how do u guys no about 1st division teams!?! jw....cos there are LOADS of Americans on here and i didnt think u guys new nothing about premiership teams never mind 1st division
Well for a start, there's this thing called the internet, I don't know if you've used it. ;o) Then there's the sports channel Setanta, which broadcasts on DirecTV, one of the two satellite providers in the US. They carry Championship, League One and League Two games during the international breaks, and last thing I knew there was a Football League Review show on once a week with every goal. Then there's Sky Sports News which shows quite a bit of action from most FL ground, that's shown on Fox Soccer Channel, which is rapidly becoming standard fodder for cable TV listings. And of course there's the "NCAA" mentality. All the NFL and NBA fans watch the NCAA stuff to see where the future stars come from. Watching the "Championship" (ugly name) you get to learn the three promoted teams before they move up. And I think a lot of American 'soccer' fans are jealous of the promotion and relegation format we enjoy. (Oh, and there's always a chance some of these are British expats now living in the US. Without the following line would you have assumed I am American from my mini-profile to the left?) Regards from a Brit ex patria.
OK without starting that debate up in a thread where it doesn't belong, let's just leave it at "unknown". I did say "think", and I obviously cannot speak for the majority as I don't know the majority.
that's nothing. I took Whitby Town from the conference to the champions league in championship manager.
I play Plymouth Argyle in the FIFA 05... "There's only one Mickey Evans.... there's only one Mickey Evans...."
3 ways 1) Following Americans at teams like Leeds, Wolves, and other assorted teams. Especially following Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey at Reading the last several years. You just start recognizing players, teams, coaches, etc. 2) Most US soccer fans follow the prem, because it's the most accessible foreign league to us here (well perhaps the Mexican league is more). You know the prem teams that are relegated, players from prem teams that join lower division teams, etc. 3) Championship manager. It sounds silly, but it's true. Right now i'm in charge of Derby just for the hell of it. You go out and look for a striker, you end up learning the names of all the good strikers in the 1st division, etc. etc.
Also, the fact that there are lots of Americans here may be a function of the fact that BigSoccer is an American forum. In fact, it's the only big American soccer forum, so a large percentage of the American fans on the Internet are members here.
God damn right! Despite being a Jack bastard, the man is a genius, how he's not in a higher league I will never know. There's some awesome youtube vids of his goals.
And somewhat predictably, how many did the fat bastard put past the mighty Robins last weekend? wait for it... 0. Because our back 4 were nun-tight for most of the match, and with God in goal ('god' spelled B-A-S-S-O) he came up with not a lot because we didn't give him the time. Unlike most other teams, and certainly unlike our last visit to the Liberty stadium.
I've taken Dagenham and Redbridge from the conference to the premiership in successive promotions in CM 2004. I'm mid table in the premiership with half the season over. It was a bit too easy because the season I was in league 1 I took Diouf on loan and he scored 65 goals in 42 games.
Here's how it happened: 2004: D&R sell their ground and move in with League 2 Leyton Orient 2005: Leyton Orient merge with D&R and become East London Orient 2006: The new club gains promotion out of League 2 2007: Millwall, who were relegated from the Championship, are swallowed up by ELO. Promotion into the Championship is a formality 2008: West Ham United, after losing the backing of the Icelandic millionaire, are forced to merge with ELO to form East London United. The move keeps them in the Premiership.
I don't think the honorable gentleman disagreed with promotion/relegation, just my comment that most people are in favour of it.
Um...because we're not all as clueless as you think? I follow Oxford United (Conference) and Hampton & Richmond (Ryman League - Premier Division)
Saw Scarborough play Chelsea on Fox during the FA Cup 2 years ago and liked their fight for being a small club. I started following them and got in touch with the club and the supporters club. Got on well with the chairman of the supporters club and we exchanged emails and calls. Went over to see the Seadogs play live in November 05 and my friend came over here to see the Fire play last September. I keep up with Radio York and the Surfing Seadog forum now since theyve been relegated to Conference North. My american friends can't understand the passion in all levels of english football but thats ok.
To answer the original question in the topic post, let me share some insight as an American (and a West Coast American at that...very far away from Great Britain!). 1) Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Sports are a godsend to Americans who want to watch what's going on in European football. I don't actually have Setanta, and FSC really doesn't broadcast many Football League games, but there's always Sky Sports & Fox Sports World Report. 2) THE INTERNET! I spend at least 30-45 minutes on ESPN Soccernet every day. If I miss a day, I search through news archives to see what I missed. Soccernet is possibly the most awesome website on the internet. I can look at team pages for every team in the top 4 flights of English football, catch results, rosters and team statistics all at the click of a button. 3) American soccer fans (especially those who follow MLS as well) are deeply envious of the structure of English football (the pyramid). Many MLS fans, myself included, clamour for a promotion/relegation system involving the three divisions of the USL. It's really fun to pay attention to the promotion and relegation battles, and whenever you get a West Ham or a Reading that gets promoted and does well in the Premiership, that's always exciting. 4) American sports fans absolutely LOVE the underdog story. We always root for the underdog. In the NCAA basketball tournament last year, a small "mid-major" school from Washington DC called George Mason progressed against all odds to the Final 4 of the tournament, despite being completely overmatched physically and in terms of talent. When League 2 side Wycombe advances all the way to the Carling Cup semifinals and TIES Chelsea in the first leg, Americans LOVE it. I became a Wycombe fan because of Jermaine Easter's heroics as a giant killer. And personally, I'm interested in the lower English leagues because I'm fascinated by the context factor--how does a Premiership club fare against a League 1 side? How does a Championship club fare against a Premiership side? These things fascinate me, which is part of the reason why I wish US Soccer had more competitions that established a sense of context. Does this answer your question?
Certainly does from my viewpoint as a third party. All you need now is a Subbuteo table in your basement and you'll be a footy fan through and through!
After WC 2006, coaching my daughter in U5 rekindled my love for the game, and our company had an offical WC pool and UEFA CL pool, I really became fascinated with the English football system. Pro/rel, cups, derbies, the tradition, it's great to learn about. And I bought FIFA 07 and have taken both Macclesfield and Brentford to the Premiership, so I learn about these other clubs that way as well.