Should you support your local team?

Discussion in 'BigSoccer Polls' started by Deranged, Jan 14, 2014.

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Should you support your local team?

  1. Yes

    98 vote(s)
    73.7%
  2. No

    20 vote(s)
    15.0%
  3. Not sure

    15 vote(s)
    11.3%
  1. TRS-T

    TRS-T Member

    Aug 21, 2014
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Of course you should support your local team.
     
  2. F.L.I.P.

    F.L.I.P. Member

    Apr 26, 2005
    I think it depends, if you grew up somewhere and you moved to another city/state then it's understandable to not support or root for your local team.
     
  3. Breitner'sWig

    Breitner'sWig Member

    Apr 24, 2012
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I'm sure 16 out of 18 young Greek football fans 'felt something' about Olympiacos during their childhood. Like the club just spoke to them and a magic happened. Maybe the mysterious transcendent quality of winning everything.

    Of course like any fans of big clubs, the real test of loyalty will come with a 12 or 24 month barren period of no trophies.

    Quality of football was never a real factor for me. God knows I've seen some utter garbage but it's the camaraderie, humour on matchday and heated chats with friends and foes afterwards at school or work that can't be replicated. That's what keeps me coming back every year. There's an ebb and flow you need to make the good times great but I never know which is coming next. Last year was one of the most memorable seasons yet it coincided with my team's worst league finish since I was 4 years old. All part of the madness.

    I can't get that supporting PSG or Juve from distance and I didn't need to be born or live in Manchester or Madrid to experience any of it but I've still seen Ronaldo, RVP, Gerrard, Shearer, Vieira in the flesh.

    So it's not a trade off for quality. Most of us in England have a club in decent proximity to enjoy all of that. The people I do feel a bit sorry for are Americans who live nowhere near an MLS side because it's a closed system and they can't dream the ridiculous dreams we keep on with.
     
    El Chuma repped this.
  4. Rana catesbeiana

    Mar 11, 2008
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    As in people shouldn't freely be able choose whatever the clubs they want to support?
     
  5. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    You support your closest club all the time but you also attend matches of bigger clubs as a neutral to watch the football on display. As a fan of the Game, you're going elsewhere --away from the club you support-- to satisfy your needs...

    Americans don't have to do anything like that on the pro level, because the value placed on quality means that only the top flight really matters in any given sport. For example, there is no second division for NFL (gridiron) football. "Second-division" NFL talent finds something else to do for a living, because no one's going to pay to watch them play for money. There is no second division for the NBA. No one's going to pay to see Slovakian, Greek or Italian-level basketball played here for money. A "quality first" approach keeps the leagues small with teams understandably based in large media markets. More people supporting fewer --and better-- teams from a greater distance (with the added benefit of a better chance at being a champion) is the model in this country. The only downside is that not everyone can go see them live. But not being able to see them live doesn't mean they we're willing to pay to see lesser quality athletes earn a living. So for the American citizen who does not live within say, 100 miles of a major city, the standard way of watching pro sports is thru television. All that to say it translated to soccer and MLS. It's actually pretty understandable for a US resident to favor a BPL team over the given MLS team when he's going to be watching either of them only from his couch.

    FWIW, MLS isn't an FA- it's a league within a closed FA. In fact, until two or three years ago there weren't as many owners lining up with the money to start up a franchise, and it was pretty well "open" to anyone who had the money and wanted a team in a reasonably large city. The number of sides in MLS would still have to be limited somehow, because there's only so much room for league fixtures. I've been waiting for an MLS team near me for years now, holding off supporting a club (and I've spent years disrespecting the league because they refused for so long to push for geographic diversity), and it looks like Atlanta is finally going to come through.

    I don't know why those dreams exist for most people (...because they're dreams, duh!), as the lowest-rung teams in the FA have no more of a realistic chance of reaching England's top flight than a team from a bottom-feeding league here in the States has of joining MLS. In one instance, the team can't raise the money, and on the other that much promotion just ain't gonna happen over the active lifetime of a fan.

    Pro/rel will happen here, but not until the league is strong enough that any team can withstand the hit from relegation, and until the smaller leagues here get big enough to start to badger the USSF for inclusion in the de facto top flight. That won't be for decades. Also, there are 300 million people living here. If we had the same number of football clubs per capita as any of the top UEFA nations, the chances of any one of them reaching the top flight and doing anything significant or memorable in terms of success would be next to nil. As a fan of the soon-to-be Atlanta team, I'd much rather take my chances in a yearly competition among 30 than be one of 300 trying (and very likely failing) to reach the top in slow increments.
     
  6. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  7. TRS-T

    TRS-T Member

    Aug 21, 2014
    Club:
    Aston Villa FC
    Should be people be able to freely choose whatever national team they want to support?
     
  8. barroldinho

    barroldinho Member+

    Man Utd and LA Galaxy
    England
    Aug 13, 2007
    US/UK dual citizen in HB, CA
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    While that's a bit rough, for those of us who have an MLS team, the ebb and flow of which you speak is fostered in MLS (and indeed US sports generally).

    I'm a lifelong Man United fan, which means I go back 3.5 decades. I've seen mediocrity from them growing up, through a ridiculous run of success to a current dip, which thanks to emphasis on financial muscle, will likely not be a permanent situation.

    However, I know hordes of Norwich City fans who have pretty much resigned themselves since their last bid as title contenders in the early nineties, that they will most probably never win the league.

    I've grown to love the intrigue of MLS and not knowing which team is going to do what in a given season. Also, the quality is far superior than it gets credit for. It doesn't compete with the top five leagues in the world, but is certainly comparable to England's second flight and a majority of top divisions around the globe.
     
  9. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
  10. Rana catesbeiana

    Mar 11, 2008
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    I think this thread was more about clubs than NTs, and I think they are two different debates.

    Not that I think people shouldn't freely be able to support a foreign NT if they feel like it. But people have so different backgrounds to football that making so rules what one SHOULD do is just a bit meh, imo: rather let people do what they wanna do. Even with NTs, there are cases like being born in Finland (never in tournaments) and supporting, say, Brazil. Totally fine, imo.
     
  11. EvanJ

    EvanJ Member+

    Manchester United
    United States
    Mar 30, 2004
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Well as far as I know the USA doesn't have promotion and relegation in any sport, so does that mean you consider the USA to have no more than one division per sport? As far as the NBADL just grooming players, the same could be said about clubs with a chance of promotion to the top level. If a guy scores enough goals in League One or League Two in England where his club is multiple promotions away from the Premier League, I could see it being easier for him to play in the Premier League by getting a Premier League club to want him than by staying and hoping for multiple promotions.
     
  12. Luka Jukic

    Luka Jukic New Member

    Sep 1, 2014
    Of course you should!
     
    TRS-T repped this.
  13. COYS

    COYS Member

    Jul 29, 2008
    London
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Yes, i think glory hunting is bad for the sport and harms it.
     
    El Chuma repped this.
  14. transmission

    transmission Member

    Feb 17, 2013
    Rome,Italy
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Well,for me it depends. I actually do,since I'm born and raised in Rome and a Roma supporter,but don't know if that "counts". But one should freely choose whatever team he supports. If his local team is e.g. non-league/amateur,he can "support" both them and a "big" club... Not sure if I put that nicely,hope you get my point.
     
  15. theblake30

    theblake30 New Member

    Jul 21, 2014
    I think you should definitely support your local club, but if you're from another area, it's easy to understand why you'd want to support them vs. your new local team.
     
  16. RobinVanRobben

    May 1, 2014
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    As a TFC fan, a little glory hunting is important to remind me why I like the sport.

    As a TFC fan, I would not blame a Torontonian for supporting another club (Montreal aside).

    Go TFC!
     
  17. Rana catesbeiana

    Mar 11, 2008
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Two questions in general:

    1. How do you define "glory hunting"?
    2. Why is it so bad?
     
  18. revsfan603

    revsfan603 Member

    New England Revolution
    Jun 20, 2013
    New Hampshire
    Club:
    ADO Den Haag
    If your a true fan of the sport i think you should always watch your hometown team whenever you get the chance.
    But at the same time I understand havin a large team you like to watch and are a fan of, and if you are kind of just a fan of that team just watching that team.
     
  19. RobinVanRobben

    May 1, 2014
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I am not sure the exact definition. Heard it hear first in regards to the sport. Am I glory hunting currently? Not sure.

    I never watched or cared for ManU until RvP, LvG and Blind (Buttner was not enough). I will likely not purchase any gear though. This might be it, but it can't be bad for the sport.
     
  20. bestvaluestore

    Sep 21, 2014
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Yes,you can support any team.They choose you,very true!Football is the greatest game ever!You must play it to feel it as well!
     
  21. COYS

    COYS Member

    Jul 29, 2008
    London
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I've never really understood not supporting your local team.

    I look at it like this....

    Picking a 'random' team hundreds of miles away, just because they're perceived as 'big' or offer more chance of winning trophies is like watching porn.

    Whereas, supporting your local club, being part of the local community who has built that club, going to matches and being part of their culture is like having sex.

    If you prefer watching porn to actually getting your end wet, then stick with your generic superclubs.
     
    El Chuma repped this.
  22. bestvaluestore

    Sep 21, 2014
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Yes,supporting your local club is normal too.You can support more than just one club anyway.
     
  23. RobinVanRobben

    May 1, 2014
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I love porn, getting my end wet and sex. Sadly, for a Toronto sports fan its all blanks. TFC is that grainy amateur stuff, where premier league is like Vivid.

    I agree with the culture point. A home grown team is the greatest.
     
  24. sarkakos

    sarkakos New Member

    Oct 30, 2014
    Club:
    Olympiakos Piraeus
    Nat'l Team:
    Greece
    Firstly you support your national team then your local team and then whatever you want at my opinion i love soccer so i love good matches and i suport more than one team across the europe :)
     
  25. solus

    solus Member

    Nov 4, 2014
    Southern France
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    I don't actually since I have not grown up here and they are crap anyway :ROFLMAO:
     

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