You Should HAVE to Support Your Local Team | Tom Garratt

If you're a Man United fan from South London, Tom Garratt would like to hear your connection to that club. And he doesn't just think it's a bit much - he thinks it should be a rule. That's one argument from Tom Garratt's episode on Marc White Fixes Football. Born and bred Black Country. First game at five, a 1-0 defeat to Grimsby in 2001, and he sat and watched the whole thing while every other kid looked at the sweets. West Brom home and away for ten years after that, until men's football got in the way. A scholarship in America that he's honest about - "anyone who goes to America is because you can't make it here" - and one training session against a 39-year-old pro that told him everything he needed to know about the level. Then TikTok in 2021, a take on Virgil van Dijk and Nemanja Vidic that went off, and a job at Pitch Side. He's got no dog in the Big Six race, and that's exactly why people listen to him. In a full hour, Marc and Tom get into: ⚽ MIKE DEAN - Marc loves that a referee finally admitted to playing games during matches. Tom thinks he's lying, and says so four separate times. Neither of them moves an inch. ⚽ GLORY HUNTERS - why supporting your local club should be compulsory, what they make of United fans in Bristol and South London, and the one exception they'll allow. ⚽ SHOULD REFEREES HAVE A PERSONALITY? - should they be seen and not heard? Or is humanising them is the best thing that could happen to the game? Plus the Geordie referee in the Isthmian who winks at managers before kick-off, and the lad Marc coached who's now overturning VAR decisions in the Premier League. ⚽ THE NEW RULES - five-second countdowns, throw-ins, substitutes, and the referee who started counting down a Wigan player who was a goal behind with two minutes left. ⚽ CONTACT - are players creating contact ruining the game? How grappling at corners could stop within a week, and what it would take from a referee to do it. ⚽ THE LEVEL - the gap between a good non-league player and a Premier League one, found out in a single session. Plus Conor Gallagher's brother on why four of them still can't get near him in the park, and a story about Brighton Pier that explains the whole thing. ⚽ BELLINGHAM - Tom called him overrated and said he shouldn't start at the World Cup. He was at the Mexico game. "How stupid was I?" ⚽ RONALDO - and the players who stop teams winning. ⚽ WOKE NONSENSE OR NOT - hydration breaks, goal music, half-time shows, five subs, set-piece coaches, referee cams, and yellow cards for taking your shirt off. ⚽ PREDICTIONS ON RECORD - Arsenal by ten points, where Tom thinks Manchester United finish under Michael Carrick, why he can't call Spurs, and the three clubs he's putting down. All of it dated and timestamped for when the season ends. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE for new episodes    / @marcwhitefixesfootball   ⏱ CHAPTERS 00:00 - Tom Garratt: Welcome to Marc White Fixes Football 03:10 - The Mike Dean confession 05:40 - Should referees have a personality? 08:35 - Five-second countdowns and the new rules 10:36 - Contact, grappling and what's ruining the game 13:45 - Growing up a West Brom fan 19:25 - Tamworth, America and knowing when you're not good enough 25:29 - How Tom got into content 26:55 - Calling Bellingham overrated 33:20 - Mbappé, Ronaldo and players who stop teams winning 35:13 - Woke nonsense or not? 38:54 - Football Hates 39:12 - VAR and the over-analysis of everything 47:56 - Where the money should actually go 52:16 - Glory hunters: support your local team 54:34 - Predictions: Arsenal, United, Spurs and the drop 1:00:20 - Agree or Disagree? 🚨 WIN money-can't-buy sporting experiences at OLBG Prizes 18+ | UK Entrants Only | T&Cs apply | Free Entry Route Available Enter at 👉 https://www.olbgprizes.com 🎙 ABOUT THE SHOW Marc White Fixes Football is hosted by Marc White, owner and manager of Dorking Wanderers FC. Marc is in the game every day - he owns a club, he manages a club, and he's not guessing. Every week he brings in someone who knows the game and they take on what's gone wrong with it: refereeing, VAR, ownership, ticket prices, academies, fan culture. 📲 FOLLOW THE SHOW Instagram:   / mwfixesfootball   TikTok:   / marcwhitefixesfootball   Facebook:   / marcwhitefixesfootball   X: https://x.com/MWFixesFootball Thanks to our partners at Canon, Sennheiser and Pro Light Direct for the kit behind this show. And a special thank you to Iconic Studios, who built the Marc White Fixes Football set from scratch. If you want to see what they could create for you, visit https://www.iconicdisplay.co.uk/ Ad | Brought to you by OLBG Prizes #Football #TomGarratt #WestBrom #PremierLeague #FootballPodcast #MarcWhiteFixesFootball