I see the little lad who wrote to Klopp asking if Liverpool would drop points so Man U could win the title is going to visit Old Trafford for the first time. I wonder if any of the Barnsley based Red Devil’s are thinking about making their first visit as well.
Used to amuse me when at work, a colleague who had never been to Old Trafford in his life got to discussing the games he'd seen on Match of the Day and kept referring to Manchester United as " we".! There are thousands of them up and down the land. Jurgen Klopps letter to the youngster in Northern Ireland simply reinforces his growing reputation as a down to Earth modest football man, who like Shankly, Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish is worshipped by the red half of Merseyside. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-51590230
I honestly thought the letter the lad sent was great, and the response Klopp sent was brilliant. It was in very decent written English - though not 100% perfect - so clearly and impressively from his own hand and his own words. A very human and personal touch from a very high ranking individual in the game. And as for football fans in Barnsley supporting other clubs - it’s hardly unique. I’m not so sure football fanatics in Lloret de mar or Girona are likely to support the professional clubs based there. I’d wager the allegiance there would be 75% Barcelona. It’s the job of the club to attract the casual fan who says they support Man Utd, or City, Liverpool, Arsenal, whoever, to come to the odd game. Some will be hooked. I didn’t come to Oakwell until I was 11. My dad was a Liverpool fan, as a young child I said I was. As soon as I started coming to Barnsley games, I was hooked. Took a while for me as a kid to say I supported a different side - but it happened. My son is now also a season ticket holder. I have two girls younger than him who know they can come if they want.
I know loads of people who for all their life were ‘bigger team’ fans and started to go to Lincoln a few seasons ago are now Season ticket holders and now class themselves as Lincoln first, bigger team second.
That’s exactly the point - and it doesn’t really matter who they say they support if their cash is going through Barnsley’s tills. More could be done I’d say. The ground is half empty every week for a start - give tickets away to school kids. The pop and crisps etc they buy would cover the extra stewarding probably - near enough anyway - and it only takes a few to blag their mams and dads to bring them again to get the core following up
Indeed, 4 years ago Lincoln struggled to get much more than 2k attendance, now people struggle to get tickets and average is just over 9k. However you dress it up if you can increase your ticket sales and add extras like on the day stuff shirts etc it adds up.
The big bo110ck they drop mate is. "I support Man utd. Leeds etc". It's different if they say follow. I follow New England Patriots in the NFL. Puts a different slant on it. Same as you I had friends in the village who SUPPORTED, other teams having never seen em.
Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool players were instructed by the Clubs management not to give autographs purely on safety grounds. https://www.the42.ie/liverpool-players-autographs-3174413-Jan2017/
That link says not to stop outside the training ground. The video I put up was a coach at a away game.
I would imagine way more were wanting autographs than for our games. You can't always stop to sign. However where you do have time it's nice to do it.
Looks as though the no autograph ban at Liverpool could well have now been extended to include all games as well as at the Mellwood training complex. So long as fans are behind a barrier, I can't see a problem really. For years young kids have clamoured to get their favourite players autograph. Seems such a shame that the Liverpool hierarchy have seen fit to restrict that opportunity. https://www.thisisanfield.com/2017/...iverpool-fans-detachment-modern-football-era/
