The end of the line

[Hartfelt]

This is how it ends with a whimper and not a bang. I'm writing this certain in the knowledge that it means nothing, but for me, today, it marks the end of thirty years' supporting Spurs. I like the idea of writing this declaration of independence as a farewell to a club that once meant so very much to me. Closure, to use the phrase that our American friends like so much.

Quite simply, to quote Morrissey when asked about Buck's Fizz's latest chart entry, these days 'I find it impossible to care.'

Unlike many on this site, particularly the ones who've only had pubes for a few summers, I feel no need to wear my Spurs' credentials on my sleeve. I know the kind of fan I've been ever since the first day Keith Burkinshaw took over in that year of the long, hot summer.

Spurs today is unrecognisable, as is football, from the era I was lucky enough to grow up in. No spirit of togetherness, no respect for the fans, no sense of humility. No apology for years of frankly disgraceful football given the levels of investment and the extent to which season ticket-holders, like me, have been bled, year in, year out.

Quite simply I don't want it any more. I don't want to be robbed of money by people who don't give a shit about entertainment, or honouring a sporting tradition, or conducting themselves with dignity, or even acting like men and taking responsibility for their mistakes. I don't want to have to put up with being treated with contempt by a corporation I've poured tens of thousands of pounds into. I don't want to be at The Lane when Levy sells the club, taking it even further from what it once was. I don't want to watch the current generation of Spurs' footballers strut around like little gods, releasing quotes to the media about their (woeful) performances, and pretending that they know anything about real life with their obscene wages and obscene lack of education.

I can think of not a single good reason to carry on supporting Spurs. It's just habit now. Nothing more. One empty promise too many, one disgraceful performance too far. A repugnant, vulgar, grasping, plastic culture permeating the whole shambles - the antithesis of the sporting ideal. Today I've kicked the habit. There is no more reason to believe, so I've stopped believing.

Thanks to all the people I've stood shoulder-to-shoulder with over the decades, particularly those in the Paxton. You know who you are. Solid through everything. Once we was Yids.

[Geez]

Hartfelt by name ................... :sad:

I wish I could come up with some magic cliche but I can't :shrug:

[glenda]

mate dont beat yourself up!! get a goodnights sleep or get yourself down to the spearmint rhino,its never over!! its like the mafia once your in theres no leavin!!! u have to go to the bitter end like the rest of us!!! this aint chelsea or man u bro!! u cant just walk away & get it together man!!! your spurs & u know u are!!!

[guate]

Hartfelt, I know how you feel and sympathize with your sentiments regarding the negative changes you/we've all seen at our once noble and proud club, specially the 2008/9 version where making a profit at the expense of entertainment is considered good business.

Nevertheless, YOU are Spurs, you, I and all the many, many thousands, perhaps millions, of supporters throughout the British Isles and the rest of the world

Our club may now be a profitable corporate instrument in the hands of Lewis, Levy and gang, primed to bleed its supporters dry, and sold the moment they receive a decent offer, but you, fellow supporter are the life blood of Tottenham.

Now is not the time to give us, protest however you wish but we need to stick together and show these shallow, albeit wealthy individuals, that with or without them, there will always be Tottenham Hotspurs

[spud]

....today...marks the end of thirty years' supporting Spurs.

My first reaction was 'well, piss off then, quitter; who needs you?' but then I started thinking that you might have a point. So let's look a little more closely.

Spurs today is unrecognisable, as is football, from the era I was lucky enough to grow up in.

Welcome to the 21st century, my friend. Nobody gives a shit any more about anything but themselves. Why should football be any different?

No spirit of togetherness, no respect for the fans, no sense of humility. No apology for years of frankly disgraceful football given the levels of investment and the extent to which season ticket-holders, like me, have been bled, year in, year out..

Now you're stretching the boundaries of credibility. Take off your rose-tinted specs. In the 'good old days' when the Wale family owned the club, did they respect the fans? When 50,000+ were packed into the Lane every match, did they spend even a small part of the profits on stadium improvements? Did ticket prices go down in the year after we won the double in recognition of the loyalty of the fans? Did they bollocks. We have always been taken for granted. Get real.

I can think of not a single good reason to carry on supporting Spurs..... One empty promise too many, one disgraceful performance too far. ......There is no more reason to believe, so I've stopped believing.

So now we're getting to it. It was fine being taken for granted etc etc as long as the team was winning. From the early blip of relegation in 1978 through a succession of trophies in the eighties and into the early nineties you found it quite acceptable to be a poor abused football fan, but now we're (no doubt in your opinion) crap, with only relegation to look forward to, poor old you can take it no longer. If we had won four and drawn two of the first six games would you still have posted this? Thought not.

So goodbye Hartfelt, it's been emotional. Rest secure in the knowledge that you make those fair-weather bar-code excuses for fans look good. At least they've got the excuse of no trophies since God was a boy. All those thirty years of pretence, only to reveal yourself as a part-timer.

So you feel no need to wear [your] Spurs' credentials on [your] sleeve.

It must come as some relief to know that you don't have to wear them at all.

You must be proud.

[bill]

laters.





btw . we all feel like this sometimes. take a break .. see you next season at grimsby ;)

[AndyLov]

You're writing like you have a choice in the matter.

You don't, no one here does.

[Leachie]

Yeah, yeah. You'll be back.

[bigspurs]

I can quit smoking, alcohol, crack, smack and dogging, but I can't quit Spurs.

I completely respect your decision, you're a stronger man than I sir!

[Hartfelt]

Moronic platitudes and a tribalism rooted in what precisely? It's the vitriol and the cod 'I bleed Spurs' that make me giggle. So you're a 'fan' are you? Clearly you've never really learnt respect, which is one of the key points I raised.

32 years and hundreds of games entitles me to have a perspective, and a long one at that, on the club. If you seriously believe that the end of the line is arrived at because of our current blip, you obviously haven't watched many of our performances over the last decade, or read what I wrote. I've never expected success in the modern era. I have expected a touch of Billy Nic. It's nothing to do with winning and EVERYTHING to do with culture.

You're sorely mistaken if you believe my view is rose-tinted. When I was a kid prices at WHL meant that I could go down and watch football with money I earnt from my paper round. There were proper advantages for season-ticket holders. Even when the stadium was jam-packed, kids were given space...if not the best view. As a kid I talked to many of the players just by hanging around after the game. They gave us time and gear too, because they were us, pretty much. The world changes, that's an axiom. The point of a culture is that it endures. I don't believe ours has.

I'll check into the site because I'm still interested in some of the views on here, but I no longer consider myself a proper fan, and I have a clear definition in my head of what that means. For example, I don't consider you a proper fan. You feel you have the right to insult me when I've made it clear the amount of time I've invested in Spurs. Still, it demeans you and not me. You must be proud.

[theMAXILOPEZpsycho]

I agree totaly with these sentements; however, I feel you should've said your no longer following "football" rather than "spurs"

the last straw for me was watching us have our 2 best players muscled away from us - then told by the media we had a lot to be optimistic about, ie the wonderous possibility of just maybe challengling that top 4. Some of us just refuse to play that role in the ridiculous pantomime.

[Lucky22]

That is really sad, but I think unjustified, Hartfelt. I think you have used the widespread media portrayal of footballers to allow you to be blinded. Yes, football has changed, and maybe not for the better, but many at our club are doing their best to adjust to that while still holding onto our morals and traditions.
We are and have been a club who, for many years, have been run by a big corporation yet we haven't sold our souls down the river like Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool. Even if we do get taken over by an Asian, Indian or some other businessman, we will still be Spurs - the Lillywhites who play a certain way, have a certain style and are supported by decent, hardworking people who care about football.
We haven't scarificed our ideals like Chelsea, haven't become the playground bully like Man United or the 'We're greater than everyone else' attitude of Liverpool - not to mention the 'Look at our great system, intelligent, smarter than you' (I didn't see it) bile that pours out of the Emirates (even the name of their stadium spells sell-out) - no, we are Spurs.

When I see players like Woody, Hutton, King and Jamie O'Hara I still have pride in the shirt, just like they do. Look at O'Hara, he is the embodiment of the dream we all as fans have - to start in the stands and end up on the pitch. You can't tell me that in the good ol' days every last man, from one to 11 bled for the shirt and give their all each and every game. We've had our fair share of journeymen over the years and those who only turned up for the the cash.

If you have followed this club for 30 years then you have come through worse times than this. If you survived the George Graham era - which, personally I still cringe over - then surely you can get through this!

[JimmyG2]

I think the point being made is that this is not the time to quit.Is it coincidence that all these valid critical points you make about the nature of the game and the fact that Spurs are just part of it happen to reach a point of no return for you when we are the lowest ebb we have been for some time.
Now everyones personal history is different and only you know what has brought you to this decision right now but you will always be tarnished with the lingering thought that you,as a longstanding fan and supporter left when the going got really tough.
I think you are right,the game is in a bad way and will only get worse.We all like to pretend that our club is different but we know its not.
Now we have the added distraction of alledged 'Asian billionaires' and possible legal action over the abuse of Campbell.Its all getting very messy and a run of good results is not going to change the fundamentals of the club as you rightly say.
Perhaps if fans as concerned as you are quit the club the message of the deep unrest might get through.Perhaps yours is the only correct response.
But I couldn't leave now.Not because I 'bleed Spurs' but because the emotional attatchment I have forged with the club over 50yrs says this is not the time.
Its not about Levy,or Robbie keane and Berbatov its a longer tradition and history than that.
In fact by quitting now you make it easier for the club to turn its back on the past and cut all those links which mean so much to me and probably you and to sell the club down the river,after 'due diligence' of course.
I rspect your decision and wish you good luck.

[vietnam1973]

Moronic platitudes and a tribalism rooted in what precisely? It's the vitriol and the cod 'I bleed Spurs' that make me giggle. So you're a 'fan' are you? Clearly you've never really learnt respect, which is one of the key points I raised.

32 years and hundreds of games entitles me to have a perspective, and a long one at that, on the club. If you seriously believe that the end of the line is arrived at because of our current blip, you obviously haven't watched many of our performances over the last decade, or read what I wrote. I've never expected success in the modern era. I have expected a touch of Billy Nic. It's nothing to do with winning and EVERYTHING to do with culture.

You're sorely mistaken if you believe my view is rose-tinted. When I was a kid prices at WHL meant that I could go down and watch football with money I earnt from my paper round. There were proper advantages for season-ticket holders. Even when the stadium was jam-packed, kids were given space...if not the best view. As a kid I talked to many of the players just by hanging around after the game. They gave us time and gear too, because they were us, pretty much. The world changes, that's an axiom. The point of a culture is that it endures. I don't believe ours has.

I'll check into the site because I'm still interested in some of the views on here, but I no longer consider myself a proper fan, and I have a clear definition in my head of what that means. For example, I don't consider you a proper fan. You feel you have the right to insult me when I've made it clear the amount of time I've invested in Spurs. Still, it demeans you and not me. You must be proud.

hartfelt i feel for you, you should be applauded for following spurs for 32 years you are a true yid, iam jealous that you experienced the good times, i really wish bill nick could of been around when i started supporting spurs (89)

im gutted at whats happend to football aswell, the working mans game is now a huge commercial exercise, the only function it now has is to make millions of pound profit for foreign investors and players who have no respect or real love for the clubs they play for, there is no sense of belonging to the club anymore but at least you had a taste of that.

i understand the frustration you have, i have never seen a succesfull team during my 19 year support, yeah ive seen a few cup wins but to fall as a club the way we have, we used to be giants, we used to be kings! now weve had to go thru a lean spell over the last few years but we will be there again one day, we have too much history not to be succesfull again, i know succes isnt the only aspect of following a team, but i believe theres no way you could not give a shit about tottenham hotspurs f.c anymore

[striebs]

Hartfelt ,


I'm in my forties and can understand completely what you are saying .

The disillusionment with football is growing in this country and indeed over Europe as a whole .

Not sure whether anyone can save the football industry from itself , Platini is trying so they will get wrid of him .

Gotta hit clubs where it hurts and a good way to give them something to think about is by not renewing a season ticket .

IMHO there are a number of clubs in the country who have something to admire Middlesboro and Aston Villa being the obvious top division examples .

Hartfelt , next season :-
i) how many matches do you think you will go to at Spurs ?
ii) which other clubs and how many times ?

[RogerTCB]

Though I can't quite empathise, I see where you are coming from. I'd go and support Ebbsfleet if I were you. It'll give you back your sense of ownership in every sense: no being taken for granted; no paying players over what you consider to be the odds; no feeling like the fans could have done better than the ludicrous system and management which the super-rich have installed off the back of the money you, and many like you, pour into the club. You could do worse and it may give you some fo the pleasure you once found in the game. http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk/

Me, I hope we slaughter them this afternoon, confidence returns, and Ramos works out a 1st eleven that he can stick with and win games... I just get the feeling you may have more luck.

[Azrael]

My first reaction was 'well, piss off then, quitter; who needs you?' but then I started thinking that you might have a point. So let's look a little more closely.



Welcome to the 21st century, my friend. Nobody gives a shit any more about anything but themselves. Why should football be any different?



Now you're stretching the boundaries of credibility. Take off your rose-tinted specs. In the 'good old days' when the Wale family owned the club, did they respect the fans? When 50,000+ were packed into the Lane every match, did they spend even a small part of the profits on stadium improvements? Did ticket prices go down in the year after we won the double in recognition of the loyalty of the fans? Did they bollocks. We have always been taken for granted. Get real.



So now we're getting to it. It was fine being taken for granted etc etc as long as the team was winning. From the early blip of relegation in 1978 through a succession of trophies in the eighties and into the early nineties you found it quite acceptable to be a poor abused football fan, but now we're (no doubt in your opinion) crap, with only relegation to look forward to, poor old you can take it no longer. If we had won four and drawn two of the first six games would you still have posted this? Thought not.

So goodbye Hartfelt, it's been emotional. Rest secure in the knowledge that you make those fair-weather bar-code excuses for fans look good. At least they've got the excuse of no trophies since God was a boy. All those thirty years of pretence, only to reveal yourself as a part-timer.

So you

It must come as some relief to know that you don't have to wear them at all.

You must be proud.
Mate, with respect, you're being a bit of a tosser.

I totally understand where Hartfelt is coming from as I briefly felt when Berbs was sold, the window shut and we had no frontline left I sat down and said to myself "what's the fucking point". Yeah after yeah, false dawn after false dawn, relentless ridicule from other footie fans. I had had enough.

However, there is something that seperates me from Hartfelt, which is why I am surprised at his declaration. I don't subscribe to the rabid tribalism that some people like you show, but for me, I have been a Spurs fan so long that I just can't contemplate supporting anyone else.

Recently my best friend, a Newcastle fan, declared that he has had enough of the parody that constantly takes place up there and has decided to support Fulham (as if that's much better!). The reasoning was the same as Hartfelt's. He just couldn't take the shit any more. But when he told me this I just couldn't quite get my head around the concept of him supporting anyone else. He had been a fan of them for so many years that the prospect of switching loyalties seemed like a betrayl. It was at that point that I realised that I just couldn't contemplate supporting anyone else where there were still 11 boys out there playing in white shirts with a cockrel on their breats. I couldn't contemplate not ever going back to the Lane...or worse still going there and sitting in the away fans' seats. I just couldn't live with the guilt that I would feel for throwing away all those years of supporting one club, just to throw in the towel and go elsewhere.

That emotional tie is the only reason I am and will remain a Spurs fan as I otherwise agree with what Hartflet says about how he feels about the club. I guess that's what sets us apart.

[TheChosenOne]

More of a suicide note than a Dear John.

I have about a dozen years seniority to you in supporting THFC, many highs and many lows, the mid to late 80's and early 90's were my lowest times, the club was on the right footing to go onward and upwards but somehow spunked it all away while Arsenal who had been through a barren spell managed to pick up the baton and lead a charge into the new world of the EPL while we stagnated and misfired.

The relegation to the old 2nd division at the end of the 76/77 was a mere blip, good times and reality check - just like Man U who were relegated a couple of years previous to us.

I know what you are saying about prices, always as a kid in the 60's and then as a young man in the 80's and 90's I could always afford to get to WHL and nearly every other ground in the country including quite a few European matches over the channel.

I can't afford it now, something else alway takes priority like food, children etc.

I tried and failed to give up my team, I used to sulk for days when they lost, but like a drug I will always need another fix.

[chris4673]

Why is he a tosser? For expressing an opinion? That is the idea of a forum just in case you have forgotten!

And actually I sort of agree with everyones sentiments in small pieces except yours funny enough.

Just because we sold Berba you thought "whats the fucking point" - a true fan wouldnt think like that. A true fan would look to try and identify a positive that could be taken from all the doom and gloom merchants.

To put it another way, Spurs could sell the whole team for all i care and replace them with whoever they want, because I support Spurs as a club and its tradition, not individual players.

If you dont want false dawns each season, why dont you support Man Utd or Chelsea, even Barca or Real, at least they will have a higher probability of living up to your expectations each season.

To give you credit in closing you do once again pin your flag to your chest which gives you more reason for hope than some.

I guess my point is, if you dont like it and cannot change it, then leave, go elsewhere, do you really have to blight the forum with all your doom and gloom? Surely there are other sites on the internet who would like to be recipients of your well thought out, lengthy posts containing big words that you had to check on a thesaurus!

Think thats about it for now - for all us real fans, lets keep our fingers crossed for later this afternoon.

COYS

PS - Maxilopez - Since you retired from supporting Spurs so long ago, why are you still hear beraing, belittling, moaning and being as anti-spurs as ever?

Over and out..........



Mate, with respect, you're being a bit of a tosser.

I totally understand where Hartfelt is coming from as I briefly felt when Berbs was sold, the window shut and we had no frontline left I sat down and said to myself "what's the fucking point". Yeah after yeah, false dawn after false dawn, relentless ridicule from other footie fans. I had had enough.

However, there is something that seperates me from Hartfelt, which is why I am surprised at his declaration. I don't subscribe to the rabid tribalism that some people like you show, but for me, I have been a Spurs fan so long that I just can't contemplate supporting anyone else.

Recently my best friend, a Newcastle fan, declared that he has had enough of the parody that constantly takes place up there and has decided to support Fulham (as if that's much better!). The reasoning was the same as Hartfelt's. He just couldn't take the shit any more. But when he told me this I just couldn't quite get my head around the concept of him supporting anyone else. He had been a fan of them for so many years that the prospect of switching loyalties seemed like a betrayl. It was at that point that I realised that I just couldn't contemplate supporting anyone else where there were still 11 boys out there playing in white shirts with a cockrel on their breats. I couldn't contemplate not ever going back to the Lane...or worse still going there and sitting in the away fans' seats. I just couldn't live with the guilt that I would feel for throwing away all those years of supporting one club, just to throw in the towel and go elsewhere.

That emotional tie is the only reason I am and will remain a Spurs fan as I otherwise agree with what Hartflet says about how he feels about the club. I guess that's what sets us apart.

[Azrael]

Why is he a tosser? For expressing an opinion? That is the idea of a forum just in case you have forgotten!


I'm told by the mods that its not the idea of the forum at all, that in fact we must show each other respect. If you take that on board then it follows that spud should be making Hartfelt feel like he's some kind of person to be looked down upon just because he voices he's feelings about the state of the club and game at the moment.

[strader]

I can bet my last dollar he will be back.

No one stop supporting your footbal team. Ok my question to you is are you a FAN or a supporter.

Occasionally i am a fan of united as they play good football and i can choose to stop supporting them however never spurs. i have tried it but it wasn't possible.

Hartfelt, give it time as we are going through a really bad patch and it takes time. I truely believe when i all clicks we will play the sort of footie to die for.

[Jonesey]

This is how it ends with a whimper and not a bang. I'm writing this certain in the knowledge that it means nothing, but for me, today, it marks the end of thirty years' supporting Spurs. I like the idea of writing this declaration of independence as a farewell to a club that once meant so very much to me. Closure, to use the phrase that our American friends like so much.

Quite simply, to quote Morrissey when asked about Buck's Fizz's latest chart entry, these days 'I find it impossible to care.'

Unlike many on this site, particularly the ones who've only had pubes for a few summers, I feel no need to wear my Spurs' credentials on my sleeve. I know the kind of fan I've been ever since the first day Keith Burkinshaw took over in that year of the long, hot summer.

Spurs today is unrecognisable, as is football, from the era I was lucky enough to grow up in. No spirit of togetherness, no respect for the fans, no sense of humility. No apology for years of frankly disgraceful football given the levels of investment and the extent to which season ticket-holders, like me, have been bled, year in, year out.

Quite simply I don't want it any more. I don't want to be robbed of money by people who don't give a shit about entertainment, or honouring a sporting tradition, or conducting themselves with dignity, or even acting like men and taking responsibility for their mistakes. I don't want to have to put up with being treated with contempt by a corporation I've poured tens of thousands of pounds into. I don't want to be at The Lane when Levy sells the club, taking it even further from what it once was. I don't want to watch the current generation of Spurs' footballers strut around like little gods, releasing quotes to the media about their (woeful) performances, and pretending that they know anything about real life with their obscene wages and obscene lack of education.

I can think of not a single good reason to carry on supporting Spurs. It's just habit now. Nothing more. One empty promise too many, one disgraceful performance too far. A repugnant, vulgar, grasping, plastic culture permeating the whole shambles - the antithesis of the sporting ideal. Today I've kicked the habit. There is no more reason to believe, so I've stopped believing.

Thanks to all the people I've stood shoulder-to-shoulder with over the decades, particularly those in the Paxton. You know who you are. Solid through everything. Once we was Yids.

Hartfelt, I know exactly how you feel and declared the same thing to my friends after our miserable, appalling, disgusting, toothless, terrible, lacklustre and disgraceful performance on Sunday.

Having seen every game of ours this season along with lots of other matches I honestly believe we are the worst team in the Premier League. I honestly can't see how we can possibly become an attacking force under the present management and board and, knowing that Levy will neither sell up or change our coaching team until it's too late have already resigned myself to us being in the Championship next year.

We are in a severely dire situation but it's one which many on here - who I admire - with rose-tinted specs truly believe we will get out of. I, on the other hand, truly don't.

However, I still logged on to Spurs Community today and read your post - and I'm sure you will log on to see who's replied and what they say.

So, you see, your declaration bears the mark of a tormented man - but that's what us Spurs fans have had to learn to live with; being tormented.

I know you'll be back and when you are, I for one will welcome you with open arms. You are a true fan. I know that and so do you.

Don't be gone too long.

[Byron]

Ive read all the above comments and in fact some have bought a tear to my eye, but the fact is many come and go and all will be replaced. sorry to see you go Hartfelt but if you do ever venture back i will still be on the terraces giving every last bit of energy i have for this club. Your right that football clubs dont give a shit anymore but that doesn't mean we have to be the same. Were having a crap time at the moment, it might get worse before it gets better, who knows, but the time will come again when were winning and playing well and we can all look back and have a little smile about how bad we were. Always remember shit happens but Tottenham WILL be back.

[spud]

......spud should be making Hartfelt feel like he's some kind of person to be looked down upon just because he voices he's feelings about the state of the club and game at the moment.

I am among the most respectful people you could ever meet. Other people's opinions have value even though I happen to disagree with them. But when somebody declares - in un undeniably tough time - that he can take it no longer, I question his motivation. His own words, which I quoted, indicate that, ultimately, he is a fair-weather supporter. His self-pitying whine about being exploited is merely self-justification.

He seeks sympathy and consolation - his motivation for posting his 'decision' on here. He may be right about the state of football today, but it is merely an excuse. A point that he failed to address - and will not do so - is that he would be the same world class fan that he considers himself to have been if we had won our first six games.

I respect his opinion. I don't respect his years of pretence and his quitting when we are down. Good riddance.

[chivers!]

If you're after closure, why keep checking the site to see the replies to your signoff?
Go on now go, walk out the door, don't turn around now...I'm sure you'll be welcome, but you know what I mean. If it's over, it's over, move on, etc. etc.

[antlesh]

Would this thread be around if we were top of the league? no!!!!! That is why he will be back! and all you will look back on this thread and laugh! the reality ids life is getting more expensive and so will football! as for this poor run it is due to the fact we lost our two best players and we do not have the right manager to turn things round we are back to the stage we were at before BMJ took over. Hartfelt I understand how you feel but you know you just want a cuddle!!!

[tottenham4life]

I fcuking love spurs! I could never give it up! i have stopped smoking, eating junk food, but i cannot and will not ever give up on my beloved spurs.

sorry you feel that way i truely wish there was saomething i could say that would make you change your mind but after reading that i dont think i could.

take it easy.


though after saying what you just have i know you will keep an eye out over them. somethings can be given up others cant be.

peace

[DC_Boy]

I've been supporting spurs nearly 50 years now and have not the slightest interest in quitting

I loved our result today

I bet most of the big 4 fans don't feel like quitting as they drink in ever more success

I bet Hull fans don't feel like quitting

west ham have probably discovered a few coming back to the fold

people can quit spurs whenever they want and fair play to you hartfelt for all your great support over the years-

but to quit in our hour of need - well that's up to the individual - the vast majority of us true fans (whatever that means) will rally behind the club

[gloryglory]

My girlfriend asked me ...

You don't like the board, you don't like the Chairman.

You don't like the manager or any of the coaching staff.

The players change all the time and your favourite ones always move on.

You don't admire the style of the play or enjoy most of the games.

You don't win many matches let alone trophies.

You don't like most of the fans, aren't from Tottenham, and don't think much of the area.

What exactly are you a fan of? What is the mythical entity that is 'Tottenham' and why are you attached of it?"

Answers on a postcard - I sure didn't have one.

[peter123]

The key point here is the best players.. Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane all f**k off once they get a sniff. Make no mistake the Steve Bulls of this world are history.

I gave up my season ticket in '97 with my dad. Not because of the time but simply because the players get paid too much and don't respect the fact that the people in the ground pay their wages.

Campbell is obviously a worse situation (he literally stole money out of your pockets). But I see people on here defending Robbie Keane and it makes me sick. All I can say is you guys paid his wages.... he kissed the badge and suddenly out of no-where he f****d off!

Supporting any football club these days (I mean investing heavily in time/money to support a club) is like falling in love with a whore.

[Houdini]

Hartfelt, you will still be looking for our results, scorers, etc etc.......because supporting Spurs ain't a fashion, its a way of life....you have more chance of forgetting your own name than cutting the cord, mate!

[chris4673]

:clap:

I am among the most respectful people you could ever meet. Other people's opinions have value even though I happen to disagree with them. But when somebody declares - in un undeniably tough time - that he can take it no longer, I question his motivation. His own words, which I quoted, indicate that, ultimately, he is a fair-weather supporter. His self-pitying whine about being exploited is merely self-justification.

He seeks sympathy and consolation - his motivation for posting his 'decision' on here. He may be right about the state of football today, but it is merely an excuse. A point that he failed to address - and will not do so - is that he would be the same world class fan that he considers himself to have been if we had won our first six games.

I respect his opinion. I don't respect his years of pretence and his quitting when we are down. Good riddance.

[Azrael]

My girlfriend asked me ...

You don't like the board, you don't like the Chairman.

You don't like the manager or any of the coaching staff.

The players change all the time and your favourite ones always move on.

You don't admire the style of the play or enjoy most of the games.

You don't win many matches let alone trophies.

You don't like most of the fans, aren't from Tottenham, and don't think much of the area.

What exactly are you a fan of? What is the mythical entity that is 'Tottenham' and why are you attached of it?"

Answers on a postcard - I sure didn't have one.
Well, surely there must be some sort of feeling as to why you are a fan??

[PAULUS]

agree with you mostly harfelt, but no matter who is manager or who owns the club,or how bad things are going for the club, i will always be a proud supporter of my mighty spurs

[Azrael]

^ You feel the same as Hartfelt but you still call us "mighty"? Isn't that something of a contradiction?

[Hartfelt]

Oh dearie me.

Sympathy? Self-pity? Self-justification? Do you really think I give a toss about any of that? I don't have to justify myself to anyone except my family. I don't need the validation of people I don't know. The reason I posted on a Spurs' site is self-evident.

As for the timing of my decision, people like you don't get it. I've seen Spurs in far worse situations than this. We all have. I saw us relegated for fuck's sake! Today we have an abundance of talent, a good manager (probably) and money in the bank. It's nothing to do with a shocking start to the season or the fact that we've barely played since the Carling Cup. It's to do with the erosion of my perception of the club. As I've explained.

World-class fan? Funnily enough I don't think there is a rating system. All I've stated are facts about my attendance to contextualise my post. Obviously I'm not doubting for a second that you're the real McCoy and feel more for Spurs than anyone else could. Spud, as the Goons call us, is about right.


By all means disagree with my post, discussion is what it's about, but your tone is well out of order. You don't know me and you wouldn't be quite so gobby to me in person. I guarantee it.

Respect? Don't make me laugh. You've never learnt the meaning of it. You can't bid me good riddance. I'm proud to say I've never been with your kind.

.

[Hartfelt]

Fair point. But it's because, as Houdini says further down, checking the site and the scores are part of the umbilical cord. Will that be severed? Who knows?

It's the commitment to going to WHL week in week out, or more recently Europe, and the passion that used to make the week shitty after we lost, that I'm packing in.

Obviously I'm also interested in where other people are at with Spurs, which was part of the reason for the post.

[antlesh]

Oh dearie me.

Sympathy? Self-pity? Self-justification? Do you really think I give a toss about any of that? I don't have to justify myself to anyone except my family. I don't need the validation of people I don't know. The reason I posted on a Spurs' site is self-evident.

As for the timing of my decision, people like you don't get it. I've seen Spurs in far worse situations than this. We all have. I saw us relegated for fuck's sake! Today we have an abundance of talent, a good manager (probably) and money in the bank. It's nothing to do with a shocking start to the season or the fact that we've barely played since the Carling Cup. It's to do with the erosion of my perception of the club. As I've explained.

World-class fan? Funnily enough I don't think there is a rating system. All I've stated are facts about my attendance to contextualise my post. Obviously I'm not doubting for a second that you're the real McCoy and feel more for Spurs than anyone else could. Spud, as the Goons call us, is about right.


By all means disagree with my post, discussion is what it's about, but your tone is well out of order. You don't know me and you wouldn't be quite so gobby to me in person. I guarantee it.

Respect? Don't make me laugh. You've never learnt the meaning of it. You can't bid me good riddance. I'm proud to say I've never been with your kind.

.


You still here????

YIDO YIDO YIDO!!!!!

[spud]

Sympathy? Self-pity? Self-justification? Do you really think I give a toss about any of that? .

Yes. Everything that you have written screams it.

You don't know me . You're right; I don't. Neither do I claim to. All I know is what you have written. You may be the best friend that a man can have, a prince among men; I have no idea. I am commenting on what you told us about yourself, not who you are.


You, on the other hand, claim to know me. You say that you don't consider me a proper fan. 'People like [me]' don't get the timing of your decision. You are '...proud to say [you've] never been with [my] kind'. Nice.

You go on to say (and well done on the sarcasm here) Obviously I'm not doubting for a second that you're the real McCoy and feel more for Spurs than anyone else could.

That, my friend, is the nub of the matter. How 'good' a fan you are is not - as you appear to belive - linked to longevity (although, for the record, I've got a few years on you) nor the amount that you spend on following the club; nor, ultimately, anything tangible.

Grading levels of fandom is in any case irrelevant. Either you are a fan, or you are not. Simple. It is part of you. Changing that is about as easy as changing your skin colour. So when you say 'I can think of not one good reason to carry on supporting Spurs' it gives you away. You don't need a reason to be a fan; you just are. The reason you became a fan is overtaken as it becomes part of your identity. An immutable part of who you are.

That is why any amount of boardroom ineptitude, financial mismanagement, managerial incompetence, exploitation of the fans, or lack of caring by the players is utterly irrelevant and is merely an excuse. Why using it as a reason to change betrays the fact that - irrespective of how many years you have been attending matches - it was all, ultimately, a pretence.

Let me give you an example of somebody who is a fan. Somebody else who I don't know. gloryglory is a fan. His girlfriend told him, with unassailable logic, why he should not be, and then asked him why he is. He had no answer. He didn't need one. He just is. That, my friend, is being a fan.

So no, Hartfelt, I clearly don't get it. I get how you can stop going to games. I get how you stop buying the merchandise. I get how you have nothing but contempt for the people who run the club and those who represent it on the pitch. I get how the club becomes a lesser part of life when you grow up and deal with the real world. I get how your family becomes the most important thing, and you realise that sport, including Spurs, is ultimately a distraction.

But I don't get how any day, apart from your last one on this planet, can represent 'the end of.......supporting Spurs'. Because if you really are a fan, it doesn't happen.

[ero1x]

Why is he a tosser? For expressing an opinion? That is the idea of a forum just in case you have forgotten!

And actually I sort of agree with everyones sentiments in small pieces except yours funny enough.

Just because we sold Berba you thought "whats the fucking point" - a true fan wouldnt think like that. A true fan would look to try and identify a positive that could be taken from all the doom and gloom merchants.

To put it another way, Spurs could sell the whole team for all i care and replace them with whoever they want, because I support Spurs as a club and its tradition, not individual players.

If you dont want false dawns each season, why dont you support Man Utd or Chelsea, even Barca or Real, at least they will have a higher probability of living up to your expectations each season.

To give you credit in closing you do once again pin your flag to your chest which gives you more reason for hope than some.

I guess my point is, if you dont like it and cannot change it, then leave, go elsewhere, do you really have to blight the forum with all your doom and gloom? Surely there are other sites on the internet who would like to be recipients of your well thought out, lengthy posts containing big words that you had to check on a thesaurus!

Think thats about it for now - for all us real fans, lets keep our fingers crossed for later this afternoon.

COYS

PS - Maxilopez - Since you retired from supporting Spurs so long ago, why are you still hear beraing, belittling, moaning and being as anti-spurs as ever?

Over and out..........

:clap::clap: