Wet Spam

[RobM.]

2-0 up after 13 minutes, own goal just before half time (2-1)
then Mister Kuqi equalises. http://www.shrimperzone.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif http://www.shrimperzone.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

http://www.shrimperzone.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

Oops. It's gonna be hard for them to get a result at Ipswich, although they've won there alrady this season. The players must be sick after that game! It was a bit of a clanger from their keeper which allowed the equaliser, too http://www.shrimperzone.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[southend4ever]

no calling between the 2!!

COME ON THE HAMMERS!

[blueheaven]

WH will still go through because Ipswich will just blow it.

[southend4ever]

WE CAN ONLY HOPE

[West Country Shrimper]

Please dont tell me, your all supporting Wet Spam now? http://www.shrimperzone.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

Ipswich will go through, esp with the mighty Shefqi Kuqi up front. I have faith in the Tractor Boys. C'MON! http://www.shrimperzone.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Sussex Shrimper]

How the hell can anyone root for a club who, along with their "fans", have always treated us with utter contempt - to the extent of opening up a club shop in our town? I'll be praying that Ipswich beat them in the second leg and that the loss of the Premier$hite parachute money will leave them mired in the Coca Cola leagues for years to come.

Complete and utter SCUM.

[Xàbia Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Sussex Shrimper @ May 15 2005,23:48)]How the hell can anyone root for a club who, along with their "fans", have always treated us with utter contempt - to the extent of opening up a club shop in our town?
Ah! This "old chestnut". It was all to do with market forces rather than "contempt" for Southend fans. Demographics, dear boy. A survey of football supporters in the town had West Ham United as the number one supported club with Tottenham Hotspur second and Arsenal third. I believe Southend United were fifth or sixth at the time. So you can't blame the heirarchy at Upton Park for trying to tap into the potential in the town.

In any case, I will also be rooting for West Ham and why not? I have no reason not to. They've not been our "auld enemy" at all and plenty of Hamsters attend Southend games. Plenty of them I have spoken to have only the highest regard for the level of support our fans gave to the team during the League Cup tie at the beginning of the season. They certainly don't belittle the club at all ...

WS

[Sussex Shrimper]

Well, if you want a town full of plastic Premier$hite / Wet Sham fans then cheer those clubs on by all means, but in my opinion their fall from grace is FANTASTIC news for us - where is the attraction in being an Essex based Wet Sham fan now? Do you think it's a coincidence that we are enjoying our best attendances since Division 1 days?

We may be doing better this year, but I wouldn't say that 4th instead of 17th in League 2 would ordinarily be enough to put 2000 on a club's average gate. You can bet your mortgage that their average attendances will fall even further next year when their so-called fans realise that they aren't in for an easy promotion campaign as they thought they were this time. If I'm wrong on that then feel free to remind me of it.

[Xàbia Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Sussex Shrimper @ May 16 2005,00:05)]where is the attraction in being an Essex based Wet Sham fan now?
Much the same as being a Spanish-based Hamster, or indeed Shrimper, I expect. Loyalty to a football team shouldn't change overnight just because you live outside the immediate "catchment area". I mix with plenty of West Ham fans here in Jávea and ALL of them still have the passion for THEIR football club. Just because they are 1,000 miles or so away doesn't mean that that passion should die.


Quote[/b] (Sussex Shrimper @ May 16 2005,00:05)]their so-called fans

So WHAT are they then if they are not "FANS" of their football club? I think you have a bad grudge against this club that really is not healthy ...

WS

[Sussex Shrimper]

Most of the Essex Wet Sham fans of my generation (early to mid 20's) are most certainly not people with existing allegiances who brought them to Southend - they have chosen West Ham (a Premieship side at the time) over their local club. If your experience of West Ham fans is that they are respectful of our club then mine is very different - most Wet Sham fans I know view our club as their chance to behave like Manure scummers and give it the "mine's bigger" routine.

If West Ham getting stuck in the Coca Cola leagues is potentially such a boost for Southend's hopes of attracting fans who might otherwise support them then for exactly what reason should I not want it to happen?

[Xàbia Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Sussex Shrimper @ May 16 2005,00:39)].most Wet Sham fans I know view our club as their chance to behave like Manure scummers and give it the "mine's bigger" routine.
Well, technically they ARE correct ...

Anyway, I shall be rooting for the Hamsters, if only because my family (on my father's side) have supported them way back to when they were plying their trade as Thames Ironworks and I was welcomed into the world in the late 60s with a West Ham rosette on my cot. I myself 'supported' them (as much as a toddler can) until the mid 70s when I "discovered" Southend United played virtually on my doorstep. Not ALL Hamsters are like you suggest ...

WS

[Ron Manager]

Quote[/b] (Xàbia Shrimper @ May 15 2005,22:56)]
Quote[/b] (Sussex Shrimper @ May 15 2005,23:48)]How the hell can anyone root for a club who, along with their "fans", have always treated us with utter contempt - to the extent of opening up a club shop in our town?
Ah! This "old chestnut". It was all to do with market forces rather than "contempt" for Southend fans. Demographics, dear boy. A survey of football supporters in the town had West Ham United as the number one supported club with Tottenham Hotspur second and Arsenal third. I believe Southend United were fifth or sixth at the time. So you can't blame the heirarchy at Upton Park for trying to tap into the potential in the town.

In any case, I will also be rooting for West Ham and why not? I have no reason not to. They've not been our "auld enemy" at all and plenty of Hamsters attend Southend games. Plenty of them I have spoken to have only the highest regard for the level of support our fans gave to the team during the League Cup tie at the beginning of the season. They certainly don't belittle the club at all ...

WS
A very well reasoned and sensible argument. However this is football so that all goes out of the window. West Ham are scum and the sooner they lose their parachute payment and go out of business the better!

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[Sussex Shrimper]

Aside from that, if suggesting that we become a feeder club to them isn't taking a patronising view of us then I don't know what is.

I don't know who XS was supporting on that great day back in '93, but Brett Angell's goal and the reactions of the cocky scum who had invited themselves into the home stands still rank as my favourite game as a Shrimpers fan. If they beat us every time from now until forever it will have been worth it.

We are clearly in competition with them when it comes to attracting local fans, and their success (or lack thereof) will, IMO, have a bearing upon our level of support and gates. If you want to cheer for them to regain their Premier$hite status and be a larger attraction to new Essex fans then that's up to you, but I'll be an Ipswich fan for the day and I'll be loving every minute of the mass exodus which will follow a Wet Sham defeat.

[Xàbia Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (Sussex Shrimper @ May 16 2005,14:50)]I don't know who XS was supporting on that great day back in '93 ...

We are clearly in competition with them when it comes to attracting local fans, and their success (or lack thereof) will, IMO, have a bearing upon our level of support and gates. If you want to cheer for them to regain their Premier$hite status and be a larger attraction to new Essex fans then that's up to you, but I'll be an Ipswich fan for the day and I'll be loving every minute of the mass exodus which will follow a Wet Sham defeat.
if you read my earlier post, you would have clearly deduced that I would have been in the North Bank cheering for the Shrimpers and exchanging spirited banter with the rest of my family who were in the South Bank. We beat West Ham for the first time in competitive football. And? We've beaten many teams in our illustrious history and personally I don't see what all the fuss is about.

The thing you have to accept is that there are many, many West Ham fans residing in Essex and in Southend-on-Sea in particular. I don't see what right you have to slate them for not supporting their local team. Firstly, why should they cut all ties with the ancestral allegience? Have YOU given up supporting Southend United because you don't live in the town and opted for Brighton & Hove Albion instead? No. Secondly, who's to say that West Ham fans DON'T come to Roots Hall when their team isn't playing? I know for a fact that there are plenty of "loyal" Shrimpers who are as passionate about West Ham United as they are Southend United.

I think you miss the whole point about support and fandom. Just because West Ham United are not in the Premier$hite does not mean that the most passionate West Ham fan is going to rip up his season ticket and wander elsewhere for his footballing pleasure. Would YOU bin the Shrimpers in favour of someone else IF they dropped into the Nationwide Conference ... or beyond? I'd wager you wouldn't. So I can't see how you can label all West Ham fans as quick to drop their team at the notion of inferior football.

Anyway ... great day? I'd rank the 4-0 win over Newcastle United on New Year's Day 1992 as a far greater experience, not to mention Bury, Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers ...

WS

[Ron Manager]

Quote[/b] (Xàbia Shrimper @ May 16 2005,15:01)]if you read my earlier post, you would have clearly deduced that I would have been in the North Bank cheering for the Shrimpers and exchanging spirited banter with the rest of my family who were in the South Bank. We beat West Ham for the first time in competitive football. And? We've beaten many teams in our illustrious history and personally I don't see what all the fuss is about.
I appreciate that it wasn't such a big deal for you Mike but surely you appreciate why it was for many of us? I too had a West Ham rosette on one side of my cot when I was a new born (and a Manc U one on the other side) but soon discovered a passion for Southend United. For my whole life growing up here I have been surrounded by claret and blue and it hurts to see so many football fans in the town that don't support Southend. I understand the demographics behind it but as I say rationality and clear thought doesn't come into it - this is football! As a result I have a real aversion to all things West Ham related - I have a physical repulsion to seeing their kit, badge or even claret and blue colours.

So to beat them in the league and to see the hordes of claret and blue clad fans extremely ****ed off was a momentous day for me and one of my best ever as a Southend fan.

[Sussex Shrimper]

I made clear reference to NEW fans - please don't misquote me to support your argument. I never said that existing fans should change their allegiances, I said that I get seriously fed up when plastic Essex Hamsters of my generation, who probably couldn't point to Upton Park on a map, see fit to tell me to get a "real" club. They may be right that West Ham are bigger than us but then so are Manure - do their "fans" in Essex have the right to gloat and antagonise as they see fit or is that just pathetic?

[Xàbia Shrimper]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I think you're being a tad hysterical about it all but maybe I understand your reasoning ...

Shall we call it a draw?

WS

[Sussex Shrimper]

An 11-1 draw at present, but OK

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[Ron Manager]

Quote[/b] (Xàbia Shrimper @ May 16 2005,19:19)]We'll just have to agree to disagree. I think you're being a tad hysterical about it all but maybe I understand your reasoning ...

Shall we call it a draw?

WS
Fair play Mike - agreeing to disagreeing may be the best way to go. Can i just say one thing before we leave this topic though?

As my baby daughter grows up she will have my blessing to make all sorts of choices in her life. She can choose her own religion, politics and sexuality and have my blessing whatever she decides. However if she chooses to support West Ham I'm disowning her - now how is that hysterical?

http://www.shrimperzone.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif *http://www.shrimperzone.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[southend4ever]

Get in!! What a result for the Hammers. Hopefully, they will be back in the Premier$hite where they belong