Entertainment is the only reason for professional football

[Hardhouse44 289]

As I see it there is only one reason for the existence of a professional football club and that is to entertain the people who watch. The Fans. Whether for some people this is to stark a concept to except is up to individuals choice but whether they can argue against it is another thing entirely.

My point to this post is that many Fans have seemingly lost sight of this. As indeed has the club itself I fear. What ever level of professional football you look at it is the paying public that generates the finances to support the clubs existence. Be it direct ticket sales TV revenue or sale from the clubs shops it all revolves around us the public paying the club and in return expecting a product.

The product in the main is the football on the pitch. And that product is directly related to the amount we pay.

We pay our money at carrow road at a higher level than the clubs in a league below us and so we expect the standard of the product to be better. We can take that one step further by collating the amount we pay as a collective. We therefore must contribute as a whole one of the largest amounts to the club we support in this league. After all we have more fans at our games than most.

Is it not therefore right that we should expect the return in product to be of the highest quality or there abouts.

Again I hear the cries of some fan saying that this is to simplistic. And to a extent I agree. But... Is that not what most of us expect even if it is not what we receive and is it not our right to expect it.

What does that mean. Well already on here we have heard of a fan being told he is not fit to wear the shirt of our club. Why, because he showed his discontent at our team and club. I too feel that discontent and am amazed to which level some people will go not to blame the club or team.

The display of jeering and booing that was directed at the ref and Linesman on Saturday was to my mind shocking and disturbing. Why is it acceptable to offer this level of abuse to two men that are there to do a job of officiating a match. The abuse was aimed at them because certain sections of the fans thought they had failed. Which I hasten to add on this occasion the hadn''t. Yet for an entire 90mins the players on the pitch had failed to produce a product worthy of our investment. And that is not an isolated case.

This for me is a clear indication that not all people think the same and that is fine. What a boring world it would be if we did. But whether or not we as fans and posters on this board don’t all agree on the way we a individuals act towards the club we all want the same thing. A vast improvement in the product we buy. That has to be achieved in the short, medium and long term to please all. But don’t lose sight of the fact that the short term is as important as the long. To those that are happy to wait and see I say fine but surely you want to see that the club has recognized it short falls and is dealing with it now. The product has to improve or before long or not enough people will want to buy it. Then you find that without the collective contribution being high enough you can’t expect the product standard to get better. Some would say that it is a chicken and egg situation. And to some extent it is. But it has to sorted out. By who. The one who receive the largest amount of the money we invest. The Players and the Board. And if they are unable to do that they should be replaced.

[mbncfc 1]

Football to me is a mix of West End Theatre, Religion, and Tribal Warfare.

Entertainment plays its part, but it is intrinsically linked to the other factors. They also bring all kinds of emotions, allegiances and problems.

We want good football (as per the Norwich we believe in), we want good results, and we want faith/trust in those in charge - be it the board, manager or players...

Although that is my take, I''m woefully short on any answers. What we want is a difficult thing to conjure up - especially when a number of other groups are aiming for exactly the same prize. Of course, that is not a reason to give up - it should be a reason to try harder...

(Sorry, I realise this is a pretty rambled post - not really sure what I''m trying to say TBH [:$])

[Syteanric 1]

agreed HH. Football was always the working mans game, in the 20''s right through to the 50''s when football enjoyed its "boom years".

 For some it was the only form of entertainment they ever got stuck in a mine 12 hours a day 6 days a week, they didnt own televisions )some didint even have Radios) all they had was their Saturday afternoon.

 We have all seen pictures of the heaving terraces and men in cloth caps of yesteryear. and they were there for the sole intent of a release from the world of work.

 These days we seem to have football rammed down our throats, like it or not... the premiership on Sky, MOTD, the Championship, John Barnses football night, Soccer night, Various european games.. football is now a 7 day a week thing. The message is lost... the entertainment factor...

 What these media copanies, (and indeed some foobtall clubs) dont realise is that u can get entertainment from thierry Henry scoring a goal for arsenal just the same way u can get entertainment from "fat" bob smith scoring the dog and duck on a sunday afternoon. either watched, played, disscussed, or read about or even played on a computer game.. the whole point is that we want nothing more to be entertained to keep us all out of trouble.

 Its easy to forget clubs like Rochdale in all of this, in the shadow of pretty much all of Lancashires other clubs and some of the Yorkshire sides too, they have been in the same division for 33 years... in their 100 year history they have had just 1 promotion out of footballs bottom league... why do their fans go???? because they are loyal, passionate, they believe.... and tey go for the entertainment... they dont care they are a small club with no history, and possibly no future, they go because they they dont mind paying their hard earned weekly cash for 90 minutes of fun and banter on a saturday.

 Alot of people could learn a lot by spending a season with them... would be an eye opener for the overpaid premiership stars wouldnt it?

jas :)

[blahblahblah 2]

A well thought out post HH.  You and I have been spoilt in the past, as part of a crowd of 14 or 16,000, following a team that fought above its weight for a long time to stay in the Premiership and acheive cup success.  We fell out of the top flight at the wrong time, just as the Sky money gave the top flight an advantage, and have been playing catchup ever since.  What makes it all the more galling is for NCFC to make it into the Premiership for one season, and to fail to capitalise on that success, which leads us to now.  At this point of time we a bad value for the size of our fan-base, and whether we continue to be in the short term will depend largely on the January transfer window.I agree that "the product" is below average at the moment, and  I would like to see more done to bring quality players into the club.  As you know, The transfer window prevents anything big happening in terms of player movements until January, at which time the club must back the new manager financially, and if the failed transfer of David Cotterill and transfers of Robert Green and Leon McKenzie are anything to go by, then 2-4 million should be available for Grant to strengthen.What is refreshing (and I say this as someone who backed NW to the bitter end) is Peter Grants'' honesty.  He''s coming out and saying that we''re not good enough, to the press, to the fans, to the players, and I assume to the board.  At least no-one can claim not to know what is expected of them by the boss, and that goes for current staff aswell as any new signings.  It''s still early doors, but I''d say that we''re in good hands.

[Cluck 0]

Excellent post again HH.

Unfortunately for the fans....they have an inherent loyalty to one club.  That gives the club a ''captive'' audience who cannot acquire the same unique goods elsewhere.  If we buy a bad joint of beef from one butcher...there are umpteen others we can go to to seek better quality meat. Not so with NCFC.

This isn''t a healthy situation....but that is the position we are in as Norwich City fans. We have various choices though....either we go elsewhere for our football, which to me is unacceptable....give up watching football altogether.....tolerate what we are given without question.......or try to make what we have better by voiceing our discontent.

Not a tough choice from where I am standing.....and the latter is the most positive approach. Complaining should never be confused with disloyalty....because it is that very loyalty which causes us to complain. Standing by and watching our demise is the easy option.....and being in denial is blatantly foolish.

So I will complain until it is no longer needed....and I hope others will be equally loyal enough to do the same.

 

 

[Tumbleweed 106]

Great thread HH, I would like to contribute two thoughts.

1. Football is also about emotion- those raw moments of pure joy which come along so rarely. The headers against deadly rivals in milk cup semi finals, the last minute winners against geordies to keep survival dreams alive, the equalisers against Germans and the last minute towering captain''s thunderbolts in play off semi finals. Those moments stay with us for ever. Is it enterainment? Yes, in a way, but some of those affairs have been so tense that I have knots where I never thought possible. Not many hobbies or interests can replicate that.

2. The nature of our fanbase has changed somewhat. This is not meant to patronise or state that some supporters are better than others, but after the play off final and the promotion I do believe we inherited an element unused to the hard graft- that following football is not about instant or short term success but about toughing it out supporting the team in the rain and the long run. I recall the good ''ole boys in the Main Stand that burnt down- they would go week in week out- some never appeared happy but that phlegmatic, steady  and slightly stubborn Norfolk character shone through. Will they survive this media onslaught and quest for stories and success? Maybe not, but whoever mentioned that football overload is right- we are conditioned almost to expect things now- the product of a disposable society.

That was getting heavy and way too philosophical for me so that''ll do for now.

[Chunky Norwich 0]

I think mbncfc has already addressed this but I really do believe that football, psychologically, also gives a large element of belonging and identity. I didn''t just ''pick'' to support Norwich because of their kit colours or because I stuck a pin in a league table but because I feel that Norwich City Football Club represents me (a proud Norfolk man) at a national level. I feel this is why you get far more die-hard supporters for football than you do for any other sport. I even laugh whenever Wimbledon is on because people cheer for Tim Henman because he''s "representing Britain". He''s not. He''s an athlete who happens to be English. Football on the other hand DOES represent a geographical location, hence why I support Norwich City and not the Fly-Be Canaries. Sorry if this has rambled off the original point but I do feel that football is more than just entertainment and is inherently part of any supporter who goes to watch them. This is why I will support Norwich through thick and thin and would be proud to wear my Norwich scarf in any other part of Britain whether we were playing in The Premiership or League 2.

n.b. This may make me a hypocrite because I support Norwich City and not Diss Town but c''mon.....

[Hardhouse44 289]

[quote user="Cluck in Boots"]

Excellent post again HH.

Unfortunately for the fans....they have an inherent loyalty to one club.  That gives the club a ''captive'' audience who cannot acquire the same unique goods elsewhere.  If we buy a bad joint of beef from one butcher...there are umpteen others we can go to to seek better quality meat. Not so with NCFC.

This isn''t a healthy situation....but that is the position we are in as Norwich City fans. We have various choices though....either we go elsewhere for our football, which to me is unacceptable....give up watching football altogether.....tolerate what we are given without question.......or try to make what we have better by voiceing our discontent.

Not a tough choice from where I am standing.....and the latter is the most positive approach. Complaining should never be confused with disloyalty....because it is that very loyalty which causes us to complain. Standing by and watching our demise is the easy option.....and being in denial is blatantly foolish.

So I will complain until it is no longer needed....and I hope others will be equally loyal enough to do the same.

 

 

[/quote]

Right there with you my friend