England-based writer Robert Prendergast explains how a TikTok joke led to ‘real connection’ with Ross County Football Club and its supporters
A football fan from the south of England says he is feeling the full sense of community after starting to follow Ross County in the Scottish Premiership.
Writer Robert Prendergast saw a TikTok filter select the Staggies as a team for him to support north of the border after joking about the Scottish national team’s performance at Euro 2024 on the social media platform.
Having Scottish grandparents, he had been looking to find a way into learning more about Scottish football, and the stars aligned to direct him towards County.
“Maybe getting a bit older I’m thinking more about where I’m from, so I wanted to support a Scottish team and go up there a bit more,” he reflected.
“I didn’t want the filter to land on Celtic or Rangers, but it landed on Ross County. I just thought it was a bit of fun for a video, but I got so many messages off random people.
“TikTok can be a mean place, and I was seeing these messages telling me to come up to a game some time, and telling me the best way to get there.
“It was just so friendly, so I kept rolling with it and I got about 1000 extra followers and all these messages.
“The more I read about Ross County, the more excited I got about it. What started off as a bit of fun suddenly turned into a connection, which is wonderful.”
Growing up in Yeovil, Prendergast supported the Somerset club as well as following the fortunes of his dad’s side, Bolton Wanderers.
Before starting to support Ross County, then, his knowledge of Scottish football was largely based off players who had been north of the border and had also turned out for either Yeovil or Bolton.
Some memorable connections include Owen Coyle, who managed the Staggies in the 2017/18 season and both played for and managed Bolton, and goalkeeper Nathan Baxter who has spent time at all three of Prendergast’s clubs.
He has been given plenty of pointers about what to expect when he travels up to Dingwall for his first Ross County game – currently slated to be against Motherwell on November 23 – though, and has already invested in County’s 2012/13 shirt.
“I didn’t know much at all about Ross County before – I couldn’t even have placed them on a map to be honest, even though I was in Inverness a few months ago for a stag do!” he explained.
“People have been telling me to go to The Mallard before a game. That seems to be the pinnacle of the Ross County matchday routine.
“I also know that the pies at Ross County Football Club have a good reputation, so I’m looking forward to that.
“I’ve just been researching recent league history, and becoming as clued up on the players as possible, and I love that there’s a great underdog feeling about the club.
“It almost feels like I’m going to be going abroad if I’m honest, it’s that far. I think that’s one of the videos I did – as the crow flies, I could nearly get to Switzerland I think.
“I’m looking forward to meeting lots of people and chatting with them, I’m just excited about all of it.”
On top of following County’s progress on the pitch, though, Prendergast has fallen in love with the community feeling among the club’s supporters.
The number of messages he received was overwhelming, and practically unanimously positive – something that is by no means a given on social media.
“I had put my phone away (after the video choosing Ross County), but then I looked at it to find 10 messages from random people.
“It was so excited, a proper rush. It’s a small thing but it felt nice to have that connection.
“I always felt envious at fans having that sense of community, because I never felt like I had that with Yeovil or Bolton. You can’t just go and get that, and be a part of that, you have to find it.
“That’s why it was such an enthralling feeling when I got these messages from Ross County fans.
“I just want it to be very clear how excited I am about the whole thing, and how genuine that excitement is. I really have got this endearing feeling towards the club now.
“I’m not just doing it as a bit of a joke on TikTok to get views, I genuinely feel like I’m part of something now, which is great.
“It was never my intention to find this kind of community at all through TikTok. It was a happy accident for sure.
“I’m so shocked about how pleasant everyone is. Me and my mate did one video together and he made a joke about Chelsea, and the messages we got were disgusting. People were telling us to go and kill ourselves, and I was new to it, so it was eye-opening.
“I never really looked at messages because of that, but when I started doing Ross County stuff I looked and I had positivity after positivity after positivity. It feels like real lightning in a bottle.”
