SHA Small Heath Alliance

I see it as a slightly lazy euphemism for down-to-earth, which in the past may have been mistaken as synonymous with working class. It probably never was and surely isn’t anymore, irrespective of whether you think the class divisions are still fitting or not. In any case, tribalism is still an important component of football fan bases for many reasons (belonging, identity, atmosphere, selling stuff etc.) and “working class” resonates more for those purposes than “down-to-earth” or other similar descriptions.

That’s what’s different about the premier league now.

When we first got back there in 2002 it was the lapsed fans coming back match by match and the semi regulars buying season tickets. After a couple of relegations we were down to about 22,000 regulars as we had seen it and done it. If we got back now we would sell out every game and the “tourists” would be happy to pay £50 plus to sit in the kop for a standard game and much more against the big 6 (and Vile).

The Mrs maternal side of the family are scousers and her uncle, season ticket for years at Liverpool, experienced the horrors of Hillsborough and going to the European games after his kids had grown up has been priced out. He had to pay £80 for a ticket recently and the people who he was sat next to just spent the whole game taking photos on their phone for instagram. Going to Anfield now (or any premier league game) is akin to watching Dortmund or Barcelona on the football tourist packages.

So that's what's wrong with me, I had wondered about this for years. I can relax now in my Donkey Jacket.

My take on this is that “working class” equates to fans who actually come from the local areas to support their teams rather than glory chasing plastics

Don’t think we have too many of the latter!

If we got to the “promised land” the plastics will come. They will stay in hotels in the city, spend money in the bars and restaurants, pay a fiver for a half time cappuccino and not think of anything about dropping a couple of hundred quid in merchandise in the club shop.

Trialist

Arsenal are very much the opposite of a working class club.

The marble halls of Highbury, entitled fan base without a sense of humour.

Is that why Arsenal fans tend to cry when they lose?

yeehaw

Peakyblue

But which clubs are not 'working class' and what sets them apart?
I guess all clubs will have fans from the working class (whatever that means nowadays) so is it a sense of entitlement? Wealth? Tika-taka? Geography? What's the consensus?

I think the two main factors are the levels of wealth and passion.

It's a given that clubs who are successful on the pitch attract non-local fans who are probably on average more wealthy and less passionate than the average local fan.

Clubs like Blues haven't ever really seen any sustained success, so our fanbase is very pure and local; most of us are lower-middle- or working-class people from lower-middle- or working-class areas. We care about Blues more than non-local fans care about their clubs because it's in our blood, and we grew up with the Blues tag as part of our identities. The kind of drinking culture that results in "displays of passion" at games is also something fairly exclusive to lower-middle- or working-class people.

Then there's Fulham, Brentford, Brighton, etc. The core of these fanbases are (relatively) local but also intrinsically wealthy. I think that being wealthier, or more specifically being from a wealthier background, makes you less likely to be passionate about football. Firstly, because there often isn't a family or identity component, but also, it's a cultural thing. Hipsters who wear Engineered Garments and read Mundial Magazine aren't getting slammed at the local boozer before games, or singing and shouting, getting on their feet, whatever. These are quiet fans. They clap when an opposing player does a rabona. They manage non-league clubs for 40 seasons on Football Manager. They eat pies outside the ground as a bit of banter. If they do sing, it's from a hymn sheet titled "We're by far the greatest team the world has ever seen".

If we make it back to the Prem and start competing in the top half of the table, these are the types we'll be attracting unfortunately. That's just the curse of success in football though.

I would probably say a lot of the most working class 'passionate' Blues fans I know and am related to aren't passionate about football as a sport as much as they are about blues specifically, and going to games. Here often the actual football is a distant second behind the social aspect, whereas football hipster types could tell you all about Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen side etc etc. Passion for blues ≠ passion for football necessarily.

Depends if you see football about going to the games vs about being invested in the sport more widely