As Cheltenham prepare to face Tranmere on Tuesday (3 Feb) will it be all down to the team or will the superstitious fans be able to help sway the score?
In a recent survey by Nicotinell®, the official smoke-free partner of The Football League®, a whopping 95 per cent* of Cheltenham Town fans admitted to carrying out a lucky ritual in a bid to boost their team's chance of success, while only 57% of Tranmere Rovers fans admit to helping their team with a lucky ritual. Some of the favourite things Robins' fans choose to do to bring the team luck include wearing their lucky pants or team colours to every game and tying their scarves in a certain way (81%).
However, Rovers' fans believe more in the places they visit, with one in four opting to take the same route to the stadium and meeting their friends in the same pub before the match in a bid to boost the team's winning chances.
Over a third of Cheltenham Town fans opt for carrying out a lucky sign or action at the match and a third believe that only eating or drinking a certain quantity of food and drink, such as one beer and two hotdogs, will increase the teams' chances of scoring. The Robins' fans should watch out when Rovers' fans start making some noise and throwing their arms about, as over a third of Tranmere Rovers' fans choose to sing the same song and carry out a lucky sign or action at the match as some of their favourite lucky rituals.
So while the team's top scorers - Lloyd Owusu and Ian Moore prepare for the challenge, the fans will also be preparing and only time will tell if the power of their lucky rituals can make a difference to the teams' positions on the league table.
Having supported many of the 9 million** smokers across the nation in their bid to quit the habit, for over 15 years, Nicotinell® are experts in habits, good and bad. They are giving fans the chance to win season tickets and a share of £100,000 for their club's community initiative as part of their search for the nation's funniest and quirkiest football rituals and habits from fans all over the country.
To be in with a chance of winning go to www.matchdayrituals.co.uk to enter your ritual. You can also enter by text - just text RITUALS and the NAME OF YOUR CLUB to 82100 (+).
And it doesn't matter which team you support - whether they are in the Championship, League 1 or League 2, it is still worth entering. Remember the more times you enter to more chances you have to win.
(+) See www.matchdayrituals.co.uk for full terms and conditions. Standard mobile network rates apply when entering by SMS text message.
* All statistics quoted are from the Nicotinell® research carried out by Onepoll.co.uk, with 2019 respondents, October 2008.
** Report published by Action on Smoking & Health (ASH) in collaboration with the British Heart and Foundation and Cancer Research UK, 7th October 2008 - http://www.ash.org.uk/ash_eyhkq96u.htm
(+) See www.matchdayrituals.co.uk for full terms and conditions. Standard mobile network rates apply when entering by SMS text message.
* All statistics quoted are from the Nicotinell® research carried out by Onepoll.co.uk, with 2019 respondents, October 2008.
** Report published by Action on Smoking & Health (ASH) in collaboration with the British Heart and Foundation and Cancer Research UK, 7th October 2008 - http://www.ash.org.uk/ash_eyhkq96u.htm