h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"Like a worryingly-large number of people in early 21st Century England, a lot would seem to prefer supporting successful teams from other cities such as Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal"

I live 20 minutes walk from Highbury and support my LOCAL team and have done so for over 20 years since the days when we really were 'boring, boring Arsenal'.

Maybe I should stop supporting them because it is not really legitimate to support a successful team? Just accept that there are a LOT of fans of big teams who do live close to the ground.

Your own reasons sound perfectly sound to me, Nitpicker. Not that I'm any judge, mind.

Although wouldn't you be suspicious of someone who'd lived all their life in, say, Finsbury Park but chose to support Manchester United?

The mindset I struggle to understand is that of the bandwagon-jumper: someone born and raised in Plymouth (or Stoke, or Hull, or Blackpool, or wherever) who decides to support a successful Premiership team that represents another city with which they have no connection - and, moreover, chooses to 'support' them by investing in a Sky Season Ticket and a replica shirt every season.

That's what I was trying to sum up.

But to be honest, with the demographical changes that have happened in the UK over the last generation, and the shift of the population towards the south east, matters like that get increasingly complex...

I mean, say if someone was born in Derby and grew up as a Derby fan and then moved to London for work, moved out to the Home Counties and started a family - should they bring their kids up as Derby fans, even though that'd mean they had very little chance of ever going to watch their team?

Very hard questions I agree. I am beginning to regard armchair fans as the second tier of support - the real fans are those who go to see their team when they can.

My daughter is currently exiled in Manchester for her sins (whatever they might be) but goes to almost as many Arsenal games as I do and spends a LOT more money to do so travelling to almost every game north of Watford. She was AMAZED quite how many people in Manchester actually do support Man U (as compared to the folk myths about Manchester people supporting City). Thus she is still a true Gooner!

TV only fans are a totally different breed. They are like the people who NEVER go to any live entertainment be it concerts, theatre or anything where the participants are actually standing there in front of the audience putting themselves on the line! Those people have no idea what they are missing and I just feel so sorry for them that no-one has ever bothered to make sure that they have had that experience at least once in their life.

There is NO comparison between shouting insults at a player running up and down in front of you ('If you can play for England so can I' addressed to P Neville during a worthless cup match when he could definitely hear it and almost responded) with shouting it at the TV