Whats with the Fife love-in?

[imissling]

Serious question as I really dont get it.

Not sure why, in the absence of our side, most Panthers fans seem to be leaning towards Fife? Is it because they surely would be seen as the underdogs of the four sides? This I could understand but what genuinely surprises me is that people are commenting on how their fan base deserves it and complimenting their fans on being great hockey people!

Now I know this is a personal opinion and I know that the many should not be judged by the actions of the few but in my opinion I have never enjoyed an away game less than going to Fife.

I have been to a Panthers away game for each of the EIHL opposition and was generally dissapointed in FIfe. Everywhere I have been with my wife and friends we have enjoyed the atmosphere and banter with the opposition immensely and have seen it as the friendly family hockey atmosphere that we had become familiar with and what had in fairness encouraged us to travel to Scotland and N. Ireland etc yet in Fife it was needlessly aggressive and unfriendly and genuinely was surprised to see some of the fans hurling abuse at both the players and the opposition fans. Had not experienced this before (certainly not towards opposing fans, even at Steelers games) and have not since.

Again, I appreciate there will be many a Flyers fan that are genuinely nice people but was dissapointed with the experience as it was spoilt by a few.
Im not saying my opinion therefore is right, but it is obviously formed by a first hand experience.

Reading what I have read therefore with peoples suggestions they will follow Fife for their fans, I just started to wonder how wrong my opinions were?

For me, I will shouting for Braehead. As a lone fan in an away game on a Weds night in Jan I was made to feel very welcome and had a great experience with the friendly side of Hockey that makes this whole thing far more worthwhile than football crowds (which is what I would have likened Fife to).

Dont want to offend any fans of Flyers in particular, Im sure most are lovely, but it is an honest account of my experience.

[nate24]

I have no idea but for me it is the underdog thing.

What I want to say is some posters on here can learn from you. This is a constructive negative topic backed with facts over opinion and leaving the door open for constructive debate and counter argument.

This is what a forum post should be.

[Shorty]

Right, thats me cheering for Fife now then.

[imissling]

Apr 1, 2014 8:08:28 GMT nate24 said:

I have no idea but for me it is the underdog thing.

What I want to say is some posters on here can learn from you. This is a constructive negative topic backed with facts over opinion and leaving the door open for constructive debate and counter argument.

This is what a forum post should be.

Thank you Nate. Its nice to hear that it is being read in the manner in which it is written.

As suggested Im looking to know if Ive got this all wrong and my experience was just an entirely unfortunate one off?

I think the best example I can use and forgot to initially suggest is that in Braehead I was sat alone in a bar pre game in a Panthers shirt and was invited to join to some Clan fans, in Dundee in the queue for a beer I remember well having a laugh and a joke with a young girl in a Stars shirt and her dad.... In Fife my wife begged me not to talk to anyone when I went outside for a cigarette just in case they were looking for trouble. That to me wasnt what we were used to and enjoy so much about hockey....

The atmosphere and banter between 'rival' teams is exactly why, despite the lack of black and gold, we look forward to the weekend still so much.

[panthertom93]

Head over to Kingdom Of The Giants if you want to experience negativity and bitterness from belfast fans.

You may have just had one bad experience on your trip.

For me it's partly the underdog thing, not the fan base. I also would love to see Dutiaume lift the trophy after his awful tragedy the other year.

[Always a Panther]

I must admit I have been wondering about this also.
I found my experience in Fife to be very similar to yours. I dont think I have been anywhere before were I felt more uncomfortable around the opposition fans.
The fans that I came into contact with were very aggresive towards us and even on our walk down the road away from the rink we had a car full of fife fans pull up at the side of the road and start hurling abuse at us.
Before my trip up to fife everyone had said how it was the best away trip for atmosphere and friendly fans. Which was why I was so surpised to have the experience I did. I would also like to point out that I am sure those I met do not represent the whole of the fife fan base and I am only commenting on those I personally came into contact with.

In terms of the playoff weekend, I can understand why people are backing fife as the underdogs, and I definately think it would only be a good thing for the league if they did win it. However I must admit that after my experience in fife i find myself routing for braehead the most out of all the teams.

[Ian]

Partly the underdog thing, maybe a bit of history too from some?

A history lesson...

Good relations with Fife club and players has a long history in Nottingham, dating back to the mid-80s. They were two of the older names in the league even then, and there was always lots of respect and some great, hard fought (but not dirty) games between the sides. Relations were cemented when former Panther and then current Flyer Andy Linton came close to losing his sight and Panthers fans collected and sent money towards treatment etc. As new teams like Cardiff, Humberside, Sheffield and the like came on the scene, Nottingham and Fife were two of the "old guard" who were trying to compete, sharing a long history and having similar facilities and fanbase sizes, so always a feeling of solidarity.
Surprised to hear some have had issues on visits to Fife. Sure, it is an intimidating atmosphere, with away teams subjected to lots of verbals on the ice, on the benches and in the penalty box, and visiting fans given plenty too, but not heard or experienced this spilling over into individual abuse of fans. For those who only know the sanitised world of the NIC and other modern arenas, Fife can be a culture shock - but trust me, our old stadium (please bear with me while I wipe away my tears of nostalgia at this point) was just as hostile, possibly even more so.

[Mythosman]

Apr 1, 2014 9:44:24 GMT Ian said:

Partly the underdog thing, maybe a bit of history too from some?

A history lesson...

Good relations with Fife club and players has a long history in Nottingham, dating back to the mid-80s. They were two of the older names in the league even then, and there was always lots of respect and some great, hard fought (but not dirty) games between the sides. Relations were cemented when former Panther and then current Flyer Andy Linton came close to losing his sight and Panthers fans collected and sent money towards treatment etc. As new teams like Cardiff, Humberside, Sheffield and the like came on the scene, Nottingham and Fife were two of the "old guard" who were trying to compete, sharing a long history and having similar facilities and fanbase sizes, so always a feeling of solidarity.
Surprised to hear some have had issues on visits to Fife. Sure, it is an intimidating atmosphere, with away teams subjected to lots of verbals on the ice, on the benches and in the penalty box, and visiting fans given plenty too, but not heard or experienced this spilling over into individual abuse of fans. For those who only know the sanitised world of the NIC and other modern arenas, Fife can be a culture shock - but trust me, our old stadium (please bear with me while I wipe away my tears of nostalgia at this point) was just as hostile, possibly even more so.

Couldn't agree with you more Ian - the old barn was a veritable 'bear pit' at times, particularly before the plexi-glass was introduced, as the crowd was on top of the players - just one row behind the benches.

The 'affinity' thing with Fife is an historical thing - probably dating back to when the Panthers won their first trophy of the modern era - the Norwich Union Cup at the NEC in 1986. After the game, countless Fife fans came up to us and congratulated us on beating their team - something that has always stuck in my memory!

In the 1980's too, a strong bond and rivalry developed between the Nottingham and Fife Junior set-ups, with reciprocal invitations to each Club's respective International Tournaments.

As to the coming weekend, with Fife playing Belfast, and Braehead taking on Shuff or the Blaze, I think after a few bevvies, and the donning of a 'See you Jimmy' ginger wig & Tam-o-Shanta, my weekend will take on a decidedly tartan hue!

[imissling]

Apr 1, 2014 10:20:41 GMT Mythosman said:

Apr 1, 2014 9:44:24 GMT Ian said:

Partly the underdog thing, maybe a bit of history too from some?

A history lesson...

Good relations with Fife club and players has a long history in Nottingham, dating back to the mid-80s. They were two of the older names in the league even then, and there was always lots of respect and some great, hard fought (but not dirty) games between the sides. Relations were cemented when former Panther and then current Flyer Andy Linton came close to losing his sight and Panthers fans collected and sent money towards treatment etc. As new teams like Cardiff, Humberside, Sheffield and the like came on the scene, Nottingham and Fife were two of the "old guard" who were trying to compete, sharing a long history and having similar facilities and fanbase sizes, so always a feeling of solidarity.
Surprised to hear some have had issues on visits to Fife. Sure, it is an intimidating atmosphere, with away teams subjected to lots of verbals on the ice, on the benches and in the penalty box, and visiting fans given plenty too, but not heard or experienced this spilling over into individual abuse of fans. For those who only know the sanitised world of the NIC and other modern arenas, Fife can be a culture shock - but trust me, our old stadium (please bear with me while I wipe away my tears of nostalgia at this point) was just as hostile, possibly even more so.

Couldn't agree with you more Ian - the old barn was a veritable 'bear pit' at times, particularly before the plexi-glass was introduced, as the crowd was on top of the players - just one row behind the benches.

The 'affinity' thing with Fife is an historical thing - probably dating back to when the Panthers won their first trophy of the modern era - the Norwich Union Cup at the NEC in 1986. After the game, countless Fife fans came up to us and congratulated us on beating their team - something that has always stuck in my memory!

In the 1980's too, a strong bond and rivalry developed between the Nottingham and Fife Junior set-ups, with reciprocal invitations to each Club's respective International Tournaments.

As to the coming weekend, with Fife playing Belfast, and Braehead taking on Shuff or the Blaze, I think after a few bevvies, and the donning of a 'See you Jimmy' ginger wig & Tam-o-Shanta, my weekend will take on a decidedly tartan hue!

I think then that this just goes to show the importance of personal experiences as no doubt had I the same memories of the Flyers that you mention, then no doubt I would be cheering for them come Saturday just as loudly.

It is unfortunate that the nature of so few can tarnish the reputation of so many but that said, i would be stunned if opposing fans all had differing views on us.

Unfortunately its impossible to be liked by all and Im sure no Flyers fans will lose any sleep over my comments should they come across them, nor would I want them to as it is not a personal attack.

As it stands, I too will be pro-Scotland all weekend with the ties as they are (especially handy when your name is in fact Scott). Conforming to as many stereotypes as the above poster I will be deep-frying my Jelly Babies and necking Irn-Bru whilst proudly singing Flower of Scotland.

....but I do kind of wish it was Dundee and not Fife ha ha ha

Best of luck to the Fife Flyers with all sincerity.

[spik]

As above with the history thing. But on a personal side my mum and dad were invited to home drinks and engagements. This didn't happen elsewhere. Things may have changed but I'll support Fife for sure....the old guard as stated.

[johnbluebeam]

My first three visits to Fife were very enjoyable and no problem. However, this year, not so and would agree with earlier poster.
I think some of their fanbase still hold a grudge from last years play off games. The broken plexi at Fife when many thought Panthers should have played on and Fife would have scored again. Also, if I remember correctly, didn't they have a goal wiped off at the NIC?
Still hope they beat Belfast though and we end up with an all Scottish final.

[ted logan]

Apr 1, 2014 8:58:35 GMT panthertom93 said:

Head over to Kingdom Of The Giants if you want to experience negativity and bitterness from belfast fans.

You may have just had one bad experience on your trip.

For me it's partly the underdog thing, not the fan base. I also would love to see Dutiaume lift the trophy after his awful tragedy the other year.

This.

I think some teams fan base might have a taste of what POFW is like for a Panthers fan when the whole arena is willing you to lose and baying for your blood.

Enjoy

[harlan]

From a Flyers fan perspective let me first apologise to those fans who have come to Kirkcaldy and not had a good experience.

Flyers and Panthers have always seemed to have had a good relationship at every level, your junior teams regularly get invited to our junior tournament Hockey UK, and I personally will always have a place for Panthers and their fans.
Nottingham was my first ever away trip in the 80s and I still keep in contact with people I knew from that time and try to see them every time I come to Nottingham and I come every time Flyers are down.

Part of the close connection for me is the history and the longevity of both of our clubs, its also the welcome we get every time we come down and I personally try to extend that to Panthers fans I meet when they come to Kirkcaldy.
Yes our building is very hostile and our fans very passionate and I think because of the nature of our building that comes across more than anywhere else, especially the vast spaces that are arenas as atmosphere can tend to get lost in those spaces.

Imissling and Always a Panther, it has depended on when you guys came to Kirkcaldy. If it was the play off game last season or this season then the Flyers fans attitude towards Panthers is going to be more hostile and maybe overly aggressive because of what our fans perceive to have happened in our play off games last season.
Also as we have become more established in our three years in the Elite our crowd base is again growing and we are getting people coming who have no idea of the history of our clubs or the friendlieness of hockey fans in general and sometimes you get idiots in every support.

Again I can only apologise that you came across some of those idiots on your visit to Kirkcaldy, the majority of us do make it nice and friendly before and after the game and will share a drink and stories.
If either of you decide to come to Kirkcaldy again PM me here or the Flyers forum and I will gladly introduce you to proper Flyers hockey fans

[imissling]

Apr 1, 2014 12:02:06 GMT harlan said:

From a Flyers fan perspective let me first apologise to those fans who have come to Kirkcaldy and not had a good experience.

Flyers and Panthers have always seemed to have had a good relationship at every level, your junior teams regularly get invited to our junior tournament Hockey UK, and I personally will always have a place for Panthers and their fans.
Nottingham was my first ever away trip in the 80s and I still keep in contact with people I knew from that time and try to see them every time I come to Nottingham and I come every time Flyers are down.

Part of the close connection for me is the history and the longevity of both of our clubs, its also the welcome we get every time we come down and I personally try to extend that to Panthers fans I meet when they come to Kirkcaldy.
Yes our building is very hostile and our fans very passionate and I think because of the nature of our building that comes across more than anywhere else, especially the vast spaces that are arenas as atmosphere can tend to get lost in those spaces.

Imissling and Always a Panther, it has depended on when you guys came to Kirkcaldy. If it was the play off game last season or this season then the Flyers fans attitude towards Panthers is going to be more hostile and maybe overly aggressive because of what our fans perceive to have happened in our play off games last season.
Also as we have become more established in our three years in the Elite our crowd base is again growing and we are getting people coming who have no idea of the history of our clubs or the friendlieness of hockey fans in general and sometimes you get idiots in every support.

Again I can only apologise that you came across some of those idiots on your visit to Kirkcaldy, the majority of us do make it nice and friendly before and after the game and will share a drink and stories.
If either of you decide to come to Kirkcaldy again PM me here or the Flyers forum and I will gladly introduce you to proper Flyers hockey fans

Whilst your apology on behalf of your team is appreciated and well recieved i can assure you it is unnecessary and certainly wasnt the intent of the thread to provoke it.

I was more interested in the general relationship between the two teams and so thank you for sharing some more of the history for me.
My only visit to Kirkcaldy to watch the flyers, and with it being my only visit this is why I ask previously if I have just been unfortunate with my experience, was last season but some time before the playoffs. I can appreciate that if it had been after the incident you mention in regards to the playoffs why some bitterness may have been evident.

I would suggest that as you allude to, its probably a small number of newer fans who dont represent the Flyers on the whole well at all. Of course we have our share in Nottingham. Once again, this was the intent of the thread to try and get some more knowledge.

One thing though that you say that would dissapoint me still if I am honest would be the apparent forgiven bitterness towards the fans from any side for any reason. The fans dont break the glass, the fans dont make the bad call on the ice, the fans dont make late hits on your goaltender. One of the reasons i enjoy hockey so much is the atmsophere a million miles away from a football crowd. Just my personal opinion though in fairness and each to their own...

I hope it remains this way and I hope that you are by far a more accurate portrayal of your support than the small few I encountered last year.

I hope to get up to Scotland next year again to watch and so may well take you up on that offer.

If you are making your way down to Nottingham this weekend then I sincerley hope you have a great weekend and wish you the best of luck. Thank you once again for your time in replying.

I shall now be very much cheering for Flyers in their semi on the Saturday from reading what I have read.

[claretgiant]

Apr 1, 2014 8:58:35 GMT panthertom93 said:

Head over to Kingdom Of The Giants if you want to experience negativity and bitterness from belfast fans.

You may have just had one bad experience on your trip.

For me it's partly the underdog thing, not the fan base. I also would love to see Dutiaume lift the trophy after his awful tragedy the other year.

that's why Giants fans come here.... its for the bitterness and negativity

if its ok for you to you take any opportunity to have a pop at Giants fans, then I guess its ok the other way around eh?

[iginla]

I will be supporting Fife at play off weekend because with 20 games to go they were gone,dead and buried as far as making the play offs went.
What they have done in those last few weeks is monumental,I would consider it an even bigger achievement than Panthers comeback in winning the challenge cup final.

To not only make the play offs,but to then get past Dundee too was an extraordinary effort from their team.

I really hope they win it,if not then I hope Braehead do.

[harlan]

Apr 1, 2014 12:41:12 GMT imissling said:

Apr 1, 2014 12:02:06 GMT harlan said:

From a Flyers fan perspective let me first apologise to those fans who have come to Kirkcaldy and not had a good experience.

Flyers and Panthers have always seemed to have had a good relationship at every level, your junior teams regularly get invited to our junior tournament Hockey UK, and I personally will always have a place for Panthers and their fans.
Nottingham was my first ever away trip in the 80s and I still keep in contact with people I knew from that time and try to see them every time I come to Nottingham and I come every time Flyers are down.

Part of the close connection for me is the history and the longevity of both of our clubs, its also the welcome we get every time we come down and I personally try to extend that to Panthers fans I meet when they come to Kirkcaldy.
Yes our building is very hostile and our fans very passionate and I think because of the nature of our building that comes across more than anywhere else, especially the vast spaces that are arenas as atmosphere can tend to get lost in those spaces.

Imissling and Always a Panther, it has depended on when you guys came to Kirkcaldy. If it was the play off game last season or this season then the Flyers fans attitude towards Panthers is going to be more hostile and maybe overly aggressive because of what our fans perceive to have happened in our play off games last season.
Also as we have become more established in our three years in the Elite our crowd base is again growing and we are getting people coming who have no idea of the history of our clubs or the friendlieness of hockey fans in general and sometimes you get idiots in every support.

Again I can only apologise that you came across some of those idiots on your visit to Kirkcaldy, the majority of us do make it nice and friendly before and after the game and will share a drink and stories.
If either of you decide to come to Kirkcaldy again PM me here or the Flyers forum and I will gladly introduce you to proper Flyers hockey fans

Whilst your apology on behalf of your team is appreciated and well recieved i can assure you it is unnecessary and certainly wasnt the intent of the thread to provoke it.

I was more interested in the general relationship between the two teams and so thank you for sharing some more of the history for me.
My only visit to Kirkcaldy to watch the flyers, and with it being my only visit this is why I ask previously if I have just been unfortunate with my experience, was last season but some time before the playoffs. I can appreciate that if it had been after the incident you mention in regards to the playoffs why some bitterness may have been evident.

I would suggest that as you allude to, its probably a small number of newer fans who dont represent the Flyers on the whole well at all. Of course we have our share in Nottingham. Once again, this was the intent of the thread to try and get some more knowledge.

One thing though that you say that would dissapoint me still if I am honest would be the apparent forgiven bitterness towards the fans from any side for any reason. The fans dont break the glass, the fans dont make the bad call on the ice, the fans dont make late hits on your goaltender. One of the reasons i enjoy hockey so much is the atmsophere a million miles away from a football crowd. Just my personal opinion though in fairness and each to their own...

I hope it remains this way and I hope that you are by far a more accurate portrayal of your support than the small few I encountered last year.

I hope to get up to Scotland next year again to watch and so may well take you up on that offer.

If you are making your way down to Nottingham this weekend then I sincerley hope you have a great weekend and wish you the best of luck. Thank you once again for your time in replying.

I shall now be very much cheering for Flyers in their semi on the Saturday from reading what I have read.

I think that part of the bitterness comes from the fact that we know that we are not a big budget team and never will be and there tends to be perception from some of the small budget teams that big budget teams get more things in their favour and to be honest that is how it felt for a little while for me after last seasons play offs but I ahve followed all sort of sports for too many years for that to sit with me for too long and I certainly didn't feel bitter.
We have long lived on an underdog tag in Kirkcaldy, even in our BNL days, and played it with great effect and it still hangs onto the fans now although the club don't appear to use it as much as we used to
I do agree with you though on the bitterness thing though

I think I did get the intent of your original post but still felt an apology was necessary as it does seem to be an unusal experience by fans coming to Kirkcaldy.

The camaraderie at hockey games is also what has kept me going back year on year and if I felt that it was becoming anything like a football.

I am indeed coming this weekend, have had my ticket since they went on sale, and looking forward to it and see this as a bonus to our season for where we were at the beginning of Feb so not really bothered with the outcome but Belfast will not be looking forward to playing us and they know they will be in a game as its the two form teams in the league.

Hope you enjoy your weekend, its a total different experience without your team to support

[pantherdman]

History = respect

[Shaggy]

Apr 1, 2014 8:08:28 GMT nate24 said:

What I want to say is some posters on here can learn from you. This is a constructive negative topic backed with facts over opinion and leaving the door open for constructive debate and counter argument.

This is what a forum post should be.

Couldn't agree more... <applause>

As for the original question ("What's with the Fife love-in?"):-

1) They're not Belfast or Sheffield
2) They're the underdogs... we British, we love an underdog
3) They're not Sheffield or Belfast
4) As others have said, there's a lot of history between our teams
5) They're not Belfast or Sheffield
6) It's great to see a team at the POFW who have never made it there before
7) They're not Sheffield or Belfast


Personally speaking, I've only been up to Fife once... didn't have a problem at all. I have encountered some Fife fans who have been more than a little unpleasant, but sadly every single fanbase has some of those. No real preference here between Braehead and Fife... just would like to see an all-Scottish final!

[Fez]

For many of the older supporters:

Them now = Us then

[clanfanjj]

You can go off folk sometimes. Seriously guys, Fife?! The only team to support at Playoff weekend is Braehead Clan...not that I am biased or anything! The Purple Army are on the march!

Have a great weekend whichever team you support just sorry I can't be there!

[EMB]

Will Ryan be able to keep his head against his old club? He should be well up for this one but he has to keep his cool. Or has it all been 'pre planned' as some have suggested. I truely hope not, and that we see some really good hockey. Good Luck to all teams involved and hope the Scot's teams truely have a blast.

[PantherG]

Apr 3, 2014 12:12:34 GMT EMB said:

Will Ryan be able to keep his head against his old club? He should be well up for this one but he has to keep his cool. Or has it all been 'pre planned' as some have suggested. I truely hope not, and that we see some really good hockey. Good Luck to all teams involved and hope the Scot's teams truely have a blast.

Is what pre planned?

[Rob Scott]

Apr 3, 2014 12:12:34 GMT EMB said:

Will Ryan be able to keep his head against his old club? He should be well up for this one but he has to keep his cool. Or has it all been 'pre planned' as some have suggested. I truely hope not, and that we see some really good hockey. Good Luck to all teams involved and hope the Scot's teams truely have a blast.

2nd time that you have hinted that it's fixed EMB. As someone who has paid for a ticket to a sports event could you let the rest of us in on your secret?

[ted logan]

Apr 3, 2014 19:28:14 GMT Rob Scott said:

Apr 3, 2014 12:12:34 GMT EMB said:

Will Ryan be able to keep his head against his old club? He should be well up for this one but he has to keep his cool. Or has it all been 'pre planned' as some have suggested. I truely hope not, and that we see some really good hockey. Good Luck to all teams involved and hope the Scot's teams truely have a blast.

2nd time that you have hinted that it's fixed EMB. As someone who has paid for a ticket to a sports event could you let the rest of us in on your secret?

I think this may be down to Mark Twaite and his 'theories' that he has been sharing on social media