Pretty much a random shower thought but got me thinking.
A Big 6 fan has got the success, the chances at winning trophies regularly, their team generally wins most weeks, they get to see the best of the best play for their club. Their team is recognised around the world. They get to watch European football almost every year. If you can’t attend games you can watch them on TV most weeks because they get shown more often.
On the other hand, you’ve got the ungodly amount of toxicity. Big 6 fans are absolutely rabid towards each other. Every match thread is a cesspit of anger. You’re constantly looking at the other teams at the top and hoping they lose as well. You get all the mockery when your team dares to not pick up 3 points in a match. Every refereeing/VAR decision that goes against them is met with cries of corruption, that there is a conspiracy against the club or to favour another club. Is the high of winning as much as the low of losing for them?
An other 14 fan on the other hand, success is hard to come by. Other than perhaps a run at the FA Cup or Carabao Cup, maybe an occasional Europa League appearance, you’re basically cheering for not getting relegated every season. You know that chances are you may never see your team lift a trophy in your lifetime.
On the other hand (I know I’ve repeated that phrase too much), every win perhaps feels more special. And if you do win a trophy, or that European run, or that promotion from the Championship, it’s the best thing ever. You don’t have those weeks where you’re expecting an easy 4-0 win and anything less is unacceptable, you genuinely never know what you’re going to get and every win is huge. You can generally have a nice chat about your team rather than “ugh you support ___, grr grr grr i am going to tell you why they are the evil of this world”. You’re not going to see a loss memed about by the rest of the footballing world for the entire week. You don’t have to sit through an entire week of analysing why VAR has ruined football because they hate your team specifically. (Seriously, as much as Liverpool had that dodgy Spurs game, if they’d have had the season Wolves have had so far with referees there would be outrage on another level and City would probabaly have a few additional charges.)
We can look at this in a few categories and so I will
Short-Term Success
Big 6: You’ll see plenty of wins for your club, probably trophies (unless you picked Spurs) and overall good finishes. It’ll be exciting fun and watching the team will be fun. It’s a lot easier to become a fan of these teams because things are going well.
Other 14: You are likely to have a 50/50 record at best and could be facing relegation at worse. It’s not improbable at some point you’ll employ an ugly style of football to survive and even then it may fail. FA Cups, Premier League, Champions Leagues etc. are unlikely to come to you. It can be a bit hard to get into a times because 12th place might be the good finish you’re aiming for and you could be losing more matches than you are winning.
Long-Term Success
Big 6: Instant gratification will usually come back to bite you. It sets your expectation high and anything but victory feels like a disappointment. If you don’t win a trophy (unless you picked Spurs) feels like a failure. You are pretty much guaranteed misery because your expectations are too high to be realistically attained. Your expectations are so high 10th place is a disgrace and even 5th is considered bad
Other 14: Maybe you get relegated, maybe you just barely survive. Maybe your team almost went bankrupt. But you are use to the losses and can accept them a bit easier. But those wins, particularly over the big 6 are incredible. When you win the Championship or FA Cup or Europa Conference League or Europa League or whatever else it is incredible and probably 10x time better than a big 6 win. Your expectations are more realistic and 10th place is typically pretty decent and 5th is absolutely awesome
Media Coverage
Big 6: Absolutely everywhere, everyone is talking about your squad what went well, who was good. You’re in title race, you’re looking at this exciting manager or player to bring to your club. But at the same time if you lose it is being put in your face absolutely everywhere. I remember when Wolves beat Spurs & Man City this season. People were roasting their fans every where.
Other 14: You’ll barely hear about your club and half the time when you do it’s really obvious they barely know what they’re talking about. If a player is playing well “They’re going to move to a bigger club”. Most pundits are just from the 6 “bigger” clubs, mainly the old “big 4”. When you beat a big 6 side it’s always what they did wrong, NOT what you did right. But I think the communities are a bit more tight knit in comparison. Also if you get relegated r/Championship just seems to be a really fun subreddit.
Overall
My advice is always to pick an other 14 club. Yeah, it’s rougher to get into for a start. You want to be winning and stuff. But the benefits of the long term commitment are just so much better and will give you untold joy that a big 6 club will just not be able to give you.
This is a fantastic write-up, thank you
either bottom or top table teams are fun to watch , midtable mandems are boring
I was at Old Trafford yesterday and did some Christmas shopping today. I’d rather do Christmas shopping every day than watch football at old Trafford every other week. Utterly soulless and full of tourists. Same for Stamford Bridge.
All that being said, as a fan the experience is better in League 1/2 than anywhere in the Prem so I’ll take the money, build a new stadium and see you all in a few years, thank you very much
Being a fan is better if you support the other 14 but watching it through the media is boring and makes you give up on the game entirely
I find the media impairs my experience of football rather than enhances it. Having a team that the media doesn’t care about sounds pretty sweet.
Too many expectations and pressures for the big six. A mass hysteria of entitlement, sheer disdain towards smaller teams and woe is me attitude.
Being a fan of a small team is fascinating and fun. Always a ride, always a joy, treat everything as a happy to be here situation. Cup runs are a good opportunity for silverware but it also doesn’t matter because premier league survival/consistency is for more important.
I think it has to be more enjoyable being a fan of a other14 club.
No fan of a big 6 club will get to see their team go from mid-table championship mediocrity to promotion, back to back 7th place finishes in the Premier League and a Europa league campaign in the space of 3 years like Wolves fans did.
Villa, Brighton and Newcastle fans are going on a similar journey now
Man utd got relegated in the 70s
Going to take a stab and say most Man Utd aren’t 70+ years old so this is an irrelevant argument
When we were battling/succumbing to relegation, the occasional draw was a buzz. A win was like mainlining nitrous. The tolerance levels of big six fans is so high they barely get out of bed for anything less than a double. I think a lot of the toxicity in their (mainly online) fan base is down to them being primarily ‘xyz’ supporters, not actual football fans.
There’s nothing enjoyable for our fans. Same can be said about Chelsea.
Always one of the other 14. For the average fan, for the normie fan, for the addicted fan, for everyone.
Weirdly the time early Klopp time was more enjoyable and relaxing than the successful Klopp years. Don’t get me wrong the victories where amazing and some of the best moments I’ve had celebrating with fans around town and the parades.
But it’s so god damn stressful, every draw feels like a tragedy and defeat feels like the end of the world (chasing Man City does this for you) there’s also just so many games that matter it gets mentally tiring. The end of 2021/22 season was a slog with massive games every 3 days and frankly I was happy when the season ended and didn’t really get into the start of the next season for ages.
That said I wouldn’t want to go anything else the highs of winning the champions league and European trips are some of the best memories you can have
Teams 4-7 are the most fun. Are you getting CL or Europa? Are you unlucky enough to get Europa conference, so many movable parts in those few spots
Don’t take this the wrong way guys but… it feels like there’s a lot of copium from other 14s in this sub. I would never discount the joys of being a fan of other clubs. But being a Liverpool fan is quite exhilarating.
I enjoy the banter we get when we lose. And I enjoy the thrill of winning, no matter what match.
I don’t think one is better than the other. People always comparing for some reason… Being a fan of a football club is beautiful for everyone in their own, sometimes different ways.
Depends on you. Are you the type of fan who likes X club and then football (usually people whose family supported one club and it goes back generations) or do you enjoy football and then support a team becuase something about them you enjoy.
I’m the latter. As a resut, I enjoy any experience. I liked following Palace back in the 2013s, I liked following Wolves when they were killing it inthe championship, Brentford’s come up, Newcastle and Rafa and Brighton as well. I liked watching Newcastle last season when they were trying to mkae CL, I really enjoyed watching Brighton too.
Heck I enjoy watching my local club in the lowest league of english football. give me enjoyable football and i’ll watch. Not sure why people are so extrmeley loyal to one club, you’re really missing out!
The “Big 6” hasn’t been the “Big 6” in years. Nonsense tag created by SkySports. It’s used to be the “Big 4” in the early 2000’s. Pick a team you can relate to regardless of their status in the league.
Plastics that don’t even sing, all just sat there with almost no emotion, occasionally clapping. Yea I’d rather be a league one team than a top 6 team.