| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? 09:00 - Jul 7 with 9646 views | Konk |
People keep asking me if my son is a Fulham fan — he’s coming up to his second birthday, and so far, I haven’t bought him anything Fulham or football related. The official line is that (a) he might not be into football and (b) it’s up to him who he supports. However, one of my brothers and his kids keep bringing stuff round for him from the Spurs club shop after home games, and he’s now accumulated half the kids collection, and I have the uncomfortable situation of kicking a Tottenham ball round with my son when we’re in various London parks. I would stick it all in the charity shop, but the crafty bas tard knows that I can’t do that as his kids have usually chipped in their own pocket money to ensure their cousin ends up down the Lane.
We’re leaving London and moving to Bristol next Summer, so that creates another dilemma.
Fulham: I’d love for him to support Fulham and for us to share that, but realistically, I might only get to 8-10 games a season tops, and until he was 16+, he’d always need me to be going to a game, in order for him to get to the game. And midweek games wouldn’t be doable.
Local team: We’re probably going to be moving within a mile or two of Ashton Gate, so a big part of me thinks he might be better off supporting his local club. He’ll feel more a part of it, we’d get to more games, he’ll have mates who support the same club, midweekers will be doable and he won’t have to rely on me going to games with him once he’s in his teens. I’m not from West London or a Fulham family, so whilst I love Fulham FC, I think I've missed out as I have no real affinity or affection for the area other than the Cottage, a couple of pubs and the walk down along the river from Hammersmith.
Another: He’s got a list of clubs that he can’t support — Chelsea, Man United, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Gillingham — but other than that, I don’t really have a problem with him supporting any other clubs.
So, for people who’ve found themselves in the same boat, how did things pan out and do you think you did the right thing?! I had mates at school who supported random clubs from around the country because of their families, and I always thought that was brilliant, but did they miss out by only getting to see their team a handful of times a season?
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| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
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| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 16:30 - Jul 8 with 1266 views | bosh67 |
Hey Konk. If your boy wants to follow Fulham with you encourage it. My dad and I have been going to QPR for 45 years. It is more about me being with my dad. That's what counts. Lord knows it isn't to watch successful football.
Dad's and their sons enjoying football together. That's what counts |  |
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| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 17:08 - Jul 8 with 1239 views | hopphoops |
Konk it's £648 for an adult plus a child season ticket in the lower loft. It's time to come in from the cold.
Seriously though, take him to Fulham when you can, let him do his thing, it'll probably be ultimate frisbee or longboarding anyway. You'll love Brizzle by the way, i hope you find somewhere that suits. It's a bit of a schlep out to Wells, have you thought of living out there? |  |
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| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 19:08 - Jul 8 with 1204 views | Brightonhoop |
So long as you steer him away from Chelscum then parenting job done, no? 
On a serious not, like Bosh suggests, steer him to Fulham, once your retired he can get the pints and pies in.  |  | | |
| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 10:55 - Jul 12 with 1109 views | Konk |
| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 17:08 - Jul 8 by hopphoops |
Konk it's £648 for an adult plus a child season ticket in the lower loft. It's time to come in from the cold.
Seriously though, take him to Fulham when you can, let him do his thing, it'll probably be ultimate frisbee or longboarding anyway. You'll love Brizzle by the way, i hope you find somewhere that suits. It's a bit of a schlep out to Wells, have you thought of living out there? |
Thanks HoppHopps — the commute should be about 45 mins, which is less than the current one. We’ve gone with South Bristol because:
(a) I don’t drive, so for me to get anywhere from somewhere rural would be an absolute wear out.
(b) My Mum and several close friends don’t drive, so for them to visit us…
(c) I’ll be getting the train for Fulham games and my wife will be working back in town 4-6 times a month, so we need to be close to somewhere with a decent rail connection to London — Temple Meads to Paddington will soon be 80 minutes.
(d) My wife and I are both city people and don’t feel ready to go from London to a small market town in Somerset/Gloucestershire just yet (if ever).
(e) With family and friends being either London/Herts based or in the West Midlands, any further south-west would just make everyone that bit further away.
(f) I’d like it that my son doesn’t feel the need to move away permanently for work/a bit of excitement when he’s older. I reckon Bristol and the surrounding area have enough going on that we might actually still see a bit of him in twenty years’ time.
(g) Last but not least, at some point my wife is going to get the hump with me spending every day in the pub “looking for a job” whilst our son going to childcare, so I am genuinely going to have to try and get a job. For a man of my limited capabilities and employment appeal; I reckon I have much more chance of doing that in Bristol than elsewhere in the SW. | |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
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| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 11:40 - Jul 12 with 1081 views | FredManRave |
| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 10:55 - Jul 12 by Konk |
Thanks HoppHopps — the commute should be about 45 mins, which is less than the current one. We’ve gone with South Bristol because:
(a) I don’t drive, so for me to get anywhere from somewhere rural would be an absolute wear out.
(b) My Mum and several close friends don’t drive, so for them to visit us…
(c) I’ll be getting the train for Fulham games and my wife will be working back in town 4-6 times a month, so we need to be close to somewhere with a decent rail connection to London — Temple Meads to Paddington will soon be 80 minutes.
(d) My wife and I are both city people and don’t feel ready to go from London to a small market town in Somerset/Gloucestershire just yet (if ever).
(e) With family and friends being either London/Herts based or in the West Midlands, any further south-west would just make everyone that bit further away.
(f) I’d like it that my son doesn’t feel the need to move away permanently for work/a bit of excitement when he’s older. I reckon Bristol and the surrounding area have enough going on that we might actually still see a bit of him in twenty years’ time.
(g) Last but not least, at some point my wife is going to get the hump with me spending every day in the pub “looking for a job” whilst our son going to childcare, so I am genuinely going to have to try and get a job. For a man of my limited capabilities and employment appeal; I reckon I have much more chance of doing that in Bristol than elsewhere in the SW. |
Good Luck with it all Konk. There's something very exciting about moving and taking on a whole new adventure that you have no idea where it will take you but will be down to you guys to steer it in the direction you want. You do have luxuryof not having to find employment urgently which is a huge benefit of course.
As for the football you'll just have to decide when the time is right to start taking him to his first few Fulham games and then take it from there. You might get lucky and he'll get addicted from the start which would be most likely if you take him to games against us. That way you'll really have no decision to make. However, if he doesn't get bitten by the Cottage bug but does show an interest in football and going to games then it has to be local for the reasons you mentioned in your original post. Thee really is no 3rd football related option.
Good Luck with ut all. |  |
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| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 12:15 - Jul 12 with 1052 views | Konk |
| Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 11:40 - Jul 12 by FredManRave |
Good Luck with it all Konk. There's something very exciting about moving and taking on a whole new adventure that you have no idea where it will take you but will be down to you guys to steer it in the direction you want. You do have luxuryof not having to find employment urgently which is a huge benefit of course.
As for the football you'll just have to decide when the time is right to start taking him to his first few Fulham games and then take it from there. You might get lucky and he'll get addicted from the start which would be most likely if you take him to games against us. That way you'll really have no decision to make. However, if he doesn't get bitten by the Cottage bug but does show an interest in football and going to games then it has to be local for the reasons you mentioned in your original post. Thee really is no 3rd football related option.
Good Luck with ut all. |
Cheers, mate. 70% excited about the move, but 30% cacking myself. Gonna be a big transition leaving London, but loads of positives to look forward to and the timing feels about right. | |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
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