Boro (6 Viewers)

[Brighton Sky Blue]

That seems like a fair description of my late Dad, bless him. Every so often he allowed himself the chance to get carried away by a particularly spirited performance, but usually he'd fear the absolute worst.

I asked him once why he supported them if they made him so miserable (I was about 5 at the time and whilst I was a fan because my Dad was, hadn't quite caught the whole hometown group consciousness thing, yet at that stage that I feel glory supporters are actually missing out on) He told me that the Boro will always let you down, but he loved them regardless and one day, probably not in his lifetime, maybe not in mine, but perhaps in my kids' or indeed theirs, they may actually win something big as we were the oldest and highest historically average league placed club remaining to have never won a major honour in over a century. (it was the early 80s)

Ironically enough amongst others (as it was a May tradition around my birthday) I can also remember watching the 87 FA Cup final with him when I was 10. He said normally if it were Spurs against a side like Everton or Liverpool, he'd root for them as both Merseyside clubs had already won LOTS, but as it was Coventry he wanted them to win as they were a club a lot like us so they deserved it more and if they could win it then there might just be hope that we could win something, someday. I remember him beaming from ear to ear when your second went in and telling me excitedly "He's a Boro lad an all, think your Auntie Katie used to babysit him!"

He was delighted for you winning in the end and for once took something as a positive kind of omen for us too, which was unique by itself as almost everything was a harbinger of doom I thought. Perhaps he was extra buoyed by the fact that we'd actually ceased to exist a year earlier which was scary, only to brought back to life by a twenty-something Steve Gibson and a consortium assembled.

We of course went on to finally win something of note nearly 17 years later which I was over the moon that he was around to witness. The strange thing was when we did, his mood more than anything was just speechless incredulity, he was absolutely dumbfounded that such a thing had happened, as deep down I think he still thought that it couldn't be possible.

Such is the mindset of a lot of Boro fans. It's why a fair few of us, though rational adults that otherwise know that witchcraft, horoscopes etc are to be taken extremely sceptically, consider football Hoodoos and omens to have a degree of realism to them that makes them stand out amongst it all. History has taught many generations of Boro fans before our own that there's substance to them, borne out and proven through lifetimes of overall failure from our club, and that deep-seated fear naturally gets passed down from each Generation to the next.

And when you're a kid, the word of your parents is gospel, you know? Even when you grow up some of that remains.

My grandad grew up in Co. Durham, so he just rotated between the big NE clubs every Saturday. Still remember him telling me about going to watch Jackie Milburn live, the difference between 'Ha'way' and 'Ho'way' etc, he just loved football but looked out for both Newcastle and Sunderland. I've had a soft spot for both clubs for a good while for that reason, Newcastle not so much now they're a Saudi sports washing vehicle.

Every time I've been up to the NE I've never found the people there to be anything but sound. Which is why it's a pity to me that these silly 'rivalries' spring up online.

 

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[Ipad Boro]

My grandad grew up in Co. Durham, so he just rotated between the big NE clubs every Saturday. Still remember him telling me about going to watch Jackie Milburn live, the difference between 'Ha'way' and 'Ho'way' etc, he just loved football but looked out for both Newcastle and Sunderland. I've had a soft spot for both clubs for a good while for that reason, Newcastle not so much now they're a Saudi sports washing vehicle.

Every time I've been up to the NE I've never found the people there to be anything but sound. Which is why it's a pity to me that these silly 'rivalries' spring up online.

See Boro folk tend to often pronounce it more like "Owee" just to confuse matters more.

Aye, County Durham is a weird one, the northwestern section of it around Beamish say is more Newcastle than anything, Eastern (Seaham etc) tends to be solid Sunderland and the southern strip of it (Sedgefield ish) usually Boro with supporters. Whereas my Dad was born and raised in Boro itself, my Mam was South County Durham.

Except Darlo of course who often follow their own club, non-league now or not.
But there's a chunk in the middle of it all where it's pot luck who will support who.

The thing is online rivalries are BS in my experience, a load of "he said/she said" nonsense based around who posted what, usually caused by at best 3 or 4% of dickheads following a particular club that aren't in any way the views of the majority.

A rivalry to me is somewhere where you will actually get fans of different clubs fairly close by, so that often workplaces will contain a smattering of fans from different clubs that usually provokes the usual banter, though on match days its more serious.

With the northeast, Newcastle and Sunderland hate each other more than they do us, which is quite understandable. We're about 25 miles from Sunderland and they're about 9 miles from each other, even linked by the Tyne & Wear metro underground system. It's in the no man's land of County Durham where you most often get Boro fans overspilling with them.

Like I'd imagine a workplace in Hinkley or Lutterworth may do for yourselves and Leicester.

I think we're more straightforward up there and will just generally say what's on our minds, like a lot of northerners. The Midlands in general I find has it's own identity that they're fiercely proud of, but if forced to identify themselves as having more in common with northerners or southerners, the majority would choose northerners.

 

[Brighton Sky Blue]

See Boro folk tend to often pronounce it more like "Owee" just to confuse matters more.

Aye, County Durham is a weird one, the northwestern section of it around Beamish say is more Newcastle than anything, Eastern (Seaham etc) tends to be solid Sunderland and the southern strip of it (Sedgefield ish) usually Boro with supporters. Whereas my Dad was born and raised in Boro itself, my Mam was South County Durham.

Except Darlo of course who often follow their own club, non-league now or not.
But there's a chunk in the middle of it all where it's pot luck who will support who.

The thing is online rivalries are BS in my experience, a load of "he said/she said" nonsense based around who posted what, usually caused by at best 3 or 4% of dickheads following a particular club that aren't in any way the views of the majority.

A rivalry to me is somewhere where you will actually get fans of different clubs fairly close by, so that often workplaces will contain a smattering of fans from different clubs that usually provokes the usual banter, though on match days its more serious.

With the northeast, Newcastle and Sunderland hate each other more than they do us, which is quite understandable. We're about 25 miles from Sunderland and they're about 9 miles from each other, even linked by the Tyne & Wear metro underground system. It's in the no man's land of County Durham where you most often get Boro fans overspilling with them.

Like I'd imagine a workplace in Hinkley or Lutterworth may do for yourselves and Leicester.

I think we're more straightforward up there and will just generally say what's on our minds, like a lot of northerners. The Midlands in general I find has it's own identity that they're fiercely proud of, but if forced to identify themselves as having more in common with northerners or southerners, the majority would choose northerners.

He lived near Esh Winning, so Newcastle and Sunderland were basically equally close to him. When he moved to Coventry in the 60s though, he was hooked. The issue for us is Birmingham is nearby and effectively home to three equally sized or bigger clubs with Lesta in the other direction so there's quite a bit of 'competition'.

Think the Midlands is clearly distinct from North and South but agree it 'feels' a bit more north than south.

 

[ovduk78]

See Boro folk tend to often pronounce it more like "Owee" just to confuse matters more.

Aye, County Durham is a weird one, the northwestern section of it around Beamish say is more Newcastle than anything, Eastern (Seaham etc) tends to be solid Sunderland and the southern strip of it (Sedgefield ish) usually Boro with supporters. Whereas my Dad was born and raised in Boro itself, my Mam was South County Durham.

Except Darlo of course who often follow their own club, non-league now or not.
But there's a chunk in the middle of it all where it's pot luck who will support who.

The thing is online rivalries are BS in my experience, a load of "he said/she said" nonsense based around who posted what, usually caused by at best 3 or 4% of dickheads following a particular club that aren't in any way the views of the majority.

A rivalry to me is somewhere where you will actually get fans of different clubs fairly close by, so that often workplaces will contain a smattering of fans from different clubs that usually provokes the usual banter, though on match days its more serious.

With the northeast, Newcastle and Sunderland hate each other more than they do us, which is quite understandable. We're about 25 miles from Sunderland and they're about 9 miles from each other, even linked by the Tyne & Wear metro underground system. It's in the no man's land of County Durham where you most often get Boro fans overspilling with them.

Like I'd imagine a workplace in Hinkley or Lutterworth may do for yourselves and Leicester.

I think we're more straightforward up there and will just generally say what's on our minds, like a lot of northerners. The Midlands in general I find has it's own identity that they're fiercely proud of, but if forced to identify themselves as having more in common with northerners or southerners, the majority would choose northerners.

My friend's family are from Newton Aycliffe and are Sunderland fans. Isn't the Sunderland & Newcastle rivalry a recent thing? Like @Brighton Sky Blue has said about his grandad cheering on all NE sides I have met similar like minded fans of both Sunderland & Newcastle where their support was 1st for their team and then for other NE teams. I don't know when the hatred between them started

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Bit surprised by that, I've generally been very impressed in recent years by the standard in penalty taking in various shootouts. Just goes to show how skilled Mr Wright is at taking them, must be on 90%+ for them here.

Almost certain it was 0.8 two seasons ago
0.78 this year I think