Please post any wind ups in this thread...

[AthleticoSpizz]

Straker

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Well, moving to a new stadium, good seasons and promotion from league 1, record points 106 in championship best team, great players and team ethic, amazing first year in prem, just went down 2nd season, sort of been knocking on the door (quietly) of prem since relegation but really now, it seems those golden years are gone.

I think we do OK this season but i look back and think better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

[M-U-R-T-Y]

Go away

[The Prisoner]

08457 909090

[Finch]

Just wumming for the hell of it I'd suggest.

'greed, every now and then Kes and TMD get their thicker mate Finch to come on to make their wumming look of olympic standard.

I'm not friends with Kes. Check Facebook lad.

[Sir Dodger Royal]

Looks like SJM will have to round up more of his RTG mates. Frankly the Madman insults the intelligence of real football fans and he has more spin than a silk worm. Following three defeats in a row RFC are now setting a trend and no doubt more Black Holes in their Balance Sheet when they struggle in the First Division next season.

We can expect more old tosh pouring out from SJM. SDR will send the Madman his usual PR script. A load of old maloney will follow in due course.

What excuses will Donut make tonight. There is no bloody passion from the players as they can see the Club is flogging the assets and going no where so they just can't be bothered. No surprise on that front.

Real Facts but the Madmans little RTG muppets will no doubt not agree. Have a pizza to night on Dodger. You know it makes sense.

[Alan Partridge]

Welcome back Dodgerrrrrrr have a cuban on me sirrrrrrrrr

[Sir Dodger Royal]

Can't afford them now a days as I have wasted all my dosh on the Royals. The return on RFC is less than the current Bank Rate.

[PEARCEY]

What does the word "maloney" mean?

[SLAMMED]

struggle in the First Division next season

By First division are you referring to the old first division which is now the premier league or division 1 which is now the championship?

[Wide and Wonderful]

It all depends on what you hope to achieve and gain from watching football. When one supports a team, it is if an umbilical cord is attached. Eventually, that cord gets cut as mine has with Reading. I genuinely miss the days when I could identify with the players. As a child, Tommy Youlden lived in my village in a house very similar to many in the same road. He drove a normal car and shopped where everyone else shopped. The same can be said up until the TV money started coming in. Now, players are cocooned in their own sterile world divorced from reality. Can anyone really identify with footballers now? Genuinely?

The atmosphere within football grounds has changed. Standing, cheering, making noise and the like are frowned upon by the army of pedants that wear orange and yellow high vis jackets. The costs of getting to a game are also spiralling out of control. Supporters generally have completely unrealistic levels of expectation that has been fuelled by a crazy media with a demand on instant gratification. The evil that is the media is, of course, funded by the ordinary punter with their monthly subscriptions who feed off the media desperate for the merest mention of their team. Social websites make the matter worse. I really don't care what this player or that player is tweeting. Sadly, there are millions out there hanging on someone's every word and utterance. Are people's lives so empty that they have to live their own lives through the banal utterances of others?

The sooner that the tv bubble bursts, the better. The sooner that football returns to being a form of entertainment for the masses the better. Until these things happen, it will just be more of the same and excess following excess.

This reminds me of a post i wrote a while back that sums up my attitude towards watching the football:

It's not the football that's the problem (the actual game is only 50% of why most people go anyway, I believe) I don't care about the fact that players get paid loads (would you rather the Chairmen pocket the cash?), are bad role models (when was a football player EVER a good role model anyway) or party late etc.

Football should be a social occasion, meet up with your friends and family, enjoy a bit of a singsong, perhaps a few drinks, and maybe one of the players will deliver a memorable moment that can be discussed/criticised/mocked/rejoiced for a long time afterwards. Have a good moan about a poor performance (Moaning is one of the best things about football!) or speculate on how long a good spell will last.

With allocated seating, it's hard to move around the crowd - move to the noisier section if you want to have a bit of a boisterous sing song, change ends at half time, run down to the front to tell the full back how to do his job properly or simply watch the match in silence and enjoy the football etc.........

The more relaxed lower/nonleague games don't have these restrictions for their fans, and that is why it seems a better experience.

The money side of the game doesn't matter - you don't have to subscribe to it, you don't have to buy the RFC mug, replica kit, RFC dog collar etc,

The social/community aspect is what is important and that is what needs addressing.