I've noticed numerous soccer fans in the US and Canada, based on people's clubs on the BS boards, as well as people I know IRL, follow a European club passionately, maybe more passionately than any domestic clubs. What I'm wondering is, how do US/Canadian fans know which team to root for in Europe? How do you know which team will capture your heart from a league several thousand miles away? In my case, I wound up a Cork City fan because I'm of Irish descent and my ancestors came from Cork. (Even when it does, it can get complicated if you trace your family back to a city with more than one team, I bet.) But a lot of the time, ancestry seems to have nothing to do with it. While the EPL (for example) is one of the strongest leagues, if not the strongest, in the world, how do people who aren't from England, aren't of English descent, and have never been to England choose one EPL team over any other? I'm kind of a soccer newb, and this is one thing that I can't figure out no matter how hard I try. Deciding what team's colors run through your veins isn't a light matter, but a lot of Americans seem to just be picking a team with no obvious emotional connection whatever. Am I missing something here?
It seems like there are a LOT of Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool fans in the US. At least a lot more than for the rest of the clubs in the EPL.
True, a lot are fans of major clubs. When I first started watching, I actually became a fan of Nottingham Forest. Sadly, they've dropped considerably since I first started following them. And drawing Chelsea in the FA Cup in the Fourth Round isn't a good thing, but hey, who knows. I'm a Browns fan, so I must admit I've started following Aston Villa every since Randy Lerner bought them now. I think for me, it was just watching a lot, and seeing which teams intrigued you the most. I still hope Forest can make it into the premiership again some day. Sykotyk
I always love this question, whenever it comes up. So... As a sports fan, these are the things that tug at heartstrings, along with all the other reasons one supports a certain team. I come by my soccer genes through my Dad who played in high school and some in college back in the early and mid-1960s. Then, we lived in Tampa, Florida in the mid-1970s. When Rodney Marsh and George Best were playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies, I was five-years-old and sitting in the stands of the old Tampa Stadium with my Dad. Also: one half of my family is of Pilgrim extraction and has been in the US for now fourteen generations, all the way back to 1620. We've traced that side of the family's ancestors back to 16th century England, Scotland, Holland, and Ireland. The other half of my lineage is Italian, arriving in the US in the last great immigrant wave of the late 19th century, specifically the 1870s for that portion of our family. I add to that mix the fact that I, a lifelong American (Floridian), happened to have been born outside of Frankfurt (then West...) Germany when my Dad was in the Air Force at the end of the 1960s. His side of our family was (and still largely is) in the Northeast, and specifically New York. Thus... 1) I was a Yankees fan before I was born and will be one forever. 2) I equate much of my soccer personality with many things German, which is why the German National Team is my heart-of-hearts favorite, no matter how much I also hope for the best with the US. 3) As with the Yankees, there is a very small handful of teams whose history, tradition, heart, and spirit just seem to "fit" for me, as nebulous as that sounds. They are the teams whose very existence is all that is required for my love and support. Obviously I expect them to win, and to go guns blazing always trying to win. That doesn't mean they don't occasionally (sometimes, frequently) frustrate me or tick me off. But, at the end of the day, they're just "the ones," and that's all that matters. So, when Bayern Munich are really clicking, I am convinced that they are the best team anywhwere in the world, bar none. When Newcastle United aren't slogging through a season with nineteen gazillion injuries and really get rolling, they fire my imagination about what soccer looks like in the most pure, raw, aggressive, and elemental "thundering herd"-style imaginable. When DC United are clicking, it's actually a little bit of both of the first two clubs, plus one extra little aspect in that it's an American squad advancing the game in America. There is a certain bit of possessiveness there I suppose, being domestic and all, even though it requires discounting the fact that they'll not soon (if ever) have the chance to face the very best, namely in the Champions League. There are others, of course, but those mostly have to do with individual players for a short time. I've really been digging Chelsea since Ballack joined, not to mention Lamps, Terry, SWP, Drogs, Robben, Essien, etc, etc, etc. If they win Europe, I'll love it. But if Bayern win, it'll be like the Yankees winning the MLB Championship; it'll be wonderful and glorious, and also a tiny bit expected and pleasant in its familiarity. If---someday---Newcastle win Europe...well, I'm not really sure. The only things I'm confident of are that I might miss work that afternoon, and a grown man will probably cry a little as soon as the wife leaves the room.
I chose the club of my father's home département in France.Most Americans and Canadians just pick one of the major clubs in the EPL as their club even though they have no ties to the club whatsoever.It is more of a bandwagon thing than true club spirit.
Which was kind of what I half-suspected... that or sticking a map of Europe to a wall and throwing a dart. Glad to see I'm not the only one who went with where my family came from.
Ummm, cause there isn't one? Toronto is close enough to Buffalo to count as part of "where I'm from."
I mean no disrespect but I believe that as long as Americans don't start taking pride in their own league, football will never seriously take off there. You need to start building your own football tradition, rather than feeding of a foreign one.
I follow US Soccer first! The local teams - Des Moines Menace and KC Wizards (300km is local in the US) and the National Teams. Because, I minored in German in college, have been over there three times, and have had German and Austrian exchange students, I follow the German and Austrian Bundesliga. My German daughter is from Hamburg, and my German son is from Bavaria and roots for K'lautern. I therefore follow those two teams, and I'm starting to follow TSV 1860 since Josh Wolff just signed there.
I guess I misread the initial thread. I do follow the MLS, USL, etc. My favorite team is the Columbus Crew. I can safely say the MLS is what got me interested in soccer. Now that Cleveland is getting a USL-2 side, I'll follow them as well. Hopefully Cleveland could get an MLS team eventually. But that doesn't take away or add to the fact I do like Nottingham Forest. Sykotyk
This is exactly the same for me except Norwegian instead of German. I try to have passion for the USA team, I've gone to a couple World Cup Qualifiers, etc... but I just can never feel about USA as I do Norway. Norway lost to the Czechs in the World Cup Qualifying Play-offs - I was crushed, and upset about it for days. USA lost to Czechs in the World Cup - I was actually more mad at the USA team for injuring Koller than I was for losing 0-3 and embarrassing our nation. I don't particularly care for club teams that much, but I suppose Liverpool is my favorite. Mainly because they have John Arne Riise. Gerrard, Hyypia, Dudek, and Sissoko (and Baros, when they had him) are pretty awesome too. I tried to support Manchester United because of Solskjaer, but I just don't like any of the other players on that team, so I can't. I mean, I don't like that stupid Dutch striker on Liverpool (Kuyt or something), but he's about the only player on the squad I dislike.
The country is pretty big and there are only a few teams. So some one who lives in Idaho doesnt really have any reason to just pick a team at random. As much as I would wish most americans to pick a MLS team first it just doesnt happen. Since if you do live in an area with out a MLS team, its actully easier to follow a euro team. But for me I am Fire trhough and through, its my local team and I love it.
True, America is quite a big place and there's a lot of it that no single MLS team has any natural appeal for at this time (even when you include the Canadian entry).
My answer is simple: I was born and raised in Europe and my father was a midfielder in a small team in my country's 2nd division so the true europian football is in my blood. I'm an Arsenal supporter for more than 20 years now and the distance from good ol' England just made my lifetime commitment to the Gunners even more meaningful. As for my opinion of MLS? I don't wish to insult anyone, so let me just hold my piece.
That's just downright silly though. Because the US is a big country and the nearest MLS team is far away, they support a side in Europe that's about a 1000 times further away still? I don't want to be a Eurosnob about this but I think it's simply not possible to develop true passion for a side that you can only watch on television. So well done to you for supporting Fire, you probably know what I'm talking about.
Example. I'm a fan of mostly all Cleveland-based teams. Secondly, I'm a fan of Ohio-based teams, etc. I'm closer to Pittsburgh than I am to Cleveland, but would never root for the Riverhounds. I follow the Crew in MLS, but if there were a team in Cleveland or thereabouts, I'd root for them. I'm 3 hrs from Columbus by car. 2:15 by car to Cleveland. I'm only 45 minutes from Pittsburgh. To me, if you're 3 hours from a team, and have no other allegience to that city or state, the basis of 'how close' a team is to you becomes irrelevant. The issue of making a game becomes pointless and just 'rooting for a team' becomes the point. If Pittsburgh had an MLS team, I wouldn't root for them. if Detroit, Chicago, or Buffalo were the closest cities with MLS teams, I wouldn't root for them either. Sykotyk