How long do you have to support fulham before you can be considered a "Real" fan

[KingofCheese]

Personally I think if you are a fan you are a fan - whether that is after 1 day/week or year or even after going to one game. I ask because I saw an opinion that length of time is what makes a fan rather than other factors such as say passion etc. I see these sort of debates on other fan sites for other clubs - real v plastic or real v casual.

[blingo]

There is no time......IT'S IN YOUR BLOOD.

[Fernhurst]

Well I'm on 70 years,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,that'll do

[JimmyConway]

I tend to agree length of time is a bigger factor than others such as passion.

[ianthailand]

Well I'm on 70 years,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,that'll do

Only done 65 years of suffering so a baby compared to you Fernhurst. But as KoCheese says you're a fan from day one and should be treated as such.

[cmg]

No time factor.

I'd say you were a real fan if the idea of supporting someone else would seem impossible.

I could say I was no longer a Fulham fan, I could say I supported someone else, I could even buy a Crystal Palace season ticket (if I could afford it) but I would still, in reality, remain a Fulham fan.

[I Ronic]

Unless you've seen Haynes in his prime. Stood on the terraces in the pouring rain, socially distancing yourself from  other fans (decades before you actually needed to) in the third division,watching us being beaten by Carlisle. It's not going to happen.

[I Ronic]

PS Pain suffering and heartbreak are key factors!

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

Unless you've seen Haynes in his prime. Stood on the terraces in the pouring rain, socially distancing yourself from  other fans (decades before you actually needed to) in the third division,watching us being beaten by Carlisle. It's not going to happen.

Aha, but watching us win at Carlisle was fantastic.

[ALG01]

A real fan?
One that stays with the team when the going gets tough and stays tough.
Spends too much time thinking about the club and pointless things such as whether a goal was offside in a meaningless mid table end of season 0 0 draw.
A real fan stretches the patience of there family when the holiday/day out etc is re-arranged to accomodate a cup replay

A real fan speaks up when things are wrong and doesn't let the WUMs stop them.

a real fan knows we should be in the prem, it our rightful place and not say I prefer the championship just because we might be a bit more competitive, real fans aim for the sky and not accpept as a matter of course the poor management we have had these last few years.

Real fands think ian brnfoot dealt rory hammil a very bad hand and messed up a promising career.
real fans think kenny achampong was one of the greatest wastes of talent we ever had. natural ability but no sustained application.

Real fans write pointless messages like tis one.

[rogerpbackinMidEastUS]

A real fan?
One that stays with the team when the going gets tough and stays tough.
Spends too much time thinking about the club and pointless things such as whether a goal was offside in a meaningless mid table end of season 0 0 draw.
A real fan stretches the patience of there family when the holiday/day out etc is re-arranged to accomodate a cup replay

A real fan speaks up when things are wrong and doesn't let the WUMs stop them.

a real fan knows we should be in the prem, it our rightful place and not say I prefer the championship just because we might be a bit more competitive, real fans aim for the sky and not accpept as a matter of course the poor management we have had these last few years.

Real fands think ian brnfoot dealt rory hammil a very bad hand and messed up a promising career.
real fans think kenny achampong was one of the greatest wastes of talent we ever had. natural ability but no sustained application.

Real fans write pointless messages like tis one.

Real fans reply  :0)  (or is that Real Madrid or Betis) ?

[Kimbleman]

I've done about fifty years so I guess that's a reasonable amount of time. I think standing on the open terraces of the Putney end watching 0-0 draws against the likes of Port Vale or Crew Alexander in the piddling rain and still coming back for more qualifies you. Pretty much agree with the previous post....it's in your blood (Father, uncles, aunts, grandfather, all lived local and supported Fulham) and I have now passed that passion on to my eldest daughter.

[MickTheBeard]

Highs Carlisle away under Micky Adams light at the end of long dark tunnel.Losing at Swansea getting relegated to 4th div under sir ray loosealot,having a whip-round for team coach,during muddyman period sponsoring youth policy during muddyman,we grew from 3thousand to 4thousand gates.I salute us fans,who kept Fulham afloat.They are the real fans,even though people like Tony tries to derail us.

[bog]

I am 68 years through thick, thin and thinner. My motto is 'FFC Forever Whatever'.  049:gif :54:


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[ianthailand]

A real fan?
One that stays with the team when the going gets tough and stays tough.
Spends too much time thinking about the club and pointless things such as whether a goal was offside in a meaningless mid table end of season 0 0 draw.
A real fan stretches the patience of there family when the holiday/day out etc is re-arranged to accomodate a cup replay

A real fan speaks up when things are wrong and doesn't let the WUMs stop them.

a real fan knows we should be in the prem, it our rightful place and not say I prefer the championship just because we might be a bit more competitive, real fans aim for the sky and not accpept as a matter of course the poor management we have had these last few years.

Real fands think ian brnfoot dealt rory hammil a very bad hand and messed up a promising career.
real fans think kenny achampong was one of the greatest wastes of talent we ever had. natural ability but no sustained application.

Real fans write pointless messages like tis one.

Thinking about wasted talent, does anyone remember Michael Mison? We put him in a struggling team at too young an age and destroyed him. He had everything, built like Yaya Toure and as athletic, such a shame.

[Ruislip White]

I have to admit, I grew up supporting Man Utd because that's what my family did.  When I was older I started taking my young children to Fulham, because it was one of the few clubs I know where fans in general don't feel the need drop a c bomb or f bomb every 2 seconds or abuse away fans simply because they happen to support a different team (not in JH or riverside anyway) or call the ref a w##### all game.  A decent proper family club.
The kids lost interest after 3 years and I fell in love with this underperforming championship side and found myself watching Charlton and Millwall away in nasty surroundings instead of Man Utd in the champions league!

Wouldn't change it and have enticed 3 others to buy season tickets.  A 'new fan' that's created at least  3 other ST  fans and has dragged god knows how many people to the cottage.

[BarryP]

You're a real fan when it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks about your choice of being a fan.

[RaySmith]

For me, a real fan, is someone who feels an emotional connection to the club, and has a real passion, rather than how many years they have been supporting, or have  had a season ticket.

But i do think there has been a change in how  people  'support' a team today - hypercritical, especially of highly paid players, to whom they feel little connection, and intolerant of every poor performance or point dropped, with the  level of player wages the answer to every plea of 'but they're only fallible human beings, just like us.'
And, to me, this says a lot about how we are today as a a society.

For me, supporting a club, means supporting them warts and all to a large extent. It's like your family (for most of us)- you are tolerant  and forgiving of them, despite all their foibles, which may drive you mad on occasion.

But i suppose I am  going down the road that I say i decry - of criticising other fans because they don't support the team in the same way that I do.

Let's just say that if you attend Fulham games regularly, or even occasionally, and want Fulham to win, or even if you just follow games online, wanting Fulham to win, for whatever reason, you're a real Fulham fan, and it doesn't matter how long this has been, or if you have a season ticket.

But I do think 'it's i your blood', by which i don't mean belonging to generations of family members supporting the club, which i don't myself, is quite a good definition of what I mean by  being a fan.

I've known people, like my  , brother - and we aren't related through blood, both being adopted - who  though he's always  been keen on on the game, and actually had, unsuccessful,  youth trials for Fulham and Palace ( what i would have given to play for Fulham), just don't support a team in the way I do, just don't have that emotional connection.

My mate is another -  goes to different games that mates support and who get him tickets, and has been with me to see Fulham, but just  isn't the type to blindly support a team, just doesn't have that gene.
Some people  are that type who are fans, have that emotional connection, will be sad if their team loses, and exhilarated if they win, and some  people just aren't like that, it's not in their DNA.

[General]

Only 25 years for me. The marker of supporting a team is based on how you feel. For me it is when going to games defies logic and regardless of how poor the team can be you still care and support the team regardless and cant really sever the ties. God knows that as a fulham fan nothing is ever done straightforwardly and is never just as easy ride- under Al fayed we would more often than not be in a relegation scrap, minus the years of top 10 finishes mainly under roy (sanchez in particular was dire).. and the khan's ownership and our yo-yo status is exhausting when I can help but think if they had any genuine knowledge or interest in football we'd have gone up and stayed up years ago.

But every now and then a season, game or run of games or manager or players or team or Cup run make it worth it.

Roy hodgson and getting to the europa league final and seeing us miraculously beat Juve and shakhtar and hamburg etc, getting to cup semi finals, seeing players like duff, Murphy, berbatov, boa, van der saar, malbranque, Saha,  babel and schurrle etc and then beating the big teams again and again.. the first time we beat Chelsea and the pitch was invaded and our first win at Wembley in the championship final with the white wall..

The wall of noise at hamburg in the europa league final and the community of season ticket holders near where we had ours etc. All add up.

[RolandAJ]

No time factor.

I'd say you were a real fan if the idea of supporting someone else would seem impossible.

This seems right to me.

Roland