Young fans and Mavericks

[1973 ranger]

The club lost the connection after we got promoted under Warnock and was uneasy before him going back to Holloway. Under both of them the punters of all ages felt proud to watch that team.

[vespa]

i think the problem is teenage kids being able to afford to go on there own , its all good having kids for a quid , but you need to have a paying adult , when we were kids football was so cheap ,we could afford to go with mates ,without an adult present . If Rangers weren`t about it would nt be uncommon to go to watch someone else , i stood on the terraces at Spurs ,Palace ,Chelsea etc and pals that followed them all came to us on occasion .
( thats probably one of the reasons theres not sporadic teenage hooliganism anymore ,theres no large groups of teenagers to do it ! )

[lymehoop]

I think while teams carry on playing one man up front supporters will vote with their feet. Did you see Watford attack in numbers yesterday? Not rocket science Jimmy
nb not just Rangers fans getting fed up with the style of football either

[James1979]

i think the problem is teenage kids being able to afford to go on there own , its all good having kids for a quid , but you need to have a paying adult , when we were kids football was so cheap ,we could afford to go with mates ,without an adult present . If Rangers weren`t about it would nt be uncommon to go to watch someone else , i stood on the terraces at Spurs ,Palace ,Chelsea etc and pals that followed them all came to us on occasion .
( thats probably one of the reasons theres not sporadic teenage hooliganism anymore ,theres no large groups of teenagers to do it ! )

Good point that. I'm pretty certain there was some u18 or u21 discount when Holloway was manager.

[Jeems]

A combination of crap football, high ticket prices and a poor ground has put a lot of casual fans off. I know many dont like the casuals but unless you're born into a Rangers family, everyone starts off as a casual at first.

I got taken at 7 years old by my mate and his Dad, tbh I followed Man U more at the time. It was a midweek Prem game under the lights vs Liverpool. We lost but the atmosphere and excitement stuck with me. Loftus Road seemed amazing to me.

I was sitting in the lower school end last year and I saw a couple of kids, looking miserable as hell, with water sporadically dripping on them from one of the cracks above.

When I was old enough to go with my mates, I think it was about £8 for a junior ticket. This was late 90's/early 2000's era

[WeAreQPR12]

Great support eh?
When the going gets tough and all that.

I am sorry you feel like that and yes it does come over a little like that. Now days I go to rangers for entertainment, I used to just like the beers and a laugh but because I only go for football that is my reasoning.

[wortonranger]

It's very expensive, particularly if you count in travel costs. When I first went on my own ( v Brentford, won 1 0 in 1965 ) the admission was 2 shillings in old money ( junior standing) and I could afford it out of my pocket money. The world was different and the only way I could watch a game was to go ( except for the cup final which was the only live game on the telly). Anyway, my son took his new wife to her first game yesterday and she says she will go again. She enjoyed it. Ticket price? £80 or so for the two of them! They might be able to afford one game a year ( living near Gloucester).

[Ed the Ball]

i think the problem is teenage kids being able to afford to go on there own , its all good having kids for a quid , but you need to have a paying adult , when we were kids football was so cheap ,we could afford to go with mates ,without an adult present . If Rangers weren`t about it would nt be uncommon to go to watch someone else , i stood on the terraces at Spurs ,Palace ,Chelsea etc and pals that followed them all came to us on occasion .
( thats probably one of the reasons theres not sporadic teenage hooliganism anymore ,theres no large groups of teenagers to do it ! )

yep the cost of living back in the 80s was so much better and pre sky tv etc. my first job i took home 89 quid and still went out most nights and went to qpr

[Itsonlyagame]

I took my 5 year old boy yesterday. It was his second game, the first being Bristol city last game last season.
He's a bit too young to get it regarding the actual football but as is the way these days, most of the kids in his class "like" Chelsea, or one of the north London clubs, so I thought I should get him down to HQ and indoctrinate him before it was too late.
We sat in P block upper loft near where the 'noise' is, hoping that he'd get the same feeling I got as a kid when I first saw thousands of grown men singing and shouting. Unfortunately, due to the absolutely dire football on offer, apart from the first 15 mins when the atmosphere was ok, all he heard was men (and women) complaining about how sh!te it all was.
I decided to leave at half time as I really couldn't see the point of putting him through the second half and making his overriding memory even worse. We obviously missed both goals and it sounds like the second half performance in general was better.
I'm more of a happy clapper and I know we are a work in progress and are actually picking up points, but, when you play the way we did in the first half, constantly passing the ball across the back four, not even looking like we wanted to take the game to them, it was painful. Whenever Blackburn had a set piece which we needed to defend in the the box, everybody came back so that when we gained possession, there was no outlet. Smithies would roll it out to a defender and the whole sideways passing game started again.Someone said on another thread before the match that given Blackburn are a team seemingly devoid of confidence, we needed to take the game to them from the off and not allow them to settle into any sort of gameplan. We looked like our plan was to do the exact opposite.
Like I say, I'm a glass half full man and remember the bad times we've had.
I can honestly say though, the atmosphere was better and it even feels like the football was better ( although in reality it might not have been ) when we were in league one.
Jimmy is obviously so terrified of losing that that's the way he sets his teams up. This is exactly what Burton fans said to us when he left them.
Nobody likes to lose but come on, whatever happened to a little bit of good old fashioned entertainment.

[WeAreQPR12]

Great post and perfect summary. Think your boy is 2 years too young but yep very well put

[Itsonlyagame]

Great post and perfect summary. Think your boy is 2 years too young but yep very well put

Make you about right with his age mate. I'll just have to keep him on the straight and narrow until then and make sure his mind isn't corrupted by some of his schoolmates.
A first world problem but the thought of him turning to the dark side and supporting Chelsea sends a shiver down my spine.
Still, one of the boys in the year above him has now developed "gender issues" His name is Sam but at weekends he dresses up as a girl and wants to be known as Samantha. Not even seven years old for Christs sake, what is the world coming too.

[wortonranger]

I don't see how kids following a big team on the telly ( that generally win more than they lose) can come anywhere near the fantastic gift that my Dad gave to me of being a QPR supporter. A lifetime of experiences that builds character, gives a sense of belonging and passionate moments across the spectrum. Yes, other clubs can do this if it's in your genes but I'm glad I'm an R, as are my two sons and hopefully our fantastic new daughter in law. Come on you R's!!!! ( and watch out Geordies on Tuesday, I feel a win on the cards to counter yeserday's negativity. That's what we do.).

[WeAreQPR12]

In america they would encourage him to become Samantha. Louix theroux did a documentary about it. Yes very wrong

[72bus]

took my youngest since he was 2 , used to carry him thru the ellersie tunstiles . started getting him a seat at about 5 , had all the kits etc and drummed it in to him , he used to collect kits as a nipper and the exs fella once sent him to me in a chelsea kit which i confiscated and got rid of at a later date . i once turned up at his gaff and saw an arsenal bed spread in his room so sat down with her and the new flame and told them about how much my team meant to me and i could see that in him as well , since that day its been fine and we have 3 rangers kids in the family 17 and under and my oldest is 30 and rangers as well

[Kevin Mcleod]

Did you two watch the game together in myus tickets?