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Status Anxiety

Toby Young

Wednesday, 6th February 2008

When Arsenal got too posh, I switched to QPR. Now look what's happened

I have to confess to once having been a Gooner myself. Back when I first started going to Highbury, I used to feel vaguely self-conscious on account of being from a higher income bracket than the majority of the fans. Then, for a brief period, I was surrounded by people who seemed to come from exactly the same background as me — and today, whenever I set foot in the Emirates, I feel the same kind of social anxiety I used to experience, only now it is because I am so much poorer than everyone else.

For football fans who wish to enjoy their Saturday afternoons without being troubled by status issues, there is a solution to this problem and it is called the Coca-Cola Football League Championship. Here, down among the also-rans and the wannabes, a man of my modest means can feel at home. What is required is a club with a proud history, but which has no real chance of being promoted to the Premier League. A club that will never outgrow its supporters — at least, not in my lifetime.

It was with this in mind that I decided to switch allegiance to Queens Park Rangers. Admittedly, QPR were one of the founder members of the Premier League, but that was over 15 years ago. In 2002 they were relegated to the third tier in England’s football league and though they managed to haul themselves back into the second tier in 2004 they have been languishing near the bottom ever since. Just the ticket, then, for a soccer fan struggling to retain a foothold in the middle classes in the face of increasingly tough competition.

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matthew rees

February 7th, 2008 1:17pm

The disloyality shown by your writer sums up the changing face of English Football. Arsenal have been on a roller coaster of a Journey as one of the aristocrats of the English Game. The shrewd and far sighted vision of the Clubs directors have funded and introduced modern training and life style techniques that will become the standard for successful club management in the U.K. They have also remained one of the very true purveyors of entertainment through the medium of competitive football. I'm a QPR fan of Forty Five years and i'm one of many that remain loyal to the Club. I shall remain loyal even if the prices go up and the value of the directors watch's match my annual income. So what! Somebodies got to pay the cost both financal and emotional for being a Club supporter. I'll take the agony these visionaries who have bought the franchise can pay the bill. Thats how its always going to be. I think your option is a type of moral cowardice pushed along by almost childish naivity. Get back to North London and read Nick Hornby. Hope i don't get a seat next to you at Loftus Road whichever league we are in.

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