The "most important" fans of the club

This is the official ranking:

1, Matchgoing local fans.
2, Matchgoing out of towners.
3, Armchair fans who watch legally.
4, Armchair fans who illegally stream the games.
5, Clueless bandwagon jumpers who don't watch the games but for some reason think they are fans.
 
duffer said:
This is the official ranking:

1, Matchgoing local fans.
2, Matchgoing out of towners.
3, Armchair fans who watch legally.
4, Armchair fans who illegally stream the games.
5, Clueless bandwagon jumpers who don't watch the games but for some reason think they are fans.
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Right, well this is official people so let’s lock the thread now.
 
Wumminator said:
International fans of MANCHESTER United are more important. Brilliant.
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Defining importance when it comes to match-going fans is tricky. Someone who travels to every game, home and away, from Cork is definitely forced to make more of a commitment than someone who does the same from Salford. Are the most committed fans the most important?

I do think the core support from local fans shades it because there just aren’t enough travelling fans to fill the stadium every week. As we see at the emptyhad. So yeah, if we’re going with tiers the lad from Salford is just ahead of the lad from Cork. Close though.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Defining importance when it comes to match-going fans is tricky. Someone who travels to every game, home and away, from Cork is definitely forced to make more of a commitment than someone who does the same from Salford. Are the most committed fans the most important?

I do think the core support from local fans shades it because there just aren’t enough travelling fans to fill the stadium every week. As we see at the emptyhad. So yeah, if we’re going with tiers the lad from Salford is just ahead of the lad from Cork. Close though.
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What about me compared to that lad from Cork? I’ve gone to about ten games this season so far. Where am I?!?!
 
duffer said:
This is the official ranking:

1, Matchgoing local fans.
2, Matchgoing out of towners.
3, Armchair fans who watch legally.
4, Armchair fans who illegally stream the games.
5, Clueless bandwagon jumpers who don't watch the games but for some reason think they are fans.
Click to expand...

That’s the one. 3pm kicks off means I’m regularly bumped down from 3 to 4. Bastards.
 
Local fans are most important for sure. They are the ones who are most affected by the success or failure of the club, and the ones who create the atmosphere at the club.
 
People are really insecure huh. I’m not from Manchester, only get to around five/six games a year now due to where I’m living. I would never think of myself as important to the club as a season ticket holder, let alone someone who goes home and away.

It’s definitely not a competition and I’ve never met a person at a game who asked me why I don’t have an accent or whatever. There is a bit of an issue with online fans I’d say, and that’s where the resentment can come from. The mentality is definitely be different to the match goers.
 
While I am not insecure enough to argue one way or another about the level of my fandom, I will say regular match going fans have more of an impact on the games themselves and Manchester as an area than fans who watch on TV that is incontrovertible
 
Pogue Mahone said:
:lol: Have I actually touched a nerve here?!
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My five a side game every week that has been running for twelve years is struggling because we have two people who have given up football and started fecking bouldering. ITS NOT EVEN BOULDERS, they’re climbing fake walls so call it by it’s deserving pathetic name.
 
The premier league as a product is about the full stadiums and British atmosphere. How did you like the empty stadium games during COVID?

Match going united fans ended the superleague, that wouldnt have happened liking 'glazers out time to go' on twitter
 
Wumminator said:
My five a side game every week that has been running for twelve years is struggling because we have two people who have given up football and started fecking bouldering. ITS NOT EVEN BOULDERS, they’re climbing fake walls so call it by it’s deserving pathetic name.
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It was the Marks and Spencer’s jibe that hurt the most. They do the tastiest snacks :(

Give it a crack. You can do bouldering and football. Tell the two lads you’ll go bouldering with them once a week if they commit to the footy one day a week. Everyone’s a winner. I reckon you’ll love it. It’s very addictive.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
It was the Marks and Spencer’s jibe that hurt the most. They do the tastiest snacks :(

Give it a crack. You can do bouldering and football. Tell the two lads you’ll go bouldering with them once a week if they commit to the footy one day a week. Everyone’s a winner. I reckon you’ll love it. It’s very addictive.
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I can’t afford Marks and Spencer’s quinoa sausage rolls because I spend all my money on Man United because I am (according to this thread) more important than you.
 
I think all fans are important but the reason they are may not be the same.
 
duffer said:
This is the official ranking:

1, Matchgoing local fans.
2, Matchgoing out of towners.
3, Armchair fans who watch legally.
4, Armchair fans who illegally stream the games.
5, Clueless bandwagon jumpers who don't watch the games but for some reason think they are fans.
Click to expand...
If we have 1 billion fans around the world, then this is by far the biggest category
 
duffer said:
This is the official ranking:

1, Matchgoing local fans.
2, Matchgoing out of towners.
3, Armchair fans who watch legally.
4, Armchair fans who illegally stream the games.
5, Clueless bandwagon jumpers who don't watch the games but for some reason think they are fans.
Click to expand...

6, Redcafe fans.
 
In terms of the football side of things, matchgoers. Simply because they directly add to the atmosphere at at games in a way people at home don't. And if you're a local, you probably go to games more often.

The daytrippers and foreign fans are what make the club a commercial juggernaut though. When the Glazers refer to the club having 1.1 billion fans, the vast majority of those aren't local. Nor are the vast majority of people handing money over to the club. If you told the club they had to lose either the local fans or foreign fans it wouldn't even be a question, the locals would be gone in a shot.
 
Let's be clear about something. This point was made in the context of the putting Manchester back in Manchester United from Ineos. Both points were purposely divisive and not meant to say that foreign fans are as important in fact the distinction wasn't between match going fans and the rest but british fans, apparently your nationality is what makes you important because Manchester United is a british club. His point included foreign fans that go to games.
 
Those that go in home and away matches, followed by Season Ticket holders, followed by those that go a few times per year at Old Trafford.

Obviously a fan that goes to matches is more important than one who watches United at TV. It doesn’t mean that they love United more (being near Manchester is a kind of precondition to go often to matches) but they are definitely more important. They are the soul of the club.
 
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JPRouve said:
Let's be clear about something. This point was made in the context of the putting Manchester back in Manchester United from Ineos. Both points were purposely divisive and not meant to say that foreign fans are as important in fact the distinction wasn't between match going fans and the rest but british fans, apparently your nationality is what makes you important because Manchester United is a british club. His point included foreign fans that go to games.
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You don’t need to be British to live in Manchester. There’s loads of non-British local residents. Some of whom hold season tickets at Old Trafford.
 
Ok so the consensus is that non Manchester/matchgoing fans are unimportant. Only those who were lucky enough to be born in Manchester/ afford the expenses to go to games regularly from another country are the important ones. Cool.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
You don’t need to be British to live in Manchester. There’s loads of non-British local residents. Some of whom hold season tickets at Old Trafford.
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That goes without saying. The issue starts when instead of simply suggesting that regular match going fans are important for a club, someone decides to shit on foreigners that go to games, fans that sometimes make big sacrifices. It's not as if there isn't a fair amount of mancunians or british fans that are only able to go to few games. It's not needed to shit on someone in order to value someone else and the reality of the matter is that both are as important as the other for different reasons.

The few thousands of away match going fans are important for the team but they are no more important than the +60k that goes to home games who are themselves no more important than the millions that watch every games on TV. And the reason is that they all fill different crucial needs, in terms of support, money and notoriety for the club.
 
I think this was brought up in the context of the bids for the club.

I also made a point that when you look at the bids they will impact on groups of fans quite differently. This is why it’s not that easy for everyone to turn around and say they’ll quit supporting the club if xy or z happens.

For instance, someone who lives locally will understand the benefits that investment in the area and local community would do in a variety of different ways. This will make a lasting impact in the community and city well beyond anything that happens on the pitch.

Those who attend matches will feel the benefit of stadium improvements and facilities first hand. They may also get some financial gain due to reduced pricing and an overall improved fan experience and atmosphere.

Then there’s groups who sit in more than one category or who have moved, attend less frequently now or don’t go at all. Of course all these people don’t have to be from Manchester but the connection to the club is different for each individual.

Ultimately all fans are important, that’s obvious, but it’s silly to say that a takeover has an impact on everyone equally because it doesn’t.
 
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