Mixed Reception
When Saturday Comes|November 2017

Football League supporters based abroad can now watch most of their team’s games on iFollow – it is not the same as being inside the stadium but at least it offers them a chance to feel connected to their club

Ian Plenderleith
Mixed Reception

On the first Saturday of August at 5pm I was sitting in a Thai fast food restaurant in central Frankfurt, staring at my smartphone with my headphones on. That’s hardly unusual nowadays, even for a man of 52. Around me, indifferent diners slurped on their noodles, unaware that I was watching something so momentous – live English fourth division football. To be exact, Lincoln City’s opening fixture of the season at Wycombe Wanderers.

Even as technology expands the parameters of possibility, it is narrowing the live experience down to the palm of our hand. Supporters who still visit stadiums have always scorned those who exclusively watch the game on television, but at least seeing the match in the pub can still be a communal event. Now I was sharing Lincoln City with nothing but a plate of sweet and sour chicken, shut off from a doubtless unsuspecting world.

This story is from the November 2017 edition of When Saturday Comes.

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This story is from the November 2017 edition of When Saturday Comes.

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