I started supporting Wasps when they moved to Adams Park because they were my local club, and as a sports fan I couldn't believe my luck that they were on my doorstep. A season ticket was a no brainer. I also support Surrey cricket club, a decision made when I was about 13 because they were the nearest pro cricket team geographically and I could easily get to the Oval or Guildford. I grew up in Slough and got my football fix watching Slough Town and Fulham because my dad grew up there and he used to take me to Craven Cottage regularly where he met up with old mates.
What I'm alluding to here is that anyone, be it Coventry, Berks or London, who invests time and money in their local team through both good and bad times are the soul of a club, the sport and we're all equal. I love watching live sport, meeting likeminded fans and making new friends as a result. The ups and downs of a season, the debating of team selection, the beer, the banter, the smell of burgers, the occasion that draws everyone together and the joy of a good result combined with the anticipation of an upcoming game as the week progresses. We're all Wasps together and experience the same highs and lows.
I unfortunately work for a large corporate organisation in Berks where constant streams of graduates and shallow middle aged managers generally support Man Utd, Liverpool or Arsenal and in rugby England, more England or Saracens ("Owen Farrell is just sooo amazing...he's really good at kicking his points..!") Barely any of them have ever been to watch in person, even more so their professed side, yet it's the main topic of non-work conversation. Soulless fans ticking a box and watching from a distance on TV, emotionally detached. Hats off to all those fans in any sport who turn out week after week to support a club in person, particularly their local sides, regardless of standing and prepared to ride the rollercoaster of another season.
Also, just as an aside, for once I wholeheartedly agree with David Campese who has said rugby has an increasing problem with entertainment value. He said the 'amount of box kicking is unbelievable' and apparently the recent tri nations New Zealand v Australia game had a first half of 51 minutes where the ball was in play for just 13 of those minutes. He wants to see more of entertainers and ball in hand, citing the likes of Finn Russell and Danny Cipriani.
The win at all costs conservative rugby is a race to the bottom for me, and having noticed Saracens again seem to have tapped up a lot of the exciting young talent in the PRL who have signed for them next season, the English game must be on it's last legs as a genuinely entertaining sport. The EAs may as well sponsor the competition next season their name is written so large across the borefest, and then take out multi season tickets at Twickenham and await the battle of the rest to see who they beat in the final. Tedious stuff.