“Clash of Hats”: Bridging the Digital Divide between Hatters Old and New
Long-time Luton Town fan, Kevin Lennon explores the growing digital culture of the Hatters’ younger fanbase and the clash of views with the older generation of supporters. He explains why we should look to take a step back and unite as one fanbase.
As well as success on the pitch, the last couple of years has seen an explosion in the availability of Luton Town content on various media outlets; with a plethora of different supporters now offering their views on match performances, tactics, formations, players, potential transfers etc, as well as what we can expect from upcoming opposition and much more.
For many of us of an older generation barely coping with the basics of our smartphones, it can sometimes be all over-powering as we try to adapt to the new age of technology in football, where xG now seems as important as actual goals scored/ conceded in assessing a team's performance.
Unfortunately it has also led to a rise in confrontation across fans, with many of the older generation feeling this is all about "creating clicks' and the younger generation not understanding the 'archaic views of these dinosaurs'. So who is right and who is wrong here?
I've found it an interesting topic to view and wanted to put my opinion across.
Ultimately, we cannot always live in the past so we have to move on with times, but there has been no faster evolution in society than technology, epitomised by cashless stadiums and the rise in jobs now available across all football clubs, valuing the benefit that strong analysis can bring across all facets of the game. Having worked in finance for over 35-years, predominantly in a high-pressured environment in The City, technology had a massive impact on market development but in recent years the growing impact of Generation-X in the workforce was another whirlwind that senior management had to quickly adapt to.
Today we are seeing our younger fans in confrontation with Millennials and Generation X. But is it really necessary. Personally, I think we should all take a step back, take a deep breath and find a way how we can all be cohesive in our unilateral support for LTFC. That doesn't mean we have to accept everything each other says or does, but to progress in life it is far more harmonious if you are willing to make concessions and not make little things upset you so much, even if you disagree with what is being said.
Ultimately, football is all about opinions and for me it is these many different opinions that make this game so great. I started watching Luton in 1977 where we had to wait for the Sunday morning newspaper to be delivered through the letterbox to actually read a match report from the Saturday while the matchday programmes were a great source for facts and stats. The midweek local papers were really the only media outlets for regular Luton opinion as our geography left us in no-man's land for the main 2 local TV outlets (Anglia and London). Technology then progressed to Teletext (if you don't know what this is search on Google) but then in the 1990's we started to see the growth of fanzines. From memory we had three, although Mad as a Hatter and DPleated were the most popular and were a great outlet for people freely expressing their views including times when we had multiple questionable owners.
The internet has been slowly killing the printed media with demand being driven from younger fans who want facts, stats and opinions at the press of a finger and this is something I see everyday with my Luton-mad 11 y/o stepson. Even the dinosaurs like me enjoy the ability to now sift through information so quickly, understand our new signings better and also as early-stage Alzheimers kicks in help fill in the gaps in our memory our overloaded brains can no longer store.
For decades we have exchanged opinions down the pub before and after the games and we still continue this tradition. How many times have you been to the pub after the game and questioned what game your mate was watching. We all watch games through different lenses and having differing opinions which I think makes it far more interesting otherwise we'll all be bored if we agreed with everyone all the time.
Opinions will also change as you develop through your own experiences. Having coached both football and rugby for 12 years and to a decent level, having had the experience of working and seeing many high-level top coaches (through support and work) I started seeing the game in a completely different perspective than before. I also think as I've aged I've also mellowed and realised how to prioritise the important things in my life and appreciate players and officials are humans and don't really mean to make their mistakes - thankfully as a result I now don't take Luton defeats to heart so much, albeit will still have a shout at the inadequate ref who seems to be favouring the opposition!!
I enjoy listening to different people's views, even if I don't agree I know I may learn more from understanding a different perspective and this will help me develop my own stronger views.
That said, with all this in mind we should never forget our history or where we've come from as this has been pretty unique for LTFC. Those preaching for the club to spend, spend, spend please understand why we haven't. We now have custodians running this club the right way. I've fought too many personal battles ousting dubious owners in the past and remember how close we were to having NO club. I'm a firm believer that all clubs should be focused around long-term sustainability and sat in leading meetings with both the FA and EFL after we got our -30pts preaching to them how they could learn from the commercial world. However, that doesn't give me or anyone a right to regularly roll out, "Remember playing The Horse & Cart away in non-league days", but we should never forget that history. Without learning from mistakes from the past you'll never succeed to the maximum in the long-term and 2020's strategy has been rightly promoted as a blueprint for all clubs to follow.
In summary whether we like it or not we should all be embracing technology in our own time and at the level that suits us. If we don't like elements then just park it, don't get angry about it - life is too valuable a commodity to waste it with unnecessary anger. Remember the young fans are our fans for tomorrow. The ones we'll rely on when we are no longer here and the ones who hopefully will help us fill Power Court and beyond.
However, whilst so many now want instant success please remember supporting Luton is for life and success can come in many forms. I can guarantee there will be more downs as well as plenty of ups. However, the feeling and emotion in supporting your local club and regularly competing with and beating 'Goliath' is something no Arsenal, Man City or flavour-of-the-month club supporter can ever experience. It also takes experiencing some of the lows to appreciate the wins and successes even more.
So let's all stick together, grow together, make the 12th man stronger than ever before and above all remember supporting Luton is about having enjoyment in our lives. When times are down on the pitch, make sure you enjoy the social elements around the actual game. Your football family is one that will be there at the time of need and the one you'll enjoy more individual high life experiences with.
