How do you cope with being a Notts County fan in a city dominated by Forest fans?

[TheSkipper]

Being a Notts County fan in a city dominated by Forest fans can be challenging. Throughout school, most people I knew supported Forest or whichever Premier League club was doing well at the time. Usually, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.

I can recall wearing my Notts shirts around the city when we were in League One and hardly having any negative experiences. It seemed like a time when Nottingham embraced Notts from a Nottingham Forest perspective. However, when we were relegated to League Two, we became a constant laughingstock and that seemed to break any acceptance by Forest fans. Quickly returned the annoying banter and idiots calling out why a Notts fan would be walking around their own city. Even some glory-hunting Premier League fans at times would say how poor Notts were. It was a truly depressing time, made worse by Alan Hardy and our relegation to the National League.

Have you had similar experiences as a Notts County fan in a city dominated by Forest fans? How do you cope with the banter and negative comments?

I have attended the pre-season friendly between Forest, and it wasn’t that bad. I think because we are doing okay, their fans can’t think of much to say, especially with their own situation. I also went to the League Cup game, in which we lost on penalties, which was a very joyous occasion.

Have you attended any matches between Notts County and Forest? What was your experience like?

My advice to fans would be to give as good as you get. If a Forest fan treats you with respect, treat them the same. If they give banter, try to give it back provided they are not thugs! At the end of the day, wear our colours with pride!

Do you have any advice for other Notts County fans living in a city dominated by Forest fans?

[DangerousSausage]

Interesting topic. I think feeling like a minority is something shared by all Notts fans born after about 1970 and it's part of who we are. I've lived in cities where there is one professional club and supporting that club is the default, and the mentality is a different one.

Personally I'm happy to engage in a bit of gentle ribbing, but the idiots whose idea of banter is "you're crap" get ignored. Life's too short. 

[DonnyNotts]

As I live in Doncaster doesn't affect me

[super_ram]

How do you think I get on? A few of my friends are fans of that lot and I accept the banter from them .When I worked the regular Florist fans were OK but it was the ones that came out of the woodwork only when they were doing well.

[KB1862]

This is an interesting topic. 

When it comes to family and friends, they're more Forest than County. 

Most of my family are Forest fans, My Best Mate is a Forest fan and I have quite a few good friends who are Forest fans.

My Dad is a Liverpool fan. So as you can imagine I had all the kits, books, VHSs and even had an Anfield tour. 

The first ever football match I attended was actually a Forest game in 2000. Forest 0-0 Wimbledon. My brother took me to it. But, I wasn't in to football at that time, paid no interest in it what so ever. 

There are often jokes about how low down we are, ribs about the wheelbarrow or even that they're "our big brothers up in the PL". But it's nothing more than meaningless banter between family and friends. Some of them even wish us every bit of success and like to see Notts do well.

Had the odd occasion, especially during school and college, where there were idiots who would take the piss but the only thing was to stand by being a Notts fan. It was usually those who supported bigger clubs or glory hunters that often piped up, who let's face it never really go to see them play live. 

[CliftonMagpie]

Clifton, where I live, is predominantly Notts. At school, most people either didn’t support a club or liked Premier League teams. In Nottingham itself, it’s different. I’ve found groups of Forest fans to be the problem. Most are fine, but some are obsessed with the 80s and believe the city is only red. Since starting work, I don’t mind the banter because I can put them in their place. It doesn’t change that I’m a Nottingham lad supporting a Nottingham club. Some trouble causers in Forest don’t attend games or believe everyone born here should support Forest. It can be annoying but also funny.

1 hour ago, DonnyNotts said:

As I live in Doncaster doesn't affect me

Has this always been the case? Have people at work or elsewhere ever tried to jokingly wind you up about supporting Notts?

[upthepies]

I am fortunate to have grown up watching Notts during their best periods in English football. Before the Premier League was formed, many people followed two or three football teams as a side hobby. My Uncle and Grandfather watched games from teams around the Midlands area, including Derby County, Nottingham Forest and Mansfield Town.

I had no such issue, as there were plenty of Notts fans in my school and no active rivalry with Forest. I think this has become more dominant in modern times since the Premier League was formed as an “elite rebranding”. I am fortunate to be my own boss and have taken over my family’s business, which is located in Nottingham.

Most of my employees support London-based clubs and have season tickets to West Ham, Chelsea and Spurs. The 80s are remembered by many as one of the best decades in English football. I have seen Forest fans try to wind up Notts fans when I have been in Nottingham and vice versa. I think Forest fans do it out of a deluded sense of pride that they are a bigger club.

[CliftonMagpie]

1 hour ago, super_ram said:

How do you think I get on? A few of my friends are fans of that lot and I accept the banter from them .When I worked the regular Florist fans were OK but it was the ones that came out of the woodwork only when they were doing well.

It must have been traumatic for you to live in Nottingham while supporting Derby. Although Notts fans tend to like Derby supporters and there is a sense of unity between them, the presence of Woodward and armchair supporters who gloat, exaggerate Forest’s achievements, and pretend their support is superior to anyone who supports a different team can be challenging.

You have my sympathy. I believe that your experiences have made you a better person than those who have been difficult.

[super_ram]

I started work i

22 hours ago, CliftonMagpie said:

It must have been traumatic for you to live in Nottingham while supporting Derby. Although Notts fans tend to like Derby supporters and there is a sense of unity between them, the presence of Woodward and armchair supporters who gloat, exaggerate Forest’s achievements, and pretend their support is superior to anyone who supports a different team can be challenging.

You have my sympathy. I believe that your experiences have made you a better person than those who have been difficult.

I started work in late summer !963  at Simon,May & Co in the lace market in an office known as  the Counting House. The chief clerk, who was my first immediate  boss,  was called Frank Powdrill . He was an avid Notts Fan. Over  30 years later, working in a dairy as the Storekeeper, I was on a tea break and someone had left an open copy of The Evening Post on a table. I noticed a photo and immediately recognised it as Mr. Powdrill. The reason for his photo was that he had just celebrated his 100th birthday and Notts County honoured him with a presentation to mark the occasion. I didn't get chance to read the article fully as I was called away and when I returned the paper had gone. There were a quite a few  Notts fans at Simon ,May, who were generally older than the Florist fans and I remember one obnoxious  Stags fan.He was really the first unpleasant fan I encountered. Up till then just friendly banter.

[liampie]

i did not hide that i supported notts but in my teens at school, all i focused on was going and coming home. i have never been that good, so the likelihood of talking to someone about notts was like seeing forest survive the premier league drop this season.

at work i do get banter and snide comments, usually only when notts loses or are having a bad spell.

usually i counter it by reminding them about things relating to their team but i never get argumentative because there is no point. i dont wear shirts or notts clothing except for match days, i dont tend to have any issues and now that i drive there is even less chance.

[Chris]

I went to a school called Ambleside, it wasn't really as nice as it looked or pretended to be. In my year group, only myself and one other lad would mention that we supported Notts. Nobody really bothered saying anything negative, because most would support Arsenal, Manchester United or Liverpool. Back then, less acknowledged Tottenham Hotspur and even less would dream of saying they supported Manchester City, Chelsea also wasn't as glamorous to support.

I was only bothered by individuals from my sibling's year, but they soon realized that I was not like my brother and stopped bothering me.

I moved to Rosslyn halfway through year 5, football was more a thing to bound over, and I loved every minute in school from that point. There were lads that liked Forest but would never criticise Notts. We would play football during breaks and at dinner time, all the time one of us would pretend to be a football from a club we liked.

The only issue I do recall between Ambleside and Rosslyn, was an old neighbour who had teen lads, and they were what most these days would refer to as 'Dingles'. They were annoying with their antics, but most of the time my family would just ignore them. I have to keep it PG, as I could tell some funny stories about my mum and how she would deal with their nonsense. She wouldn't take it, neither would my grandfather.

Attending senior school was a unique experience. Although criticism towards Notts would often irritate me, I never let it get to me because I was a skilled football player. In fact, I took it as an opportunity to teach those who devalued my team a lesson by outplaying them on the field.

There was a boy from Scotland named Brett. He thought he was the god's gift to football, and he was literally the worst type of football fan you could meet. He would switch his support from one team to another every week. A few weeks later, it would change again. His footballing skills were as good as his choice of teams he claimed to support, basically two left feet at best and average otherwise.

Work has always been the most difficult, too many plastic fans that I would encounter. I mean, I met one semi decent Forest fan in @jsrjay but 90% of the rest needed a good smack.

[Canadian]

Born in 1980

 

In 1983 I asked me mam to take me to a Notts county game. The rest is history. 

I hated growing up as a Notts fan. I despise the other side, all my family was Red . 

 

Just once I dreamed about Notts being the only team in Nottingham (although, that's not very nice is it, Jobs and Livelyhoods etc) 

 

Perhaps switch roles for a little while 

 

That's just my opinion

[yelobeli]

I moved to Southwell in 1978.  I was a 10-year-old Liverpool fan (with a bit of Lincoln City, following the 4th division championship in 1975/6).  Over the next 2 years it seemed that everyone who wasn't already supporting Forest jumped on the bandwagon.  I refused to.  County was the only sensible choice, and I became more of a fan when I went to University and trips to watch County home or away became a reason to go home for the weekend, or to meet up with others from Notts.
How do I cope?  I hate them.  Always will.  And I hate them even more when their fans show up at Meadow Lane like they did on Sunday or against Yeovil and Halifax for a cheap day out.  OK; "hate" is a strong word, and I don't have any real animosity towards their fans. At least they're supporting a local team. But I do hate how we're treated as an afterthought. And I don't like that most of their fans don't regard us as a local rival and seem to quite like us.

The City Is Ours. County til I Die.

...but I'm also a Scotland fan, so I make an exception for Archie Gemmill.

Edited May 15, 2023 by yelobeli

[DonnyNotts]

On 07/05/2023 at 22:48, CliftonMagpie said:

Clifton, where I live, is predominantly Notts. At school, most people either didn’t support a club or liked Premier League teams. In Nottingham itself, it’s different. I’ve found groups of Forest fans to be the problem. Most are fine, but some are obsessed with the 80s and believe the city is only red. Since starting work, I don’t mind the banter because I can put them in their place. It doesn’t change that I’m a Nottingham lad supporting a Nottingham club. Some trouble causers in Forest don’t attend games or believe everyone born here should support Forest. It can be annoying but also funny.

Has this always been the case? Have people at work or elsewhere ever tried to jokingly wind you up about supporting Notts?

I'm actually from Hull but have lived in Doncaster for nearly 50 years. As for people trying to wind me up, no, most are swfc fans and they are obsessed with sufc

[Chris]

I should remember to be more positive in discussions like this. I forgot to mention that some of the kindest people I met at school were actually fans of Forest, and they have expressed their support for Notts.

In addition to that admission from my first post, if it wasn't for a nice Forest fan called Seany reaching out to me - I think I would still be looking for travel.

Although I will be taken there by a Notts fan, it's Seany who offered me and Cal a lift, which means Jake is free to travel with a mutual friend who has saved us all. Although it's not an ideal scenario, and we would much rather be together, it's uplifting to be reminded that there are always kind and compassionate individuals willing to make a positive impact.

PS. I did think I were being offered a lift by a travelling Forest fan, as they play Chelsea and I do now feel obliged to wish them well. "At first, the headline that came to mind was 'Forest Fan Goes the Extra Mile to Preserve County Fans' Dream of Wembley'."

[super_ram]

9 hours ago, Chris said:

I should remember to be more positive in discussions like this. I forgot to mention that some of the kindest people I met at school were actually fans of Forest, and they have expressed their support for Notts.

 

Yes, same here. There are a lot of opposition fans, not just Forest, who are really passionate about football and not just their own club. Unfortunately it's the idiot,  abusive , windup  pratts that stick in the memory.

[Countyman]

I’m fortunate to have witnessed success in the 70s and 80s, and even the 90s weren’t too bad as a Notts fan. I don’t mind friendly banter or jokes about a loss. However, I don’t appreciate those who are delusional or go out of their way to be unpleasant due to imagined rivalries.

[Joshua]

I’ve had both positive and negative experiences, but I would say that it’s just as bad with supporters of any club, not just some Forest fans. I’ve travelled to college before and encountered Manchester United fans in Nottingham who were consistently offensive towards Notts.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Joshua

[Chris]

@Joshua I did find it funny at school, when people would go on about Manchester United and how die hard of a fan they were but had never been to a single game. I don't mind if people choose to support whoever they want, and I don't even mind if they're fans of two teams. However, it becomes an issue when they switch between teams based solely on whichever one is performing better at the time.

Yet I have had issues with some United fans before; oddly when I went to Manchester with my family they were all very friendly and inquisitive about Notts.

[Joshua]

@Chris College for me is fantastic because we all just talk about football without any bias or sarcastic remarks. It’s just some of the wild life in the city centre that can be problematic.