Superstitions

The other day, whilst my team were 2-0 down I left the pub I was watching the match in and took a walk, only sneaking back for a look when I heard a huge roar coming from another pub. I then went back to check the score only at the supposedly lucky pub and made sure I never set foot in the unlucky one until the final whistle had gone!

This is just one of countless superstitions I have probably irrationally engaged in over the years - I'll post some as I remember then but I can tell you one thing - it wasn't Ferguson's four-pronged strikeforce of Yorke, Cole, Sheringham and Solskjaer who won the Treble of 1998/99, but my stash of Werther's Originals in my left-hand coat pocket, one of which would be consumed whenever a late winner or equaliser were required. This happened on so many occasions including at the Nou Camp on that famous night - I still wonder where my medal went to!

Most of us football fans are superstitious, so let's hear of your weirdest superstitions and pre-match rituals, be it wearing the same clothes on a winning run, food related or whatever! Oh, and it doesn't even have to be football related, although I find us footie fans are the worst offenders!

For quite a few years now, while watching the Wolves, I only start clapping when the announcer says "and our team, Wolverhampton Wanderers". I used to stand absolutely motionless and not acknowledge the opposing team at all.

Now I always wear the same baseball cap to games, home or away.

Any time I wear a Villa shirt either to the match or just wear one on match day they would lose, even friendlies, so I havent worn one on the day they play for about 5 years, only trouble is they now lose whatever I wear

Not me personally but the whole of the Tottenham team, every time they play in the Champions League they give Harry Redknapp a heart scare as they think this will bring goals goals goals

(05-04-2011 20:55 )mitchell Wrote:  Not me personally but the whole of the Tottenham team, every time they play in the Champions League they give Harry Redknapp a heart scare as they think this will bring goals goals goals

i dont get have you had a bump on the head ? as im sure before i left you were actually funny sorry.....................it's me, hitmeuptop by the way xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

its not a superstition as such but i had a bet in the 99 champs league final for munich half time and man utd full time, be about 28/1 if i remember. they was scoring that many late goals that season and coming from behind so thought it would be a good bet. after 90 mins i thought they are'nt going to win now so i just sat on floor at my mates house whose house i was looking after at the time and i took a sock off, and man utd scored. then i thought fuck it, it worked once so i took the other sock off and it worked again.

I just have a few...

1) Back in my football playing days (Career cut short by horrific injury, but i could av been a pro i tells ya )
i never liked to warm up using the ball...any touch of the ball before the game had kicked off would spell doom
for the team...14 wins in a row one season and we made the cup final. Warming up before the final itself, I did
as normal and took myself away from the other lads...I then get a shout of "Heads up" as an errant ball flew
towards my bonce..but alas too late We lost 1-0 and i missed a sitter in the final few minutes.

2) I have a bit of OCD when it comes to locking the house up at night. I need to lock the doors and windows etc
in a certain order and that also goes for turning off electrical appliances. If for any reason i deviate from the
route i have to go back to the start and do it all over again..If I dont it surely means the Apocalypse is Nigh!

3) I always carry the exact same amount of money in my wallet on a weekday. This means that should the car
breakdown, i always have enough money to get a taxi home...I'll panic all day if I forget to go to the Cashpoint

(05-04-2011 22:03 )malicious fan Wrote:  its not a superstition as such but i had a bet in the 99 champs league final for munich half time and man utd full time, be about 28/1 if i remember. they was scoring that many late goals that season and coming from behind so thought it would be a good bet. after 90 mins i thought they are'nt going to win now so i just sat on floor at my mates house whose house i was looking after at the time and i took a sock off, and man utd scored. then i thought fuck it, it worked once so i took the other sock off and it worked again.

Bloody hell Malicious! And there was me thinking it was just the Werther's Originals wot won it! Mind you, there's a few on this forum who reckon you should put a sock in it - no-one on here mind!

Great post AstonV1! It's always great to hear of the sort of shit that fucks with people's minds

One of mine is that I don't feel I can actually tell anyone what my current superstitions/rituals are because once they become public knowledge then their powers will cease to be.

But it's ok to talk about old ones; for a few years in the mid to late 1990s I would religiously have to have Golden Grahams for breakfast on a match-day, and of course for a long time it worked. The the local shops stopped selling it and it was a bit of a relief to stop eating them. I can't remember if it affected results though!

Regen, I think that your baseball cap superstition is probably one of the commonest out there as obvious clothes ones are bound to be popular and quite a few people around me at Old Trafford are either in on the same ritual or don't possess many clothes.

And Staggerlee, perhaps your only hope is to start supporting the opposition if you want Villa to win mate

Thanks and keep 'em coming lads!

it wasnt the werthers or my sock removal that won it mate. in the end it was shite german defending, which you dont see very often

I play Junior Football, which i would guess is the Irish equivalent of yer own Sunday League Football and just before the start of every game i play, or if i'm coming on as sub (which doesnt happen too often ) i'll pick a few blades of grass from the pitch and tuck them into my sock. It's something i've done since i was a kid playing underage footy and i've no idea why i started doing it. It's a bit of a weird superstition, and serves no purpose as it hasnt resulted in any miraculous undefeated streak. It's just something i do and something i'll always do for as long as i play.....