5 year olds first football game advice please!

North_Stand_Clarkey

Hi hi guys , my nephew is 5 years old and I'm thinking of taking him to his first game.

The only problem is I'm not totally sure if he will enjoy watching a full game . I was thinking of taking him to a charlton game with me , I have moved from the north upper to the west lower and was thinking the seats would be ideal for someone of his age (no shouting, swearing etc)

The thing that worries me is that he doesn't seem to pay a huge intrest in football . I have taken him down the park a few times and had a kick about but after 10 minutes he wants to go in the play park! Lol.

He tells me he would like to go but I'm not sure if he is too young or whether I should just take him and see how I go?

Another possiblility I thought of was that I could take him to a welling game first and see if he enjoys that ?

Anyone else had this debate with themselves about taking youngsters to games? Unfortunately my nephew doesn't have a dad and I feel as if it would be nice if I could take him regularly but I would only want to do this if he enjoys it.

Any advice would be great !

AddickUpNorth

You could always take him to watch Palace first. There'll be a few clowns on the pitch to make him laugh if he gets bored.

stonemuse

I think he's too young ...good idea to try Welling first as he can stand and walk around ...also easy enough to leave early if he is bored

Robbo on the wing

Buy him a burger, take him. If he gets bored, ask him if he wants to go home.
Dependant on answer, do as he asks.
Is it really that difficult?

SilentAddick

Teach him some chants and songs and when the crowds gets going you and him can join in and have fun! It works but West Lower ..... Ahemmmmm ;-)

DaveMehmet

stonemuse said:

I think he's too young ...good idea to try Welling first as he can stand and walk around ...also easy enough to leave early if he is bored

Great advice. I take mine to Welling for exactly the same reasons.

Covered End

http://www.charltonlife.com/discussion/63455/kids-advice

The Red Robin

Nah, take him. He'll love it and he'll be hooked forever. Poor kid. I was five for my first game and just fell in love with it instantly.

robinson crusoe

Took my son at 5. Had exactly the same debate as you but he loved the atmosphere and chanting. He got a bit fidgety but sweets and crisps did the trick. 3 years on we now have season tickets.

March51

They closed the ground for seven year's after I took my five year old to his first game!

timken

Took my son when he was just 5 .Loved it but thought game was over at half time.Take a five year old friend of his with you .when they get bored they can annoy each other.

RedChaser

March51 said:

They closed the ground for seven year's after I took my five year old to his first game!

Snap, he was hooked though and we had season tickets at Selhurst. He became a Junior Red and the rest is history.

Athletico Charlton

I pestered my dad from the age of 5 to go but he held out till I was 7. My boy is now 2 and I can't wait to take him!

Tok my nephew when he was about 4 or 5. As long as you don't mind 100 questions a minute and him asking when it's time to go home from about 5 minutes in you will be fine.

An ex took her nephew to St James Park aged 5 for his first game as he was a huge Newcastle fan. They got to the ground,, went in and he was massively excited...then the players came out, the crowd cheered and he got scared and cried so they had to leave before a ball was kicked!

March51

RedChaser said:

March51 said:

They closed the ground for seven year's after I took my five year old to his first game!

Snap, he was hooked though and we had season tickets at Selhurst. He became a Junior Red and the rest is history.

Same here mate, still got his J.R scarf and rosette around here somewhere.

RedChaser

March51 said:

RedChaser said:

March51 said:

They closed the ground for seven year's after I took my five year old to his first game!

Snap, he was hooked though and we had season tickets at Selhurst. He became a Junior Red and the rest is history.

Same here mate, still got his J.R scarf and rosette around here somewhere.

Very nice lady, Sue Townsend wasn't it who used to run them? Ha the Junior Reds scarves, got the Mrs to stitch two together to make a nice warm version. :-)

Bedsaddick

I took both my boys to their first games ( Man City Home 1-0 Bent ) ( Carlisle Home 1-0 ) at about 5 years old and while they did get a little bored before the end they have not looked back since. Now it's me who gets distracted and bored!.

RedChaser

Athletico Charlton said:

I pestered my dad from the age of 5 to go but he held out till I was 7. My boy is now 2 and I can't wait to take him!

Tok my nephew when he was about 4 or 5. As long as you don't mind 100 questions a minute and him asking when it's time to go home from about 5 minutes in you will be fine.

An ex took her nephew to St James Park aged 5 for his first game as he was a huge Newcastle fan. They got to the ground,, went in and he was massively excited...then the players came out, the crowd cheered and he got scared and cried so they had to leave before a ball was kicked!

Additionally my boy must have had a weak bladder then, especially when we were looking like scoring. :-)

JiMMy 85

Dad took me at that age. I remember it pretty well, and glad he did. I remember the fans invading the pitch at half time, chants of "we're not going to Selhurst Park" and the Vauxhall Viva breaking down on the way home.

thai malaysia addick

I took my daughter when she was five. She enjoyed a goalless first half but got bored in the second half. She hardly watched the action. She missed Charlton taking the lead as she was looking at the crowd at the other end of the pitch. However, she leapt to her feet and waved arms in the air as the crowd celebrated the goal.

Redrobo

I took my son at nearly 5 - but he was desperate to go. After 1st game we had to get there at 1.30 to be 1st in as he wanted to watch them warm up.

If your son is not really interested I think he is too young and it will be a bad experience. Wait and see if he asks.

If you do take him, take a hot water bottle with you. Kids can quickly get very cold and this worked for me.

Fiiiiiish

I really wanted to go when I was 5 but my dad saw the iceberg of me not sitting still for 10 minutes, so he took me to watch Bromley for a couple of years first.

I used to get excited to go to the Bromley games, It let me run round the ground when I got bored watching the football.

All made the event of going to the Valley even better, seeing how big it was, busy and even having seats! Will never forget the day for aslong as I live, was a great way to introduce me.

crookester

Been taking my son since he was three, which with hindsight was too young. He enjoyed the train journey and getting a hot dog before the game, liked the first part of the game but found the crowd too noisy (!).

Since then I have let him play on my phone or on his tablet when he gets bored and haven't had to leave any games early. He enjoyed the promotion season as we were scoring a lot of goals and winning Been more challenging since but now, aged 8, he watches the whole game.

All in all, it's definitely do-able but I wouldn't expect him to watch a whole game so make sure you have some alternative entertainment!

Addickted

Just take him.

It's character building and he gets to spend some 'quality' time with his Uncle.

cafcfan

JiMMy 85 said:

Vauxhall Viva breaking down on the way home.

Ahh, car building at its finest :-)

guinnessaddick

Five you say, get him to show spongefoot how to kick a ball hard.