The next generation of supporters. (1 Viewer)

[Oh for an Ian Gibson.]

Choosing which team to support is the most important decision any football fan has to make. It can bring absolute euphoria, or alternatively years of heartache. The decision is usually made at an early age, and is heavily influenced by you parents. Recently my grandson who is a season ticket holder and JSB didn't want to go to the Bristol City home game. Give me one good reason why I should expect him to comit to a life of supporting the sky blues.

 

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[speedie87]

you can't expect him to go.......but if you point out if you don't support coventry you won't be able to go and watch any live football until you are old enough to go by yourself he may realise its better than nothing!

 

[Tonylinc]

I'm a fair man so gave my son a choice....support CCFC or live in the garden shed. Can't be fairer than that now!

 

[ELSIE EFSEY]

Did it take him long to decide on the shed option

 

[ccfcway]

"SUPPORT CCFC - WE'VE WON 8 GAMES IN 2011, THATS JUST ONE EVERY 6 WEEKS"

Dunno why youngsters wouldnt want to be part of that !

 

[WestEndAgro]

I used to take my son, he was a season holder for around six or seven seasons, now he couldn't care less, doesn't even know who and when we are playing.
Such a shame, I can't see him returning either!

 

[ccfcway]

I used to know everything about the club, how many goals Dion scored in a season, what the commentator said after David Smith bagged a last minute winner etc etc..

I am ashamed to say I saw the front cover of the 2012 calander last week and said "Who's that ?" about one of the players !

This bunch of clowns are simply ruining our club !

 

[ICHAN]

Tried to convince my son as he was growing up (only 9 now) but with him living in Brum he's spared it I suppose, although he supports the blue side so could have been worse, won't let him say the AV words around me though lol.

Thing is in all seriousness what is the attraction for a new generation to start going up to watch and support the team at the moment? Unfortunatly (at the moment) supporting them is in our blood so no matter where we end up I will always support the team from where I was from and I am always proud to say I support Coventry because thats where I am from.

 

[sky_blue_up_north]

I have season tickets for my 3 grandkids non of them want to go to the games any more, comments like 'we are just rubbish granddad' I'd rather go to the Cinema. CCFC are losing a whole generation of fans, when us oldies have gone gates will plummet

 

[skybluejelly]

yes same here ,i bought my son a season ticket as an incentive to improve his grades....i will keep taking him until they improve.

 

[covcity4life]

if im lucky enough to have a son i will bring him up to be a cov fan,i understand that its condemning him to failure and depression BUT when we do something right(one day?) it will mean more to us than these man utd,arsenal,lpool etc fans who love in cov,i just know it will

 

[We'll_live_and_die]

"SUPPORT CCFC - WE'VE WON 8 GAMES IN 2011, THATS JUST ONE EVERY 6 WEEKS"

Dunno why youngsters wouldnt want to be part of that !

Just makes a win all the more special imo.

 

[ccfcway]

Just makes a win all the more special imo.

well, if you assume we have one game a week, and that going to that game costs on average £60 including transport, food etc (averaging home and away matches), a win every 6 weeks works out that if you go to every match, one wins costs approx £360. that is SPECIAL !

 

[We'll_live_and_die]

well, if you assume we have one game a week, and that going to that game costs on average £60 including transport, food etc (averaging home and away matches), a win every 6 weeks works out that if you go to every match, one wins costs approx £360. that is SPECIAL !

Lets say you only do home games and you live locally. What's a season Ticket £15 a game? So with you're pie and pint (of pepsi if child) you're looking at £25 per game. £75 per win aint too bad.

 

[ccfcway]

Lets say you only do home games and you live locally. What's a season Ticket £15 a game? So with you're pie and pint (of pepsi if child) you're looking at £25 per game. £75 per win aint too bad.

Yes, but some fans do go to away games, i am not going to do any maths, as I have only been to the ricoh once in 2011, and went to 9 away games, and didnt see us win once in 2011, so the £ per win ratio isnt looking too good for me

 

[We'll_live_and_die]

Yes, but some fans do go to away games, i am not going to do any maths, as I have only been to the ricoh once in 2011, and went to 9 away games, and didnt see us win once in 2011, so the £ per win ratio isnt looking too good for me

You only went to the Ricoh once......Boooh Plastic Fan:laugh:

 

[ccfcway]

I refuse to give SISU 1p more than I have.

I live abroad, so am quite happy with my 10 games thanks

cost me a small fortune, a quick guess would be 3k to not see us win once in 2011

And they say there is no loyalty in football

 

[Hcut PUSB]

Its tricky agreed but my youth likes the fact that he supports a team that no one else in the area/ school does, all the kids he knows support Stoke (boo hiss) Wolves (grr) or are prawn sandwich team followers and have all the gear and no idea.

He is a seven year old proud Sky Blue all the way. (or until he can afford to do summat else) LOOL.

 

[DH - Sky Blue]

You support the team from where you were born. Simple. If it's a dreadful team then so what, lifes cruel. Children are born in Africa into a life of famine and disease. Coventry City is my Cholera.

 

[We'll_live_and_die]

You support the team from where you were born. Simple. If it's a dreadful team then so what, lifes cruel. Children are born in Africa into a life of famine and disease. Coventry City is my Cholera.

I'm born in Leamington, lived in Bedworth all my life but support Cov. So I'd say you support a local team, not neccesarily the team where you're born.

 

[ajsccfc]

Woah now, let's not say anything that'll encourage Lenny Henry to show up.

 

[DH - Sky Blue]

I'm born in Leamington, lived in Bedworth all my life but support Cov. So I'd say you support a local team, not neccesarily the team where you're born.

Agreed, i was just giving a simplified version of the rule to go on the back of a 50p.

 

[bamalamafizzfazz]

It's because of the bigger teams taking local fans that we're in the situation we find ourselves in now.
Hardly any of my mates neither support or follow the City. I hear excuses like "I have always supported them" or "my dad/grandad supports them". My response is that if they really do like football then they are the ones who have and continue to kill our club. I invite friends to the Ricoh but they'd rather sit in a pub watching 'the big match' on TV.
I discovered my love for football quite late on as I was about 11. I had a friend from school get a season ticket with me but he was never that interested. I have had one ever since.
I appreciate that to decide to follow the City is a shit decision right now but surely we have to instill confidence into youngsters and show belief that these are our darkest times and the future can only get brighter to be a Sky Blue.

 

[oldskyblue58]

few years back when my lad (then 10) said he was going to support another team..... I calmly looked him in the eyes and asked when he was leaving and to send me the forwarding address tough love i think they call it. Luckily despite what he has seen over the seasons he hasnt been traumatised by it

Now when he says he doesnt want a season ticket next year I can thoroughly understand his point of view.

However he isnt making that judgement based on SISU etc, his criteria is "its boring Dad, too slow and no fun". Last two home games apart generally he has a point. In the 7 years or so he has been going he has seen nothing but struggle and failure. Still loves his footie, never happier than with a football at his feet, but our first team are turning him off watching. In some ways he would rather see the academy playing than the hit n miss first team

The way the club, for whatever reason, has turned off the youngsters is extremely worrying. They are the future of the club and CCFC are letting them go

 

[covcity4life]

my uncle has a season ticket at old trafford,drives there from cov for every match,goes many away games too,has mutv subscription etc

i ask him why he cant pump that money into cov and i get "dont ge tme wrong i listen out for covs results"

arghghgh,its like that lil comment makes them feel better for glory supporting

 

[torchomatic]

I take my five year old son and he hates it. He spends his time playing with his 3DS. I was six when I went so I think he's a little young. If he gets the bug and continues to support CCFC then great. If not, well that's up to him. There are too many distractions for a kid his age than when I was that young, back in 1972!

 

[We'll_live_and_die]

I take my five year old son and he hates it. He spends his time playing with his 3DS. I was six when I went so I think he's a little young. If he gets the bug and continues to support CCFC then great. If not, well that's up to him. There are too many distractions for a kid his age then when I was that young, back in 1972!

My dad tried to take me when i was that sort of age. We used to go to the reserves more than anything though and i hated it. Only got back into it about 4 years ago and worked there last season and this. If I wasn't working I probably wouldn't go up.

 

[Fluffsta]

I give the Leicester fans some shit at work

and they give me loads back but we still have that deep underlying respect for each other at least for the simple reason we support our home towns through thick and thin.

You can almost class glory plastic supporters by age now. (Liverpool era, Manchester era, Chelsea era, etc..)

 

[ccfcway]

I take my five year old son and he hates it. He spends his time playing with his 3DS. I was six when I went so I think he's a little young. If he gets the bug and continues to support CCFC then great. If not, well that's up to him. There are too many distractions for a kid his age than when I was that young, back in 1972!

Prob is, by that assumption, no club in the land has young fans.

5 maybe too young, but the 5-15 year olds who support coventry are getting less and less...

 

[BurbageSkyBlues]

Simply put, we have already lost a generation of support , by being in the wilderness for ten years already.

There are ten year olds, in coventry's catchment area, who have never been attracted to a sky blues match in the premiership, whilst being subjected to a non-stop torrent of mega club tv.

I have stopped taking my grandchildren, it wasn't enjoyable. I won't be able to capture their interest until there is a more enthusiastic atmosphere at the games.

We are also losing the following generations of support.
This is long term damage, it will take twenty years to reverse.
Very sad.

 

[neilyboy67]

yep grandad it comes down to the parents when born in the town and surrounding areas alright. My 12 year old son just knows its the "right" thing to do, yeah he knows were shit but it dont matter cos ive made sure he knows its in his DNA born and bred in coventry and going to the matches with his own kind and knowing he can actually take in a match with me any time home or away, ive took him all over the country last 4 seasons following the city travelling by car and train and staying over in hotels and stuff and wouldnt swap it for the world, ive made sure he knows that the "glory hunters" are an embarrasment and have no cred whatsover him an his fellow cov mates laugh at man utd lpool and all that so he knows the score. It really shoudnt be an issue if the dads a cov fan the kids will follow and if he puts that rooney piccie on his bedroom wall let him keep it up but just "educate" em on whats "right" (if he puts a villa poster up just foster him out)

 

[ccfcway]

thing is, pretty sure getting your kid to support CCFC isnt too far off what the NSPCC would begin to get concerned about at the moment !

 

[Alwaysasellingclub]

Im 14 and have followed Coventry all my life, I had a season ticket for 7 years, stopping just before the start of this season.. Despite the frequent losses and constant dissapointment, I wouldnt swap it for anything. I take pride in the fact I am one of a few at my school that dont support the glory teams. I still go to many home and away games, and despite us most likely dropping into the third tier of English football, I will still remain a proud Coventry City supporter. PUSB!

 

[SkyBlueMania]

Going to the football is a different experience now than it was even ten years ago. As a ten year old I used to love leaving the excitement when leaving the house for the 30 minute walk to the ground. Heading down past the train station where the away fans were arriving, numbers gradually growing as you got to far gosford street, turning in to see the stadium and all the noise surrounding it. The atmosphere was generally pretty good compared to what I have experienced at the Ricoh. Perhaps it's because i'm older now, but the Ricoh just seems so plastic and soulless in comparison, there is none of that magic anymore.

I don't really blame kids who don't want to go anymore. There is little draw to the match day experience compared to my youth. You drive up, go in to the stadium, watch the team play half heartedly and take a beating and then drive home. You could have played 3 hours of your new playstation game instead which i'm afraid is more appealing to children today. They are used to 24/7 entertainment these days and lower league football doesn't seem to cut it anymore.