Watching City And Rovers

[bcfcbs20]

i dont know about you but i was brought up to hate rovers by my family and family friends just as many people my generation have. So why now all this rovers love in crap I hate rovers just as much as the die hard rovers fan hates us. I will never ever watch rovers unless we're playing nor will i give the slightest toss what is going on there side of Bristol.The refrence to the 90s love in when people stopped fighting (for a bit anyway) and instead got mashed on es, acid etc... as the house scence was getting pretty big which led to the start of the rave scene and people were to loved up to care about what football team you supported.

[Ron]

i dont know about you but i was brought up to hate rovers by my family and family friends just as many people my generation have. So why now all this rovers love in crap I hate rovers just as much as the die hard rovers fan hates us. I will never ever watch rovers unless we're playing nor will i give the slightest toss what is going on there side of Bristol.The refrence to the 90s love in when people stopped fighting (for a bit anyway) and instead got mashed on es, acid etc... as the house scence was getting pretty big which led to the start of the rave scene and people were to loved up to care about what football team you supported.

You're confusing your upbringing as everybody's. This thread has been 2 pages of people being ignorant and agressive towards views other than their own (and this forum the same ad infinitum).

[bcfcbs20]

no not really it's fairly common among other city and gash supporting friends to hate everything about the other i do know people who will occasionally go to a so called big game of either us or the gash at wembley for example but they aren't supporters it's just a day out to them they didn't feel physically sick and nearly in tears after we lost to hull like me

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

I would like to know how the guys on this thread, who see no problem with going to watch Rovers, would feel being stood in the vacinity of a City shirt being set alight during one of their matches?

As Ive mentioned before, Im fortunate to know a few Gasheads who are decent blokes but Im afraid most of them come across as being bitter little retards who feel the need to celebrate the fact that we nearly went out of exsistance as one of the greatest moments in THEIR history (along with US losing the championship play off final and Cardiff beating US 6 - 0).

I respect Gasheads who love the Gas 1st hate City 2nd but it seems that a majority of their fans hate us more than they love their own team, no matter how much you want to see a live football match could anyone honestly say that you would want to spend 90 minutes in the company of these di@ks. If I absolutley had to see a live football match on a Saturday afternoon and following City wasnt an option for whatever reason Forest Green are just up the road.

I kind of understand the thinking of City fans who would like to see Rovers doing well to increase the profile of football in Bristol but in my opinion City have been striving to do this on their own for many many years, and long may it continue. OTIB! keep the Mem the domain of the eternally bitter and twisted "are you watching Ashton Gate?" (no) 5000 or so Jeremy kyle show rejects

[BCFC_Dan]

I would like to know how the guys on this thread, who see no problem with going to watch Rovers, would feel being stood in the vacinity of a City shirt being set alight during one of their matches?

Concerned about a fire hazard and environmental pollution.

[Tins]

I would like to know how the guys on this thread, who see no problem with going to watch Rovers, would feel being stood in the vacinity of a City shirt being set alight during one of their matches?

when does that ever happen? it doesnt, so dont ask stupid questions

As Ive mentioned before, Im fortunate to know a few Gasheads who are decent blokes but Im afraid most of them come across as being bitter little retards who feel the need to celebrate the fact that we nearly went out of exsistance as one of the greatest moments in THEIR history (along with US losing the championship play off final and Cardiff beating US 6 - 0).

I respect Gasheads who love the Gas 1st hate City 2nd but it seems that a majority of their fans hate us more than they love their own team, no matter how much you want to see a live football match could anyone honestly say that you would want to spend 90 minutes in the company of these di@ks. If I absolutley had to see a live football match on a Saturday afternoon and following City wasnt an option for whatever reason Forest Green are just up the road.

I kind of understand the thinking of City fans who would like to see Rovers doing well to increase the profile of football in Bristol but in my opinion City have been striving to do this on their own for many many years, and long may it continue. OTIB! keep the Mem the domain of the eternally bitter and twisted "are you watching Ashton Gate?" (no) 5000 or so Jeremy kyle show rejects

5000 jeremy kyle rejects? no need to start being petty when you clearly dont know anything about the fans that go there

[downendcity]

I will happily watch footy on the telly and enjoy some of the games no matter who is playing.

However, watching football live at a ground is completely different. Ive been to see other teams play in games not involving City but found myself almost disinterested as I have absolutely no emotional connection with anything out on the pitch. I stopped playing football in the late 80's and from the day I stopped playing I have never once gone back to see my old team play. I was passionate about all the teams I played for but only as a player, and couldnt even bear watching games if I was unable to play when injured.

Nothing else in football comes close to the bond that exists with Bristol City, and 11 monkeys could run out onthe pitch with City shirts on their backs and that feeling would still be there. I don't hate Rovers, but do see them as ou natura rivals but I would not go to see them for the simple reason thast I would get absolutel;y nothign from the experience - apart from absolute confirmation that there is only one team in Bristol!

[CliftonCliff]

Mate, I deliberately haven't followed this thread for the last couple of days, have only now read your comments and just wanted to say thanks for your words of support. Much appreciated, especially as I've taken quite a bit of stick, which was to be expected and is fair enough since this is, or has become, a highly emotive subject. I would never claim to be the 'voice of reason' as you call it, but in so far as anything I've said may be considered reasonable, the reactions to it are I suppose to understood in the context of an issue in which reason plays very little part, as others have since pointed out.

I said in my final post that I would refrain from further comment and I'll stand by that in as much as I'm writing nothing more about the core content of the debate. I will admit, though, that I do have one regret about my previous contributions. When I joined the Forum, as well as reading the formal rules on the site, I made up a few personal rules for myself, based on what I'd read over the years when I wasn't an active poster. They included 'think it through before you write' and 'never post when you're angry about something'. I acknowledged earlier on that I'd broken my second rule when I entered the fray and I've learned something as a consequence.

At bottom, I still believe in the essence of what I was trying to say, and I think I could write a credible defence of it, but if asked if it was good judgement on my part to say what I did, in the way that I did, where I did and when I did, I'd probably have to concede that it wasn't my best ever call. Most of the counter arguments I've read are fair enough and I do take on board what people have said about rivalry, passion, irrationality and all the rest of it. I also feel desperately sorry for the poor bugger who got badly beaten up, having once come terrifyingly close to suffering the same fate outside the old Eastville stadium following a City-Rovers derby. (I was caught smack in the middle of two mobs of rival 'supporters' charging towards each other and was saved only by the last minute intervention of a copper on horseback. The irony is that I was just as likely to be beaten to a pulp by City fans as the Rovers' lot).

Aside from the actual argument itself, the personal stuff does get wearying sometimes, but if some bloke who knows next to nothing about me wants to label me as 'elitist' (whatever that means in this setting), 'superior' or 'self-important', I guess I can manage not to lose sleep over that, or over my banishment to his rapidly growing list of 'Ignored' posters whose contributions aren't worthy of his attention. (And he thinks I'm elitist...) I re-read the Forum rules yesterday out of interest and noted in particular the stricture to "attack the post, not the poster". If only.

Funnily enough, the one thing that I do feel like defending myself against is the accusation of being 'PC'. This is a laugh, if people only knew it. I loathe political correctness in all its various manifestations and when I was still working my long-suffering colleagues got used to hearing me railing against it in meetings. They'd be falling about with mirth if they knew I'd been labelled PC myself. What I was trying to say had nothing to do with correctness and everything to do with a certain kind of basic human decency in the way we view others. For that reason, I was somewhat surprised and rather disappointed that one item in particular on this thread wasn't pulled. I'll leave you decide which one I'm referring to, but from my perspective it struck me as pretty offensive by any standard and managed the considerable feat of breaking, as far as I can make out, just about every single Forum rule in a single post, which takes some doing. The Moderators cannot of course police everything that appears on OTIB: they do a hell of a lot of work on a voluntary basis and I think we're all grateful for that, but I know they get understandably upset at stuff that they feel brings the site into disrepute and damages its reputation. I'd have thought some of the more vitriolic outbursts here would have fallen comfortably within that category.

Anyway, that's me done, but thanks again RP - it is reassuring to know that I've not been entirely on my own on this one.

[SydneyTom]

What I will add as a (relatively) neutral onlooker is the fact that this forum encourages far more stimulating and intellectual debate than the Bristol Rovers counterpart.

The majority of replies in this thread (and most others) have been intelligent, balanced viewpoints. I can guarantee if the same discussion appeared on the Gas forum it would rapidly descend into personal insults and cyber-chaos.

A

[SydneyTom]

A dislike of a rival team is common, and - when in moderation - healthy. If it leads to banter with friends then I'm all for it. If it leads to you judging somebody because of their footballing allegiances, then that's a real shame. After all, if everybody in the world supported the same team it would be pretty dull.

As for the poster that said the Rovers ground was full of 5'000 Jeremy Kyle rejects: I've spent enough time at the Mem to say that you're not far wrong. Rovers has a vast amount of morons, but so do City, so do Notts County, so do Chesterfield etc. Please don't tarnish us all with the same brush though, some of us 'sags' were just unfortunate to have grown up in the wrong area of Bristol. Believe me, I wish I wasn't destined at birth to support a team with crap players and a terrible ground!

Best of luck on Saturday.

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

In response to Tins

Youve got me on this one fella, Obviously Gasheads have never set fire to a City top during a match (or shirt supposed to signify a City shirt) and Ive been mislead by the damn media with their video footage and colours and vision and, er...stuff??? I didnt say it happened every home game did I?, I simply asked if any City fan had been stood in the vicinity of that particular event, how would you feel? Personally as a City fan It would slightly tarnish the whole live football experiance Id paid to see, I may even feel slighly threatened, hence why I personally would favour going somewhere like Forest Green to see live football if BCFC wasnt an option.

As I mentioned Gasheads I actually know, whether through work or social circles are mainly decent blokes who you can have a laugh with however having lived in Horfield for a number of years unfortunatly I have also encountered far too many Gasheads who appear to have an intense hatred of anyone who dares to walk to the local shop wearing a City shirt pushing his baby daughter in a pushchair, these are the bitter retards I refer to. Of course this is only my personal experiance where as Im sure your fortunate enough to be welcomed with open arms every time you walk into the Memorial Stadium with your red and white scarf.

The 5000 or so Jeremy Kyle show rejects comment was in hindsight slighly sweeping and unfair. However I totally agree with a post made by SydneyTom who righly pointed out that every football club has its fair share of morons and BCFC are certainly not immune from this. I respect Gasheads that show me respect for my football alligiences unfortunaly Ive encountered to many who dont. Hope you continue to enjoy your football experiences with both clubs.

[WellRedPhil]

to me, like a poster said above, the point of football (as a supporter) is the rivalries, the banter, the shouting in the terraces, the singing and the aggression. I can sit and watch a game as a neutral of course, but it doesn't compare to the thrill of watching the team you love and seeing them beat a rival.

Well said. Completely agree.

You're confusing your upbringing as everybody's. This thread has been 2 pages of people being ignorant and agressive towards views other than their own (and this forum the same ad infinitum).

Not really. I accept some people won't hate Rovers just because there rivals, and even though I can't understand it I realise some people support both teams. (Somehow?!) However it seems if you admit to not liking Rovers suddenly you're a thug or 'narrow minded' which is of course ridiculous. Rivalry is a key part of football, and this great sense of rivalry and passion for your club is what sets this sport out from many.

[bigphilgj]

Being an exiled Evertonian (and Bcfc ST holder) I can bring some outside experience in on this debate (I hope). I remember in the 1980s being stood in the Kop (ah the days of standing in streams or urine at the footy!) and celebrating with my mate when everton scored at our end against the Redsh*te...we got a few gobby comments but nothing more and I distinctly remember there being kids in the kop, down the front, from both sides.

I am sure you would agree that the Everton/Liverpool rivalry is a pretty strong one. Interestingly, both clubs were founded by the local Methodist church (St Domingo's) - although everton tends to be seen as a more catholic club (mainly due to the number of irish players in the 50s) and liverpool the protestant one (Dalglish's signing caused a minor scandal at the time). Despite this the rivalry has largely managed to bypass most of the excessively tribal bile that you get with many local rivalries. It is quite normal for families to have split loyalties and to attend derby matches together. But the rivalry remains and is pretty strong.

I am sure there are nutters from both clubs who hate each other and attack each other - although this tends to be kept for the Manure and ManCity fans - Everton/Mcfc having had some nasty 1970s bust-ups - including cross burning behind the mcfc goal.

I am all for rivalry and competition - and I am usually happy to see Liverpool/Manure lose but the bile filled hatred I see in some of the exchanges here do worry me a wee bit. I think my fear is the position of 'purity' that some people seem to take - you have to be born, bred local and hate all rivals - to be a true fan. It is all a bit too Third Reich or Royston Vaizey for me!

Maybe it is because I am not Bristolian and am proudly half welsh (and passionately support wales in the rugby - thanks to a welsh da). I can't 'hate' someone because of the stupidity of someone who happens to wear a particular team's shirt. I count Rovers fans, Liverpool fans (even Manure fans) as friends and will enjoy a bit of banter - but hatred? No. One anecdote to finish (and I apologise for the length of posting). I will happily let my boy wear his bristol city shirt/hat/scarf to go and watch Bristol Rugby play up at the mem (and you will be glad to know one of hte security guards there also wears a city hat from time to time!) but always make sure that we do not wear our welsh rugby hats/shirts/scarfs when we come to Ashton Gate - even when we come straight from the Millenium.

[mcbcfc]

[quote name=mcbcfc' timestamp='1283351791' post='1282686]

Wouldn't be seen dead anywhere near the minimal patch when the gas are playing (unless they're playing us). I don't get going to see teams you don't support I've had the chance for Man utd and Villa tickets but as I couldn't care less who wins I wouldn't go.

[/quote

And I don't get what it is you don't get. Some people have a lifelong love of the game and enjoy watching it when they're no longer young enough and fit enough to play themselves. Is this a crime these days? Somebody offers you tickets to watch one of the best club sides in Europe and some of the most talented players in the country and you "couldn't care less". I don't know what it is that draws you to Ashton Gate on a regular basis, then, but it's clearly not an enthusiasm for the sport.

Primitive tribalism, perhaps? We've seen plenty of evidence of that on the site in recent days - and an ugly, nasty sight it is, too, when one of our own players, not to mention our manager, is villified by spiteful, small minded bigots masquarading as football supporters. I have held back until now from participating in any of the distateful slanging matches that have been raging over this and other, similar issues, but I reacted to your post because you've revealed, unknowingly I suspect, the mindset that underlies much of the bile that's been spewed forth on the site lately.

You may not be a football hooligan yourself, but your attitudes are no different from theirs and your motives for following City appear to be little different from those of the morons who attacked a Millwall coach a couple of weeks ago. I wouldn't be so eager to publicise it if I were you. It says more about you than you meant to disclose and it's nothing to be proud of.

First and foremost I am certainly not a hooligan. I see no pleasure in going to man utd and taking the seats of a real utd fan, that's not tribalism thats the simple fact that I have no desire to see Man utd win, lose or draw. If we all wanted to see football in it's purest form we would all say Arsene Wenger is the football god, my opinion that his decision to realease a squad of 25 with 8 home grown players none of which is English is playing his part in killing the English national side. I never said you couldn't go and watch the football of your choice but I simply dodn't see the pleasure of watching a team who I have no desire to see win, lose or draw. I have had a season ticket for 15 years and have spent more money on the club I love than I would care to remember, this according to you because I wouldn't go uo the gas makes me a triblistic hooligan???

I am very proud of the fact I support Bristol City and only Bristol city. If you think that makes me a bad person then I suggest you take a long hard look in the mirror. Because I'm City till I die, I'm City till I die, I know I am, I'm SURE I am, I'm CITY till I DIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WTFiGO!?!]

For somebody who's spent far too long agonising over the deeper questions in life (Scrumpy or Blackthorne? for example) I feel I should have a snobbish attitude in relation to the rediculous psyche of the average football fan. But I don't. I also think Football means different things to different people and for me even seeing those blue and white quarters give me the most unnatural sensation, as though they're a contagious disease to be avoided at all costs. A version of 'Irene' came on in an opp shop in New Zealand, needless to say I exited sharply feeling quite unwell.

Contradictorally, so long as they're not actually sporting their blue and white quarters I can look known cases of gashead in the eye and attempt to hold civil conversations or banter or whatever their fancy. But never violence as I'm an apprentice hippie and that wouldn't do.

Hate less love more, make peace not war (except with Gasheads)

Seriously guys, I went through a phase of watching *unacceptable word* documentaries a little while ago, if that doesn't help everyone with perspective, my faith in humanity is dimished further.

I'm also hoping to hook up with a gashead in Argentia, yes Argentina - The Falklands, Hand of God an all that.. (a cracking lad he is too).. Not to mention, ahem, sexual reltions with a German bird a little while back..

Xenophobia is for the backward, but I will make an exception for Gasheads!!!

[Guest Parson St Station]

In response to Tins

Youve got me on this one fella, Obviously Gasheads have never set fire to a City top during a match (or shirt supposed to signify a City shirt) and Ive been mislead by the damn media with their video footage and colours and vision and, er...stuff??? I didnt say it happened every home game did I?, I simply asked if any City fan had been stood in the vicinity of that particular event, how would you feel? Personally as a City fan It would slightly tarnish the whole live football experiance Id paid to see, I may even feel slighly threatened, hence why I personally would favour going somewhere like Forest Green to see live football if BCFC wasnt an option.

As I mentioned Gasheads I actually know, whether through work or social circles are mainly decent blokes who you can have a laugh with however having lived in Horfield for a number of years unfortunatly I have also encountered far too many Gasheads who appear to have an intense hatred of anyone who dares to walk to the local shop wearing a City shirt pushing his baby daughter in a pushchair, these are the bitter retards I refer to. Of course this is only my personal experiance where as Im sure your fortunate enough to be welcomed with open arms every time you walk into the Memorial Stadium with your red and white scarf.

The 5000 or so Jeremy Kyle show rejects comment was in hindsight slighly sweeping and unfair. However I totally agree with a post made by SydneyTom who righly pointed out that every football club has its fair share of morons and BCFC are certainly not immune from this. I respect Gasheads that show me respect for my football alligiences unfortunaly Ive encountered to many who dont. Hope you continue to enjoy your football experiences with both clubs.

Turn this fellas name round and Ted Sheed becomes Sheet'ed (sheethead geddit) I think Iv'e found a gas infiltrator!!

Do I win a prize? :tongue:

[Ron]

Not really. I accept some people won't hate Rovers just because there rivals, and even though I can't understand it I realise some people support both teams. (Somehow?!) However it seems if you admit to not liking Rovers suddenly you're a thug or 'narrow minded' which is of course ridiculous. Rivalry is a key part of football, and this great sense of rivalry and passion for your club is what sets this sport out from many.

You're doing exactly the same thing. That's how you, I and many others enjoy football, but it's not a blanket statement. And you even say that people are being ignorant to your views, so where's the problem..?

[CliftonCliff]

First and foremost I am certainly not a hooligan.

I am very proud of the fac this according to you because I wouldn't go uo the gas makes me a triblistic hooligan???

I support Bristol City and only Bristol city. If you think that makes me a bad person then I suggest you take a long hard look in the mirror.

I'd resolved not to say any more on this thread, but as it was your post I originally criticised, I feel I owe you a reply.

First up, I absolutely did not say you are a hooligan. I was trying to make a more subtle point which, to judge from subsequent responses, either I have failed to get across or people have misinterpreted (in some cases wilfully misinterpreted to suit their own arguments, I suspect, a fairly common forum tactic). I am more than willing to apologise, quite sincerely, if I gave you the impression that I was accusing you of hooliganism. I most emphatically was not.

On your second and third points above, I'm sorry but I simply didn't say those things, either. I haven't labelled anyone a 'bad person', and I have done quite a bit of 'looking in the mirror', as you'll appreciate if you read some of the things I've written since my original post. I am not out to get into a personal confrontation with any individual and my mistake was to single out one post (which happened to be yours, but could easily have been any one of dozens on the same theme) and then make my argument in response to that, instead of stating it in a more general way. It was the outcome of a cumulative tide of indignation that I felt in response to post after post, some attacking Akinde, but all apparently fuelled by an intense loathing of Rovers. For some reason, your post was the one that pushed me over the edge and you copped the backlash, which was unfair and again I am happy to say sorry for that. We're all human.

Otherwise, I have stuck and will continue to stick to my central beliefs about this. Being passionate about City, which I am, too, since childhood and in my own way, and 'hating' Rovers (and, more to the point, their supporters) do not have to go hand in hand. As it happens, and for what it's worth, I haven't attended a Rovers game in decades. The last one I can recall was in my teens at the old Eastville stadium and I went to see the opposition, who were Sheffield Wednesday, because they had the current England goalkeeper, Ron Springett, in their team, who was a boyhood hero of mine for some reason. To put your own rhetorical question back to you, does this make me a bad person?

Some people seem almost to imply that if you don't share their self-confessed hatred for Rovers' fans your commitment to City is in question, which is clearly absolute tripe. If I hate anything at all, it is hatred itself. I take the view, which only a handful of others seem to share, that public and pretty poisonous expressions of hostility are distasteful, to say the least, but more importantly potentially inciteful of something worse. It invites, maintains and escalates hostility coming back in the opposite direction, for one thing. From bad things, other bad things tend to flow. Hatred doesn't necessarily lead to violence, but it sure as hell makes it more likely. All of us, and I of course include myself, have a capacity for it. I think it's something we should be trying to question and resist in ourselves, not parading it proudly like some badge of allegiance or honour. There is nothing admirable about harbouring an irrational hatred of a group of people you've never met in person on the sole basis that they support a different team to you. This is distinctly different from the usual tribal rivalry and banter that enlivens games and it's a distinction that I think some well-meaning contributors to the debate have failed to make.

Once again, and I hope for the last time, that's my position and I hope that helps to dispel any resentment you may have understandable felt about my original remarks. I don't think I can make it any clearer, but I'll probably still get responses attacking things I haven't actually said, as opposed to what I have.

CC

[timh59]

As I've mentioned before on a 'first game' topic, my first game was at Eastville for a Gloucestershire Cup final, where my dad took me to the away end so I was a City supporter from then on. I remember in the early 1970s though having a school mate who was a Rovers fan, so went to a couple of games with him to see Halifax and Bradford Park Avenue. However, the only game I can really say I cared about was when I went with him to see Rovers v Man Utd in a League Cup match, when the likes of Law, Charlton and Best were playing for Utd. I think I might have been the only person in the Tote End that night to want Rovers to lose!

As for 'hatred' of the Gas, I would say that is a bit strong a word for my liking. Despite having friends who support them, I can honestly say the word I would prefer to use these days, apart from 'rivalry', is 'indifference'. And as for never going to their home ground - as someone who was also brought up on, and played, rugby, I therefore still have pleasant memories of the Memorial Ground when Bristol used to play midweek games against the likes of Cardiff and Llannelli, and so will still go there to watch the oval-shaped ball game when I can.

[Tins]

In response to Tins

Youve got me on this one fella, Obviously Gasheads have never set fire to a City top during a match (or shirt supposed to signify a City shirt) and Ive been mislead by the damn media with their video footage and colours and vision and, er...stuff??? I didnt say it happened every home game did I?, I simply asked if any City fan had been stood in the vicinity of that particular event, how would you feel? Personally as a City fan It would slightly tarnish the whole live football experiance Id paid to see, I may even feel slighly threatened, hence why I personally would favour going somewhere like Forest Green to see live football if BCFC wasnt an option.

As I mentioned Gasheads I actually know, whether through work or social circles are mainly decent blokes who you can have a laugh with however having lived in Horfield for a number of years unfortunatly I have also encountered far too many Gasheads who appear to have an intense hatred of anyone who dares to walk to the local shop wearing a City shirt pushing his baby daughter in a pushchair, these are the bitter retards I refer to. Of course this is only my personal experiance where as Im sure your fortunate enough to be welcomed with open arms every time you walk into the Memorial Stadium with your red and white scarf.

The 5000 or so Jeremy Kyle show rejects comment was in hindsight slighly sweeping and unfair. However I totally agree with a post made by SydneyTom who righly pointed out that every football club has its fair share of morons and BCFC are certainly not immune from this. I respect Gasheads that show me respect for my football alligiences unfortunaly Ive encountered to many who dont. Hope you continue to enjoy your football experiences with both clubs.

The point i was making is that from all the games ive been to there it has never happened, and it would be scary if any shirt was being burnt whilst there.

And anyway i dont actually mention im a city fan when i go as i know there are some idiots, hence the reason i dont go in the blackthorn end.

[Drew Peacock]

You mention the Rugby, much as I prefer the round ball game, I do wish that the sportsmanship you get in that game (apart from the occasional dodgy blood injury subsitution) also applied to football.

Stamping, punching, gouging, dangerous tackles? Don't believe the bullshit from the eggchasers.

There are two big differences -

The refs get more respect (a lot of them are ex players)

The supporters don't want to knock seven bells out of each other

On the pitch it is much the same for cheating etc.

[Drew Peacock]

11 monkeys could run out onthe pitch with City shirts on their backs and that feeling would still be there.

Yeah, I was at the Millwall game too

[Ron]

a lot of them are ex players

Which makes sod all difference in terms of ability to adjudicate. Playing the game doesn't mean a supreme understanding of the rules.

[Drew Peacock]

Which makes sod all difference in terms of ability to adjudicate. Playing the game doesn't mean a supreme understanding of the rules.

No, the key thing in both disciplines is man management, but as an ex-player you should know what is going on.

What do you think the difference in the ability to ref is, between the two sports then?

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

:

Turn this fellas name round and Ted Sheed becomes Sheet'ed (sheethead geddit) I think Iv'e found a gas infiltrator!!

Do I win a prize? :tongue:

I salute your detective skills sir, however Im afraid there is no prize for you. I am a City fan (although my real name isnt Edward Sheed), my profile name is Ted Sheed because I am, as my Gashead collegues like to remind me, a sheedted, I like your thinking though

[CiderPunk]

Rovers fans smell

[Guest Parson St Station]

:

I salute your detective skills sir, however Im afraid there is no prize for you. I am a City fan (although my real name isnt Edward Sheed), my profile name is Ted Sheed because I am, as my Gashead collegues like to remind me, a sheedted, I like your thinking though

As there is no prize I shall resume my search for Lord Lucan.

[Ashton Kate]

Wouldn't be seen dead anywhere near the minimal patch when the gas are playing (unless they're playing us). I don't get going to see teams you don't support I've had the chance for Man utd and Villa tickets but as I couldn't care less who wins I wouldn't go.

I have to agree with you mcbcfc I to would not be seen anywhere near the Minimal Ground unless City were playing. I even hate passing the place on the way to work. Red or dead me could NEVER give my support to the Gas!!!

[The Batman]

As there is no prize I shall resume my search for Lord Lucan.

he was riding Shergar in the Lost City of Atlantis last time i checked.

[Randy Marsh]

I'd say it's a differing opinion on the game as a whole, Football to me is Bristol City. Football to you is a game you like watching? thats the simplist explaination i can muster.

Same here, if City went bust then I ain't following anyone else, thats football done for me. I don't even give two f*cks how those blokes representing our country do to be honest.