No doubt Manchester United is a great club and i have great respect for some of their players such as Giggs, RVN, Ronaldo. Eventhough they were winning numerous titles and cups back in the 90s i didn't really bother much about as i only perceive Man u as another good football team just as i think of Barcelona, Inter Milan, Ajax or Madrid back then.

Things, however changed drastically in 1999. After their shocking last gasp victory over Bayern Munich in CL Final that year, the MAN U fanboom exploded and the hype was spreading like wildfire. Some of my friends who doesn't know jack shit or watch football suddenly begin supporting Manchester United. And yet the appalling thing is, they couldn't even name more than 3 players in their favorite team. They will tell you Cantona is from Spain. They start asking you what jersey color is Man u players because they can recognize their team. They couldn't differentiate between Butt, Scholes and Solskjaer because all three of them have the same haircut. And the next minute you know, Beckham with his Armani looks, starts to pull the girl audience into football. People who don't like football suddenly likes football by swearing their short allegiance to Manchester United. Manchester United jersey become the latest COOL toy to have among youngsters and schoolboys alongside Nike AIR JORDAN and Sony playstation.

Soon after, commercialism creeps in and Man U cafes, Man U TV, Man U shops started to mushroom one by one all over the world. In fact, without realizing it, Manchester United has bring EPL to the mainstream and transformed the club into a cultural icon. Not a bad move from the finance perspective as other clubs follow suit. More and more Man U fans appeared out of nowhere with more than 70% of them still doesn't know who the heck is Alex Ferguson and yet they claimed that they support Man United.

That is when i realized that it is the prawn sandwich fans that is making my blood boil not the team itself. Of course, having said that I believe there are a lot of "genuine" Man Utd fans out there who support the team wholeheartedly and not just in for Beckhamania or Ronaldo's flashy stepovers. Sad but truth but  this is what Manchester fans have become nowadays.....just my 2 cents.

Actually, they were at it before hand, George Best was the first pop star footballer, and before Beckham, Giggs was the poster boy for Man U, and before Giggs, there's a certain Lee Sharpe who was the poster boy. Still it didn't beat Beckhamania and now Charliemania (Charlie Ronaldo, after I got ban numerous time for calling him C*** Ronaldo, now I prefer Charlie, or if you prefer, crybaby, after last night's tantrum). If I get ban for calling him Charlie

In a way, I do agree with you, the popularity of Premier League has let to many people making good "investments" when they get good "returns" from staking the kids' college funds (or the months' allowance for younger ones) on it, which also led them to "follow" the teams, whomever it may be, which also leads to them "following" different teams as lately different teams has won the league. Which is also a reason you see lots of people wearing Blackburn shirts after 1995/96 season when they won the league thanks to Uncle Jack's (for those who don't know him, there's this things called Wikipedia and google) money and Shearer's goals.

The main thing that gets me, honestly, that these glory hunters (again, not targeting anyone) do not bother to look up information of the club. I mean, with advancement of technology, all it takes is to sit in front of the PC for about an hour, look it up in Wikipedia (or the club site, but that might be too long and difficult, some of these glory hunters have problem reading long sentences, which makes this post safe) and all you need to know about the club in a nutshell will be there, then maybe, they will somehow find a connection with the team and become a true supporter.

If a girl can do that and learn about Liverpool, then tell me that she cannot consider herself a Liverpool fan after reading about the club in Wikipedia, because of the connection and passion she read so much about the team, and can talk to me about things concerning the club and even discuss it. Then where does it puts these so called glory hunting fans?

"Followers" that is, that's what they are, they just follow, without knowing anything.

I suppose it's just the easiest thing to do lah... especially to those who barely watch the sport... they just want to pick a team for the sake of being "in the crowd". A strong, winning team is a reason good enough for many. I guess only the more dedicated fans will take the trouble to find a deeper reason to support a team and to learn more about them.

This not only applies to football... there were also a lot of Ferrari "fans" some years back and they know nuts about cars except that Schumacher wins every race!

In general I've nothing against glory hunters, coz they will always be around. The only thing that gets me is the gloating lah - what gives you the right to make so much noise when you barely know your own team, while I've supported my own team through thick and thin for over 15 years!

Comon, altogether now, sing with me!
"Glory, glory, glory hunter... glory glory glory hunter..."

Funny to add, maybe i am just a moron. When i first saw the tittle glory hunter i knew it would be directing to Manchester United fans and also particularly started off by a liverpool fan, i called it DejaVU.

Aiya, glory hunter are MU fans lah, who else?

I would like to stress, DO NOT discriminate glory hunters. They are also human who deserve respect. They have done nothing illegal. They help to increase the popularity, income and support for the club.

My fren supports Real Madrid (his no 1 team). And about i think 5 years back he started supporting liverpool, coz they have spanish influence (he's crazy bout spain, be it in F1, tennis, football). And recently he said he supports Barca to win the UCL. Even when barca were playing in the semis. What do u call him ?

p/s: i think this is out of topic already, no ? lol

I suppose it's just the easiest thing to do lah... especially to those who barely watch the sport... they just want to pick a team for the sake of being "in the crowd". A strong, winning team is a reason good enough for many. I guess only the more dedicated fans will take the trouble to find a deeper reason to support a team and to learn more about them.

This not only applies to football... there were also a lot of Ferrari "fans" some years back and they know nuts about cars except that Schumacher wins every race!

In general I've nothing against glory hunters, coz they will always be around. The only thing that gets me is the gloating lah - what gives you the right to make so much noise when you barely know your own team, while I've supported my own team through thick and thin for over 15 years!

Comon, altogether now, sing with me!
"Glory, glory, glory hunter... glory glory glory hunter..."

Simple. You know a glory hunter is right in front of you when you know about the team he supports more than he does.

Funny to add, maybe i am just a moron. When i first saw the tittle glory hunter i knew it would be directing to Manchester United fans and also particularly started off by a liverpool fan, i called it DejaVU.

Simple. You know a glory hunter is right in front of you when you know about the team he supports more than he does.

I think for those outside of England its more likely that the club he or she supports is the one that's probably getting the most coverage in their home country. We don't have a particular affinity with any of the clubs there unless of course we spent a certain period of time in that particular city, but for those of us who are born and live outside England its alot easier to say, "Hey, I'm gonna support one of the big fours rather than Havant & Waterlooville whom I've got no relationship with." To me what counts is how a supporter chooses to study his club, and over time grow to realise that he can only have one love. Its easier to say that United fans are glory hunters over here becoz we are currently the club with the most recent successes, but Liverpool fans from the 80-90s era began supporting their club becoz they were the sensation back then. If a fan switches sides according to who's topping the table every week, then fairplay, you can call him a glory hunter. But tagging a United fan automatically as one is a lil harsh. Jonno hit the nail on the head by saying they are merely followers, while those who truly stand behind their team are supporters.

On the topic of glory hunting though, isn't it the same when a fan chooses to forgo the style and heritage of football his or her club is known for in place of more successes? Would you rather see the football taught by your forefathers continue, or would you choose to throw it all away for more league titles and trophies?

Talk about glory hunters, I believe most football fans outside of England started off as one, is you ask many of them, even those who started off following the team in the 80's because we were the top team then, and we were beating everyone left right centre. I also understand that there were others who were drawn by different reasons, but many "younger" (and I use this term loosely) fans would started off as a bit of a glory hunter. The difference, (the ones that I can see anyway) is that some bothered to learn about the team and the club and the history, and slowly become appreciate the club and the history. Unfortunately, not all share the same sentiment and would often bring out the " I don't need to know what's in the past" crap when confronted on, to me, these are the real glory hunter. There are even some who changes teams.

Whether their motivation is money through betting, or they found that it is not fashionable to support the team anymore, I don't know, but then again, it is not my prerogative to tell them that it is not on, as it their problem, I would only shake my head behind them and feel sorry for them.

Perhaps it's because they never really felt the sense of belonging when supporting the club, which prompt them to switch to a more fashionable club, I don't know, and to be honest, I don't give a flying fcuk.

However, please do not go around and start telling others how great your team or new team is just because they won some games or a few trophies. It's people like this who give supporters in this region a bad name, with many labeling us OOC (Out Of Country) supporters. Already it is hard to gain respect from proper supporters and these things happens.

I am not blaming anyone or telling anyone what to do, but I feel that perhaps other supporters of the same club could have a word to these fans and perhaps that would encourage them to learn a bit more about the team, if one listens then it's one less morons in the thread and hopefully one day they will completely disappear, I certain can only wish.

NOTE:
No clubs has been mentioned in my post, I am just generalising about fans. And to those glory hunters, call yourself "follower" not fans or supporters, because you are just following, not supporting the team at all.

To be fair, most people in Malaysia or around the region has more or less some areas of Glory hunting to a certain extend... ask yourself this

1. how much is your knowledge about the team you support? (you don't have to be an expert but FFS at least know who the manager is and who's your players and at least some history as to what,when,why,what of the team)

2. do you wear your jersey or at least are you proud to put on that jersey even when your team is in the slums or loses in the weekend? (be honest here, vanity plays a big part in a supporter, what separates them are actually to what extend you let vanity represent you as a fan..glory hunting?) - i like this point here personally as i know people personally for hiding their jersey especially after being dumped over the weekend

3. do you need to be coax to catch the games or do you make it an effort to actually watch it, rejoice in it, stay till the very end? We may not be in the country where the beautiful game is played, but making an effort to at least watch it says a lot about whether you are a fan of football or just a fan of a club

I don't mean to discriminate or anything, I may not even be the FAN-atic as some of you are but at least I know I have loved Liverpool since my Football card collection days when I was 11, and after 25 years, I think its good to know there are plenty of passion still in the EPL... oops BPL and its fans throughout the world 

A less passionate or knowledgeable fans CAN be a royal fans.

A very passionate or knowledgeable fans CAN be a glory hunter too.

A less passionate or knowledgeable fans CAN be a royal fans.

No they can't unless they are from some sort of ROYAL family 

A less passionate or knowledgeable fans CAN be a royal fans.

A very passionate or knowledgeable fans CAN be a glory hunter too.

Lets not hit around the bush or be so philosophical about it. Those that switch off the tele or changes the channel when their team are losing 0-1, 0-3, 1-4 are glory hunters.

Those attending fans that leave the stadiums at half time are glory hunters.

Those that leaves the stadium before the final whistle are glory hunters.

Those that leaves the mamak stalls before the final whistle are glory hunters.

Glory hunters means what it means, people who only concern with success and glory. Its not about how you first start supporting a club, its how you react to disappointments that defines you.

My 2cents definition of it is:
1 - someone who "claims" to support the club but know nuts about the history of the club
2 - someone who only shows up after the club won and goes missing when the vice versa happens
3 - someone who switches club more often than i change shirt and follows where the "wind" blows - lalang lah
4 - someone who goes around inciting hatred and flame-baits by posting crap and illogical views
5 - someone who does not know what "beautiful" football is and is only concerned about winning
6 - someone who does not not how to be gracious in victory and defeat

Just my dua sen. Don't shoot me. 

i admit i'm glory hunter during the early 90's..

1st - that the time i started watch EPL
2nd - 90's dominated by united
3rd - fascinated by giggs and cantona
4th- when u started supporting why support losing club, might as well support winning team

team that u started to support is either influnce by:

- the timing u start to watch football, which team is winning the trophies
- ur family influnce
-peer influence
- partner influence

do you think alot ppl go search for club history before decide which team he/she should be supporting?
if there are any in here please state it

I'm sorry but I would like to point your that your misinterpretation on Glory Hunters.

Your post is to show how passionate or knowledgeable a fans could be.

A less passionate or knowledgeable fans CAN be a royal fans.

A very passionate or knowledgeable fans CAN be a glory hunter too.

does influence coming from a stack of bubblegum footie cards count? since my dad explained about Liverpool to me (and him being an Arsenal fan) I think he was actually happy i took a liking to football. he explained the players, a bit of history and  then he helped me collect my all Liverpool collection cards.. being no Astro TV or live games at that time, i think my only influence was actually an Arsenal Dad and a bunch of cards that looks cool oh and the BBC radio of cos

Lets not hit around the bush or be so philosophical about it. Those that switch off the tele or changes the channel when their team are losing 0-1, 0-3, 1-4 are glory hunters.

Those attending fans that leave the stadiums at half time are glory hunters.

Those that leaves the stadium before the final whistle are glory hunters.

Those that leaves the mamak stalls before the final whistle are glory hunters.

Glory hunters means what it means, people who only concern with success and glory. Its not about how you first start supporting a club, its how you react to disappointments that defines you.

lol bubblegum footie cards...i remember those...
small like 2cm x 5cm long cards...
BBC radio on short wave

f*** la...back then we didnt support teams as much as having heroes...
like kenny dalglish, bryan robson, ray clemence, peter shilton...

I agree with your second part, but not the first three lines.

I think most people who leave early are just easily frustrated and cannot bear to watch the painful display. It doesn't mean that when they leave early they are considering supporting another team. Unless they switch teams, then they are glory hunters.

I have friend previously supporting Arsenal because the team at young age and have a beautiful free flow game. But after frustrating with Wenger wages policy & end up trophyless. He convert to Liverpool because of numbers of  English and European Champions. Can assume my friend as glory hunter?

Seriously got bubblegum footie cards?    generation gap spotted haha.... i think its too harsh to brand someone just started supporting a team be it winning team n do not truly understand about the club as glory hunter...those new supporter will tend to boast when winning and hide when losing cos they may not know the true meaning of supporting clubs...

mentioned by other forummer, everyone outside England started out as glory hunters...so give those ppl some times to truly understand what supporting football club really about

Glory Hunter != Less passionate fans

Agree ... i also support Ferrari but i rarely/never watch F1 nor go surf things bout ferrari ... when i open newspaper and if saw the result is ferrari won, i will be happy ... but if they lose, i also no feeling

shall i call myself glory hunter? even if i consider as glory hunter i also dont give a damn

I agree on this too.

In a heavy defeat, fans who choose to leave early may because of:

1) Too painful to see the result worsen (understanding the poor performance the team is playing)
2) Too frustrated with the system/tactic/strategy/player-selection deployed which is responsible for the defeat.

Of course, REAL fans will hang on with the team NO MATTER what.

Also, please understand that NOT being so FANatic doesn't mean you are glory hunter.

Remember: Glory Hunter != Less passionate fans

Personally, being passionate needs time and experience to grow. Do not tell me that today you start supporting XXX club and tomorrow you become their super-fans knowing everything about the club etc...

Supporting a football club is not a race to prove you are more superior than others in terms of "support".
This is an open-discussion with no intention to finger-point any individual. We all are different and have our own belief and understand on certain issues so, no offence when things do not tick with your thinking

---

Added on May 12, 2009, 2:08 pm
Ask your friend if he has plans to "convert" to MU or Chelsea if Liverpool fails to win the BPL? (no offence to the Kops as this is only an assumption)

- or -

Ask your friend why Liverpool and not Real Madrid?

I agree with your second part, but not the first three lines.

I think most people who leave early are just easily frustrated and cannot bear to watch the painful display. It doesn't mean that when they leave early they are considering supporting another team. Unless they switch teams, then they are glory hunters.

team that u started to support is either influnce by:

- the timing u start to watch football, which team is winning the trophies

Perhaps. But ask yourself this, should the player just leave the pitch or give up when they're losing a match ? You dont expect them to, so its only fair that you as a fan ought to stay in your seats till the final whistle. Anything less,  is blatantly double standard. Sure defeat is hard to take but win, lose and draw is all part of the game. If you only support certain aspect of the game, in particular only the winning aspect of it, then you are certainly only in one part of it - the good part of it. Thats glory hunter in my book. I dont want to go into segregating different categories of fans here, but to me its simple. Either you support your team and in it for the long haul, or you're just in it for the 'fun' of it. The latter, IMHO, is textbook glory hunter.

Perhaps. But ask yourself this, should the player just leave the pitch or give up when they're losing a match ? You dont expect them to, so its only fair that you as a fan ought to stay in your seats till the final whistle. Anything less,  is blatantly double standard. Sure defeat is hard to take but win, lose and draw is all part of the game. If you only support certain aspect of the game, in particular only the winning aspect of it, then you are certainly only in one part of it - the good part of it. Thats glory hunter in my book. I dont want to go into segregating different categories of fans here, but to me its simple. Either you support your team and in it for the long haul, or you're just in it for the 'fun' of it. The latter, IMHO, is textbook glory hunter.

The player's can't do that because they are paid to do that job. I would rather stay at home now and play FM2009 but I can't do that because I'm paid to be in office (.... *cough* and post on LYN  )

A fan is one who forks out money to watch the game, be it in the stadium or subscribing to Astro or paying RM0.70 for Roti Canai. There is also an investment in time

Like I said, there are a lot of fans who because of their passion would rather turn off the TV or walkout. Its frustrating and they might do something stupid like start fighting in the terrace or kill themselves. But lo and behold, next week they are still tuning in or taking the train to the stadium.

However, there are also fair-weather fans. Who only watch the game or go the stadium when their team is winning, and during the bad times they don't bother at all. This could be the best example of "glory hunter" that I can think of.

My take on fans who leave when their teams are down is this; you are abandoning your team. Imagine how the players must feel watching fans leave when they are already feeling bad because they are losing. Why is the Kop so famous? Because they sing even if the team is behind i.e. Istanbul. If the players are losing, the fans can play a part.

My take on the thread title,

It's okay "to fall in love" with a team as a glory hunter. It's simply because not everyone has the time and patience to analyze EVERY TEAM in the world to decide which one fits his/her interest the best. I believe most of us (maybe not all) started to support our beloved team because of some reasons such as team popularity, peer influence, etc...

However, club-hopping glory hunters are different stories. I guess I do not need to elaborate further on this.
I would like to stress, DO NOT discriminate glory hunters. They are also human who deserve respect. They have done nothing illegal. They help to increase the popularity, income and support for the club.

Enough said, glory hunters who bash back the club "blindly" (without valid facts, just emotion and anger - because of the team is losing?) are hated the most. But yet, you cannot do anything about it since there is a freedom of speech.

I think that is more towards having affinity towards a certain country than glory hunting. But then again, did he realised the intense rivalry between Barca and Real?

i do agree with this. most people start in teens. this reaffirm that chelsea supporters are mostly kids.

Why all Malaysians support the big 4 (Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea)?

Do we need to support the big 4 to be a proper football fan?

Exactly. Nobody likes a loser,everyone is a hypocrite,we're all glory hunters,woooooooo.

Not everyone...Maybe you should take a look at those still supporting Leed United and southampton before you say that.

To be honest,I really respect the likes of PIRATES and FauxHawk who are still supporting Southampton until now .

If you don't know about them, maybe you should take a look at their thread.

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/312364/+300

Some of logic I can see here,

Real fans is someone who know wikipedia of their club.

If like tat, some of "real fans" is formerly glory hunters because at the first day being a fan they don't know the background of their club. How can boys in the age of 8, 9, 10 or 11 know the history of the club? And that time that club was doing good and winning the title. Boys in the age of 8, 9, 10 start to support because that club was winning. So that is GLORY HUNTER.

Don't say la we know the history, watch every game week in week out..that is REAL FAN....digg our self when we start to support. If like situation above, we are GLORY HUNTER converts to "SELF CLAIMED" REAL FAN. Don't talk big big la sampai meletup this LYN.

Some of self claimed REAL FAN is formerly GLORY HUNTER. Agree?

To be fair to the TS, the direction of this thread has gone wayward (As it is always expected when there is a neutral titled thread introduced)

The title of the thread was Glory Hunters. Id assume that one would discuss why do people become one, or what are the attributes and habits of a glory hunter. But the thread has gone on to become each and everyones own definition of a Glory Hunter, and it becomes pointless.

Find the definition of Glory Hunter from a neutral source, then discuss it from there, instead of being hypothetical with all the assumptions you can pick out from the sky.

What I do know about a majority of us, even in a microscopical sense, is that we are all Glory Hunters at one point or at a certain degree. We all claim that we loved the playing style, or the sheer heart and passion of the team and supporters, or the culture of the club, or the ancestorial origins etc etc but we forget to mention the trophies that we celebrated when we loved the same.

That goes to United supporters, Liverpool supporters, Chelsea supporters, Arsenal supporters (at least during their hay-day), id dare say Newcastle supporters (when they were challenging), Blackburn supporters (when the won the title) or even Nottingham forest (they won the european cup before me thinks)

very good play ^^ glad 2 see we r winning... gonna wear my chelsea jersey 2day ^^

eh?? a thread opened specially for me??? tqtqtqtq.

Here's something to ponder.

Can anyone here name ONE player in our Malaysian national team? What's the result of our last international game?

I'll bet only a few, if any, can answer that. Aren't we all glory-hunters then, for supporting teams half the world away but turn our backs against our own teams?

Btw - the answer to the 2nd question, is against the UAE back in January in KL. They canned us 5-0. Sadly, I cannot answer question #1.

spiderman.

U are caught in timewarp 

Some of logic I can see here,

Real fans is someone who know wikipedia of their club.

If like tat, some of "real fans" is formerly glory hunters because at the first day being a fan they don't know the background of their club. How can boys in the age of 8, 9, 10 or 11 know the history of the club? And that time that club was doing good and winning the title. Boys in the age of 8, 9, 10 start to support because that club was winning. So that is GLORY HUNTER.

Don't say la we know the history, watch every game week in week out..that is REAL FAN....digg our self when we start to support. If like situation above, we are GLORY HUNTER converts to "SELF CLAIMED" REAL FAN. Don't talk big big la sampai meletup this LYN.

Some of self claimed REAL FAN is formerly GLORY HUNTER. Agree?

Hmm,then you should respect me for supporting MU through all our rough incidents as well : Selling of Stam,flying boot to Becks,massive reshuffle of the forwards,falling out with RVN,watching Dong play etc.

Tough times man,but i stuck with em 

Can anyone here name ONE player in our Malaysian national team? What's the result of our last international game?

Can anyone here name ONE player in our Malaysian national team? What's the result of our last international game?

Why all Malaysians support the big 4 (Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea)?

Do we need to support the big 4 to be a proper football fan?

Hmm,then you should respect me for supporting MU through all our rough incidents as well : Selling of Stam,flying boot to Becks,massive reshuffle of the forwards,falling out with RVN,watching Dong play etc.

Tough times man,but i stuck with em 

Why all Malaysians support the big 4 (Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea)?

Do we need to support the big 4 to be a proper football fan?

Lets not hit around the bush or be so philosophical about it. Those that switch off the tele or changes the channel when their team are losing 0-1, 0-3, 1-4 are glory hunters.

Those attending fans that leave the stadiums at half time are glory hunters.

Those that leaves the stadium before the final whistle are glory hunters.

Those that leaves the mamak stalls before the final whistle are glory hunters.

Glory hunters means what it means, people who only concern with success and glory. Its not about how you first start supporting a club, its how you react to disappointments that defines you.

Ever heard of marketing?

I've also said before that back in the day I started supporting there was no ASTRO and the only live coverage we got was "Road to Wembley" which basically covered FA Cup games. Teams that featured regularly back then were Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs.

To answer your question, I'd like to think that it requires even more devotion to support a club outside of the 'big four'.

---

Added on May 13, 2009, 2:14 pm

Don't mean to judge but I wouldn't term those as 'rough' times. Despite these incidents you still won trophies.

But i agree with your initial post about marketing. I remember the first time i saw the Man Utd store in (i think one utama),they had the devils logo on everything.And I WANTED IT ALL. But they also had nice UK rated pricing