Leaving Early

[Farleigh]

At Maidstone we are having one of our periodic bouts of self-flagellation and angst on the subject of people leaving games early. It doesn't help that the geography of the stadium means most have to walk the entire length of the pitch to exit, so it is more visible. Do your fans leave early if the team is losing, and does it bother you?

 

[GTFCfish]

Railway Blue, this thread is for you.

 

[The Terminator]

Once we're 3-0 down with ten minutes left I'm usually gone.

 

[GTFCfish]

Once we're 3-0 down with ten minutes left I'm usually gone.

We did that at Halifax 2 seasons ago and missed 3 goals, (2-4) not that we gave a shit like.

 

[DontBringBertie]

Once we're 3-0 down with ten minutes left I'm usually gone.

That's my usual rule. Don't leave home games early much at all - think the last time was when we were 5-1 down to Macclesfield a couple of seasons ago. On reflection I should have stayed and realised I was massively privileged to be watching Danny Whittaker.

Not sure why it would bother other fans though? Not exactly fun sitting/standing there watching your team getting dicked with no chance of getting back in to the game.

 

[Railway Blue]

Railway Blue, this thread is for you.

I don 't really leave early. I go straight to the Legend's Lounge and take part in the inquest over our latest home defeat. The time I left early was against Welling about 3 years ago and Sparrow got hold of it like a dog with a bone. My other half and myself were going up to her daughter's in Glasgow. It's 4 hour drive so I compromised and watched half the match. A lot of people leave the Deva Stadium 5 or 10 minutes from the end because it's a bastard of queue up Bumpers Lane. When the stadium first opened 25 years ago a member of the filth used to speed it up, but they're too busy these days hiding from the public and doing Wrexham v Chester matches.

 

[SomeMightShay]

Our game against Garforth back in 2010 is the stuff of folklore amongst Shaymen. 1-3 down with 85 mins played we went on to win 4-3 with the equaliser in the 90th and winner in the 92nd. Many fans were already out of the ground and heading to the cars by that point. Not that i got to see the game at all thanks to the bastards at Emirates airlines.

 

[Pablosammy]

We were 3-1 down at Barrow going into injury time, and still won. I never leave early, I've seen the unexpected too often!

 

[GTFCfish]

We were 3-1 down at Barrow going into injury time, and still won. I never leave early, I've seen the unexpected too often!

Yeah but Barrow got their revenge with that world famous FA Cup win against you that they (Chipmunx) don't like to talk about.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

We were 3-1 down at Barrow going into injury time, and still won. I never leave early, I've seen the unexpected too often!

There were plenty of Tranmere fans that did leave that day though! Even though we were on the wrong side of it, it was the most extraordinary end to a game ever - I'd have been just as devastated to have missed it if I was a Tranmere fan.

I think the only time I've left early, we were bottom of Conference North and losing about 0-6 at home to Gainsborough. I don't think I went back for the rest of that season.

My only issue with people leaving early is when they file out with five minutes to go just to hit the road before anyone else - don't bother going, if the drive home is the most important bit of the day.

 

[PaulHaddock]

I normally leave at 85 but we do live 90 minutes away. Only time I’ve left pre-80 is when we lost 4-0 at Halifax (there’s a theme here!).

 

[Luke Imp]

I've left early twice.

One at Doncaster in 2007, which was the first round of the League Cup. I'd made a last minute decision to get there so dashed from work, feeling under the weather, and we were 4-0 down after 75 minutes or so IIRC. Jamie Forrester scored just as I was walking out.

The other one was the relegation game against Aldershot in 2011, but that was only when injury time went up.

 

[B2TF]

Our game against Garforth back in 2010 is the stuff of folklore amongst Shaymen. 1-3 down with 85 mins played we went on to win 4-3 with the equaliser in the 90th and winner in the 92nd. Many fans were already out of the ground and heading to the cars by that point. Not that i got to see the game at all thanks to the bastards at Emirates airlines.

Most fans had stayed in the ground- Michael Wilde said afterwards, "I don't know how many Halifax fans were here, but there seemed to be thousands of them on the pitch at the end".

My favourite story about that is the fan who got a text in the car park to say we'd just made it 2-3- he texted back that it was "too little, too late". A minute later he got another text to say it was 3-3. He rang his mate to say ha-ha he wasn't falling for that one, and his mate answered it just as we scored the winner. He knew from the noise coming down the phone that he'd missed out on the greatest comeback of all time.

The other side of the coin is of course, "arriving late"- there was the lad who arrived for our match at Doncaster 15 minutes after kick off. On asking the gateman if there'd been any score yet, and being told , "yeah, your lot are winning 4-0" he proceeded to give said gateman what is known as a "gobful" of abuse, only to find on entering and meeting up with his mates that we were indeed winning 4-0. It's a funny old game.

Somewhere between the 2 scenarios, there is "not making it to the game at all" - another fan decided to use the occasion of another game at Doncaster to spend the afternoon shagging his mistress silly in a local hotel, while telling his wife he was going to the match. Taking a break to get his second wind, he checked the half time score and saw we were losing 3-0. "Ha, just as well I didn't waste my money" he thinks. On getting home and putting on his glummest face before going in and telling his wife we'd got hammered, he suddenly found he had a lot of explaining to do when his missus told him we'd won 4-3! We're a strange lot, us Shaymen.

 

[B2TF]

I can't understand why people leave early, would you leave the cinema before the film finishes? Even if the film is poor I'll stay to get my money's worth.

 

[Boz]

If I’m doing a midweek game by public transport have to leave early to be sure of making the connection, as getting in at 3 in the morning is not conducive to going into work a couple of hours later.

This could be resolved if we kicked off at 7.30pm...

 

[Liam_SWFC]

We have this at Hillsborough, if you look around at 80 minutes you see a few people getting up and leaving, 85 minutes 25% of the ground gets up and goes no matter what the score is. Makes it all the sweeter when we score a injury time winner, nothing finer in football and they are missing out. Doesn't bother me like.

 

[YorkieLiam]

Fans left early today and then missed the winning goal, courtesy of Jon Parkin. Idiots.

 

[Joe.]

Left early once. Woking at home in the Cup last season. We were 1 down, it was cold and I just wanted a pint to be honest. We drew 1-1 and won the replay. I've seen us lose heavily many times and still stayed.

If people wish to leave early, that's their choice.

 

[SomeMightShay]

I can't understand why people leave early, would you leave the cinema before the film finishes? Even if the film is poor I'll stay to get my money's worth.

You never saw America's sweethearts (Clooney/Zeta-Jones) lasted about half an hour. Or Assasins Creed. 35 mins of my life i won't get back.

 

[Aber gas]

You never saw America's sweethearts (Clooney/Zeta-Jones) lasted about half an hour. Or Assasins Creed. 35 mins of my life i won't get back.

Or that Warcraft film. Fucking hell, that was so shit even the nerdy mum touchers fucked off early.

 

[Pliny Harris]

The last time I remember going home early was at a West Riding cup match at Harrogant Railway, to get the rattler on time. Did it loads as a kid. Injury time winners are all that sweeter when most of the early leavers deserve to be punished by missing it. If it's an unsegregated away end and we're doing badly or it's not that gripping we tend to go around towards the end so we're closer to the dugouts or exit. That worked well at Clitheroe one time when a group of local kids nicked my father's flat cap and decided I looked like Jedward, and then we scored a last-kick winner so it was all very intense.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

I normally leave at 85 but we do live 90 minutes away. Only time I’ve left pre-80 is when we lost 4-0 at Halifax (there’s a theme here!).

Because the streets of Cleethorpes are choc-a-bloc with that football traffic....

Every club probably has the same proportion of fans who leave early. I don't really get it and I've only left early once, a game against Scunthorpe where we were 3-1 down and our keeper picked up an injury in the final few minutes. I think my reaction was along the lines of fuck this shit.

 

[PaulHaddock]

Because the streets of Cleethorpes are choc-a-bloc with that football traffic....

Every club probably has the same proportion of fans who leave early. I don't really get it and I've only left early once, a game against Scunthorpe where we were 3-1 down and our keeper picked up an injury in the final few minutes. I think my reaction was along the lines of fuck this shit.

They are!

We also don’t have those tubes you can make quick getaways on.

 

[B2TF]

I think I've left early once, if you count leaving in stoppage time "early". It was at home to Yeovil late in 2002/03 season, they were going for the title and we were hanging onto the play-offs by our finger tips. Deservedly 2-0 up in the first half and missing a penalty that would have given us an unassailable half time lead, we utterly capitulated in the second half, culminating with their striker completing his hattrick with the winner in the aforementioned stoppage time and giving us all the finger for the abuse he'd received earlier. This ended our slim play-off chances, a year after a second humiliating and shambolic relegation from the Football League. It was all too much I'm afraid and I stormed down the terraces towards the pitch to loudly remind our players what useless fucking bastards they were, before marching out and never looking back. Checking the scores when I got home I was mildly disappointed to note that we'd still lost, regardless of my rant. And yes, I snook back in at the next home match to take up my usual spot and readied myself for further humiliation and despair. There is a cure for this, right?

 

[eightiesrobin]

I left early twice in a week last season, when 2-0 down away at Stockport and again at home to FCUM. On both occasions, I missed us conceding a third goal!

When we hosted Fylde, they were 5-0 up after about 40 mins, prompting quite the half-time exodus. I stayed till the end for that one, out of morbid curiosity

 

[Railway Blue]

Left early once. Woking at home in the Cup last season. We were 1 down, it was cold and I just wanted a pint to be honest. We drew 1-1 and won the replay. I've seen us lose heavily many times and still stayed.

If people wish to leave early, that's their choice.

Do you want the AA number?

 

[Joe.]

Do you want the AA number?

I'm good thanks, only drink on days ending with a Y.

 

[E10rifle]

Pretty sure I’m the undisputed king of this. I’ve missed 11 Orient goals by leaving early. In two games.

 

[Joe.]

Pretty sure I’m the undisputed king of this. I’ve missed 11 Orient goals by leaving early. In two games.

Good going that.

 

[joethegill]

Up until a couple of years ago I'd only ever left a competitive Gills game early once (Dover at home in the up, 2-0...shocker) but I've done it loads in the last 18 months or so.

We are shit though.