Proper Club ? | Vital Football

Proper Club ?

diggerman

diggerman

Vital Champions League
Does anybody on here know what defines a 'proper' club?
Just looking in on a certain clubs message board (not Boro), and a lot of them are saying how they want Sheff Wed to win their play off because they're a proper club that should not have to put up with being in league one.
Same fans seem to think Boro are 'irrelevant' and the likes of Rotherham, Luton etc are 'tinpot', whatever that means.
 
herringthorpe said:
The local clubs who are now below us - except for the 'massive' who have come up of course - have always called us tinpot.

What a 'proper' club actually is, I don't know.
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So disrespectful.
I take it the 'massive' is Wednesday?
Strange that, cos that how Sunderland fans describe their club too.

I pride myself in being very 'laid back', but I find the term 'tinpot' to be so disrespectful.
Every club is where it is (in the pyramid) because they deserve to be, and every clubs the most important club to its own supporters.
 
There is little unanimity of opinion on what constitutes a 'proper' club but there seem to be several qualities often mentioned. Millwall and West Ham are often referred to as 'proper' primarily because they have a fanatical fan base closely identified with a geographical area. This would suggest a 'proper' club has a substantial hardcore following rooted in a town, city or area and one which does not fluctuate massively in response to success or failure.
The second aspect - and here we have a contradistinction with 'tinpot' as an insult - is that the club is built on solid foundations. It should have a secure tenure of its stadium. It should live within its means. To me a club that relies on the whim of a wealthy investor or operates as a adjunct to some sportswashing state or organisation is not a 'proper' club. Despite the rancour this view will generate I do not believe for example Man. City (used to be but no longer), Man.Utd, Newcastle (sadly now no longer), Chelsea, Watford, Sheffield Wednesday and others are 'proper'. Brentford and Luton are 'proper'.
'Tinpot' means cheap or worthless but is usually applied to clubs that are financially prudent. Many more clubs need to become 'tinpot' but I doubt it will happen. Too many vested interests in keeping vast amounts of money sloshing around. Media types pay lip-service to financial prudence. Adrian Durham bangs on about it but he and other Talksport presenters live off the proceeds of gambling sponsorship. Sickening hypocricy.
 
I was actually told by a friend that he believes 'tin pot' clubs were so called originally because they had metal rooves over the stands. Whether that's an actual fact or something he's heard before I don't honestly know.
 
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