I've actually been a Man United supporter for quite a while now, since the days of Brian McClair, Mark Hughes, Neil Webb etc. I am not English so I dont feel for a local side. Actually, I am living in Leicestershire for this year and I've been following Leicester's exploits this season. But that's another story.

Anyways, as strange as it might sound, Man United did used to be the underdogs a long time ago and as a result of my loathing of Liverpool's winning ways I pleaded allegiance to the other red one. And I still support them today.

I don't like glory hunters personally. Its them (the people with passive interests) who are ruining the sport. In a bid to sell the sport and all its merchandise to as many people as possible the spirit of the sport is being sold out.

I didn't know Real Madrid had so many supporters. All of a sudden the white kits are popping up everywhere.

ps: watch out for the second coming of Barca!!

The word "gloryhunter" is thrown around a lot at fans because they are not 'local' or have never visited the ground. Some 'local' fans like to consider themselves more genuine than distant supporters. Perhaps it's because many of those fans pay outrageously high prices to go to the ground every week and this pisses them off. As razmataz says, gloryhunters are eating away at the soul of the sport and ultimately making it more tacky and commercial.

I think it's a childish attitude to lable all Man Utd fans not from Manchester gloryhunters. I don't determine a gloryhunter by where he is from, but by how he follows his team. A gloryhunter will lose interest when his team starts losing games. Man Utd do have a lot of fans like this. Some foreigners follow Man Utd because it's the only side they regularly saw when they grew up, others like their attractive football or idolise a certain player. If they follow the club through thick and thin then they are supporters in my view. However it is true that many people support Man Utd purely because they win a lot and supporting Man Utd is a fashionable option, but when Man Utd suffer the occasional embarrassing defeat, these people completely lose interest. Those people aren't supporters.

I suspect Real Madrid fans are accused of the same in Spain and Juventus fans in Italy. If Arsenal were to win the next ten league titles you can guarantee their support worldwide would increase massively. If after that they suffered massive problems and dropped to the bottom of the table one season their support would decline dramatically. Those people who came along for the glory ride and then jumped ship are gloryhunters.

The best thing to do is just ignore it, it's growing very old now anyway. The main problem is that football used to be a sport which brought communities together and the atmosphere inside stadiums used to be far far better than it is today. Nowadays people can't get into their ground because it's either too expensive or seats are taken by disinterested tourists and the very soul of the game is being eaten away by commercialism. Man Utd epitomise the commercialism of the game, last season they once again made more profit than any other club in the world.

Last edited by evil_bastard on Mar-06-2004 at 19:44

quote:

Originally posted by raveed can some1 please enlighten me as to why united fans are scoffed at so often ????

Jealousy is a big part of it.

I'm a bolton fan so it's not like I can be accused of glory hunting, i've seen us lose playoff finals, league cup finals, fa cup semi finals and so on

quote:

Originally posted by DJ-Fuq Jealousy is a big part of it.

actually to be fair, I'm not jealous of United, I think the way they run their business is despicable, how they handled the Robben saga, tried to more than half the bid when they foudn out PSV were in financial trouble, and Chelsea came along and paid asking price, pretty much spat in their faces, and make me laugh so much.

The main reason i have little regard for most united fans is that people who know very little about football always support united or liverpool. Of course, it doesn't mean all united or liverpool supporters know nothing about football, but it means until they prove otherwise I assume they don't.
Living in australia i generally get similar reactions when I tell that I support Leeds, most people assuming it's because of kewell and viduka making their mark with leeds, when I'm a third generation leeds fan.

quote:

Originally posted by Ian^ actually to be fair, I'm not jealous of United,

A lot of people are.

quote:

I think the way they run their business is despicable, how they handled the Robben saga, tried to more than half the bid when they foudn out PSV were in financial trouble, and Chelsea came along and paid asking price, pretty much spat in their faces, and make me laugh so much.

Cant say i like the way the business side of things is run all the time either. What happens on the pitch is whats important to me, like many other supporters.
United need to sort out their transfer policy because theyve fucked up enough transfers over the last couple of seasons and its had a huge impact on the team (or potential team).

quote:

Originally posted by raveed can some1 please enlighten me as to why united fans are scoffed at so often ????

http://www.tranceaddict.com/forums/...threadid=166813

I've been a man utd fan since 1988 or when i found out which team that my great grandfather supported (he was a manc). I only support them cuz my heritage supported them and I will continue to do so. I'll keep supporting them, no matter what they finish in the premier. That's the true english football fan....cept i'm not english..hehehe..footy and jokes go hand and hand. How cheap newcastle is....how stupid liverpool is...how evil united are. Remember as well that football is a business...you try to pay the least for the best and succeed. I hate united's tactics cuz they are evil but I bet most of football is like this and united is not the only team guilty of this. Teams stealing players and dirty handed tricks are as old as the game itself. I like the jokes with the footy...

i'm not really a glory hunter or anything, but since Tom Howard is on man united I have to be a follower. same thing with blackburn rovers, since i'm just a fanatic of american football players in premier league.

bahhahahahahah

It's Tim Howard, not Tom

btw Brad Friedel has sucked this season, although it must be said that Blackburn in general have had a very average season.