And Why I Don't Like You...
Whilst I realise I have explained throughout the article why each individual component of the modern football fan annoys me, I feel that a general point must be made. People have complained for years about the sanitisation of football and the fan in general. People throwing bricks at each other across rickety metal stands have been replaced with people sending furious tweets from pristine behemoths. For the most part it's a good thing, I mean going to watch a football match shouldn't require you to tell your family how much you love them just in case you don't come home. Unfortunately the unintended consequence of this has been the quasi-football fan. There is no real passion or connection but a complete willingness to buy everything as some sort of token of which to prove the strength of their love of the team. The modern football fan has made football exciting to even the most casual viewer with his YouTube clips and FIFA skills. This created more modern football fans and as demand for football outstripped supply, so ticket prices climbed. Andy Cole commented a couple of years ago that he was struck by how many half-and-half scarves (the most disgusting invention of all time) there were at the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford (6-1 for those who don't remember). It seems as though this has become more of a national event than a football match. Whilst I enjoyed the excitement and the game itself, once I read Andy's comments I couldn't help but feel sorry for someone. He's the real fan who was priced out years ago by the modern football fan, sitting at home wishing that he could afford to be there. It must hurt to turn on the game and see a bunch of idiots sitting in your old seats wearing a half-and-half scarf.