The closest "club" to me is an amateur level team that plays for less than 2 months, and I do support them. However, in terms of professional clubs, the closest is 200 miles away...and I support them as well. As a matter of fact, I'm a season ticket holder to both, however I like having a team to support from the best league in the world.
Well in England you are born and raised with a club. You don't just pick a club thats doing well at the time then change loyalites whenever they play crap. I was in born in Northampton UK and have supported them for 30+ years. I couldn't give a toss about any other club except them. I listen to them every week without fail. Of course when I go back for visits I always catch a couple of games. I agree in the US its different since clubs are spread out. But by the time you are 5-8yrs old and like football you tend to know about certain teams. My son who's 10 listens to my games but also supports Newcastle since he's been there twice my Mum lives there. He will support them for life now and I'm pleased with that. He knows that right now Newcastle are awful and may go down but he'll I'll teach him to support them through thick and thin. I notice that people here just switch teams whenever they want. Arsenal one week the Man U the next. Its a joke and people here have no passion or loyalty.
I was born and raised with a "Football Club" too. The Kansas City Chiefs. I live 3 hours away and have missed only 4 home games since I was 4. They are easily the worst team in the league right now, look it up, but I won't miss a game. So, please don't paint us all with such a broad brush, because not all of us that live outside England are glory hunters...I know how to be committed to a team, and I have been through all of the ups and downs throughout my life. I chose Arsenal 2 years ago(when I first gave into soccer/football...as I was raised to hate the sport, but eventually figured out how wrong that was) because of the crest, especially the cannon. I know that's a ridiculous reason to support a club, but thats how it started. It wasn't until after I saw their comeback against Wigan, and became connected to the Gunners for life, that I realized that they were apart of this 'big 4' thing. Passion? I cried when Liverpool made that PK less than a minute after Walcott's incredible run that seemed to have miraculously put us in the Semifinal round. I ran around my house for what seemed like hours after Henry buried that header in stoppage time against Man U. I sat through the whole crushing defeat at the Bridge last season that was basically our knockout blow in the league. If anything, being a fan of a team that is expected to win, but doesn't, makes me more passionate and committed than someone who chooses a random team just to not be in the Big 4.
I may not do it every week, but I'm a definite example of that. I really like how football is organized in Europe (no playoffs to decide a league's champion, high quality of play), but unfortunately I cannot pick a favorite team because of geography. Also, since I am not close enough to attend games, I would prefer to follow a club that has games televised (or streamed) so I can actually watch the games. Over the past few years, I have followed Celtic, Plymouth Argyle, and Paris Saint-Germain at different times and just cannot seem to pick one (Celtic just felt right and I have Scottish ancestry, I like Plymouth Argyle's logo and colors and I loved Paris when I visited in 2001). That is why my favorite club team is currently listed as TBD. I guess I could say the Spokane Spiders (one of those amateur teams whose season lasts two months), but I am also hopeful of moving within the next few months. Maybe I'll just wait until I move, then pick the local team no matter what level they are at or how long their season is and then also follow European club football whenever I have the chance, watching/listening to PSG/PAFC/CFC games whenever possible.
No it doesn't work like that rofl. That made me laugh out loud for sheer stupidity. You act like you have thought about it and your like " yes this all balances out, I am a true football fan because I support a good team in the Premiership and a worse one!" grrr
I may give you Cinci, but we are far worse off than Detroit right now, regardless of record. Fact remains that I travel 6 hours roundtrip to watch a team that is absolutely awful.
...if you want to be known as a pathetic glory hunter. btw, this thread is over 1,000 posts. Isn't it time to close this thread and let it die until some other poor sap asks the very same question?
I think that you need to watch the games before you decide, and then look for the team that plays the way you like. By this I mean that you should look for the way they pass, attack, defend. Anyways another thing you should look at would be if they have a player you like. Would recomend Arsenal. They play the most attractive soccer in the world and have some of the best young players in the world.
I just thought I'd throw my opinion in the hat here. Personally, I think the idea of "picking a team" is stupid...even stupider if you let others tell you which one to pick. Since those of us outside of England can't replicate the conditions of being born in a certain city then supporting that team (e.g. being born in Birmingham to a family of Villa supporters) the idea of choosing a team is bogus. Watch the games, learn the sport (if you don't know it already), figure out what style of play you like...but in the end don't pick the team. Eventually something will happen...a disheartening cup loss, a big comeback win, etc and the team will choose you. So I guess in the end my advice would be not to choose a club but let your (future) club choose you...in the end the right club will find you. IMO, letting a club find you rather than just randomly picking a club based on outside advice or because they happened to win the CL that year, etc is the best way for those of us outside of England to find our clubs.
That damn game at Anfield last year Henry's header in stoppage time to beat Man U at the Emirates in '07, then the comeback against Wigan when Henry handed the ball to Kirkland after the equalizer that was then followed by Rosicky's game winner.
I like Arsenal, but I don't support it. I'm a fan of Napoli team. Click on the URL: http://video.arbremagique.it/view_video.php?id=172
i would suggest that u can choose a team with good history. thats wat i did. my team is liverpool. hope it helps.
For some reason I've always had a soft spot for Tottenham- and I don't really know why. They just seemed kinda quirky with the logo, plus they seemed like a team that is "cool but uncool" as they're one of the mid-table English teams that seems to fight for fifth place, but I never considered myself a supporter of theirs. However, when they signed my favorite player out of the Euro Tourney- Roman Pavlyuchenko- I made my support of them "official". Even though Pav hasn't dont spectacularly with Tottenham and the team in general is struggling this year, I still like 'em and I think I'll remain a permanent supporter. Don't know how much this answers the question, I just thought a personal antecdote of mine that was a bit different from "learn the game, watch some matches, and figure out what style you like" which seems to be the general theme.
Manchester United!! one of the wealthiest and most popular clubs AFTER AC MILAN lol well thats an idea 4 u For more info visit my blog http://thesoccercorner.blogspot.com/
hahahah The glory hunting, self-absorbed fans in this thread make me sick to my stomach. Pick a team b/c they win.....oh my..... The team will just kind of find you I suppose
Best team to follow in the EPL ( Tottenham) IMO. But WHY? They have so many fun young players to watch ( Dos santos , Gareth Bale , Modric , Huddlestone, Lennon Taraabt) Who are yet to hit their peaks. Got a solid defense with King , Dawson , Corluka , Woodgate And the Pavluychenko signing is starting to look good.. not to mention 3 other capable strikers ( Frazier Campbell, Defoe and Bent)
Best team to follow in the EPL ( Newcastle) IMO. But WHY? Because I used a slightly bigger font than the last guy. And not just bold, but italics, too!
Best team to follow in the EPL ( Arsenal) IMO. But WHY? Because I used the biggest font available. And not just bold, but italics, UNDERLINE AND ALL CAPS TOO! (I'm not even going to boast about the Smiley Face waving an Arsenal scarf. That speaks for itself.)