Does passion come before or after?

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Yorkieandy
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Does passion come before or after?

Post by Yorkieandy »

..................the cigarette? :clap:

Only joshing.

Serious post here which is a surprise considering who is posting it.

I want to know when you first became aware of your passion for Torquay United. This is aimed at fans who have not been born and brought up in the area or fans however locals also i'd like to hear your opinions also.

Obviously there was a first time we all 'did it'. :Oops: :Oops: :-o I mean went to our first ever Torquay game ya dirty swines! :slap:

When we first went to a game and got lucky (stop it with the innuendo! i'm at it again! Apologies - double innuendo there) :no: . My God i sound like John Inman or for a more recent example, David Walliams.

When we first went to a game and got lucky and were fortunate enough to see Torquay score. How did that goal feel? It's the first ever game and thus passion surely hasn't been allowed to grow and flourish yet? Did you celebrate those early goals with a bit of detachment? Like you were excited to see them but they didn't really mean all that much to you just yet?

When or how long did it / does it take before finally feeling that emotion and genuine involvement that comes with watching TUFC? I am certain that you cannot have the passion until you've experienced the event over a period of time where you gradually become immersed.

I'd imagine for fans who have never lived in the area (and there are quite a few of them) and / or don't have any relatives in the area that they visit regularly then how does this passion for a team from a town you have no connection with arise? I mean it's fine saying that you live in Inverness but your dad was a Torquay fan so you are too but how then does that passion for a club from a town you have no connection to come about? Where does that burning desire to see the club you support but have no other connection with come from?

If you live in and around Torquay and you are proud to come from in and around Torquay and you can identify with the area and the people in it then it's more natural and easier for the passion to take a hold but for others, how do they feel totally and utterly part of the TUFC culture and set up when they don't live there, never have lived there or don't know anyone there?

Do fans that come from the same town as the club have a more 'innate' passion if you like than those who don't and does it mean more to them? Is there a small part of this section of fans that doesn't feel the whole 100%? Like there is always something missing and always will be.

For example, by rights i should have supported Donny Rovers being born and brought up there however, like most things in my life i've got issues with it. I hate it and couldn't wait to escape the place. However, that town is my home and was my home and whether i like it or not that cannot be changed. The town where you were born and raised is inherently part of you and it's natural. I've been away from Donny about 15 years now so even if i wanted to support my 13th team i still wouldn't feel part of it.

In addition to that you often get fans who move away from their home town to another and then begin going to watch the local footy team and gradually start getting a support and passion for that team. For example myself and Chesterfield but just without the support and passion for Chesterfield FC. Another club i hate but again, just me. I dislike the town and dislike cheating unscrupulous football clubs so rules me out of being a Spireite or football supporter in general in that case.

There are people who for example may be ardent Southend fans but then aged 20 go and move to Carlisle and start watching Carlisle, fans of which they then remain for the rest of their lives.

I'm not judging anyone here as being more passionate than another but just putting it out there as i'm genuinely interested in the workings of all this and wanted your thoughts. It just highlights the fact that there are many variables as to why people support the clubs they do and there are people other than myself that do change clubs so weirdness amongst footy fans is not unique to me. ;-)
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Post by Jeff »

I know you said not local Andy, but I’ll get the ball rolling for you.

I was introduced to TUFC as part of the Frank Prince Football in the Community scheme back at the end of the 92/93 season. Went along to a game (Hereford, 0-0, bloody awful game) and had the whole stadium tour, meet the players etc. The quality of the game didn’t deter me and I subsequently dragged my Dad along for the next couple of seasons.

Lapsed as a fan between about 1996 and 2001, then when I went to Uni in Huddersfield I met a girl who was a mad keen Huddersfield town fan and her family had an executive box. Went along a few times and admired how the natives truly believed that they supported the greatest team in the land. Wanting to share this feeling I dragged her along to an away game in the season under Roy Mac - 2-0 win away at Macclesfield. Loved it and became hooked again, and became a regular away fan for about the next decade.

Live in the South East now, and non-football loving wife and little baby mean I don’t get to as many games as I used too
TUST_Member_Rob

Post by TUST_Member_Rob »

tl dr
Yorkieandy
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Post by Yorkieandy »

Thanks Jeff.
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Post by Teigngull »

3rd Feb 1979 v Reading 1-1 draw I recall , I think it was a last minute equalizer from us I can't remember who scored for us but my god it was exciting, 4 of us were treated by our old headmaster from Shaldon primary school ( Peter Vear ) & I'm the only one who got the bug.
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Post by Teigngull »

I really should have been an Exeter supporter as my dad used to play for them ,as well as a few other teams in the football league, but as I mentioned before, after our head teacher took a few of us for a treat back in 1979 I really got the bug under the Saturday night lights at plainmoor , bring back the sat night games , better atmosphere all around I think.
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Post by wivelgull »

13th April, 1963.

Torquay United against Chester (we won 1-0).

Brian Handley was United's centre-forward.

I was struck with how decrepit (and yet charming) the ground was.

There were over 4000 in attendance.

I was working as a pearl diver at the Osborne Hotel (living in).

I'd never been to the ground and I didn't know Torquay so I took a Football Special from Castle Circus and got off at Cuss's Corner.

I saw another match that season and then, in August, the 'Prince of Plainmoor' arrived and things were never the same.
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Post by Jerry »

wivelgull wrote: 21 Nov 2017, 09:17 I was working as a pearl diver at the Osborne Hotel
I bet no other posters can claim a job as cool as this. :)

I have an entirely different image of you now Wivel. ;-)
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