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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?
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 20:14 - Jul 7 with 1840 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 20:05 - Jul 7 by DanVanDyke
My 10 year old has really got the football bug in the last year and despite a bit of prompting to support Rangers, he's gone with Newcastle (local team). His mum (my ex) tried to get him to support Chelscum to p me off when we were going through the acrimonious stage of divorce, but he never took to them. He has a Chelscum lad at school who he thinks is a dick, so that's cool.
I'm not bothered who he supports really, I think being a fan sets you up for a life of misery punctuated by the odd high and is essentially a mug's game, but we're all in too deep now! Hi step-mum is a season ticket holder for Newcastle and he wants to start going to games with her which is nice, we've encircled in 1 Feb for his first match. My old man supports Sunderland but isn't very ardent and my brother is like a Clive version Southampton fan, doesn't miss many at all so we're a weird family.
We do all support Switzerland and I've got my boy into them, even buying him the strip for the Poland game. His mum isn't too happy about that! I figure even if I never take him in the Loft End at least I'll get him to the W@nkdorf!!
What ever team your family follow, you're always on time,eh?
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 13:28 - Jul 7 by CroydonCaptJack
Hey Clive, was that the game after the famous victory over Man Utd away ? If so, I was at that game having been to Old Trafford the week before. If ever there was a case of 'after the Lord Mayors Show' that was it!
That's the one. If anything sums up my 25 years supporting QPR it's that I asked to go to my first match that week and not the week before.
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 22:02 - Jul 7 with 1768 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 21:05 - Jul 7 by Northernr
That's the one. If anything sums up my 25 years supporting QPR it's that I asked to go to my first match that week and not the week before.
Haha, the writing was on the wall eh! I went to the man u game with a Manc who had a spare. The only trouble was it was in the home section. Very hard to keep quiet but I wisely managed. Then I cunningly arranged a weekend in Winchester with my then girlfriend (now wife) and "discovered" we were away to Southampton the same weekend. I suppose I deserved thst performance and result in hindsight.
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 22:58 - Jul 7 with 1732 views
Hi Konk there's a lot to be said for supporting a local club for all the reasons you list. I happened to wander into London (Hammersmith) in 88 and happened to wander into Loftus Road not long after that.
These days I have an 11/nearly 12 year old for whom supporting a team and going to games are one and the same thing.
With regard to Brizzle, me and the mrs had a great weekend there last month for our wedding anniversary, Great city, lots going on. Loved it.
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 22:58 - Jul 7 by londonscottish
Hi Konk there's a lot to be said for supporting a local club for all the reasons you list. I happened to wander into London (Hammersmith) in 88 and happened to wander into Loftus Road not long after that.
These days I have an 11/nearly 12 year old for whom supporting a team and going to games are one and the same thing.
With regard to Brizzle, me and the mrs had a great weekend there last month for our wedding anniversary, Great city, lots going on. Loved it.
[Post edited 7 Jul 2016 23:09]
Good to hear you had a nice weekend in Bristol. I’ve always liked it as a city; big enough that there’s loads going on, but not overwhelming, decent transport links to London, surrounded by lovely countryside, plenty of good pubs, a decent restaurant scene (my wife works in the food industry, so that’s important for her), two league clubs, rugby (you never know), first class county cricket, an airport etc. I hope it’ll be a great city for my son to grow-up in.
Looking forward to it. We’ve been popping down for weekends and scouting out where we’ll most likely end-up, and although it’s obviously a decent sized city, the areas we’re looking at feel so quiet and friendly compared to where we are at the moment, and yet they’re only a 15-20 minute walk to the centre. Some of those hills are gonna kill me on my bike though — has to be the hilliest city in England?
Thanks again to everyone for their views and experiences — interesting to see how things have gone for others.
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 09:57 - Jul 8 with 1624 views
My son has lived in Bath since he was born but supports QPR even though he only goes to a handful of games per season, with Bath City his 2nd team.
Once he got interested in football at about 6 years old I took him to a QPR match and then got him a junior membership. He loves getting the stuff like the birthday and Christmas cards from the club. Despite most of his friends supporting top Premiership clubs (no Bristol City/Rovers supporters strangely) he has stuck with QPR. Like others on this thread, I also told him if he supported another team, especially the top Premiership clubs, he would never be able to go and see them because I wouldn't be able to take him and we'd never get tickets. He stuck with QPR - going to a few games is better than not going at all.
He was also the official mascot at an away game last season so we got to go in the dressing room and meet all the players before the match, which none of friends will ever do. A bit lucky to get the mascot place but that certainly helped seal his support.
The occasional support of our local team in between QPR matches is worthwhile. We can walk to Bath's ground and he sometimes sees his friends there too. It's also dirt cheap, you can turn up at 2:55, pay on the turnstile and stand where you like.
Good luck with the move. The countryside south of Bristol and around Wells is really nice, but if you think Bristol is hilly try cycling around Bath! There's a very nice mostly flat cycle path between Bath and Bristol on an old railway line if you prefer an easier cycle and that's great to go along with children because it's safe.
This handy guide to all things Bristol is worth a read and good luck with speaking Brizzle.
My Granddad and Dad were both wronk QPR fans. I was born in 'Ammersmith 'Ospital where I had my Aitches removed. I was born in 68 and was named Rodney, not David as my dear old mum thought (for the first 6 weeks of my life until she asked to see the Birth Certificate). I had no choice, but ironically my brother is an egg chasing Rugby fan and was never into football.
Whenever I see this type of post - I always think of a conversation between the characters played by Bruno Kirby and Helen Slater in the film City Slickers. The thrust of the conversation is that baseball was the only connection between the teenage Kirby and his dad. Regardless of what else was happening in their lives they could always say "how about them RedSox?". I steal and re-sport this as a counter to the "its only a game" argument.
Blimey that's me banging on long enough.
Peace
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 11:20 - Jul 8 with 1579 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 10:12 - Jul 8 by BathRanger
My son has lived in Bath since he was born but supports QPR even though he only goes to a handful of games per season, with Bath City his 2nd team.
Once he got interested in football at about 6 years old I took him to a QPR match and then got him a junior membership. He loves getting the stuff like the birthday and Christmas cards from the club. Despite most of his friends supporting top Premiership clubs (no Bristol City/Rovers supporters strangely) he has stuck with QPR. Like others on this thread, I also told him if he supported another team, especially the top Premiership clubs, he would never be able to go and see them because I wouldn't be able to take him and we'd never get tickets. He stuck with QPR - going to a few games is better than not going at all.
He was also the official mascot at an away game last season so we got to go in the dressing room and meet all the players before the match, which none of friends will ever do. A bit lucky to get the mascot place but that certainly helped seal his support.
The occasional support of our local team in between QPR matches is worthwhile. We can walk to Bath's ground and he sometimes sees his friends there too. It's also dirt cheap, you can turn up at 2:55, pay on the turnstile and stand where you like.
Good luck with the move. The countryside south of Bristol and around Wells is really nice, but if you think Bristol is hilly try cycling around Bath! There's a very nice mostly flat cycle path between Bath and Bristol on an old railway line if you prefer an easier cycle and that's great to go along with children because it's safe.
This handy guide to all things Bristol is worth a read and good luck with speaking Brizzle.
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 10:12 - Jul 8 by BathRanger
My son has lived in Bath since he was born but supports QPR even though he only goes to a handful of games per season, with Bath City his 2nd team.
Once he got interested in football at about 6 years old I took him to a QPR match and then got him a junior membership. He loves getting the stuff like the birthday and Christmas cards from the club. Despite most of his friends supporting top Premiership clubs (no Bristol City/Rovers supporters strangely) he has stuck with QPR. Like others on this thread, I also told him if he supported another team, especially the top Premiership clubs, he would never be able to go and see them because I wouldn't be able to take him and we'd never get tickets. He stuck with QPR - going to a few games is better than not going at all.
He was also the official mascot at an away game last season so we got to go in the dressing room and meet all the players before the match, which none of friends will ever do. A bit lucky to get the mascot place but that certainly helped seal his support.
The occasional support of our local team in between QPR matches is worthwhile. We can walk to Bath's ground and he sometimes sees his friends there too. It's also dirt cheap, you can turn up at 2:55, pay on the turnstile and stand where you like.
Good luck with the move. The countryside south of Bristol and around Wells is really nice, but if you think Bristol is hilly try cycling around Bath! There's a very nice mostly flat cycle path between Bath and Bristol on an old railway line if you prefer an easier cycle and that's great to go along with children because it's safe.
This handy guide to all things Bristol is worth a read and good luck with speaking Brizzle.
London Scottish - Thanks for the suggestions - will have to see if we can squeeze them in on a future weekend.
Bath - That's weird, because although I've only been to Bath 3-4 times, I don't remember it being especially hilly - which probably shows that I'd had too many beers and wasn't concentrating. Been to Twerton a couple of times for Rovers games...less said the better. Thanks for the cycling suggestion and link - the only proper hills I ever encounter are Highgate Hill, Muswell Hill and Crouch Hill, and I'll do almost anything to avoid the first two, so it will be a big adjustment for me. The hills around Totterdown and Windmill Hill are bonkers...in fact, there are bonkers hills all over Bristol - you turn a corner and there's another bloody hill. Relentless.
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 12:11 - Jul 8 with 1539 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 11:31 - Jul 8 by Konk
London Scottish - Thanks for the suggestions - will have to see if we can squeeze them in on a future weekend.
Bath - That's weird, because although I've only been to Bath 3-4 times, I don't remember it being especially hilly - which probably shows that I'd had too many beers and wasn't concentrating. Been to Twerton a couple of times for Rovers games...less said the better. Thanks for the cycling suggestion and link - the only proper hills I ever encounter are Highgate Hill, Muswell Hill and Crouch Hill, and I'll do almost anything to avoid the first two, so it will be a big adjustment for me. The hills around Totterdown and Windmill Hill are bonkers...in fact, there are bonkers hills all over Bristol - you turn a corner and there's another bloody hill. Relentless.
Yes, but very handy for getting your cheese home.
Did I ever mention that I was in Minder?
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 12:13 - Jul 8 with 1531 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 12:19 - Jul 8 by Mick_S
See what you mean about taking it back.
You get to the bottom of the hill and remember you've forgotten your crackers - you then have to walk back up that bast ard of a hill, rolling the cheese, you're probably wearing roller blades, you're pushing a pushchair, dragging a shopping trolley, holding onto your other kids' hands and walking the dogs. Absolute wear-out. It's why most good cheese shops are on level ground.
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 12:31 - Jul 8 with 1496 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 12:24 - Jul 8 by Konk
You get to the bottom of the hill and remember you've forgotten your crackers - you then have to walk back up that bast ard of a hill, rolling the cheese, you're probably wearing roller blades, you're pushing a pushchair, dragging a shopping trolley, holding onto your other kids' hands and walking the dogs. Absolute wear-out. It's why most good cheese shops are on level ground.
Last time I was in the west country, we stopped at a level crossing in my cousin's car, waited a few minutes and a feckin ship went by. Only one person in that car scratching his head.
Did I ever mention that I was in Minder?
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 12:37 - Jul 8 with 1476 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 11:31 - Jul 8 by Konk
London Scottish - Thanks for the suggestions - will have to see if we can squeeze them in on a future weekend.
Bath - That's weird, because although I've only been to Bath 3-4 times, I don't remember it being especially hilly - which probably shows that I'd had too many beers and wasn't concentrating. Been to Twerton a couple of times for Rovers games...less said the better. Thanks for the cycling suggestion and link - the only proper hills I ever encounter are Highgate Hill, Muswell Hill and Crouch Hill, and I'll do almost anything to avoid the first two, so it will be a big adjustment for me. The hills around Totterdown and Windmill Hill are bonkers...in fact, there are bonkers hills all over Bristol - you turn a corner and there's another bloody hill. Relentless.
The Jazz was on at the Hen and Chicken. Ian Storrer was the promoter. Great guy, very friendly, sorted us with good seats despite a very late booking as it was our anniversary.
He used to run a pub but now promotes jazz gigs.
He's an old mate of Andy Sheppherd (who's a Bristolian).
The guitarist as John Fratelli who I originally saw in Loose Tubes in the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh in about 1983.
The music and arts scene is great in Brizzle. And food. Did I tell you we loved it?
On the subject of hills I grew up in a town on a hill (Dunfermline). Used to cycle up and down the hills all day long as a kid. May years later as a late 40-something I was back visiting my Mum and went for a run. Lasted about 10 minutes. Those hills are b&stards. Much steeper that they were in 1979.
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 12:39 - Jul 8 by TacticalR
You should warn him of the dangers of ending up on football message boards in later life.
Save him now before its too late.. My lad wants to join LFW. I'm steering him away from it..Nothing to do with QPR or the rest of the posters, just dont want him reading stuff ive put up... I think he knows my username is punter so i might change it... Might change it to Dave something..
[Post edited 8 Jul 2016 19:21]
Occasional providers of half decent House music.
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 13:50 - Jul 8 with 1393 views
Konk, Brizzle is a great city. I am further west, my lads were 'free' to make their own choice on clubs with only subtle guidance for their dad. The eldest chose Exeter and the youngest QPR. Had very special times with them both at their respective choice of clubs. Get him into Fulham, if when he is old enough he wants to follow his local team with his mates so be it. The times he spent at the Cottage with his Old Man will always be special.
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 13:58 - Jul 8 with 1379 views
My daughter who is now 8 had always had it told to her that Daddy is a QPR fan and so is she and she realised pretty early that if she wants to wind Daddy up she will tell me she is a Chelsea fan. Getting her stuff for school this morning she needed sports stuff for her sponsored fun run and she chose her old red and black away kit. One of my brother in laws tried to get her down the Arsenal route and she told him that she was QPR but would cheer on Arsenal as her second team which annoyed him even more. My 3 year old boy is no problem as when he is kicking a ball around if he scores he sings pig bag. My work with the 2 of them is complete.
I would suggest you leave it till your son is 8 and if he likes football bring him down to Loftus Road and if he doesn't then take him to the cottage.
Stonebridgers
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 14:14 - Jul 8 with 1345 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 13:58 - Jul 8 by stonebridgers
My daughter who is now 8 had always had it told to her that Daddy is a QPR fan and so is she and she realised pretty early that if she wants to wind Daddy up she will tell me she is a Chelsea fan. Getting her stuff for school this morning she needed sports stuff for her sponsored fun run and she chose her old red and black away kit. One of my brother in laws tried to get her down the Arsenal route and she told him that she was QPR but would cheer on Arsenal as her second team which annoyed him even more. My 3 year old boy is no problem as when he is kicking a ball around if he scores he sings pig bag. My work with the 2 of them is complete.
I would suggest you leave it till your son is 8 and if he likes football bring him down to Loftus Road and if he doesn't then take him to the cottage.
Excellent work there.
Every now and again, for fun, I whip my two into an enthusiastic rendition of Walking in a Mackie Wonderland.
Let him support who he wants within reason. The latest trend with kids especially where I live, is to follow either Barcelona or Real Madrid even though they probably haven't a clue where in the world they are. It's all because they win a lot of games and cups and Ronaldo and Messi play for them. What a shallow generation.
There aint half been some clever bastards.
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 16:06 - Jul 8 with 1272 views
Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 11:31 - Jul 8 by Konk
London Scottish - Thanks for the suggestions - will have to see if we can squeeze them in on a future weekend.
Bath - That's weird, because although I've only been to Bath 3-4 times, I don't remember it being especially hilly - which probably shows that I'd had too many beers and wasn't concentrating. Been to Twerton a couple of times for Rovers games...less said the better. Thanks for the cycling suggestion and link - the only proper hills I ever encounter are Highgate Hill, Muswell Hill and Crouch Hill, and I'll do almost anything to avoid the first two, so it will be a big adjustment for me. The hills around Totterdown and Windmill Hill are bonkers...in fact, there are bonkers hills all over Bristol - you turn a corner and there's another bloody hill. Relentless.
Admittedly the centre of Bath and along the river is quite flat, but go to the North towards the race course or M4 or South towards the university or Prior Park and its a different matter.
That link is purely for comic purposes, as you'll see when you read it.
Cheers
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Should I steer my son towards Fulham or let him find his own club? on 16:28 - Jul 8 with 1253 views
I was in a very similar situation Konk - we moved from London to Nottingham (like you due to wife's job) just as our eldest turned one.
Mum is a big Newcastle fan, so as he became aware of football, he had our two teams drummed in to him. This was Keegan era so getting Toon tickets was never going to be easy, so his mum (who always enjoyed going to the Rs when we were living in London) was happy for me to push Rangers.
Tested his resolve to sit through 90 minutes of live football at Notts County a couple of times - chose them partly as you could turn up at 2.55 and easily get a decent seat; and partly as I figured his school mates were far more likely to push him towards Forest, and I didn't want to give them any extra ammunition.
Once he showed enough interest I started drip feeding him a few Rs games a season. The League One years did the trick tbh - we went to loads of relatively local away matches, where we took big followings and gave the appearance to an innocent 7-8 year old of being a 'big club' (which we are compared to Mansfield & Chestefield). He loved the play off season...we got season tickets in what turned out to be the promotion season that followed...and if anything I'd say he's now a bigger fan than me. We're the first father & son to have contributed to both LFW & AKUTRs :)
He positively enjoyed playing the maverick at school; and he's developed a hatred of Forest. I do loads of kids football coaching locally....shirts-wise it's usually 50% Forest, 25% big clubs (Prem and international), 10% County, 10% Derby & Leicester (where parents have moved to Nottingham as it's bigger so offers more job opportunities)...and 5% kids whose parents support random teams and the kids have gone with their dad or, occasionally, mum. So when coaching I always try to make those kids feel special for their choice of team - I've had Hull, Brentford, Wycombe, Scunthorpe, Palace, Southampton, WBA...and yes, even a couple of Rs.
My daughter went to a few Rs & Toon games til losing interest around 14 or so. My youngest is now 12...tho football mad he was much harder work, and went through some very brief glory team phases (Arsenal, Liverpool and City all lasted a couple of months...he was made very aware Chelsea, United & Sunderland were banned)....but the Warnock season won him over to the hoops. However, once he hits 15 or 16 and all his mates are going without adults to Forest (we live within walking distance), I think he's more likely than his older brother to be tempted. Mind you, he has just screamed down the stairs, "dad, we're beating PSV!"
I'd give Fulham a go Konk - there are a million other things they can do locally with their mates; my kids will support local teams at other sports (eg big Notts CCC fans)...but that father / son football bond is hard to beat.
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