What does it mean to be a Swindon fan?

[Batch]

Yeah Mumbles miles is dead now. Did a couple in my first year but now there are a handful of pubs left, if that. Everyone sticks to Wind st or Kingsway now. I'm living in Brynmill now mate. Opposite the Rhyddings pub. Perfect location!

Shame about the mile, good for end of term hangovers. We lived just down from what was the Cricketers Arms, in King Edward's Road. Happy days

[Spencer_White]

I don't. "Hating" a whole town because of football rivalry is somewhat daft.

You are boring me now. The bloke asked what it meant to be a Swindon fan, and youve hijacked it.

In terms of 'what does it mean to be a Swindon fan' you lot dont get on the radar. To be honest, weve gifted you a chance to play us in the League, you should have had to work to get yourselves up to a half decent level.

[Spencer_White]

The final factor for me is probably the most obvious one. The football itself. Let's face it the football has been shite for sometime now. Bar the season before last there hasn't been much to shout about since 03/04. People lose interest at games quickly and it becomes a library when there's no entertainment. Last season was a real painful one to watch.

I agree with the other 2 paragraphs, but not this one. Used to be fans would chant harder, louder, longer out of desperation to get a bit more performance out of the team.

The game is much more cynical now. Everyone just talks about money all the time. The fans dont seem to think you can inspire mediocre players to produce better performances, they just think more money = better players = more wins. Take the money out of football and you would see the passion and the romance come back. Paolo Di Canio is a breath of fresh air because you know he is doing this because he loves football. I do think the atmosphere will be better next season.

[AndyWells]

I personally think it's down to mostly a sign of the times. The new generation of football goers are now families. It's quite common that you'll see mums dads and their children at football these days. Of course there is nothing wrong with that but it's hardly ideal to join in a chant that could be rude or offensive infront of your son or daughter is it? For me that's one factor. With the TE it's the cheapest ticket so it's bound to atrract the family goers to an extent although more so to the left hand side of the stand.

When you look at our attendances in recent years they have increased. This is probably the genre of people that the attendances have increased with therefore it's less of an outright hardcore following and the season ticket deals a few years back saw some people move to different stands so the general TE area where the noise is created suffered as a consequence.

The final factor for me is probably the most obvious one. The football itself. Let's face it the football has been shite for sometime now. Bar the season before last there hasn't been much to shout about since 03/04. People lose interest at games quickly and it becomes a library when there's no entertainment. Last season was a real painful one to watch.

Some good points. Historically stadia and football teams were part of the community and an expression of people coming together creating an identity whilst supporting their local teams. Now it just seems to be a family day out like visiting the zoo or going to the cinema. There is a lack of interaction and emotion that you would have got at the county ground 10 years ago. I don't think the local media helps that much either. I remember when the Adver and GWR was right behind Town and promoting them left right and centre. They seem to have lost interest in recent years.

[Huwwy]

All seater stadium ruined it for me. Nothing used to beat the surge down the Town End/Stratton Bank or South Stand terraces after a goal. Oh,the memories! 

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

I agree with the other 2 paragraphs, but not this one. Used to be fans would chant harder, louder, longer out of desperation to get a bit more performance out of the team.

The game is much more cynical now. Everyone just talks about money all the time. The fans dont seem to think you can inspire mediocre players to produce better performances, they just think more money = better players = more wins. Take the money out of football and you would see the passion and the romance come back. Paolo Di Canio is a breath of fresh air because you know he is doing this because he loves football. I do think the atmosphere will be better next season.

Good point Spencer when you look at it from that perspective. And this further illustrates why last season's support was so shite. If the players dont give a shit why should we support them? I do think it will be better next season as well. Seems to be a buzz around that we haven't had since the Wise days.

[Iffy's Onion Bhaji]

Some good points. Historically stadia and football teams were part of the community and an expression of people coming together creating an identity whilst supporting their local teams. Now it just seems to be a family day out like visiting the zoo or going to the cinema. There is a lack of interaction and emotion that you would have got at the county ground 10 years ago. I don't think the local media helps that much either. I remember when the Adver and GWR was right behind Town and promoting them left right and centre. They seem to have lost interest in recent years.

I blame the old regime for the media part. It's taken a long time for the media side of things to get to how they once were after the whole Brunel FM saga. It doesn't help that The Adver in general has gone downhill over the past few years. Non stories, poorly written artices and the fact that the reporters seem to come and go quite often. I remember Jon Ritson back in the day. He was here for a fair few years and knew his stuff. You don't see that anymore.

[AndyWells]

I agree with the other 2 paragraphs, but not this one. Used to be fans would chant harder, louder, longer out of desperation to get a bit more performance out of the team.

The game is much more cynical now. Everyone just talks about money all the time. The fans dont seem to think you can inspire mediocre players to produce better performances, they just think more money = better players = more wins. Take the money out of football and you would see the passion and the romance come back. Paolo Di Canio is a breath of fresh air because you know he is doing this because he loves football. I do think the atmosphere will be better next season.

I don't disagree but do you think the passion and romance has been completely lost at the county ground? Are you still chanting with the few or conceded and taken a quiet seat with the many?

 I agree Di Canio is a breath of fresh air. He was an inspirational player to watch in the premiership. You would think/hope that the young lads would all remember him and have a good amount of respect for him when he's talking to them.

[Spencer_White]

I don't disagree but do you think the passion and romance has been completely lost at the county ground? Are you still chanting with the few or conceded and taken a quiet seat with the many?

 I agree Di Canio is a breath of fresh air. He was an inspirational player to watch in the premiership. You would think/hope that the young lads would all remember him and have a good amount of respect for him when he's talking to them.

Its a lot more forced than it used to be. Things used to just seem to fire up all on their own, takes more effort now.

After 2004, the TE did change (used to be very informal, but started getting fammilies saying thats my seat etc) so used to do some in the South, some up near the away fans in the North stand for a few years. But the Rovers aggro killed off going up the North stand, and the South stand seemed to die with the lack of fans on the bank (away followings have nosedived over the last 4 seasons). So went back to the TE. Fitton appointing Maurice Malpas did seem to cause our support major problems, an embaressed silence. The reaction of the fans under Malpas was the worst I can ever remmember, so hopefully we never appoint a manager as dour and as useless as him again.

But the atmosphere under Wise was electric, home and away. Hoping for that sort of injection this season.

[chalkies_shorts]

The Scummers are completely delusional. That website seems to be an absolute wankfest. Oh we gave Swinscum a good kicking - pass the kleenex. They never turn up - oh better clear the screen, can you just hold this for me brother?
Oh dear, oh dear. The sinple fact is we've given them a fucking good hiding both home and away and received it as well. And as from 1976 there has never been a Scummer in the Town End to my knowledge. There have been no fights in the TE, plenty with Portsmouth and Millwall, City and rovers but no Scummers.

[steptoe41]

The Scummers are completely delusional. That website seems to be an absolute wankfest. Oh we gave Swinscum a good kicking - pass the kleenex. They never turn up - oh better clear the screen, can you just hold this for me brother?
Oh dear, oh dear. The sinple fact is we've given them a fucking good hiding both home and away and received it as well. And as from 1976 there has never been a Scummer in the Town End to my knowledge. There have been no fights in the TE, plenty with Portsmouth and Millwall, City and rovers but no Scummers.

With you on this one Chalkie. Never seen a Pox fan big enough to have a real go either inside the CG or anywhere outside of it for that matter.
Different story up their way though over the years. Have seen them serve it up to us and Vice / Versa.

I remember once (fucked if I can remember the year), the bastards chased us all the way from the city centre to the fucking ground and then they got a pasting afterwards at the bottom of the Cowley road on the bridge over the river.

Silly Fuckers...

[Ardiles]

Sadly I reckon their hatred of us is certainly stronger than ours is to them. Maybe we need this Derby to remind us all again.

Why does this make you sad?  It makes perfect sense that they hate us more than we hate them.  Lots of reasons, but to name just a few...

• They were founded 50 odd years ago.  Relative newcomers, so have always perceived us as the established side in their locality that they had to prove themselves to.
• Their record against us is shocking.
• Their ground has a garden fence at one end.
• Having to wear that yellow abomination of a strip, which makes them feel a little dirty and ashamed every time they put it on.

Can't get why so many Swindon see the Bristol Clubs as our rivals.

Perhaps if you lived in Bradford-on-Avon and not Banbury you'd feel differently.  I simply don't buy the argument pushed by some that hating Oxford is hard-wired in to the DNA of every Town fan.  As mentioned above, they didn't even exist until the late 1950s.  The rivalries with the Bristol clubs and with Reading go back much further (although I'll concede that the Oxford rivalry has a nastier edge to it now.)  Times change.

You may like to read this little gem from the Oxford forum. Contains some first hand experiences at the C*unty ground from fans of both clubs -

http://yellowsforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=3032#ixzz1RFj36Dlo

This is what really upsets me about football rivalries though...some people just don't know where to stop.  For me, I love beating Oxford.  I've seen this happen home & away.  Great times.  But that's it.  The best quote from the Oxford forum post is 'they'll always have to live with that' in reference to some of their fans throwing some punches in the Town End half an hour before a game nearly 40 years ago.  Seriously, who gives a fuck?  I honestly don't know where to start with that.  I genuinely feel sorry for him.  Massive chip on someone's shoulder there.

And what's more, my extensive training in psycho-analysis leads me to the certain conclusion that the forum poster's poor self image and desperate need to 'hate' can only be a manifestation the self loathing he feels every day resulting from the exceptionally small size of his penis.  [Cowleyox - we hope you manage to come to terms with this, and that things start looking up for you soon.]

[Dave]

This is what really upsets me about football rivalries though...some people just don't know where to stop.  For me, I love beating Oxford.  I've seen this happen home & away.  Great times.  But that's it.  The best quote from the Oxford forum post is 'they'll always have to live with that' in reference to some of their fans throwing some punches in the Town End half an hour before a game nearly 40 years ago.  Seriously, who gives a fuck?  I honestly don't know where to start with that.  I genuinely feel sorry for him.  Massive chip on someone's shoulder there.

I could agree with you, but do you feel the same about your fellow fans' comments above?

Truth is, all this historical brinkmanship (and I'm old enough to remember plenty of games) is not worth reading. No supposed hard nuts on either side are ever going to admit defeats, and they'll always over-exaggerate the vaguest of "victories".

Some of the older Ox fans I know (50 years+) swear blind they always "took" the Town End and that they rarely faced much resistance. Your guys say exactly the opposite.

It's not delusional, it's just pointless bollocks.

[RobertT]

In my time, only Leeds in the lat 80's springs to mind of seeing a sizeable chunk of away fans in the Town End and the only game I ever felt a little uneasy at was against Bournemouth around the sam period when chunks of the Bank/Shrivvy Rd extension were traded over the fences.

Being a Swindon fan is about living with being shit most of the time but every so often giving us hop with periods of success.  We are blighted by being a big enough town to support a better team than we have been most of the time, but by having a population that just doesn't buy into the club wholesale because they've mostly come from other Towns for employment.

The atmoshphere began tailing off in the late 90's I think.  Even after all seater, it still clung on for a few years but as Spence mentioned, the lack of fans in the Bank has completely killed it off.  You can barely hear each other when you are so separated so you don't get the niggle and banter plus the desire to outdo each other.  Leeds away 2 seasons ago was how I remember it.  Us as the jumped up little nobodies coming up with some pretty good witty chants, Leeds in dcnt numbers right next to you trying to outdo do us by sheer weight of noise before finally vanishing when the fire alarm, or was it the third goal, went in/off.

I think you would have to find a way of getting the two sets of fans closer in a ground like ours and with attendances below 10000.  We don't have the luxury of massive ends keeping noise in.

[Ardiles]

I could agree with you, but do you feel the same about your fellow fans' comments above?

The Oxford fan's post was so over the top.  He was completely consumed by his own hatred of a group of supporters he actually knows very little about.  So yes, I do hate it when fans from either side go overboard...but (in my view) none of our lot have in this thread to quite the same degree.

Truth is, all this historical brinkmanship (and I'm old enough to remember plenty of games) is not worth reading. No supposed hard nuts on either side are ever going to admit defeats, and they'll always over-exaggerate the vaguest of "victories".

Some of the older Ox fans I know (50 years+) swear blind they always "took" the Town End and that they rarely faced much resistance. Your guys say exactly the opposite.

It's not delusional, it's just pointless bollocks.

Absolutely agree.