What Team should I support - Part 2 (cont)

Discussion in 'Premier League' started by Rick B, Feb 27, 2009.

  1. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Based on what I've read here plenty of people who aren't American who support multiple clubs. I like Manchester United (foreign), New York Red Bulls (domestic), and Genoa (foreign, I don't know the players and they're only on TV sometimes). I don't like people who like elite clubs in many leagues like liking all of Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Real Madrid. If you like an Premier League club and an MLS club at least one of them will be playing year round. Responding to your third sentence, even if you like five clubs (which I'm not saying is good or bad) that's not close to liking "a team from every country in the world." As for your question about a "cultural thing," I don't know much about European culture, but I'm wondering if Americans being used to liking a professional team and a college team in the same sport contributes to people liking multiple soccer clubs. For September through March, college sports have tons of games on TV in the USA and the players are old enough that if they were good soccer players born in Europe they would be professional at that age. I don't know how much Europeans know about college sports in the USA.
     
    Benando_NFFC repped this.
  2. Huckeye

    Huckeye Member+

    St Pauli
    May 31, 2013
    Club:
    FC Bayern München
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    I think it is cultural. The USA has the NFL (football) , NBA (basketball), MLB(baseball), and NHL(hockey). Each of these is the wealthiest professional club competition in its sport worldwide. If you are from a city like Chicago, you have the Bears, Bulls, Cubs/Whitesox and Blackhawks. Personally I am a fan of all the Chicago teams of those minus the Cubs. (New York has 2 NFL teams, 2 hockey teams, 2 baseball teams and 2 basketball teams if you count Brooklyn, and LA is similar)

    That is 4 major clubs or franchises I am a fan of granted, they compete in different sports. Throw in the MLS, where we have the Chicago Fire. That is 5. Maybe you went to a large public university, say... Ohio St? OSU has a traditionally top football team and a very good basketball team, two more (at least) sports teams to follow granted at the college level, and this does not affect the pro leagues as they never compete and the top athletes collegiality get drafted into the pros.

    Back to the MLS, while the on field product is getting better, its not on par to the level of the Euro leagues. Keep in mind the US has many of the top leagues in the world on our soil, but not soccer. We like underdogs, but we also like being the best. So many of follow the EPL, La Liga, the Buli, Serie A, etc because its higher quality than the MLS. So we find our team abroad.

    For me? I started watching from the 06 WC and that is what led me to Bayern and the German National Team. When I was younger, my father bought me an Arsenal kit one year when we were traveling, so I always would watch their games when I could, not necessarily a fan, but I wanted them to do well nonetheless. After watching a year with my dad he started following Everton more and more. So we both watch them now. We have many things that tie us to teams whether its geography, family or travel. When it coems to soccer, I consider myself a "fan" of only one team, yet I have a handful of teams that I like to watch that generally I want to do well.

    Hope that helps...
     
    Benando_NFFC repped this.
  3. Fox4433

    Fox4433 New Member

    Jul 29, 2015
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    I 100% agree with you. My ex-wife was American, so I had a brief spell in North Carolina years ago. I noticed immediately that people would ask me "what team should I support?". I never had that choice. This sounds "corny" (as they say), but I just "knew". I felt a deep sympathy towards Liverpool as a child. Then, that developed to full on love as the years went by and I experiences their struggles first hand.

    That's it. I just focus on PL and international football. My favourite.
     
    Benando_NFFC repped this.
  4. owian

    owian Member+

    Liverpool FC, San Diego Loyal
    May 17, 2002
    San Diego
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's a combination of things. Most fans support teams in different sports, so they are used to having slightly split passions. Also because the levels of the same sport are so different and never compete against each other it is completely acceptable to support a College team and a Professional team especially in basketball and football.

    But you do even see people supporting two teams in the same sport at the same level. This is possible because of the structure of the US leagues. They are divided up into different conferences (leagues in baseball) so your primary goal is to win your conference, and then if you do that you play the winner of the other conference for the championship. So if you follow two teams in different conferences they are only really competing against each other if they both make the championship. In baseball and football they will even go years without playing teams in the other conference. So it is possible to support two teams in the same sport and the same level and only have conflicted loyalties every couple of years. This is particularly common among transplants people who have moved from somewhere else.

    Hope this helps a little. Having said that I don't understand it myself. I am a one team man, I love the Chargers (well until they abandon me) and can't comprehend saying I am "fan" of another team. I Have a soft spot for the team from Washington because I was born there but no way would say I was a fan. So while I see a lot of my countrymen who follow multiple teams I can't really understand it myself.
     
    Benando_NFFC repped this.
  5. footman2033

    footman2033 Member

    Aug 2, 2015
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    You should support Arsenal!
     
  6. DonnieJ

    DonnieJ New Member

    Southampton FC
    United States
    Apr 26, 2015
    NewYork
    Club:
    Southampton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Southampton :)
     
    footman2033 repped this.
  7. footman2033

    footman2033 Member

    Aug 2, 2015
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Also a good option
     
  8. Phoenix Rising

    Phoenix Rising Member+

    Jan 4, 2014
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Real Madrid. Like that old saying goes... In football, first there is Real Madrid. Then there is everyone else. :thumbsup:
     
  9. akrylik

    akrylik New Member

    Aug 9, 2015
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Perhaps it might be different when you have a home club; i.e. you live in a city which team is involved in some sort of professional league tier.

    For those of us living in cities without a professional football/soccer (whatever) team, we pick a team from a premier division such as the EPL, MLS, Serie A etc, and follow that team. But due to the lack of "it's in my blood and soul" mentality, it's not too much of a problem for us to pick more than one.

    Besides that means I get to follow more football.
     
    Benando_NFFC repped this.
  10. iggymcfly

    iggymcfly Member

    Jun 20, 2014
    Real Madrid's my favorite team because I absolutely love Ronaldo, but with how much the Premier League's on TV and how competitive the league is, it makes sense to have a team to support there too, so I've gradually become partial toward Man U. The United rooting is significantly weaker, if they met in a UCL tie, I wouldn't be conflicted in the slightest, but I still like to see United do well, and I'd be very happy to see them win the title in England.
     
  11. Strummer

    Strummer New Member

    Jun 5, 2015
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    Finland
    Why does the team have to be a professional in order for people to be able support it?

    I understand if you don´t have a team in your city/area so you find a team that´s near and support that. I think that´s pretty normal.
    What i don´t understand is people choosing a team from some place else just because their local/near by team is not professional or doesn´t play in high enough level (in the top league).
    Isn't that kinda the whole point of supporting a team, that it doesn´t matter what league or level they play, because you still support them anyway?
    I guess this is one of the mentality differences between Europe and America regarding football supporting (alltough this thing does occur in Europe too, especially with the big megaclubs like ManU, Barca etc...:sick:).
    Because in Europe people have that "blood and soul" mentality and because often football clubs are seen as a representatives of their community, the actual game of football becomes secondary to the club itself and what it represents.... There´s a saying "Teams change, players come and go... You can play in champions league or in the lowest division... That is all irrelevant.. The club is forever!"

    Lot of people are also saying the reason Americans can support multiple teams is because thats how it is in America, there is a different team for each sport. While that is true, i don´t think that explains the mentality of people doing so. It´s just the way the American sport operates.
    In Europe sport teams are not often just teams, but sport clubs with many different "departments". For example in Finland we have TPS (Turun PalloSeura), wich literally translates to Ball club Turku. Under the TPS umrbella they operate in multiple sports. In football of course (Fc TPS), but also in hockey, handball, Bowling etc..
    Even my club HJK used to have teams in other sports, but that was long time ago and we have been strickly a football club for decades now...
    So unlike in America where there is a different team to every sport, in Europe people are often able to support the same team no matter what sport they want to watch.
    So its more or less a difference in business models rather than mentality.

    The argument "i support many clubs because that way i have football to watch all the time" is just silly to me.
    I don´t think you specifically need a team to support in order to watch and enjoy football. I have a team that i support passionately and there is no other team i could ever love, but that doesn´t stop me from enjoying or watching football from other leagues or countries. I like watching football in general, because i like the sport, i don´t need to have any feelings for the teams playing to enjoy a match.

    Maybe the difference is the way one defines the term "support". For some it is following a certain club your entire life, not only watching their games, but living and breathing the clubs community and values.
    For others supporting simply means watching certain team(s) play. Perhaps for those people football clubs are not something support, but rather just a something to enjoy.
     
  12. iggymcfly

    iggymcfly Member

    Jun 20, 2014
    I think you're overestimating how ubiquitous soccer is here Strummer. It's not that there's no high-level team to support nearby. There's just no team, period. I live in the biggest city for 200 miles and the highest level team that plays here is a women's college soccer team. If I want to watch males play, I can choose between the local high schools (age 14-18). The nearest men's soccer team above rec league level is at least 200 miles away, and the nearest one I've actually heard of is 500 miles away. There's no huge pyramid with teams at every freeway exit. If you don't live in a major city, you probably won't have a men's team to watch.

    Since it's pretty much impossible to support a local team in a lot of US locales, you have to just choose who you like from watching television. Furthermore, the television options are changing dramatically here year-by-year. I couldnt watch La Liga matches until last year, and this is the first year I'll be able to watch the Bundesliga. We're just not gonna have that strong of a tie to the team we've been watching for a year longer that they can't compare to a team from a different league.
     
  13. iggymcfly

    iggymcfly Member

    Jun 20, 2014
    FWIW, the closest thing we have to the club system you describe is the university system. College sports are really big here, and say in my city, almost everyone will support the University of Montana in all sports. We'll get 20-25K fans for (American) football, 2-5K fans for basketball, 2-4K fans for women's basketball, and ~500 fans for women's soccer or volleyball, but due to Title IX (which mandates equal opportunities for men's and women's sports), there's no men's soccer team here whatsoever.
     
  14. r.dunois

    r.dunois New Member

    Aug 12, 2015
  15. samatwing

    samatwing Member

    Liverpool FC
    United States
    Dec 2, 2013
    Baltimore, MD
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #1515 samatwing, Aug 14, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2015
    I think the guy above said it best: I support one club (Liverpool) but I like other clubs around the world (Fiorentina, Philly Union, Barca, ect). Mostly due to where I've traveled or can catch a game. I'm interested to get into Bundesliga this year now that it's on tv in the U.S. more. I'm sure I'll start to "like" a club there too. Probably just my American nature.
     
  16. samatwing

    samatwing Member

    Liverpool FC
    United States
    Dec 2, 2013
    Baltimore, MD
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    also will add this:

    In sports, I'm usually attracted to the small-mid market teams. I kind of like an underdog story. However, I believe Americans tend to follow "bigger" clubs in soccer bc they easier to access. These super clubs are televised more and do summer tours here. Example: almost every Barca game is available on American TV and I just saw them play a friendly in DC this summer. You don't get that exposure over here if you are smaller LA Liga club. Maybe that will change as soccer gets bigger.
     
  17. Phoenix Rising

    Phoenix Rising Member+

    Jan 4, 2014
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    If you love beautiful football and want to see the best players produce moments of magic, you should be watching La Liga.

    That's my honest opinion, not trying to be a smart ass. :thumbsup:
     
  18. owian

    owian Member+

    Liverpool FC, San Diego Loyal
    May 17, 2002
    San Diego
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeh but what forum are we in?

    And there is more to supporting a team than just watching the best players. If that was it than we should all be Barca supporters, followed by Bayern Munich:)
     
  19. Richard Harvey

    Richard Harvey New Member

    Sep 14, 2015
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Support Aston Villa, we need all the support we can get :)
     
  20. XMTrucker

    XMTrucker New Member

    Sep 29, 2015
    Club:
    --other--
    I'm having the same issue, I just got into watching football and naturally, the next thing is wanting to have a favorite team to follow, talk about, and be part of a group, per se. But, I think analyzing a team should come after you fall in love with a team. I would like to be an Arsenal fan because they're the only club that has an official supporters group in my town and also because when I was in the Army, I was a gunner in Field Artillery, but I've watched the team and feel no connection with them. But, I have come to like Tottenham, West Brom, and Bayern Munich. I could analyze these teams and decide which one is the best fit, but I think that's the wrong way. It's kind of like falling in love, you don't know why at first you like a certain person, but you more or less find reasons why you do the longer you spend with that person, it's kind of the same way with sports...

    Just watch as many teams as you can until you just find yourself excited about that teams' next game. Say for instance you really feel a connection with Liverpool and you can't help but feel sadness when they lost or you can't wait until their next game, then start looking for reasons to support your love of that team, not the other way around. Research the club and history and find out reasons that are important to you, like the Beatles being from Liverpool, why you should make it your next vacation spot, find something interesting about that city's culture like the food or beer, etc. I hope I explained it well enough, I've had a few pints, but to summarize, fall in love and then reaffirm that love, not the other way around. Have a team choose you, and then discover why you are going to marry that team. Make sense? OK, cheers! Another pint down the gullet!
     
  21. Soccer Coach

    Soccer Coach New Member

    Sep 30, 2015
  22. Emperor_Norton

    Jun 14, 2007
    So here we go.

    I`m a 33 years old German and I`ve supported German football all my life. I never supported a specific Bundesliga club ( I grew up 100km away from the next professional club), but I was really into the Bundesliga as a whole. I haven`t watched a single Bundesliga match in the last 10 months despite having Sky D. The Bundesliga has become so incredibly boring and I don`t have the impression that it is going to get any better in the next 10 years.

    Hence, I`ve decided to quit watching the Bundesliga and switch over to the PL. I`m looking for a club to support (for the first time in my life) and I don`t care whether said club is a title contender or fighting against relegation. I just want to get away from the boredom that is the German championship. Maybe it would be easier to follow a team if it had a German connection, but I am open to everything.
     
  23. pookspur

    pookspur Moderator
    Staff Member

    Nov 3, 2001
    Indiana
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    madness. the bundesliga kicks the premier league into a cocked hat. Germany still has a footy culture ... England's a fookin' carnival.
     
    Phoenix Rising repped this.
  24. Emperor_Norton

    Jun 14, 2007
    Carnival is fun. Can`t say the same about the Bundesliga, unfortunately. And I don`t need cheap tickets,beer,sausages. There should be more to football than that.
     
  25. XMTrucker

    XMTrucker New Member

    Sep 29, 2015
    Club:
    --other--
    You could look up what charities the different clubs support, if that's your thing. Aston Villa partners with Acorns Children's Hospice, so I've pretty much decided that I'm going to support that club whether they get relegated or not.

    Or if you have any English ancestry you could choose a club closest to where your ancestors originated from.

    Good luck
     
    Rickdog repped this.

Share This Page