Homepage Article The Fans

[Blue83]

Very generous calling them a well meaning set of owners when one was a front for the pal of a war criminal and the other knowingly sold and kept himself involved in that very front with pals of a war criminal because he couldn't release Everton from the grip of his grubby fingers

 

[COYBL25]

Are you blaming the fans lad ?

* Nice piece Bry

 

[chicoazul]

Difficult question moonhead, look back at Stoke v Everton fa cup 3rd round when Mr Kendall opened the dressing room window, look at the support home and away the last few seasons when we should have been dead and buried, the flip side is there are fans who just can't wait for the slightest thing to pick apart and rush to post it on every available channel, players with less than 2 hours of game time are called useless and a waste of money

Social media has allowed a megaphone to performative angry super bloos. There’s a time to agitate - and Evertonians are pretty good at knowing this - but to do it all the time just influences others and the mood, and heaps pressure onto average players who could do with backing.

The club should be about the fans, but the sound ones. Obvs not me.

 

[NilSatisOptimum]

I'm not sure I 100% agree with Bryan on this. I think the local and match going fans are becoming less and less relevant to clubs and owners. So much income comes from TV deals, and an increasing proportion of those come from overseas rights, and international marketing and merchandising. Look at how many tickets are now marketed at tourist fans through Seat Unique and Sportsbreaks while more local fans with expensive membership subscriptions miss out on tickets. Look at the introduction and implementation of VAR, does anyone know a match going fans who thinks it's worked well? That it enhances their match day experience? Of course not but it's not for them, it's for the gigantic TV audience globally. Yes, they'll try and sell us as many £6 doughnuts as they can but it's not the local fan that'll drive growth and pay for big player contracts and the club knows that all too well. The football we all grew up with us dead, or at least dying, the PL is a global game now. Local fans just provide a backdrop to a global audience. Sadly.

Ban on fans going watch matches in COVID was proof enough that fans in stadium are needed.
If remembering correctly home advantages fell by half for many teams.

Fans are not just to sit there and be milked but create atmosphere and are key in winning.

Weve even got one of most gifted players from England on loan and stating the Everton fan atmosphere was key in joining.

 

[jaycee]

Social media has allowed a megaphone to performative angry super bloos. There’s a time to agitate - and Evertonians are pretty good at knowing this - but to do it all the time just influences others and the mood, and heaps pressure onto average players who could do with backing.

The club should be about the fans, but the sound ones. Obvs not me.

There are people who base their whole life and personality on football results, years ago if it was a crap game you would go the pub with mates after it, spend 20 minutes moaning then get on with the rest of the night,except for that one person who would try to carry it on, they would get told to stop being a bellend and that would be it

 

[voodoobloo]

All good points. The atmosphere drives our boys on, often in adversity. The attendance and online chatter provides a buzz and narrative about our existence. However on top of this, we need to be proud and protective of our culture - like St Pauli are (who make a fortune off merch despite never having lifted up a doughnut in their history). Be proud we are not nouveau rich, Norway based or a carousel for foreign youngsters. Perhaps play on the fact we didn’t lay off lower paid staff during covid. My point being that we deserve a point of difference to them, Chelsea or Utd. Identify it properly and then enjoy it - globally.

 

[windymiller]

Ban on fans going watch matches in COVID was proof enough that fans in stadium are needed.
If remembering correctly home advantages fell by half for many teams.

Fans are not just to sit there and be milked but create atmosphere and are key in winning.

Weve even got one of most gifted players from England on loan and stating the Everton fan atmosphere was key in joining.

I'm not saying they can't affect games, they obviously can, I'm also not saying that they should be milked, what I am saying is that they are being milked. How else can you explain FB+ memberships, club view seats and £70+ match day tickets? I share your view on how important local and match going fans are, my point is that modern owners don't share that view.

 

[chicoazul]

By the way note how good writing invokes decent debate. Again, more of you should write for her. Theres some really good writers on here. Everton fans have always been good at self regulating their own culture and movement. No more WSAG leaves a big gap.

 

[oohaahmickmadar]

I had an interesting chat with a NUFC pal about the relegation thing. Before they became big oil, they flirted with the drop. Repeatedly, and then dropped.

No fan bases are the same, but you’d have to stretch it to say that the NUFC fans aren’t passionate about the whole shebang.

But.

The pal and his mates were awaiting the drop that time and he said one of thems view was: “look, we’ll go down. We’ll travel everywhere different, and will win a lot. When the anger subsides, IT WILL BE MINT”

And he said, as it turned out, it was mint. There is a feel when you’re winning games, and expecting to win games. It is ******* awesome, and when it’s set against a decade of not, all the better. Citeh and rs fans and all them do not get this feeling, as it is pure entitlement ingrained. But I have no doubt that we are getting a dose of that feeling now. Ok whatever. I am getting it, and it is mint. On three effing games.

And eventually NUFC returned and got the big oil and now he is circumspect about all that.

Which all got me thinking: was there any path that despite the blue smoke, opposition choking, EFC fan support which did its best work in the desperate times, where we could have concluded that there was a good time to be had if the worst had come to pass.

No. No f***ing way.

It better be behind us though.

 

[Tommy Chong]

Thanks to @Bryan+ for the words for the front page;

The Fans

If you’ve been watching Everton, or even following with passing interest, you’ll know we’ve been through the wringer over the last couple of seasons. A well-meaning set of owners, who once saw themselves as custodians of the club, managed to drive us to the brink of extinction, with some saying...

www.grandoldteam.com

@Bryan+

 

[Nyhus]

Good read!

 

[W84 Dum Freeze]

The world is a smaller place.

Technology and travel have revolutionised the game as we once knew it.

This has unfolded at pace since the late eighties and commercialisation of live events to a global audience attracted by overseas stars who seek the best renumeration for their skills.

These articles from match day programmes at the time highlight the demand for a growing audience of the beginning of that change.

We pay dearly to our puppet masters who now milk their profits and water down their content, but the choice at the fingertips of the viewing fan both in the way the game is shown and presented is breathtaking.
Nothing beats the atmosphere of being in a ground with fellow fans and a shared experience though.

 

[Yarrgh]

in my eyes, and i will tell this to anyone who is willing to listen, 2022/2023 is probably one of, if not the greatest relegation escape you will ever see a club make

how we didn't get relegated that season still baffles me

The reason was the fans in and around the stadium. Got behind the team and refused to go down.

Shear willpower and stubbornness. Some teams in trouble wilt and give up, some fight but with no real belief. Every blue dug their heels in and gave all their support.

Oh yeah, and a little matter of a shabby old stadium from a era of football almost forgotten showing what is all that is great and visceral about sport when harnessed can make anything happen.

UTFT!

 

[Bedfordblue]

Good words B-man if I disagree with the wider point. The days of fans are gone, the days of customers are here. We’re a client database to be exploited with some low key engagement for the sake of tokenism.

I’d also like to open up the wider debate of if Everton fans are good for the Everton players please?

( shoutout).

More of you need to write by the way.

You blaming the customers lad?

 

[Blue Roo]

It seems not so easy to put the lens of media and money aside.
Nevertheless, it is still just a game played in front of a crowd of people. Some games mean more than others, and for the way that it is manipulated we should also put aside - with regards to whether the fans are important, significant.

Nice one Bryan.