now and has drifted in and out of supporting Stoke depending on what's going on with her social life. That was always going to happen I suppose. My son is 10 and loves playing football, but has seen nothing but shit in the four years he's been coming to Stoke with me. He doesn't want another season ticket and says he'd rather stay at home and play FIFA than watch Stoke lose every week. It breaks my heart to hear him talk like that. I used to love going even though we weren't exactly great when I was a kid either- but there were enough decent moments that made the defeats worthwhile. My lad hasn't seen us win since August though. Six months of nothing but home defeats and the odd draw. He's barely even seen us score a goal. I've lost him now. I can't keep dragging him somewhere he doesn't want to go, and to be honest I can't say I blame him for not wanting to sit there bored shitless every week. There'll be plenty more like him as well. Stoke will lose a generation of supporters through being so fucking useless. Well done everyone.
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Post by stokest5 on Feb 20, 2024 20:25:20 GMT
Giving up SCFC, that’s how they have made me feel, we are now into 7 1/2 years of decline, in that 7 1/2 years I can think of maybe half a dozen matches that have made me genuinely believe we are onto something, only for that optimism to be smashed to pieces - again. Like most I have called for managers heads, called for the CEO’s head, more managers heads, and now the DOFs head, but it just feels we are going in ever decreasing circles as the gravity crocodile drags us down the plug hole. I wonder what a genuine sporting excellence consultant would make of all of our processes, procedures, policies, staff, resource level, facilities etc - a David Braillsford type, I suspect we know, which makes it all the more galling, watching a billionaire bang his head into the same wall time and time again. It really does make you question your sanity of rocking up on a Saturday knowing you are going to be made bloody miserable, if it was a normal relationship you would have bowed out long since! Well clearly like many others I am reaching that point that I can’t just keep putting myself through it, I will use my season ticket, if a glimmer of hope arises, I will not be re-newing it, instead will take a little break, maybe watch Tamworth or Litchfield so I can get my footie fix without ruining every Saturday, I will obviously keep an eye on what’s going on, you can’t help it after 50 years, but I need to soften the impact until they deserve that we return in numbers. I though Vis Unita Fortior meant united strength is stronger. Not fuck this times are tough I’m off.
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Post by SamB_SCFC on Feb 20, 2024 20:28:44 GMT
I can only add to this discussion. For over 50yrs I had been attending games with a season ticket for over 35 of those years travelling over 100 miles to home games and attended 70% - 80% of all games. I was looking forward to the Spurs game at Wembley we all know what happened in that match at the end of the game I knew we going to be relegated. I had enough it wasn't the despair that got me it was the hope and at that point I had lost all hope. I gave my season ticket away I haven't been to a game since. It was strange at first but I can honestly say I haven't missed it I have seen the team on TV 3 or 4 times but that's it I have saved £££'s I am not depressed most Sunday or Monday's life is just better. How do I spend my time at the weekend it varies. The only thing I do miss is the comradeship at away matches. Don't know if that helps anybody Stoke are still my team but I don't watch them Talk about melancholy
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Post by kidcrewbob on Feb 20, 2024 20:30:00 GMT
I’m a lapsed ST holder also - about 4 or maybe 5 years now and having broken that compulsion and even what I regarded as a duty almost, I won’t be getting another - but it’s been less about the shite that’s been served up on the field and the lunacy at the top and more about what the game has become and the stuff that’s going on beyond the actual games - I went to the QPR game on a freebie last week and although we made a decent fight of it and got the 3 points from what was quite an entertaining match, the whole circus that surrounds it leaves me nonplussed and it’s just not for me anymore. Sky subscription will be going soon as well…….it’s not just Stoke - the whole game is FUBAR and I’m not interested in subsidising it anymore.
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Post by Milkie on Feb 20, 2024 20:34:27 GMT
Giving up SCFC, that’s how they have made me feel, we are now into 7 1/2 years of decline, in that 7 1/2 years I can think of maybe half a dozen matches that have made me genuinely believe we are onto something, only for that optimism to be smashed to pieces - again. Like most I have called for managers heads, called for the CEO’s head, more managers heads, and now the DOFs head, but it just feels we are going in ever decreasing circles as the gravity crocodile drags us down the plug hole. I wonder what a genuine sporting excellence consultant would make of all of our processes, procedures, policies, staff, resource level, facilities etc - a David Braillsford type, I suspect we know, which makes it all the more galling, watching a billionaire bang his head into the same wall time and time again. It really does make you question your sanity of rocking up on a Saturday knowing you are going to be made bloody miserable, if it was a normal relationship you would have bowed out long since! Well clearly like many others I am reaching that point that I can’t just keep putting myself through it, I will use my season ticket, if a glimmer of hope arises, I will not be re-newing it, instead will take a little break, maybe watch Tamworth or Litchfield so I can get my footie fix without ruining every Saturday, I will obviously keep an eye on what’s going on, you can’t help it after 50 years, but I need to soften the impact until they deserve that we return in numbers. I though Vis Unita Fortior meant united strength is stronger. Not fuck this times are tough I’m off. It does, and I will keep supporting in my own way until strength and unity are displayed by the senior leaders, management team and players , no f’ing off here
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Post by stonescfc on Feb 20, 2024 20:36:39 GMT
I've had a ST with my son. We've gone from singing, screaming and having ‘limbs’ when we score to sitting apathetically all game and actually laughing in a macabre way at how really shit some of our players are and how shit our play is generally. It's bizarre that we both feel numb when we do actually score like it doesn't mean anything anymore and we just clap a bit.
It was a blow when the oatcake stopped being printed, it was a massive part off my matchday.
The number of times I've left the ground after the inevitable loss saying to myself, why do you keep fucking doing it to yourself’!
It also riles me that when so many people are struggling terribly the amounts of money some these players are on for being really quite shit at their jobs is beyond a joke.
Anyway we’re not renewing next year as I genuinely believe it's damaging our (mainly my) mental health, I liken it to being stuck in a job you fucking despise but can't leave cos you need the money. My lad is getting into his fishing so I will be taking him to do that instead as I'm sure the fresh air/ nature will be better for my blood pressure.
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Post by cmonstoke on Feb 20, 2024 20:37:20 GMT
What else are you gonna do on a Saturday? Sit in your fuckin' armchair wankin' off to Pop Idols? Then try and avoid your wife's gaze as you struggle to come to terms with your sexless marriage? Then go and spunk your wages on kebabs, fruit machines and brasses? Fuck that for a laugh! I know what I'd rather do. Go fishing... Spot on, tbh I couldn't do it for years due to ill health but my health turned around, I stop going to Stoke, started fishing again and my wife loves me for it as I'm not longer a miserable cunt.
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Post by bunnyscfc on Feb 20, 2024 21:42:53 GMT
Those who think it's down to "hard times" really aren't listening. Seen far tougher times, but I now get that connection, bond, and fun in non league. A far lower level of football, yet far more real, making it far more like football used to be.
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Post by westlandstokie on Feb 20, 2024 22:05:45 GMT
It’s very rare that I read every post on a topic but I did on this one. I feel the same as many have said…totally disconnected from the Club after following them for 50 years…and have been for a few years now. I will renew again as it’s the only chance I get to meet up with a couple of really good mates who I go back 40+ years with. Unfortunately one of these mates has started to miss night games now as he says it’s too much hassle for little enjoyment. As I say I’ll renew but it’s to keep in touch with my mates more than the football…sad but true.
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Post by thehoof on Feb 20, 2024 22:22:14 GMT
You always hope tha there is light at the end of the tunnel, but right now, it’s darker than the Harecastle. The football is devoid of any excitement and we are back to the situation Pulis found himself in during his early days- hoping to keep a clean sheet so that we can get at least a point, but we don’t look like scoring even 1 most of the time. This leads to people falling out in the crowd- some players are always going to be harangued while others are almost untouchable; it’s the manager ( although no one in the last 6 years has got a tune out of the players), the players don’t care or try hard enough( I lean towards that); there does not seem to be any sort of metrics employed in the way that players are recruited? We don’t stick to any sort of settled pattern of play- partly because the side changes every game. Everyone blames John Coates- ultimately he employs everyone from Tricky Dicky to Schumacher, but someone is always advising him as to next steps and don’t kid yourselves into thinking that anyone is going to rush to buy Stoke City. The whole experience is depressing and not likely to get better for at least a couple of seasons. The daughter is getting married so there is a better use for money, the grandkids are not yet old enough to attend and both Sons work shift patterns and can no longer attend regularly. There is really nothing to make it an experience to look forward to. It really is now a case of pick and choose a game.
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Post by misterj on Feb 20, 2024 22:33:33 GMT
Talking to an ex-ST holder who says going to Stoke was “an old habit he found very easy to breakaway from” ….. I suspect there are many more like him
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Post by iancransonsknees on Feb 21, 2024 6:00:15 GMT
Giving up SCFC, that’s how they have made me feel, we are now into 7 1/2 years of decline, in that 7 1/2 years I can think of maybe half a dozen matches that have made me genuinely believe we are onto something, only for that optimism to be smashed to pieces - again. Like most I have called for managers heads, called for the CEO’s head, more managers heads, and now the DOFs head, but it just feels we are going in ever decreasing circles as the gravity crocodile drags us down the plug hole. I wonder what a genuine sporting excellence consultant would make of all of our processes, procedures, policies, staff, resource level, facilities etc - a David Braillsford type, I suspect we know, which makes it all the more galling, watching a billionaire bang his head into the same wall time and time again. It really does make you question your sanity of rocking up on a Saturday knowing you are going to be made bloody miserable, if it was a normal relationship you would have bowed out long since! Well clearly like many others I am reaching that point that I can’t just keep putting myself through it, I will use my season ticket, if a glimmer of hope arises, I will not be re-newing it, instead will take a little break, maybe watch Tamworth or Litchfield so I can get my footie fix without ruining every Saturday, I will obviously keep an eye on what’s going on, you can’t help it after 50 years, but I need to soften the impact until they deserve that we return in numbers. I though Vis Unita Fortior meant united strength is stronger. Not fuck this times are tough I’m off. It doesn't seem like the people with the privilege of pulling a shirt on have bought into that for an awful long time. They're excused for being mercenary and utilising the loan system doesn't help that, but Christ alive this current crop are an awfully joyless bunch and very difficult to be anything but indifferent about.
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Post by greenhoff on Feb 21, 2024 7:09:16 GMT
Imagine buying your lad a stoke strip for Christmas or his birthday. And imagine him only ever knowing them being this shit. Say he’s 8 or 9. He will hate you forever. This is a generational problem and Stoke fans will soon be a thing of the past. One of the things I used to look forward to as a new dad was taking my kids to the match when they were older and sharing that same thing my Dad shared with me when I was a kid. I just assumed they'd be the same as I was at their age when I'd look forward all week to Saturday afternoon. My daughter is 15 now and has drifted in and out of supporting Stoke depending on what's going on with her social life. That was always going to happen I suppose. My son is 10 and loves playing football, but has seen nothing but shit in the four years he's been coming to Stoke with me. He doesn't want another season ticket and says he'd rather stay at home and play FIFA than watch Stoke lose every week. It breaks my heart to hear him talk like that. I used to love going even though we weren't exactly great when I was a kid either- but there were enough decent moments that made the defeats worthwhile. My lad hasn't seen us win since August though. Six months of nothing but home defeats and the odd draw. He's barely even seen us score a goal. I've lost him now. I can't keep dragging him somewhere he doesn't want to go, and to be honest I can't say I blame him for not wanting to sit there bored shitless every week. There'll be plenty more like him as well. Stoke will lose a generation of supporters through being so fucking useless. Well done everyone. Same here mate. The lad says he sick of watching miserable football. There’s just no joy in it for him. Same with the daughter. It really has been abysmal since relegation
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Post by Milkie on Feb 21, 2024 7:32:34 GMT
Thankyou for the responses to this thread, it wasn’t meant as a “look at me” it is a heart felt musing from someone who has lived and breathed this club for over 50 years. I have never felt as distance as I do now, the only joy left is meeting friends and family in the cricket club before hand, we have joked about doing that and not bothering with the football, indeed a couple of the lads have actually stayed in the cricket club and just drank through on more than one occasion. You look back at what the club has meant to you, walks to the old ground along the cut with family, Mickey Thomas and Leighton James living at the end of our road, meeting my best mate on the concourse, turning out that we were both in the RAF, Nan sending the green un to me when deployed in the gulf war, which was read cover to cover by half a dozen stokies! Bumping into my Dad at Wembley and reconciling with him, nights in the Casino with Lou Macari, Nello and footy at Keele when on leave, the relief of beating the south stand curse, the joy of promotion, indoctrination of my son, this club has played a pivotal role in my life, it should be there to the end, but at the moment that is difficult to imagine.
Pin this thread to the board room door and pray that the stories in here resonate with the senior leadership team as much as they do us and they re connect this club.
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Post by caine on Feb 21, 2024 7:44:24 GMT
Good riddens to those who don't want to go anymore....
It's shit and and I understand due to cost of living if someone can't afford to go as much anymore but it's a awful excuse to stop going for long period of time due to success.
Close the door on your way out.....
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Post by cobhamstokey on Feb 21, 2024 8:02:25 GMT
This thread needs sending to the players and the Coates family.
I don’t get to games like I used due to distance but these last few years have been soul destroying. Every game I’ve hoped for a bright new dawn and the start of a run and it just doesn’t happen but it’s not just losing it’s the style of defeat that’s so poor. Barely landing a punch on the opposition most weeks.
The majority of players playing what ever the team selection just don’t appear to care and are either looking for a last payday or simply don’t want to be there.
Some of the signings have been an absolute disgrace and don’t deserve to be professional footballers. It’s staggering in some cases how they’ve made it to where they are with there work ethic and professionalism
NDaye Imbula Etebo Berahino Wimmer being some of the worst and by all accounts some of the current crop aren’t much better (though less expensive).
I’m not sure how bad it can get but I’ll continue either coming or tuning in every week because there’s always hope.
As someone who isn’t as attached to the club as those that go week in week out it’s hard and ruins my weekends but I’ll continue to watch / attend when I can. I have huge respect for those that spend so much time and money on them they’re the true hero’s in this mess.
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Post by swinny on Feb 21, 2024 8:09:41 GMT
Having a child and eventually changing my working pattern to include 1 weekend in 4, I had to give up my season ticket and have had to drop off attending since 2016, going to the occasional match as and when, or watching us away on stream.
Honestly, the best tonic I've found as a substitute is to get yourself down a non-league match, wherever is local to you. I've been to more Hanley and Leek Town matches than Stoke on the last few years. It's not 20-30 quid a pop, it's not miserable and you can have a pint pitch side and enjoy it with a group of mates without worrying about seating arrangements.
I still go down Stoke when I can and still consider myself a supporter. But there's far more to life than dedicating yourself to be miserable every weekend. Clinging onto some attendance badge of honour won't won't you any anything.
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on Feb 21, 2024 8:29:09 GMT
Each to their own but will never give up on them Any other football league or non league has no jeopardy for me and therefore means nothing. I'll watch but it's a neutral experience as opposed to full engagement The only time i am fully engaged in other football is if the result impacts u
I know uts awful rught now and usually so but as the dog livers will know grief us the price you pay for true love and totally worth it .
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2024 8:34:35 GMT
Talking to an ex-ST holder who says going to Stoke was “an old habit he found very easy to breakaway from” ….. I suspect there are many more like him I've been to 3 home games in the last 4 seasons and don't miss going one bit. It's enough of a soul destroying experience watching the home games in my living room, never mind going down to the empty atmosphere of the Bet 365 stadium. Home games are, and have been for sometime, a real chore to attend and out of about 12 of us mates who used to be season ticket holders, I know of 4 who still go regularly, and 3 of those are often in the pub before the 2nd half kicks off. I still do a few away games a season for a good day out with my mates which I still really enjoy, but I'll never be a regular down at home games again. Everyone has their reasons and I get both sides of the argument, and I think it all comes down to how "fanatical" you are, as I've always said there are different levels of supporters/fans, and for me, it was always about meeting up with mates and the day out more than the football, but now I'm in my 50's and going on the piss all day with my mates isn't at the forefront of my priorities the whole experience doesn't do it for me anymore, it's all about the football these days at home games, and that is a real bore so that keeps me away.
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Post by skip on Feb 21, 2024 9:13:13 GMT
I have a 350 mile round trip to home games with my two lads a few times a season. It costs me a bloody fortune and they've seen us win once in roughly four years.
I don't want to stop going at all, even though its been dire, because the live experience beats listening/watching remotely hands down but it's hard work and it shouldn't be.
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Post by danceswithclams on Feb 21, 2024 11:15:15 GMT
Good riddens to those who don't want to go anymore.... It's shit and and I understand due to cost of living if someone can't afford to go as much anymore but it's a awful excuse to stop going for long period of time due to success. Close the door on your way out..... You've not read the thread properly have you?
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