What is your football tradition?

I am working with Bath City FC to make a promotional video on football traditions to help promote the club and to attract new supporters.

So i'm looking to find out what your football traditions are?

e.g. always go to pub, always wear the same thing or always go with the same people.

Always get to the Hop Pole for 2pm. Always get to the match for 3.15. Always stand next to the Mo-b-Q first half. Stay until the half time whistle and then go for a pint in Charlies. Get out for the second half about 4.15 and wander around to the tea bar for my fortnightly chat with Mr and Mrs Hacksaw and Dave Bart, stay until it starts getting too sweary around there or the opposition score and then wander back to the Mo-B-Q. There is usually a visit to the Belle Vue toilet in the corner on the way there or back. Stay at the Mo-B-Q until final whistle. Proceed to Hop Pole.

I have to watch every minute of the game. Ideally I like to be in the ground when the teams are announced but at the same time what I like about supporting Bath City is that I can leave it as late as possible to get to the ground and still have time to get the 50/50 draw ticket off Baz before the game starts.
We always stand in the same little group although another great thing about Bath City is that you can chat to everyone. We have a beverage at half time from the tea bar and I like to watch the subs kicking around although having a kids match is always good value. There is always a quick post mortem as you leave the ground either with mates or people going the same way.

Always worried when i cant get to a game that as soon as i turn on bath city internet radio the opposing team will score and it'll be my fault for switching it in. It just happened aghhh
This also is the case for international matches that might be on as I'm driving down the motorway on an evening. I turn the radio commentary on disaster strikes.

Marc Monitor wrote:Always get to the Hop Pole for 2pm. Always get to the match for 3.15. Always stand next to the Mo-b-Q first half. Stay until the half time whistle and then go for a pint in Charlies. Get out for the second half about 4.15 and wander around to the tea bar for my fortnightly chat with Mr and Mrs Hacksaw and Dave Bart, stay until it starts getting too sweary around there or the opposition score and then wander back to the Mo-B-Q. There is usually a visit to the Belle Vue toilet in the corner on the way there or back. Stay at the Mo-B-Q until final whistle. Proceed to Hop Pole.

So how come I always see you in the Royal Oak

Sorry, the Oak, of course.

Marc Monitor wrote:Sorry, the Oak, of course.

Do you really miss around half an hour of the match? I couldn’t work out if that was tongue in cheek. I remember getting to a few games late as a neutral and it genuinely irritated me beyond belief, and I hadn’t missed a goal.

As for my tradition, I am usually at the ground by half 1 to set up the tannoy and radio kit, spend the game frantically recording events for match report/Press Association etc. Pack all that up, interview the boss, spend 20 minutes finding a player to speak to then usually arrive home by 6ish.

If I’m at a game as a neutral I try and get into the ground half an hour before, whether it’s to take a few photos or just read the programme etc. Depends on the level - if it’s non-league I’ll walk around the ground, if it’s Football League I’ll take my seat and try and take in the atmosphere.

Yes, I do, Mark. Well, maybe 20 minutes. Terrible, I know. However, I rarely miss a goal and my habit of staying until the half-time and final whistle has rewarded me with more goals than I have missed just after kick-offs.

Each to their own I guess, certainly nothing I could ever do. Usual comparisons with the cinema - I went today and wouldn’t dream of walking in late/leaving early. Even sat until the end of one of the LotR things which bored me to tears.

I've only ever walked out of the cinema once. In the eighties during a film about some teenage German doing drugs. They used to put out some absolute tripe in the seventies / eighties which is why a lot of cinemas closed down.

Marc Monitor wrote:Yes, I do, Mark. Well, maybe 20 minutes. Terrible, I know. However, I rarely miss a goal and my habit of staying until the half-time and final whistle has rewarded me with more goals than I have missed just after kick-offs.  

I must admit that is one of the more bizarre things I've heard in regards watching City!

Obviously over the 38 years of watching City I have been late on a few occasions but never deliberately so.

And I have only left early twice - at Mangotsfield in the SPC because it had started to snow during the second half and we didn't want to get stuck if it got worse. And the infamous Sutton United FA Trophy game when their fifth goal went in. Heard the cheer for no.6 from the bar.

As for routines I guess I do much the same each game now. I normally like to get pitchside about 30 minutes before kick off to get a few warming up pictures then move round to get some as the players come out. In the first half I normally place myself some down the side of the pitch in the half we are attacking to get a reasonable number of action shots. Then in the second I will go behind the opponents goal, so that I'm better placed to get pictures of goals and celebrations.

For me it is to get out of the house before family realise where I’m going....

Ha, I think I have misled people into thinking that it is a hard and fast rule that I miss kick off. It isn't, it is just a combination of my natural tardiness and herding the cats that I drink with. It is more of an accidental tradition.

I have always been terrible for it though. My brothers castigate me for missing anthems in international matches and I was well known for getting to someone's house to watch the FA Cup well after "Abide With Me"

I have a pretty set routine but no real superstitions about it or what I wear.
Arrive at TP at least 45 mins before KO.  I like a drink and chat either in Charlies or (more usually) in the upstairs lounge where you can see across the car park and get a feel for what the likely attendance will be. Move into the ground 10 mins before KO for a smoke and atmosphere/anticipation.
Watch 1st half from stand.  Quick half time coffee in the lounge.  Walk round to Poplar side (half time smoke) and quick catch up with few people before watching 2nd half there.
I guess it's a bit of a ritual/beating of the bounds.  Certainly wouldn't be able to move around freely (and smoke) at a bigger club.
Whenever I've travelled away I like a look around the place first if possible before a drink/chat in the club bar and as at home I like go into the ground a good 10mins ahead of KO.
In summary I think that the phrase 'Bath City family' is key for me. I like the familiarity and sense of belonging at least to club if not family. Having endured the disappointments on the pitch over the years teaches you to enjoy the other benefits of following a football club.

BenE wrote:I've only ever walked out of the cinema once. In the eighties during a film about some teenage German doing drugs. They used to put out some absolute tripe in the seventies / eighties which is why a lot of cinemas closed down.

Sounds like Christiane F. You missed a fabulously bleak end there! 1981 if it was.


Our rituals involve watching Football Focus, then heading out from Bristol listening to a match on the radio. Pop in to see Mrs H's mum, then realise we're a bit late. Dash to the ground, park up over the other side of the river, always go to the same turnstyle, whether there's a queue or not and always by two draw tickets from the same vendor. Then we check the teamsheet on the tin shed, go and stand in the same place just to the right of the halfway, set up the flag and scarf, then prepare to grumble. If any part of that doesn't happen in that exact sequence, it always feels uncomfortable for the rest of the game. Oh yes, and we always wear black and white socks. That's the most important part. Oh the joys of OCD!

Oh, I forgot that I always take a picture of the teamsheet as I go in so I know who is playing and where. Technology is a great advance there. Very helpful seeing as I am never there for the team announcements.

Do you watch any of the match at all? What with drinking talking photographing is there any time left?

Roy D Hacksaw wrote: Sounds like Christiane F. You missed a fabulously bleak end there! 1981 if it was.

That's the one. Funnily enough it's never been on the telly. But obviously you didn't walk out.

BenE wrote:Do you watch any of the match at all? What with drinking talking photographing is there any time left?

Very often, over the years, the 90 minutes of a match has been the only low point of a fantastic day.

Marc Monitor wrote:Oh, I forgot that I always take a picture of the teamsheet as I go in so I know who is playing and where. Technology is a great advance there. Very helpful seeing as I am never there for the team announcements.

When I went along for some experience with Radio Bristol in August, the teamsheet had the formation layout as well. Heavenly.

That would be perfect for comrade powell.

Reminiscing about when I started going to games as a supporter, around 25 years ago, dad would always park along Freeview Road and we'd be in the ground by half 2. Gave him enough time to lose on Guess the Gate and find our spot on the terraces. If shooting towards the Bristol End, we'd be near the segregated area on one of the barriers at the back. Not really sure why as it's quite tricky to tell if a goal has gone in at that end sometimes, but the overall view of the match was brilliant. At the Bath End, we'd be in line with the penalty area. For some reason, seeing goals from this sort of position made them look a lot better. Even close range headers/tap-ins looked like wonder goals.

In the first few years, we'd exit via the gate behind the toilets under the Popular Side, would get us back to the car quicker. Not sure when that was no longer in use, 20 years ago?

Midweek games were great when I was a kid, didn't used to sleep that well after them. Always felt like a different atmosphere, even though the crowds were lower. I think my first one was a cup replay with Cheltenham in '93, won 4-2, just before I turned 8. Seems strange, my nephew is that age now and I wouldn't take him along to a midweek match (don't think his rugby loving dad would approve, either). I don't remember being that distracted by other things, I was interested in the match even then.

Roy D Hacksaw wrote:

BenE wrote:I've only ever walked out of the cinema once. In the eighties during a film about some teenage German doing drugs. They used to put out some absolute tripe in the seventies / eighties which is why a lot of cinemas closed down.

Sounds like Christiane F. You missed a fabulously bleak end there! 1981 if it was.


Our rituals involve watching Football Focus, then heading out from Bristol listening to a match on the radio. Pop in to see Mrs H's mum, then realise we're a bit late. Dash to the ground, park up over the other side of the river, always go to the same turnstyle, whether there's a queue or not and always by two draw tickets from the same vendor. Then we check the teamsheet on the tin shed, go and stand in the same place just to the right of the halfway, set up the flag and scarf, then prepare to grumble. If any part of that doesn't happen in that exact sequence, it always feels uncomfortable for the rest of the game. Oh yes, and we always wear black and white socks. That's the most important part. Oh the joys of OCD!

This reminds me of a sketch on 2.4 Children when Spurs picked up a rare win so Ben (the late Gary Olsen) made them follow us the exact same routine for the next couple of games. It went awry for one and they lost.

Roy D Hacksaw wrote:

BenE wrote:I've only ever walked out of the cinema once. In the eighties during a film about some teenage German doing drugs. They used to put out some absolute tripe in the seventies / eighties which is why a lot of cinemas closed down.

Sounds like Christiane F. You missed a fabulously bleak end there! 1981 if it was.

You're spot on Mr. Hacksaw, Christiane F. (Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo) .. a German realist drama focusing on the true story of a West Berlin teenager forced into prostitution due to heroin addiction. Bowie did the soundtrack for it ... and was in it if I remember correctly. Not a bad film, but not the sort of thing you could watch every weekend in an early evening Saturday Night variety type of way. (Or before a game either.)

Nor on a first date.

Nothing against German films of course. My favourite film is The Enigma of Kaspar Hausen.