Article about Scottish vs Norwegian supporter culture - Page 3 - TA specific - Tartan Army Message Board Jump to content

Article about Scottish vs Norwegian supporter culture


Sindre

Recommended Posts

25 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

 

Be lucky if 10,000 folk leave Ireland on any given weekend to watch football in the UK.

I'd bet there's more than watch Irish League football though. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/25/2018 at 9:20 AM, Squirrelhumper said:

 

Not when they spend the game not actually supporting the team.

Says it all that the song our away fans sing most s about having a fucking party! That's what it is for a high % of the support and one of the reasons I cut back on away games.

I'd rather be there stone cold sober and see a successful team. I don't think that is shared by a lot of fans. It's an excuse to get away from the wife for many.

Said this for a long time and my Perth group seem to be getting pissed off too with the party twats. Peru and Mexico was refreshing. Every single Scotland fan I spoke to went on about the games. Team selections, etc. I don’t think I heard a single ned pump out No Scotland No Party bollocks. My last trip to mainland Europe was last year’s Lithuania game and it easily had the most ned-like, party-fest wankers I’ve come across yet. The whole “Ach, whit harm are we dain?” knobs do my napper in. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/19/2018 at 1:09 PM, Sindre said:

Hello!

My name is Sindre Leganger and I work as journalist for Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. I'm writing about the supporter culture for our national team. We haven't qualified for a championship since 2000, and the support for our team is currently not strong. However - If I've understood correctly, Scotland has not qualified for a championship since 1998 (when we were in the same group!). Yet the Tartan Army stands strong. I'm trying to understand why that is. What are you guys doing right, that we are doing wrong? Who should I talk to? Can you help me with contact information?

Hope hear from you, and have a great day!

Hi Sindre, that’s a very interesting topic and welcome to the forum!

The Scots are world champions at talking ourselves down so if you come across pessimists about our support then don’t be surprised.

I think home attendances and our overall feeling for the national team are not inexplicably linked, for instance Scotland actually has (per capita) the best attended domestic top division in Europe and has a disproportionately high number of Football supporters.

Scotland and Norway are probably similar in that we’re both waiting for that magical moment where we can reach a major tournament and capture the imagination of the nation again, there’s an undoubted pessimism about the teams failings and Football in Scotland in general but I still think we’re on cusp of something perhaps in the euros.

Seems like you need a football revolution in Norway to get people excited again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Sindre,

I have been travelling to watch Scotland since the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Here are my views which I am sure some will disagree with.

We had a decent side in the 1980s with a number of players with the leading English clubs and while Scotland always threatened to do something we never did bar the odd one off result.

Watching Scotland now is more of a social event than it used to be although it would be wrong to say people only used to go for the match. Historically Scots supporters have always been known to drink excessively going back to the biannual trips to Wembley last century.

What happened in the mid 1990s was that supporters started to get organised and formed their own clubs such as the London Scots and Edinburgh Tartan Army. Of course people had previously travelled with groups of friends but when there was a local club in your area it clearly was an opportunity to meet like minded people on a regular basis -  and not just when there was a match on. 

Later Scotland began playing a number of home matches on Saturday afternoons and these clubs viewed such occasions a a regular day out to look forward to regardless of the result.

With the decline in weekend fixtures and results these fans were not prepared to give up the friendship and comaradarie they had discovered - cynics might query whether they previously had no friends  lol!

People met their partners through the Tartan Army and got involved with fund raising and charity work and away matches were to a degree viewed as a holiday with the trip often lasting for a full week.

Due to the cult of the Tartan Army this has encouraged others to join who are looked down upon by some as drunks with no interest in the match. I would dispute this as I have yet to meet anyone who has no interest in the result - it is more a case of lower than previous expectations making defeats less painful.

I have no problem whatsoever with anyone coming along for whatever reason - it is not an exclusive club. Some older veterans consider those who sport feathers in their hats as the party goers but that is too much of a generalisation for me.

Equally there are a number of well known  elder fans who started out in the 1970s or 80s who have transformed into the new breed of fan. That is who used to go for the game but nowadays always appear to be drunk for the duration of an overseas trip.

There are some supporters who view each trip like another notch on their belt who can actually tell you exactly how many away matches they have attended as if is some sort of competition to be Scotlands biggest fan. Paradoxically some of the elder Tartan Army have no idea of numbers of matches and no interest in such statistics.

I have no issue whatsoever with young lads enjoying a bevvy or Swedish nurses coming along for the ride (no pun inteneded).

In fact I predict, like most of the fan groups, the Swedish TA will grow as it has the potential to do so once word gets around  those three girls friends about the good times to be had. I would expect them to be hitting double figures in the near future.

And very welcome they are too - although as I sad some will clearly disagree.

 

Edited by Catchart Circle
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 5:01 PM, Ormond said:

Said this for a long time and my Perth group seem to be getting pissed off too with the party twats. Peru and Mexico was refreshing. Every single Scotland fan I spoke to went on about the games. Team selections, etc. I don’t think I heard a single ned pump out No Scotland No Party bollocks. My last trip to mainland Europe was last year’s Lithuania game and it easily had the most ned-like, party-fest wankers I’ve come across yet. The whole “Ach, whit harm are we dain?” knobs do my napper in. 

I find the older fans are bigger wankers than the younger ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎6‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 5:01 PM, Ormond said:

Said this for a long time and my Perth group seem to be getting pissed off too with the party twats. Peru and Mexico was refreshing. Every single Scotland fan I spoke to went on about the games. Team selections, etc. I don’t think I heard a single ned pump out No Scotland No Party bollocks. My last trip to mainland Europe was last year’s Lithuania game and it easily had the most ned-like, party-fest wankers I’ve come across yet. The whole “Ach, whit harm are we dain?” knobs do my napper in. 

 

On ‎6‎/‎29‎/‎2018 at 1:17 PM, Squirrelhumper said:

I find the older fans are bigger wankers than the younger ones.

 

I understand your argument guys and to an extent, you are right, there are a lot that just come along for the party. However, for some of these younger fans, myself included (hasten to add that my idea of a trip away is a bit of seeing the city, a bit of relaxed street café drinking and the game), they have never seen a team qualify let along play at a major tournament. Indeed in the ten attempts to qualify since 98, we have got to two playoffs in 99 and 03. In the last 15 years, some heartening campaigns but ultimately not really close to qualification for anything.

 

So, I think it is understandable that with often poor football on show, a lot of lads and lassies that follow Scotland enjoy the partying aspect so highly. For them, it is their chance to have a few days in a foreign city, drink a lot and pull on the kilt. For what it is worth, I'd rather qualify for a major tournament and not touch a drop of alcohol to make it happen. I've never met a Scotland fan on trips that hasn't been interested in the football or the result, and that haven't engaged in football chat. However, with our general predictability of now not qualifying and usually struggling away from home, I think it is understandable that a lot of people don't let a bad result get in the way of enjoying a hard earned trip away.

 

We're a broad church, and we should never discount anyone from supporting Scotland if they so choose to.

 

PS @Squirrelhumper - absolutely love the username on here and P&B. Always makes me snigger childishly.

Edited by BucksburnDandy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...