Changing teams you support

[ballanFYNE]

Also, People think most Freo fans are turncoats ( as will Gold Coast fans cop the same next year) But i only started having an interest in AFL in 2005, and supported Freo from then.

 

[ballanFYNE]

I only changed when I did because I was old enough to make my own choices.

I think my hatred of Fitzbane Bearlions stems more from the fact that Fitzroy went out of existence than the whole 02/03 runners up thing.

Yeah who am I kidding?

So 10 years old was an acceptable age to switch?

Yeh, anything under 12 i don't consider a turncoat.

 

[Charlotte]

Yep, changing teams to jump on a bandwagon is totally fine .

I'm amazed at how many blokes (with just a fleeting interest in footy, but still...) get married and then switch to their wife's team!!! I remember watching the 1995 AFL grand final and my next door neighbour (Carlton supporter) giving me hell the whole way through. A decade later, he gets married...now he's a Collingwood supporter. Seriously...

Here are the acceptable reasons to change allegiances:

1. You're from a footy state/city, which didn't have a team when you started following footy, so you just picked a random team. Your state/city gets an AFL licence, you're well within your rights to switch. This will be a big one for Tassie supporters over the next ten years.

2. Your club goes out of existence/merges/relocates. I know Fitzroy supporters who followed them to Brisbane, others who picked another Melbourne-based club to support and more who just stopped caring about the AFL altogether. It's up to you in that situation.

3. You get drafted by a different AFL club to the one you supported.

4. You have an immediate family member who plays for an AFL club.

Don't agree with number 4 - you can support the person but you don't have to support the team. (Thinking of Selwood's parents right now) My dad used to go to go for the Hawks and changed whilst around 8 as his uncle used to take him to the footy, (same thing happened with his nephew he used to go to footy with my dad so changed from Collingwood to Saints) I think if you are under 10, (or at least still in primary school) it's fine,

 

[Haggard H]

Got a mate supported the Tiges till the early '90's (his late twenties) and then had enough of the failure and switched to the Swans. He considered various teams but picked Sydney purely because he thought they were on the cusp of success.

He cops sh!t on a regular basis but still doesn't understand it.

... and he writes about football for a major Melbourne newspaper.

 

[giantsully]

I moved to Sydney from Perth and actually went to the '92 GF and cheered wildly for the Eagles.

Used to go to Swans games coz I loved my footy. After a while, I realised I had much more emotional attachment to Kelly, Plugger and the Swans than I did to the Eagles (which was basically a team created in the late 80s in a laboratory anyway), and so in order to pass the Lamont Test started officially following the Swans.

Now the Eagles are probably my most hated team.

The Claremont Tigers are, and will always remain, my #1 team however.

 

[Cthublhu]

Here are the acceptable reasons to change allegiances:

4. You have an immediate family member who plays for an AFL club.

That happened to my Aunty when her son started playing for North. She switched from Carlton and hasn't gone back. Fair enough too.

 

[HahnPremium]

Got a mate supported the Tiges till the early '90's (his late twenties) and then had enough of the failure and switched to the Swans. He considered various teams but picked Sydney purely because he thought they were on the cusp of success.

He cops sh!t on a regular basis but still doesn't understand it.

... and he writes about football for a major Melbourne newspaper.

Think I might know the bloke.
Is he a bit of a "punter"?

 

[greatwhiteshark]

West Perth will always be the club in my heart, it tears me up that they have ended up in a second tier football league. But that is how the AFL was formed so not much can be done about that.

Growing up I barracked for Richmond in the VFL and then went for Essendon when Leon Baker went there.
Once West Coast entered I became a member of them and will stay with them forever unless West Perth are entered.

If a miracle happened and West Perth became the 3rd AFL team from WA in 10 years then I would immediately drop West Coast for them.

Victoria is very fortunate as they have been able to keep their tribal instinct with their clubs because their clubs are in the AFL.
WA and SA it is different because we put in manufactured sides and the sides we all grew up with and loved ended up in a second tier comp.

 

[Haggard H]

Think I might know the bloke.
Is he a bit of a "punter"?

You got it Hahn. Mongrel act, eh?

 

[RickSanchez]

Wouldn't ever do it myself but a mate of mine has.
I wouldn't say he was a heaps big supporter of the Eagles but he definitely went for them, knows a decent bit about the players and watched the Eagles games. This year, he changed to Fremantle. His reasoning is that he doesn't know anyone from Eagles anymore and there isn't quality there that he can associate with. He might know the LeCras, Waters, Cox, Kerr types but doesn't really know much about the youth coming through. He came to a few games with me, not that I was trying to encourage it but he hasn't been to many AFL games before and we had a spare ticket. Kudos to him on the fact he did fly to Melbourne to see us lose to Richmond, he bought tickets to the Carlton game and the finals game against the Hawks. He just told me recently he bought the "comeback" games on DVD against Geelong and Carlton (Eagles games of course).

I don't really condone it but I don't give him much shit about it because my other Eagles mates do that enough. I understand admiring another team and going for your state's side, but to turn to the other team but still go for the other team in the same state, especially in WA, not too good. I know a lot of people say stuff like "I go for Eagles but ultimately I go for WA sides" but I don't think it's the case in this true scenario.

Any thoughts on the alleged "turncoat"

 

[Thommo 42]

I converted my wife, and both her parents from Brisbane to Collingwood, we got married in 2005 - so that was no mean feat.

Heaps of people have been buying my kids GC suns stuff, but its all gone in the bin so far.

I thought about following the suns fleetingly (for about 5 seconds) and then realised I couldn't do it. I do know lots of ex fans of Melbourne clubs up here that follow the Lions though. The Lions #1 ticket holder is an ex Richmond man and my coach in the QAFL was a mad Collingwood fan, but converted when the Bears became the Lions.

As for some of the reasons to convert, I'm not sure getting drafted is appropriate. You need to spend a long time on a club list before converting imo. My old man was on the Essendon list for 5 years in the early 70's and he is still an ardent Collingwood man and hates the Bombers. This is awkward because my sister follows the Bombers, purely because he was on the list when she was a little kid!

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Don't agree with number 4 - you can support the person but you don't have to support the team. (Thinking of Selwood's parents right now) My dad used to go to go for the Hawks and changed whilst around 8 as his uncle used to take him to the footy, (same thing happened with his nephew he used to go to footy with my dad so changed from Collingwood to Saints) I think if you are under 10, (or at least still in primary school) it's fine,

I said I think it's acceptable, I didn't say you must change teams in that situation.

I had the same experience with my dad, who supports a different team. I grew up going to a hell of a lot more Carlton games than Geelong and never once did I want to switch to Carlton. Was happy when they won for him (if it wasn't against Geelong) though.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I converted my wife, and both her parents from Brisbane to Collingwood, we got married in 2005 - so that was no mean feat.

Don't really understand why you'd bother converting anyone either. Variety is the spice of life and all that. All it means is they can't have been that interested in footy in the first place.

 

[handy point]

Mrs handy point was a Carlton sympathiser up until we met, mainly through sharing the same maiden name as one of their premiership winning coaches. Toyed with the idea of that tension in the relationship for a short time, but once we knew marriage was on the cards, it had to change. Been a Pies member for the last 5 years now.

 

[Blues_Man]

Don't really understand why you'd bother converting anyone either. Variety is the spice of life and all that. All it means is they can't have been that interested in footy in the first place.

My Ex was a Collingwod supporter when i met her ..she changed to Carlton on her own volition with no prompting from me..she still follows Carlton.

My new missus was a Blues supporter so it was a match made in heaven

I had a brother in law that was a long time Saints supporter ..but got sick of them finishing last every year ..and so he jumped to the Bombers in the 90's...i gave him a lot of stick over it when i caught up with him...i think he's now gone back to the Saints....i have no respect for any supporter who jumps ship.

 

[Cthublhu]

Mrs handy point was a Carlton sympathiser up until we met, mainly through sharing the same maiden name as one of their premiership winning coaches.

Mrs handy point née Jesaulenko?

 

[Thommo 42]

Don't really understand why you'd bother converting anyone either. Variety is the spice of life and all that. All it means is they can't have been that interested in footy in the first place.

It wasn't an active conversion, but they went from following Brisbane passively and bagging me about the Pies, to gradually getting an emotional attachment to the Pies through me.

I had to convert the mrs though, as I don't want my son getting influenced by his mother who follows the team across the road instead of his father who follows the team 2000km away!

 

[Public Enemy No1]

In the early 80's i sort of followed Carlton(didnt really care if they won or lost though).
Then the Eagles came into the comp in 1987 and I went to their first ever game against Richmond...Was an Eagle from that day foward...
It was an extremely biased Victorian league in those days so to win those early flags was very satisfying..

 

[Charlotte]

Don't really understand why you'd bother converting anyone either. Variety is the spice of life and all that. All it means is they can't have been that interested in footy in the first place.

totally agree!!!!!!!!!!! My husband goes for catters and our kids are split, it makes the games more enjoyable with a bit of family betting going on.

 

[kranky al]

i supported carlton as a kid - then the eagles came into the comp and im from w.a - so i switched - i still have a soft spot for carlton

the only time ive ever thought of giving up the eagles was when there was a rumor we might pick up wayne carey - i thought to myself if we pick up that dog act i would consider it a betrayal and return to carlton


if i moved to the gold coast, sydney or brizzy - i would go to games and support the local team - as long as it wasnt playing the eagles. live footy rocks

if i moved to melbourne - meh - id actually get to see the eagles live more than when i lived in perth - you have to beg borrow or steal tix to see games in perth.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Wouldn't ever do it myself but a mate of mine has.
I wouldn't say he was a heaps big supporter of the Eagles but he definitely went for them, knows a decent bit about the players and watched the Eagles games. This year, he changed to Fremantle. His reasoning is that he doesn't know anyone from Eagles anymore and there isn't quality there that he can associate with. He might know the LeCras, Waters, Cox, Kerr types but doesn't really know much about the youth coming through. He came to a few games with me, not that I was trying to encourage it but he hasn't been to many AFL games before and we had a spare ticket. Kudos to him on the fact he did fly to Melbourne to see us lose to Richmond, he bought tickets to the Carlton game and the finals game against the Hawks. He just told me recently he bought the "comeback" games on DVD against Geelong and Carlton (Eagles games of course).

I don't really condone it but I don't give him much shit about it because my other Eagles mates do that enough. I understand admiring another team and going for your state's side, but to turn to the other team but still go for the other team in the same state, especially in WA, not too good. I know a lot of people say stuff like "I go for Eagles but ultimately I go for WA sides" but I don't think it's the case in this true scenario.

Any thoughts on the alleged "turncoat"

He should be publicly executed at St Georges Terrace.

 

[Hondo]

Sometimes young people pick a team without really having a strong passion or emotional connection with that team. Maybe a lot of kids at school support that team or their father has pressured them to pick his team. There could be other reasons.

If, later in life, that person finally makes up their own mind because they find an emotional connection for another team then that's OK IMO. I don't think that decision should be judged as harshy as many of the team-you-support police have in this thread.

I know someone that when aged about 13 had a bad experience in the cheer squad for his team and so then switched to another team. He's now as passionate about his new team as anybody I know and has been for many years.

I also know people that love footy and love the AFL but just don't have a strong connection with any one club. They just like to watch the games.

The key thing is that they still love the game and support it. If something changes in your life that makes you want to change teams then so what.

 

[imperial_oz]

Well I know a bloke who wore WC Eagles shirts to every family 'do'. Spent ages banging on about Eagles premierships, players, coaches, board etc...You get the picture.

Sat there at the out-laws house one family 'do' watching the Eagles getting caned by Collingwood (last year?? year before??) Got so aggravated he up and yelled that he's had it with the Eagles and would support Collingwood.

Now he wears Collingwood shirts when I see him.

Just hope he never buys any Freo stuff

 

[AjsGuns]

Gone for the dogs since i was 4-5 currently 20 could never hop despite no success, old mans side of the family lives in SA so dont really follow the AFL although my old man "barracks" for Melbourne (rarely watches footy) old lady goes for Geelong watchs games on tv but doesnt attend, grandparents are crazy geelong fans who go to every vic game.

 

[Papa G]

WA and SA it is different because we put in manufactured sides and the sides we all grew up with and loved ended up in a second tier comp.

3/4 of that is true.