People who hate half and half scarves are elitist *#~*: discuss.

[Kentonio]

Ok I have a confession, I once did buy a half and half scarf. You know what though, I'd gladly do it again.

There seems to be an attitude amongst a certain group of fans that half and half scarves are some kind of tourist, prawn sandwich brigade trinket, which any 'real' self respecting fan would never touch with someone elses 12 foot bargepole. Perhaps in the long forgotten past when scarves were a real expression of support and much more prevelant (and people generally couldn't afford to buy a new scarf every match) this might have made some sense, but these days it just seems like elitism.

Today you can buy a cheap half and half for under a tenner and its just a little reminder of that particular match. A memento that you'll probably stick in a drawer and when you see it again get a nice little trip down memory lane. How is this a bad thing?

[Caveat: This line of reasoning makes more sense for european games than PL games]
[Caveat 2: There is never an excuse for having even half a scarf with a Liverpool badge on it]
[Not actually a caveat: I just discovered you can't use the word cnuts in a thread title ]

 

[SwansonsTache]

Ok I have a confession, I once did buy a half and half scarf. You know what though, I'd gladly do it again.

There seems to be an attitude amongst a certain group of fans that half and half scarves are some kind of tourist, prawn sandwich brigade trinket, which any 'real' self respecting fan would never touch with someone elses 12 foot bargepole. Perhaps in the long forgotten past when scarves were a real expression of support and much more prevelant (and people generally couldn't afford to buy a new scarf every match) this might have made some sense, but these days it just seems like elitism.

Today you can buy a cheap half and half for under a tenner and its just a little reminder of that particular match. A memento that you'll probably stick in a drawer and when you see it again get a nice little trip down memory lane. How is this a bad thing?

[Caveat: This line of reasoning makes more sense for european games than PL games]
[Caveat 2: There is never an excuse for having even half a scarf with a Liverpool badge on it]
[Not actually a caveat: I just discovered you can't use the word cnuts in a thread title ]

From which club? United I hope, or else it was a shit decision.

Would probably buy a half\half scarf for a CL final just as a memory, wouldn't wear it at the match though but it would be nice memorabilia to have.

 

[Sunny Jim]

There seems to be an attitude amongst a certain group of fans that half and half scarves are some kind of tourist, prawn sandwich brigade trinket,

its just a little reminder of that particular match. A memento that you'll probably stick in a drawer and when you see it again get a nice little trip down memory lane. How is this a bad thing?

You basically answered your question.

 

[worcesterred]

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/anger-redcafe-with-one-football-related-sentence.418689/

This guy only asked for a sentence.

 

[Rednotdead]

What does a "half and half" scarf actually convey? I really don't get the raison d'etre.

If you're a supporter you support one team. Others support the other team. Did the Lib Dems invent these?

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Did you wear and hold up your half and half scarf?

 

[The Man Himself]

Somewhere @iczster is turning in his e-grave.

 

[Trizy]

I don't see the big fuss of half and half scarves, especially not European club ones or international ones. They're like souvenirs.

 

[Kentonio]

You basically answered your question.

I have a pretty bad memory. Unlike some of the people around here, I can't remember the details of long ago games, so something to trigger some memories is a nice thing to have.

Did you wear and hold up your half and half scarf?

No, I'm not a total cnut.

What does a "half and half" scarf actually convey? I really don't get the raison d'etre.

It's just a memento of a particular match, why should it be any more controversial than a program?

 

[VivaObertan]

Football fans are elitist.

I went to the FA Cup semi final bs Ciry with my mum but met up with two mates and a group of their friends in Holburn after. Mocked for wearing a United shirt with a name printed on the back (think it was Rafael) and asked whether I had shin pads on under my jeans zzz

I've bought two 50/50 scarves, Milan in '06 (?) and Barcelona in '08... Don't see the problem personally.

Used to use them regularly until we got given those scarves for the anniversary game against Coty and have used that since.

 

[pacifictheme]

Its not really the buying. Its more what they represent.

Day trippers.

Ok i go to OT between 5 and 10 times a year so not loads, but i've been going for 26 years and would consider myself a proper fan as i sing my heart out when i'm there and actually watching the game. You see loads of people there taking photos and wearing half and half scarves. While there is nothing wrong with that, more often than not those "fans" don't sing and don't really seem that interested in the match. They just went to say they've been.

I was sat next to someone a few years back (during the 4-4 home match against everton when we basically lost the league but one of the most intesne games at OT for years) who spent most of the match face timing her mate.

Ultimately to fill a ground as big as OT or camp nou you need these fans, doesn't mean i have to like it.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

No, I'm not a total cnut.

Thought so

I actually don't see the issue with it as a match-related memento. It's like a Untied v Bayern/Chelsea, 1999/2008 poster, really. I think the "issue" people have is with those wearing them to matches. When you're at a game, it's all about your team for any serious supporter of any team/player of any sport.

 

[GE]

There's no issue.

Everytime I bring my little brother to a game I buy him one as they're like souvenirs.

 

[Jackylad]

Day trippers

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. They rank alongside jesters hats for me in terms of irritations, but they're a part of modern football, as are matchday tourists, and our club wouldn't be the size we are today without them, so it would be a bit hypocritical of me to put someone down for buying one.

 

[pacifictheme]

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. They rank alongside jesters hats for me in terms of irritations, but they're a part of modern football, as are matchday tourists, and our club wouldn't be the size we are today without them, so it would be a bit hypocritical of me to put someone down for buying one.

Yeah pretty much. A necessary evil.

 

[Morpheus 7]

Ok I have a confession, I once did buy a half and half scarf. You know what though, I'd gladly do it again.

There seems to be an attitude amongst a certain group of fans that half and half scarves are some kind of tourist, prawn sandwich brigade trinket, which any 'real' self respecting fan would never touch with someone elses 12 foot bargepole. Perhaps in the long forgotten past when scarves were a real expression of support and much more prevelant (and people generally couldn't afford to buy a new scarf every match) this might have made some sense, but these days it just seems like elitism.

Today you can buy a cheap half and half for under a tenner and its just a little reminder of that particular match. A memento that you'll probably stick in a drawer and when you see it again get a nice little trip down memory lane. How is this a bad thing?

[Caveat: This line of reasoning makes more sense for european games than PL games]
[Caveat 2: There is never an excuse for having even half a scarf with a Liverpool badge on it]
[Not actually a caveat: I just discovered you can't use the word cnuts in a thread title ]

Everybody is entitled to buy what they want at a game.I think a match programme is a better souvenir myself. I'm not an elitist but I never got the half and half scarf and I never will.For me personally I never wanted a football scarf that wasn't United, the colours are enough for me. I would never want a scarf that said United Stoke or any European team with them. I support one team and don't care about the other. There is respect and marking the occasion and all but there other ways to mark it than a cheap scarf, it's something that you will never use again. I always wondered who bought them, now I know. Not for me but it's your personal choice. Is it really that big a deal?

 

[dwd]

'Shin pads under jeans', I don't think I'm going to laugh harder today

 

[Eckers99]

If you're under 10 or live abroad (or in another part of the country) it's OK. There are no other situations where it might be acceptable. If that makes me an elitist then fine.

 

[Waldner]

All this talk of 'proper fans' and getting annoyed because someone bought something just shows how elitist people on this forum are. It's a ridiculous attitude to have and a ridiculous thing to get annoyed over.

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

I'll start off by saying that you should spend your hard-earned money on whatever you like.

I personally however can see why a lot of the foreign day-trippers that visit, just to see a one-off Premier League match, might buy them as a memory or keep-sake of their visit. But then, they have no real affinity or allegiance to one club or the other.

You should!

The match-day programme should be your memory to stick in the draw and get all gooey over at a later date.

If they brought out half and half replica strip's would you buy one of them?

 

[SteveJ]

I can see why a lot of the foreign day-trippers that visit just to see a Premier League match might buy them as a memory. They have no real affinity or allegiance to one club or the other.

You should!

Nah. Are the folks who go to see Die Hard 27: String Vest Pensioner all admirers of the cinematic arts? Are the people who visit the Louvre all experts on Leonardo?; and why should they be? Like it or not, football is entertainment, not solely a religion of sorts.

 

[Rado_N]

I was at OT for the Liverpool game a few seasons ago (think it was under Moyes) and I saw a lad wearing one and he'd folded it through at the front so the bloody liver bird was showing perfectly front and centre.

In true British style I tutted and shook my head from a distance.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

On occasion (maybe a European tie for example) I don't mind a half and half scarf being worn. It's the half \ half against a bitter rival that angers me, Like if your a United fan and you're wearing a scarf that has a Liverbird dangling on to your chest, Nah doesn't sit right with me that to be honest.

 

[JoaquinJoaquin]

I was at OT for the Liverpool game a few seasons ago (think it was under Moyes) and I saw a lad wearing one and he'd folded it through at the front so the bloody liver bird was showing perfectly front and centre.

In true British style I tutted and shook my head from a distance.

That's weird, I literally just made the Liverbird reference and your post came up at the exact same time

 

[Natener]

I don't see the issue as long as it's not half with an archrival team. If it's a classic CL matchup like United and Juve, why not?

 

[AndyJ1985]

My view is there's no harm in tourists and casuals going to a match now and then and buying a bagful of old tat from the shop. They aren't hurting anyone, and they certainly aren't offending me. Football is supposed to be about entertaining people, just like going to the theatre or visiting Chester Zoo. You wouldn't look at people in those gift shops and look down your nose at them for buying a souvenir would you? Ironically it's football, supposedly the common mans game, that invokes the sort of snobbery and anger that you'd expect to see from a pompous arse at an opera after a homeless man has walked in to use the toilets.

Don't get me wrong I understand it. Football is unique in that it brings communities together, it invokes real passion, and people have a genuine affinity towards the club they love. "Prawn sandwich eaters" dilute the atmosphere and get in the way. But they're just as entitled to be there as the the next man who has forked out forty quid for a ticket. More tolerance and understanding is needed, instead of throwing insults at them for having the audacity to want to have a good time.

Personally I get more annoyed by the minority of fans who go out of their way to try and show they are better fans than everyone else.

 

[SteveJ]

The most good-humoured and knowledgeable fans in the cosmos go bonkers about selfie-sticks, half-and-half scarves, tourists, and associated witchcraft etc:

These things can fecking feck off. Vanity sticks I call them. feck them and feck anyone who has one.

My brother asked for one, I feel like disowning him.

Next time someone comes and stands next to you with one of those selfie sticks and asks you to get in the picture, grab the stick off them and cane them with it. It's the least they deserve.

This is the stupidest generation that has ever lived.

I have a half'n'half scarf...one half says 'I Love You Liverpool' the other half says "Liverpool You Don't Half Piss Me off at Times"

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=319030.0

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=218354.0;wap

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

Nah. Are the folks who go to see Die Hard 27: String Vest Pensioner all admirers of the cinematic arts? Are the people who visit the Louvre all experts on Leonardo?; and why should they be? Like it or not, football is entertainment, not solely a religion of sorts.

But Steve, that was the distinction I was trying to make and I qualified it first by saying the OP should spend his hard-earned on whatever lights his candle!

I only gave one example of a general "football fan" as opposed to a "fan (I hesitate to say real fan) of any particular club".

The former (like the film or art lover in your metaphor) may want to visit OT once because they love the genre, not especially the franchise or artist/s in particular, just to say they've been and take away a memento; the latter comes a bit more under your suggested "religion" bracket (to one extent or another) and will almost certainly not want to wear someone else's colours.

But hey, everyone to their own. I bought a United / AC Milan one for a friend's kid who was a big fan of both clubs … so I'm not saying they have no place in society … I'm just contributing to a chat on the subject.

 

[SteveJ]

But Steve, that was the distinction I was trying to make and I qualified it first by saying the OP should spend his hard-earned on whatever lights his candle!

Doh! I got it wrong again, folks.
*blubs*

 

[SqueakyWeasel]

My view is there's no harm in tourists and casuals going to a match now and then and buying a bagful of old tat from the shop. They aren't hurting anyone, and they certainly aren't offending me. Football is supposed to be about entertaining people, just like going to the theatre or visiting Chester Zoo. You wouldn't look at people in those gift shops and look down your nose at them for buying a souvenir would you? Ironically it's football, supposedly the common mans game, that invokes the sort of snobbery and anger that you'd expect to see from a pompous arse at an opera after a homeless man has walked in to use the toilets.

Don't get me wrong I understand it. Football is unique in that it brings communities together, it invokes real passion, and people have a genuine affinity towards the club they love. "Prawn sandwich eaters" dilute the atmosphere and get in the way. But they're just as entitled to be there as the the next man who has forked out forty quid for a ticket. More tolerance and understanding is needed, instead of throwing insults at them for having the audacity to want to have a good time.

Personally I get more annoyed by the minority of fans who go out of their way to try and show they are better fans than everyone else.

Andy, don't get me started

 

[rimaldo]

buying them makes sense. after the game you can see who won and shower that end of the scarf with love and affection, whilst the losing end gets taunted and booed.

 

[soapythecat]

She I see people in them I just think they look like a clown. My view of course. You pay your money, do as you please.
It's some coincidence that all the day trippers buy them though!

 

[Kentonio]

I was at OT for the Liverpool game a few seasons ago (think it was under Moyes) and I saw a lad wearing one and he'd folded it through at the front so the bloody liver bird was showing perfectly front and centre.

In true British style I tutted and shook my head from a distance.

See Caveat 2.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

There's little I care less about than the weird vitriol aimed at half n half scarves. If people want one, let them get one. That pub banning anyone wearing one is proper shitty. How much of a twat do you have to be to spit your dummy out over a fecking scarf?

But there's always been an elite oneupmanship in football. I support my local team, I go to more games than you, how many aways did you do last season etc. along with a general feeing of regulars looking down on "day trippers". Now there's finger pointing at souvenir buyers and photograph takers. It's smarmy and weird.

 

[SteveJ]

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

If you are guilty of simple things in life and if you think can't do what you like.. you probably have rethink your life decisions.

 

[Varun]

Did you buy the Chelsea + City combo? Would make sense. Old club and new, all in one.

 

[MkPaul]

I was at OT for the Liverpool game a few seasons ago (think it was under Moyes) and I saw a lad wearing one and he'd folded it through at the front so the bloody liver bird was showing perfectly front and centre.

In true British style I tutted and shook my head from a distance.

This is the reason people hate them.

If you rarely go to a game and you want a memento, fair enough, buy one and take it home. Don't bloody wear it at the game showing off the other clubs colours.

 

[stevoc]

Day trippers.

Ok i go to OT between 5 and 10 times a year so not loads, but i've been going for 26 years and would consider myself a proper fan as i sing my heart out when i'm there and actually watching the game. You see loads of people there taking photos and wearing half and half scarves. While there is nothing wrong with that, more often than not those "fans" don't sing and don't really seem that interested in the match. They just went to say they've been.

Thats probably true of some mate but not the majority i suspect, i used to be a regular years ago and know well the ones you are on about.

But people don't go to Rome just to say they've been they go for the experience, so they'll take pictures etc. to remember the occasion. Same with going to OT for many it will be their first time there after many years supporting United and maybe even a once in a life time experience not to be repeated for some who spend 1000's to travel from all over the world.

Most will be die hard United fans, and i think they can be forgiven for getting caught up in the experience of being at OT for the first time and losing focus of the actual match.

 

[Crustanoid]

I'd buy a four-way scarf with United, Liverpool, City and Leeds