In another thread I asked what supporting a team meant. No one answered it, so I'll ask it again on a separate post. No doubt I will be ridiculed but....

What does supporting a team mean?

I am asking because I am pretty certain that it doesn't mean booing, swearing and slagging off the players or manager as some others seem to believe, when they are in trouble.

Back in 1958 I watched East Fife lose two successive home games, 7-2 against Brechin City and 6-2 against Dumbarton. I was on the verge of saying that was it but something made me carry on and I became a member of the Supporters Club instead.
I have never regreted doing that. This led to helping other supporters lay concrete etc at the old ground, selling half time draw tickets before matches and latterly giving out advertising fliers re coming matches.
Supporting teams like East Fife is all about winning and losing, the latter tests ones loyalty especially after no wins in eight games. That is when your support is really needed!!!

Traditionally supporters vented theit feelings on a Saturday after a weeks frustration at work. When i was a young supporter the fans vented at the other team and the officials, rarely at our own team. The past 6 to 8 years has seen a change in attitude from our fans regarding "supporting" the team.

Fife fans are highly critical and take this 3 x league cups and a Scottish cup in the distant past to mean a divine right to success. We are now a wee team and unless there is a very big sugar daddy around the corner, we will stay a wee team. Our realistic stature is to be in the first division. I hope and pray that we can be up there with St Johnstone, etc as we have a more colourful history [there's that word again, history does not win titles] I know the way things go, i have been there in 50years of supporting The Fife. I have stayed loyal knowing that our ambitions in the past were low. I know a lot of people who gave up and never returned after Quinn left and even more when Dave Clarke and half the team were allowed to leave after the cup run. That is the reality. If you want the big game atmosphere every week and winning [most of the time], go to Celtic Park or Ibrox, better still, Hampden and follow Scotland. Football will break your heart if you are a diehard, just accept it and get on with supporting your club. That means Cheering and clapping and Encouraging, good and bad days, but certainly not booing. The players are not full time super stars who earn a fortune, these guys probably had a harder week at work than most of us did. So give them a break.

ok, you guys are great supporters and have great sentiment. Well done.

Q1) Where was all this 'get behind the team no matter what' when Derrick Brown and Jim Moffat were running things?

Q2) You cannot SERIOUSLY suggest that football fans on a Saturday afternoon sit and cheer regardless of the most embarrassing, unnacceptable run of form considering resources in my lifetime. What would you have the fans do?

This is your thread Rabhaw you answer the questions

I`ll put my question to this thread now. When did we play well over 90 minutes,not 45 this season?

The Guardian. Surely the response is to answer Rabhaw's question then ask your own. Do you have an opinion on what supporting a team means?
To me it's cheering the team when your winning,encouraging the team when things are not going too well and criticising the team when things get really bad. Under all three conditions it is the team. To f and c at the team or even worse an individual player achieves nothing.

So when are things going to get really bad chairman? How many more months without a win do we have to wait before you will steel yourself to say "this isn't very good". If we don't win this Saturday, it will be three months without a win. What's it going to be? Four months? Five months? Just let us know when it's okay to criticise. Is it in the summer, so that no-one can hear us and no-one is offended?

A supporter is someone who follows the team, cheers at the goals, sings, shouts, criticises, moans, encourages.

Basically a supporter is someone who pays their money at the gate.

Ok, now answer my two questions

Things are pretty bad just now. I have already expressed my opinion on another thread about DB. All I
was saying was that cursing and swearing at team or players achieves nothing. Neither do I accept that fans should passively accept the series of bad results but criticism can be expressed without personal abuse towards players.
By the way what is SEF's opinion on how to support the team

The Guardian, If it was me the question was directed at then....
1)The situation was more complicated then.Not only were the team dire but the club was disintegrating under a dictatorship.
2)If you read my reply I agree that anyone paying their money is entitled to criticse but not to the extent of foul mouthed abuse.

guardian answering your questions.

1. If I and you remember correctly the abuse was mostly directed at Moffatt and Brown and not the players. In fact there was a lot of effort to assure the players it was not aimed at them.

2. What can the fans do in our dire position of loss of confidence? Well the worst way to bolster the team is continual abuse which will surely sap any gain in confidence they may get.

Sadly for us and the team there is usually only one man who can rectify the situation and that is the manager. He needs to be able to instil confidence and team spirit besides all the other footballing things needed. This includes being able to help the players overcome all the negative things being thrown at them from the fans. Whatever his abilities he has in other areas, from his own mouth as reported in the EF Mail, he has shown no aptitude at all. From his utterances again in reports he seems to have no ideas and is groping in the dark hoping for a miracle.

Just a point you all watch other teams on the telly and if you notice many of the successful managers at the end of game are on the field congratulating or more importantly commiserating with the players. Even those or especially those who had a bad game.

Sorry didn't really answer question2.

What often the fans do beside booing is they begin to stay away and eventually the board get the idea and do something about it. I'm surprised the crowd has stayed in as many numbers as it has. I suppose it partly having been top of the league but I suspect the euphoria of Brown's demise has a lot to do with it.

I am trying to think of positive actions the fans can take but until the crux of the problem is identified It is difficult to know. Some think it is the players who are failing or not trying hard enough and so they are getting abuse which is couterproductive. But remember who picks the players and he sees the same game you see. I have said before that the buck stops with the manager but I am loath to say he should be sacked after less than a year and since at the beginning of the season he had us at the top of the league. But on saying that we stuck with Moffatt in roughly the same postion in the 2nd div and ended up being relugated.

Maybe someone else can answer 2 as the only answer is to grin and bear it and cheer the team as much as possible and help them come out of the doldrums

Guardian

TOC has answered your questions basically the same as I would have answered them. It is understandable when a mistake is made that there are groans etc from the crowd, but what we are hearing more and more is people continually shouting abuse at the players or the manager.

You don't seriously believe that is what supporting your team means, do you?

The simple reason that is causing some fans to abuse the players and manager is that we all know that we could and should be doing better with the recources we have at present.
Baikie is failing in his duties in making decent individuals into a decent team.

It looks like that Bob, agreed. But the swearing and slagging does not help. All I would like is to see our supporters trying to help get the team out of this rut. Surely being positive towards them is best?

I for one have never sworn or abused a player(well maybe Hugh Hill at some point).
Hopefully Saturday can be a turning point.But we need to be positive and go for it as time is running out.

Whoever, I would disagree that the number of fans through the gates has been good this season. Despite being top of the league for most of the season, we have continually stuggled to hit the 700 mark. Dumbarton, Arbroath and probably Queens Park have bigger attendences than we do.

Some supporters will always cheer, some will shout and swear when they feel the team is playing badly. Real supporters will be the ones who turn up the next week ready to support the team again, regardless.

Arbroath bigger? Dinnae think so!

Just checked. Dumbarton have the highest, then Arbroath, Queens Park, then ourselves.

553 is the average.

Don't worry I'm home in 4 weeks so the hoodoo will end! We haven't won since I've been away! A coincidence? I think not!!

Home already? Are they kicking you out or are you leaving of your own free will?

So, you'll be home in time for the Berwick trip then. I've got Toblerones at the ready. It just wasn't the same handing them out myself!!

I'm not due home until 24 March, but my placement finishes on 16 March so the last week was free anyway so I can change my flights to come home a week early and back in time for Berwick! Toblerones and beers at the ready. Lets go bang some windaes!!!

I take your point about booing etc.. I don't know how I'd feel about sich behaviour if I was there. I don't see it at my local ground.

I live 400 mile away & have half a dozen neebours who follow East Fife results. Two of us will be at new Bayview at Easter.

Do we support East Fife?

We do.