He talks about a gentleman that used to sit near him when he watched his son Shaun play for Chelsea. "Win, lose or draw, he would always complain", Wright said. As a supporter who has grown up watching lower league football and (unsurprisingly) seen finishing just outside the play-off places as an achievement, it's a topic rather close to my heart.
It's perfectly normal and natural for people to follow successful sides but over the last 5 years, the way Chelsea's database has swelled is quite remarkable. I always question whether people who support the supposed "big four" are doing so for the right reasons. Fair enough if you've done so from an early age: I grew up watching the likes of Eric Cantona and the great United team of the mid-1990s. It was the done thing to support Manchester United at the time (I still have United shirts from circa. 1996/97). However, growing up in a town with a football league team, my dad took me to watch my first game in January 1996 around my 7th birthday. Hull City were the visitors to the County Ground and Swindon ran out 3-1 winners.
From that moment onwards I was hooked. Any sympathies I had with higher profile teams dissipated and I was left watching third division football. Thankfully at the end of 95/96 Swindon were promoted to the old Nationwide league Division One.
Over the years I've had plenty of experience of 'glory supporters' - The best example I had was when I questioned a Chelsea fan's longevity of support. He claimed he'd been at the FA Cup final in 1997. He then preceded to claim that Chelsea beat Liverpool 1-0 in that final... Enough said really.
The worrying trend is that more and more of these so called plastic football fans are emerging from the woodwork. In my opinion, for the worst.
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