There was something I was familiar with going into this project, but wasn't fully aware of its scale. A cult hatred from fans towards fellow supporters who choose to record their experiences on a match day.
This certainly doesn't mean that they aren't popular, though. Sam got over 160,000 views on his Spurs-Barcelona vlog alone. So why is it that a fan who makes great videos is subjected to harsh abuse online?
There's a certain stigma around vlogging, particularly I feel from British match going fans. It's seen as a 'plastic', 'wet', 'exploitative' or 'fake' support which seems unfair given the time and effort that goes into producing the videos. Let alone the fact they are paying fans like anyone else.
Sam spoke to me about the route of his ambition to make these videos. It was initially so members of his family (many of whom lived abroad) could have a match day experience with him. Then, when he started to gain traction he explained that he wanted to provide that same experience for Spurs fans all over the world.
It was clear speaking to him that he was as passionate as any fan I'd ever met. Yet one look through the replies to some of his tweets would lead you to believe he was an Arsenal fan.
In a football landscape which is changing faster than I can ever remember, it's astonishing that some supporters are unwilling to accept this as a new medium.
I think this sort of issue is routed more deeply with fans who don't like supporters coming from abroad. Intertwined with the 'day tripper' tag some fans get when they commute from around the globe.
It's a stone-age attitude which rejects club growth and promotes segregation from the rest of the country. Not an attitude fans of a club should have if their ultimate ambition is to win silverware.
By no means does everyone have to like fan media, but as long as it's not unwillingly being thrust upon you, there should be no campaign against fellow supporters for trying to capture an experience at the football.
For many of the bigger vloggers, this is now a full-time profession. It is literally their job to vlog at the game. Whether you're a fan of it or not, you have to say that it's a medium that has come ridiculously far in the past 5 years or so.
It's not long ago that fan footage in the ground was so pixelated you wouldn't even get a copyright strike for putting it out there.
Now you can watch football for a living, not bad.
Comments