For a number of seasons now, those words “Real Fans Don’t Discriminate” have been clearly visible on the scoreboard at ER.
The first incarnation I found on google was the above picture from 2023. Recently, the “real fans don’t” phrase, is emphatically used as the introductory mantra which tells us what we can’t / shouldn’t do.
To spare you squinting or shading your eyes, in one of the four days per year that we have sunshine. In summary, that poor excuse for a scoreboard says, real fans don’t use discriminatory language, take any illegal drugs, chuck stuff or run on the pitch nor use pyros. Real fans don’t do any tragedy chanting etc. etc.
Basically, in the 21st century sanitised era of English football, real fans don’t do anything that harms the brand. Real fans all look the same, eat the same, sound the same. Identical grounds, uniform layouts. One fat homogenous blob. That’s what they want. But, want never gets.
What we do,do,do
Please don’t get me wrong, some of the language at football is quite frankly appalling. I’m not trying to excuse or condone any of it. But most of what is said, is purely reactionary, on the spur of the moment. In the main, joining in with the rest of the crowd. After all, in essence, football is tribal. Them against us.
Some of the new songs are to catchy tunes from yesteryear. Some are quite cleverly done, capturing the essence of the moment. Spontaneity at it’s best. Spontaneous yet ephemeral. Basically as ephemeral as our squad, sometimes, especially under certain managers.
However, some have lasted the test of time, in some instances decades. For example, Imre. Imre Varadi. Imre Varadi. Dom Matteo. Scored an excellent goal, etc. The Gaetano song to the tune of Abba’s Voulez Vous. Not forgetting, the old nursery rhyme, the animals went in two by two, morphing into Enoch Showumni, United’s 21.
The majority isn’t chanting in aggression or malice. It is just banter. Drunken, or “other ” substance fuelled, witty repartee. I disagree that it is discriminatory or inflammatory. Some of it is childish and in poor taste. Some is just sad frustration. Things said on the spur of the moment, and usually regretted within 24 hours or when sober.
What we don’t do
Contrastingly, we just don’t do patience. “I am prepared to wait and see how the season pans out before I start calling for the heads of the Manager / Board” said no Leeds fan EVER.
Only a tiny minority of Leeds fans have got what it takes to stand back and take a measured view. Many have been beaten into submission by the years, nay decades of the proverbial ups and downs. Despite the perpetual shoulder shrug, “Leeds have to do it the hard way” platitudes, most, if not all seasons, it’s do as I say, not do as I do. It’s hard being a Leeds fan.
Take Luton the other week for instance. I WISH I’d filmed that, just so I could put it on noseybook to shame them all. We drew against a desperate side, fighting to stay up.
Unlike last season, we didn’t fold. We got a draw. You’d have thought we’d just lost 3-0 and Farke had killed a load of puppies, such was the venom at the front of the away end. Grown adults crying that we’d thrown away the league. People screaming Farke Out and shouting some real abuse at our players. People fighting with each other.
Tanake apparently took it really badly. I’m not surprised. So far this season, our Japanese Jack Russell has enjoyed the spoils of midfield domination. But the toll of long international trips and Rothwell getting injured, has recently reared it’s ugly head.
But a week later, and it’s all change. You just couldn’t make it up.
Real fans?
Real fans. What does that actually mean though?
If I were to do the AI trend thing of plastic toy models, what would a “real” Leeds fan look like? Would we get a miniature Mick Hewitt? Or a double pack of Big and Little Mick Hewitts? Does anyone fancy doing it for a laugh? I genuinely wouldn’t know where to start! Someone do it, and put it on noseybook please.
What is a real fan?
No one knows. It means different things to different people. I have written essays on this before, so I’m not wasting time repeating myself. All it does is create arguments and division within the Entitled who continual bicker between themselves to justify why they think they are the better fan.
Why does it matter?
Personally, this is the main issue. It does matter who the “real fans” are. I have written far too many blogs on why “Fans matter”. It’s not just me either.
Look at the ESL debate a few years ago. If not for the protests from fans of all clubs, we might well have PL teams playing in a European Super League right now. It still may happen, but temporarily we don’t.
If not for facebook / twitter / social media, we currently might have a shirt with THAT abomination on it.
In the famous words of a recent famous White “weird,weird, weird”
Fans matter. But which fans? How do you choose which fans opinions you listen to? Because, as sure as eggs are eggs, not all fans will think the same. And, concurrently, not all will want the same thing.
If we knew what we want
This is a vague reference to one of Chairman Charleys favourite singers, Susannah Hoffs. She is in the Bangles. They did a song – if she knew what she wants.
If only the people who make the decisions knew what we want.
Digital tickets
We were told that because of Covid, everyone had got used to doing everything on their phones. We were told everyone wanted digital tickets, and also to save money and be a bit greener, the Club would no longer do paper tickets / season ticket cards. Digital tickets reduce ticket touting, they said. I have no problem with people wanting digital tickets, but the season ticket card should always have been an option. I would pay to have mine back.
Tech
Technology just wasn’t that good in real life though. The turnstile I used was so intermittent and inconsistent, it was a real trial to get in on matchday. Many people struggled with that turnstile. User error / device incompetence was blamed, and many many emails bounced to and fro. Ticket office staff were despatched to the turnstile to “facilitate” us. Eventually, they admitted it didn’t work. Woo hoo, we have a new turnstile!
The latest debacle with the introduction of the 80% rule (talk about that later), the turnstile technology has again been thrown into doubt. One season ticket holder went to the YEP, as apparently ccTV proved he had attended the sufficient number of games. According to our Club, he had not. I’m not sure why he would lie. Buying a season ticket isn’t exactly cheap.
There are other cases where season ticket holders have been told they haven’t attended enough games, even though they know they have. Are we ready for digital ticketing? Or do we need to wait until the technology improves, so it is consistent. Remember a few seasons ago, Arsenal fans were all locked out at the 1st game of the season.
Ticket touting? Not got any better, in fact, now that they are digital instead or paper, it is worse.
Ticketing website
As for Seatgeek, don’t even get me started. My trustpilot review would be less than one star. Checkout issues being the main problem. How many people had problems with Wembley play off tickets? Too many to mention. Come back queueing at the West Stand please, all is forgiven!
Season ticket pricing difference
For those of us who have had season tickets for a while, the renewal price might be a bit of a shocker. By the way, you don’t actually know your renewal price until you log in. Even then, you have to “add a card” (even if you have saved cards), get a bank transaction of £0.00 done, before you can renew. I digress. It’s a bit of a shocker this season, if you are a long standing ST holder.
If you only bought a season ticket around about the Bielsa Era, it isn’t as much apparently. However, if you bought one quite recently, the renewal price is apparently in line with inflation.
Why is this? The newer (perhaps more important and valued) ST holders moaned to our current custodians that they had to pay more than someone who was sat next to them. If only the current custodians just turned round and told them that we deserved to pay less because we had stood by the Club whilst others didn’t. Maybe if they had said, “frankly putting up with p*ss poor passing and abysmal shooting, deserves a bloody medal, let alone cheaper season tickets”, things would be different.
Yellow shirt
For literally a decade, we have wanted a yellow away shirt. For literally a decade, we were told, no one wants to buy a yellow shirt. We had puce pink, lilac, WYPT bus seats, stilton cheese, baby blue. Everything but yellow. This season we got a yellow shirt. I don’t even need to say anything else. It’s the best selling shirt ever. Hmmm.
Refreshments
Everyone wants to do everything on their phones. Cash is for dinosaurs. Order your poison on the McDs screens, it’ll be waiting for you. Many do not buy anything in the ground anymore.
Last week at Boro they must have raked in loads. Cash or cards.
Honestly, impulse buying plays a massive part in food and drink sales. When you are standing in that queue for your Bovril and someone goes past you with a pie and pint, all of a sudden the urge to get the same takes over. At Boro you get parmos, and very tasty looking chips and gravy / curry. I could really tell, but it smelt damn good. I wasn’t even hungry or thirsty, but I joined in once the aroma overcame me. How much money is our Club losing out on?
80% attendance
Regular attendance to ensure that the ground is filled isn’t necessarily a bad thing. No one wants to see an empty ground. Apparently, people are always desperate for a home ticket.
We don’t always sell out though (see above). Perhaps people are always desperate for tickets for matches they can get to. But not so always desperate on a Wednesday night in winter? Bit harsh, maybe?
Perhaps there could be a distinction between non attendance of regular fans v corporate fans? Certainly, if the West Stand does become majority corporate tickets, THAT would be interesting to see on cold Tuesday night in November.
In the old days every seat sold was counted in the attendance records. A massive surprise in that season that West Ham fans boycotted home games, yet recorded big crowds, despite rafts of empty seats.
However, in the era of FFP, every filled seat counts. As does every shirt and other piece of tat. But then maybe if you allowed people to buy at the ticket office on the day / night, without needing a membership, it might help? Social media can quickly spread the word of seats still available. Tourists / walk ins might be useful? Better than going through a tout.
But to enforce an 80% rule is poor. What happens if you are unwell? What happens if work rings you and says you have to go in? In these times of austerity, people would struggle to say no. A season ticket is a seat purchased. End of discussion.
Email addresses
Every season ticket holder / member needs an email address. Even if you are a member who probably doesn’t ever stick a chance of getting a ticket (home or away). Not everyone has the time or wherewithall to get on that website to get a ticket. Seriously – yes it still does happen. Especially away tickets. Regardless of age, a separate email address is needed. Even if a concerned ST parent does want a ST child to have an email address, there needs to be an email address. Why? It can only be for data harvesting.
If you are a parent and you pay for your childrens ST, is it really necessary for your children to provide a separate email address to Leeds? Evidently, it is. Despite recent concerns re on line safety in young children, that email is necessary. The digitally excluded don’t even get a nod. Apparently they don’t exist!
Know your price
With A1 / logarithms etc, knowing how much our season ticket should be easy. Each of us got sent an email, but it did not tell us how much the ST was. It’s not as if we were rocking up to the ticket office with a wad of cash, waiting for someone with a calculator to work it out. But you have to navigate that website, add a card and make a payment of £0.00 first. If you don’t like it, don’t worry the Club isn’t bothered. There’s 25k others wanting your seat. As for paying for your season ticket in cash at the ticket office…..
1st and last game loyalty
In years gone by, it used to be the case that the first and last games of the season were ring fenced for loyal fans. Loyal fans were prioritised. Seriously, this is what used to happened. The 1st and last games were always the ones that would be guaranteed sell outs, so your loyalty counted.
Loyalty
Once upon a time loyal or legacy fans were prioritised. Now, ostensibly, we are at best ignored, at worse resented, perhaps even treated with contempt. Not particularly disliked, just resented for being part of a history that isn’t relevant to current custodians, but will always be an uncomfortable reminder of what once was.
Once upon a time, our Club recognised and acknowledged that those legacy fans would be die hard enough to keep showing up, no matter how crap we played. When the average attendances plummeted after successive relegations, we stood by. Hopefully this will never be repeated. Regardless, we will still be there, whereas the one season wonders may not.
Parity
Seemingly at the Luton away game, our (current) CEO Mr Kinnear was seen handing out / offering fans tickets before the game outside Kenilworth Road. Given the tiny allocation, hardly any long standing fans actually got tickets to that game in the on line sales. But there he was, randomly handing out tickets. If those tickets were not being used, would it have been any hardship to put them back on sale on the website for loyal fans to buy and pick up on the day?
So much for the insistence that tickets should only go to people who have paid for Club membership. What happened to the rule that every ticket should be able to be traced back to it’s legal owner for safety reasons?
Again, after the Preston game, one of our owners was in Billys Bar and announced a free bar. How lucky the ones in Billys were. How unlucky the rest of us! Right time, right place? Just lucky.
Real v reality
Our Club claim that it wants Real fans. It is on the side of Real fans, because it listens to Real fans.
In that case, why in reality, is so much going on that a lot of fans are not happy with?
Well, I suppose we have finally got a yellow away shirt.
Are the “Real fans” the Club refers to, akin to the comparison drawn between astronauts like Helen Sharman and the “Real astronauts” like Katy Perry and the rest of the Entitled Smurf Space cadets?
Rich celebrities doing something, dressed up to the nines, on a big day out, just to say that they are Real and putting it on Social Media to prove that they are?
Is the gap between what the Club deem as real fans and what the actual fans are THAT big?
