I'm a Real Madrid fan but I also support the nearest local club of mine San Jose earthquakes and will nominally hope for the success of sacramento republic Fc.
I dislike the idea that someone is a glory hunter for supporting a distant team, or fake or "plastic" fan as it was mentioned here, if you are not from that team's city. That's easily said by those who are blessed with being from a city that has a great team. But then, if you aren't that lucky and your local team is lousy, why should you be stuck with them for life and pass on all the fun? Being a fan in sports is supposed to be done to enhance your fun and your emotions. If you don't have a dog in a fight, it's much less interesting for you. So, look at my situation. I'm Italian-American. I love Italian culture, the culture of my ancestors. I live in a small town in North Carolina. We do have a local 2nd division team, the Carolina Railhawks. I do go to their games from time to time and make a point of buying tickets, to help them out. I like them, but I'm not terribly happy if they win, or terribly sad if they lose. Most of the games are of low technical quality. Now, I wasn't born in Italy (although I do have dual citizenship since my father transmitted the Italian citizenship to me) and I've never lived in Milan, but since all things Italian interest me, I've followed the Serie A on TV for several years, and given my admiration for certain players and their style of play (Paolo Maldini being the biggest example), I started to like AC Milan more and more, and decided to root for them. While I can't pretend my relationship with AC Milan is as intense as that of a local Milanese person, I do love them, and I've been to San Ciro stadium, and I've traveled around to see them play in the USA when they tour here. I watch most of their season games on TV or online. Why should I accept the pejorative of being a glory hunter of a fake fan just because I wasn't lucky enough to be born or live in Milan, but I still happen to love AC Milan? Now, I do agree with the concept of a fairweather fan. If I were to abandon AC Milan because they've been very bad as in this past season, then I should be criticized. But no, I stick by them in good and bad times. I don't see why my appreciation for them should be dismissed or despised just because I'm not Milanese. I support even more a Brazilian team called Cruzeiro Esporte Clube de Belo Horizonte (they are the current Brazilian champs). I've been to numerous of their games in Mineirão, since I visit Brazil quite often given that I have family in Belo Horizonte. I was exposed to them since a young age which is why I place them ahead of AC Milan in my passion. The club was founded by Italians and was initially called Palestra Italia. Again, I follow practically all their games on TV or online. And also again, it's not a question of being a fairweather fan. Yes, they are the current champs, but they have had their share of bad seasons, and I always stuck by them. I started rooting for them because they were the team of the Italian colony in Belo Horizonte, not because they were able to win championships. So, should I not have fun rooting for Cruzeiro and AC Milan, and should just root for the lousy Carolina Railhawks, just because I don't live in Belo Horizonte or in Milan? No, that would limit my enjoyment of soccer, and would be very unfair to me. So, I resent any attempt to call me a glory hunter or a fake fan. I voted "No" in this poll because while I think it's perfectly fine to support your local team (and I try to do it as possible) I don't see it as mandatory, and I think it is perfectly legitimate to support a distant team.
This is the key thing for me. If you can hang around whilst your team is s***, then that's probably good enough to be called a proper fan in my opinion.
Tricky one. Whilst my gut reaction is a simple 'yes', this stems from my misfortune of geographical birthplace meaning I have been left to support a pretty medicore lower-rung football league club. I jest, I love the team and city dearly. But still if I have to suffer, then so should everyone else.... On a slightly more serious note, I make the "which ever team you first link with" argument correct. I was 'lucky' enough that (after a very brief dalliance with Man United in my extreme youth) I was taken to see my local team at a decently young age. Once I'd been, I was hooked on the 'live' atmosphere, and the TV just didn't compare, so it grow from there. I say I support my local team, and of course that relationship is naturally reinforced by natural pride. but is it actually because they are my local team? Who knows, if that first game had been somewhere else...? I do get that your first experience of football may not be your local team, either because they are simply too low profile to register or their actually isn't one. If you grow into football by watching it on TV (or some other link like family affiliations) then so be it. I'll even forgive the tendency towards supporting the most successful team of the time; Liverpool in the 80s, United in the 90s/00s, Arsenal in the 90s, Chelsea/Man City more recently. Its natural as a kid that you are going to be more attached to something successful; that's human nature. I dont actually see any shame in that. Also, for every "success default" selection, it also leads to some more interesting combinations; I know local lads who support (including ST holders in some examples) Huddersfield, Wolves, Brighton, Luton, Oxford... and have done so for years off the back of dads, first games on TV, just happened to catch them live as a nipper once or what have you. So its unfair to say you simply have to support your local team and everything else by rights is glory hunting. What I can't abide is flippers. The kind who are fervently supportive of the team and verbally espouse their greatness at every opportunity when all is fantastic and trophies, but become more "meh, I'm not too bothered" when things are in a down cycle. Or worse of all, switch alligences all together. Fine, you started supporting the team because they were successful. That doesn't automatically qualify you as a glory hunter. You qualify however when your passion noticeably and significantly drops just because you are out of the reckoning for a bit. I've got respect for local lads who support Liverpool because of the 80s team, and stuck with them through the barren Premiership years. I was gutted for them this season. I don't automatically dislike United fans just because they support United. I'll dislike and disrespect them the moment they say "ooooh, I'm not too bothered about United, we've gone a bit poo". Jog on. Thats about the size of it for me.
I'm going to sound like Ron Manager now. I supported Chelsea because my dad and my uncle took me to Chelsea, that was their local team even though we moved closer to QPR and Brentford. I often went to Brentford too and the club secretary lived across the road and would give us programs sometimes. At Brentford they let kids sit in the stands after half time. But now to actively support a team like Chelsea it's 50 quid a pop and to take 3 kids it would set you back £75 more IF you can get tickets. So the whole idea of supporting a club by attending games is alien to a vast amount of people these days. A club can make as much money selling shirts in Italy as selling tickets in London, so the idea of clubs surviving on ticket sales alone is a bit out of date. When I was a kid just about everyone in my class at school supported Manchester United because none of them had ever been to a game. Man Utd had just won the European Cup in '68 with Best Law Charlton and Co and for sure they were the schoolboys dream team. That didn't compare to actually going to Stamford Bridge and watching a real game though.
I'd say you should support your local team if you've got one. I'd add the caveat that if they came along after you were cheering for another team, or if you have a parent that's from somewhere else, that it's not such a big deal. I'm from Dallas, I grew up cheering for the Cowboys, Stars, Sidekicks, Mavericks, FCD, and Rangers, as well as SMU. I have a friend who cheers for the same teams, except his mom is from Wisconsin, so he's a Green Bay fan. My current roommate (in San Diego), is a die-hard Chargers and Padres fan. But for hockey, he cheers for the Capitals (I have yet to hear a good explanation for why); for basketball, he cheers for whichever team has the most SDSU players (right now it's the Spurs). So anyway, I say if you have a local team, why not cheer for them?
I live very close to Charlton in London and there are a huge amount of Arsenal fans in the area.... as a result of the original Woolwich Arsenal team being the workers team from the Munitions arsenal factory in Woolwich 100 years ago. So team loyalty has been passed down from generation to generation.
If he were glory hunting I think he would choose a better team than Fiorentina. The guy seems genuine.
There are only three teams one can logistically support without being a hypocrite. If your a foreigner living here in the states, then root for your team back home. Also, root for which ever team is most local to where you live here in the states., regardless of which level of soccer it is. If you are from England, then root for them when they play the USA, but root for Team USA against all other national teams.
I was born in East Anglia in the late 70s but my Dad had grown up in the NW and his family had supported Man United since Munich. I don't remember "choosing them". I just have early memories of sitting on my Dad's knee and being told we wanted the ones in red shirts to win. Nobody really cared that I supported them during the '80s but I started getting a lot of crap from 1993 onwards. Most of it ribbing but occasionally it could be pretty hostile and aggressive. I can see the irritation though, because I went from on average, being one of a handful of kids in my entire school who was a Man United fan, to seeing United shirts everywhere almost overnight. It wass obvious that a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon. That said, I would attend my home team's matches (Gt Yarmouth Town FC) and made the decision to start watching LA Galaxy in 2006 as my new local team and after attending several games after emigrating have been a full STH since 2009. I was lucky to fall in with a successful English club via family but I honestly think that if you select a strong team because they win, you're doing yourself a disservice. I'm glad that I started watching both LAG and Man Utd during relatively lean spells. It meant I waited 16 years to see United become champions - but the wait meant something. I'll never forget going to bed late that night thinking to myself "bloody hell - I support the league champions!" Likewise, I managed to pick LA right when they hit a patch of struggling to make playoffs. I made the decision to get season tickets off the back of that abysmal 2008 season, because I had started to feel a real connection. Then when we looked like we might make the postseason in 2009, I felt an excitement I hadn't really felt about United since they chased the treble in 1999. I honestly believe that if you just picked Barcelona three years ago, because they were dominant, you cannot have that same rush about success. However, that's your trade-off and you decision and I won't judge. I don;t even care if you're an American who doesn't watch MLS because you can't get into it. However, if that's your choice, I don't want to hear one complaint from you about how crap it is, or one condescending comment about it. You have the ability to help and support a domestic league in your country but you don't. If you aren't prepared to step up and help it get better, then you're part of the problem. Watch the team you chose and keep quiet. Aside from that, the only condition I put on support is that you're there through the hard times and barring some hugely extraordinary reason (like something grossly immoral) you don't change teams. That's not to say it's forbidden, just don't call yourself a "supporter" because you really aren't.
Rephrasing the question at the beginning of the thread should make the right answer more obvious. Would you rather be a phony fan of your local team or a legitimate fan of a distant team?
Yes, in my opinion you should. A team only grows with the support of its local fans. Supporting a 'big' club is a bit like abandoning your country at World Cup time. Why not go and support Brazil or Spain eh?
i have always been a fan of rooting for my home team (any sport)... That being said, I Can't wait for MLS in Miami!!
Do you think Manchester United should be only supported if you're born in Manchester? Is it enough if you're not from there, but moved there, say, five years ago? Also - you might disagree - but I think clubs and NTs aren't the same thing here.
You don't choose your football team, it chooses you. You have to have an emotional connection with the team you support and at the end of the day that's all that matters. At the same time, I still support my local club, the SJ Earthquakes and attend matches because I want football and the MLS to grow in the USA, but the emotional attachment isn't as strong as watching Borussia Dortmund play. But, never ever abandon your team in tough times. Just my two cents.
I grew up in Great Yarmouth. Despite them having a team (crest in the top right corner of my avatar), the 'local team' was considered Norwich City or Ipswich. It was the same for Gorleston, Lowestoft and other towns in the immediate area. When put to people, they respond that such an argument is 'ridiculous' because those clubs play in the ninth or tenth tier of the English football pyramid. Point being, if a team only grows with the support of its local fans, how far do you take that? I was raised a Man United fan for reasons explained elsewhere on this thread, but made the decision to also lend support to my local sides and at this point am as passionate about the Galaxy.
Absolutely not to me. You support whoever you want. Whoever you feel something for. Whoever you are linked to or feel related too.
Well, it shouldn't be compulsory or anything, but it makes sense, doesn't it? Likelihood is, that you'll know other local people who'll support them, therefore, you'll be able to travel with then to matches, share transport costs etc, making it easier and more enjoyable to actually watch them play. I suppose you can rely on watching them on TV, but it's not the same. I don't get that buzz the minute I wake up watching a televised match. For me, it's the difference between watching porn and having sex, so definitely the sensible choice watching your local side.