Supporting A Football Team - What's The Point ?

So another miserable evening following another defeat in the premier league. Realistically we aren't one if the 19 biggest clubs in the land so have done really well to survive for 5 years at this level. The downside is many more defeats than victories, many evenings like this.
Supporting a small club in the 3rd or 4th tier is a lot easier. There are bigger and smaller clubs in the league for sure, but there's the chance of relegation, promotion, playoffs, more games, more wins. In the prem you start every season knowing you'll be one of 7 or 8 teams battling to win about 10 games to just stay in the league, and maybe a cup run before you're embarrassed by one of the big boys (the further you go, the bigger the likely embarrassment and the more people will witness it).
How much enjoyment do we get from just knowing we are in the premier league? Does making big money buys and having the big boys come and play at our little stadium compensate for the misery of defeat after defeat, sacking after sacking, and knowing that this could be the year we slide through the trapdoor ? If we somehow survive at the weekend, will the joy of staying up compensate for the frustration and disappointment of losing most of our games this season, the sacking of 3 managers, and the vitriol on the forum ? Will we be excited by the prospect of another battle for survival next season ?
I'm really not sure. It all seems rather pointless at the moment. Supporting this club in its elevated status seems to have a negative impact on my happiness rather than positive. I'd be happier seeing us win 2-1 against Lincoln and move within 3 points of the Div 1 playoffs than see us lose 2-1 to man utd but know we are hanging on in the premier league.

 

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Don't take on a job if you are unwilling to face its pressures.

 

As a wise man once said

'Life is a rollercoaster, just got to ride it'

 

I disagree with it being easier to support clubs in lower leagues, although I get where you're coming from. Personally I get more joy from beating Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea etc than Leeds, Blackpool etc.

This season has been appalling and there have been very, very few enjoyable games, but not long ago we were losing to the likes of Peterborough at home who were bottom of the table in an absolutely mindnumbingly low quality game. If we go down there's no guarantee we'll be fighting for a play-off spot, or even automatics. We could well go down again. Just look at Huddersfield! Also the sackings happened in our Championship years too, so don't expect that to change.

In direct answer to your question, the point of supporting a football team is to get those massive highs. Unfortunately, in order to really feel those highs you have to hang on through the crap. That Deeney goal wouldn't have been such a high without the disasterous Leeds match or giving away a penalty in the last minute, yet that rollercoaster made it all the sweeter. What we're going through right now is the long version of that Knockaert dive, hopefully it doesn't take years before the penalty save and counter attack. Unfortunately we're Watford, so we'll capitulate in the final anyway.

 

Certainly been like a roller-coaster supporting Watford for nearly 30 years

 

You're not kidding

 

We didn't manage to beat City, but we beat Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea and Spurs so that made it worthwhile.

I think this "era" has run its course though.

 

You can't appreciate the sun unless you have the rain.

 

Wish we had Mooney up front still. But more movement up front than what we currently have

 

Nice memories. But we played 60 games against these 6 clubs in 5 years. There were many more thrashing than victories, sweet as those victories were.

 

Not sure Watford have been a "team" for some time. That's part of the issue.

 

Younger supporters are spoiled. The vast, vast majority of my time as a fan has seen Watford in the lower divisions. In reality, we are a championship club in terms of size, attitude, fan base etc. Whilst there still is a chance that we survive, we all know we are a beaten docket. If the Pozzos lose interest, we will be scrapping in the lower reaches of the championship soon. It is a bad time to be a Watford supporter, but we might win a few more games next season. Doing the double over Luton next year might lift spirits.

 

If we play that lot next year be my nephews first one. He's never seen us play them

 

Yup. And at the first sign of a grey cloud on the horizon for 5 years it seems a load of folk on here have shat the bed.

 

I'm very lucky, the worst I can recall of Watford is relegation battles in the Championship, while other, bigger clubs have dropped into the third tier or worse. Are we more likely to get relegated again before we ever get to the Premier League again? Who knows, but yeah, this is the rough that we're just gonna have to take with the smooth of the past decade or so

 

Its easy to get carried away after nights like tonight, but I genuinely feel like i'm approaching a crossroads

For the first time in 15 years, I won't be buying a season ticket next year and i'm really not sure what thats going to mean for my long term support of the club

I despise 99% of the squad, we have no youth team coming through and the club hierarchy have crossed the line far too many times now in their basic disrespect towards the game and many figures within it.

When you start to strip everything back, what is there actually left to support?

 

Losing isn't enjoyable.
Losing all the time is even less enjoyable.
Winning is usually just a stop gap until the next loss.
I'm stuck with Watford,I can't get away it's my brother's fault for indoctrinating me aged 6.
Best get on with it.

 

If you could bottle up the positive and negative feelings of fans on the forum during the premier league era the negative would be much more full. Being in this league is crap.

 

Apart from a few isolated games in the Premier League and FA Cup, I haven't enjoyed any season to anything like the same level as Zola's first season and the year we went up. I don't think it'll be like that again and I suspect we're now going to find ourselves lost in the wilderness of the Championship for some time, but as a football fan I prefer watching my team on an even playing field.

 

This. My run is over 24 years, such a long time going to a game every other weekend.

However of the last few seasons it feels like going through the motions. We don’t enjoy it anymore.
The only reason we go is to meet friends, the game is the excuse.

I do worry I may hardly go again, that is sad but as you say why do we go and what do we actually support?

 

Maybe now’s not the time but I’m not even sure what this means IRB. It sounds like Holloway “it’s not roight” talk to me.

Which figures have they disrespected? I have no sympathy at all for a single head coach who has come and gone given (a) they know what they’re getting into when they come and (b) they all leave richer than when they arrived. So who’s been genuinely disrespected? I’d say we’ve been consistently disrespected by a lot more figures in the game over the past 5 years than we somehow have in return.

So far as I can think we can maybe have the HSBC letter thing on the naughty list. But Pozzo was cleared of any personal involvement in that. Even that was a technical accounting thing, very dry, with no real fiddle behind it if you read the full findings. Chip paper too almost as soon as it was announced. I bet you couldn’t find a non-Watford fan who even recalls it. So what else is there really?

I’d say Pozzo and Duxbury have also overseen plenty of classy stuff too, particularly around GT and also latterly with the NHS. Woking spoke very highly of their encounter with us. The engagement with the 1881 is never something they had to do - Palace basically told their much feted fan group to jog on a year or so ago.

And hey, at least they’re not going around bombing Yemen like Newcastle’s likely new owners.

 

The Pozzos have made a succession of absolutely bizarre decisions over the past few years that even us as fans could tell were wrong, but I don't think they're just here to take advantage of us. I won't be 'sad' to see them leave (despite them being responsible for some truly exhilarating moments), but I will be concerned that whoever our next owners will be will be another Baz, or whoever the ****s are at Wigan now

 

Good post. Before the Pozzos the idea of spending more than 1 season the Premier League was just a dream. Yes they've made mistakes with recruitment but hopefully they will have learnt from it and we come back stronger. If not let them leave and we can maybe get an Arab consortium in with big bucks.

 

Well said.

I was reflecting on the mistakes on the field in terms of recruitment. But I do still feel connected to the club off the field. The sensory room, the NHS support, the GT tributes have all been handled well and made me proud to support the club. I still think it is a community club. Players come and go, and i think we'll see a large turnover this window.

 

McKinley, Jokanovic, Gracia and Pearson were treated appalling. The way they were disposed of made me embarrassed to be a Watford fan and has contributed to a poisonous atmosphere which make it nigh on impossible for any new manager to succeed

 

Hahahahahaha

 

I don't blame Silva anymore. Had we known then what we know now about a technical director standing over the coaches shoulder taking notes on the training ground and pressuring coaches to change formations, I wonder if we would have blamed him at all.

 

-12 next season, you might even finish below Watford

 

I just finished dream feeding my little baby boy and was watching him sleep in my arms making some really cute little post-feed-coma whines and little bottom burp smirks while Love Actually played on tv and just suddenly felt quite a release.

In a way I'm pretty glad it's almost sorted now. I'll admit I get too overstressed by this silly sport and I've probably spent far too much time in the past 6 months than I care to admit worrying over a game.

And if I'm being totally honest I feel sorry for my wife for putting up with some of my moodiness since the restart and giving me time off from daddy daycare to watch all of this unfold!

I'm actually really looking forward to non-football related life for a bit and embracing the finer things in life.

I will be back supporting this rag-tag yellow black and red army next season no matter what, maybe to a lesser extent though as I feel I now need to focus on other things.

But this team is still the other escapism I get from the other worries in life like work and bills though, and this team is another tie that bonds me to my hometown while I life so far removed and a team I will always follow, and hopefully my little buddy after me.

 

I was only young when we got relegated back in 2000 & 2007 so this is the first real relegation I've had being a Watford fan. It's tough to take but this team & our owners probably deserve it. Theirs been a serious lack of investment in key areas & a lack of respect to the paying supporters. Maybe a fresh start in the Championship is what we need.

 

To me, supporting a team ( like Watford) is all about moments . We are never likely to win much and probably 5 years in the premier league and an fa cup final is likely to be a golden era .

So it’s those great moments which I cherish . Eg beating Man Utd/Liverpool/Chelsea . The fa cup semi final win , The Deeney goal , the amazing football we played under Zola . I will never forget these and an likely to be watching back on YouTube, just like I watch the 1999 or 2006 play off finals .

Apart from feeling part of something and being proud of supporting a community minded club ,that’s it . It’s the moments and although it looos like our premier league journey is over for now , I am grateful for all those great moments the Pozzos have brought us . , because what else is there ?

 

We've had some great moments but this is a low point. I'm not sure if the highs outweigh the lows to be honest.

 

I will always support them it's in my DNA. My Dad started taking me before I even understood what was happening and they have grown into my biggest love. I've fallen out of love with them before but I always come back for more. I can't and never will turn my back on them it's just simply impossible. But at this current moment in time I've never felt so demoralised by what's happening behind the scenes and there lack of openness from the powers above. But dont worry we'll all be back next season with that hope that comes with it. Tbh now I'm kind of looking forward to a big clear out and the hussle and bussell of the Championship.