I'm an American soccer/football fan who is looking to pay more attention to the Premiership as MLS offseason is usually frightfully boring. Problem is I can't really follow the top flight that well because I don't really have a horse in the race. I'm heading into this already not liking Manchester United and Chelsea, and with a slight preference for Man City (Reyna), Blackburn (Freidel), and Fulham (McBride is from my hometown of Chicago, and I watched Bocanegra when he played for Fire). If you think there should be a club that would appeal to me that is not listed above, sell me on your club's virtues, and what makes you better than every other club in the Premiership.
It's like an information gathering. I admittedly don't know that much about the Premiership. Whose fans are the most passionate, who plays the most aesthetically pleasing soccer, who wins the right way, and who better to ask than Premiership fans who have been around longer than I have. I just would basically like to hear from fans of whatever club why they think their club is better than everyone else's. What makes them unique?
Newcastle has passionate fans that sell out the stadium even when the team plays like complete shite (as it has for this entire season). We may not win often, we may have a nightmare for a manager, we may be beset by injuries and completely dependent on our little midget to score, and we may play some seriously fugalicious footie, but we love them anyways.
May I suggest Tottenham Hotspur? I was in your position a few years ago... an American searching out a team to support. I started following them a little when Keller was their keeper. Then I read "The Glory Game," a classic account of Tottenham's 1971-1972 season. Great stuff about footballers just before the big time commercialization of the game. In the last two years, though, I have gotten really hooked on the team, even though Keller has moved on. Like Newcastle, they have a passionate fan base that sell out their games (admittedly in a somewhat smaller stadium). I believe they also sell out their away ticket allotments when on the road. They have a long, storied history. Sure, not on the level of Man U or Liverpool. But they are the 8-time winners of the FA Cup, and in 1961 became the first team since the 1800's to win the Double. More importantly for now, they are a team on the rise. They have a core of young, promising talent who will only get better (Jenas, Lennon, Carrick, Dawson). They have a great Dutch coach, Martin Jol, who the players seem to love. They have the pitbull, Edgar Davids. England's #1 keeper, Paul Robinson. Captain Ledley King in the back, who has most likely secured a roster spot for England in WC2006 due to his versatility. Jermaine Defoe and Robbie Keane battling for the striker position beside Mido. And they are in a pretty good place financially right now, so we will not be seeing a fire sale any time soon. Now is the time to get on board. With more than half of the season gone, they are in fourth position, six points clear of hated Arsenal. That means that the remainder of the season should see them in a fight to make it into a Champions League spot. It will be exciting. Finally, they have a silly sounding British name that is fun to say out loud. Your non-soccer following friends will not know what you're talking about when you say, "I've started following Tottenham Hotspur." And that's always fun.
yeah do that.................. COME ON YOU SPURS!!!!!!!!!!! actually do whatever you want but dont support the scum!
Even if the manager, the chairman, and half the squad are at risk of being jumped by irate Georgies, the institution itself will remain popular. It was that unconditional love for the team that made me like Newcastle in the first place.
Fair enough. Most of Chicago hates Man U too for that dismal $60-a-ticket, 0-0, third-string scrubs snorefest they and Bayern Munich put us through a while back at Soldier Field.
Yes, well, if you'd like the joy and content of having your starting CB ditching the team at halftime because he is (reportedly) depresed over having to juggle three girlfriends at once, all while your team is struggling to climb into a Champion's League spot so that they don't lose their only remaining good player to Barcelona over the summer... then Arsenal is definitely the team for you. All joking aside, did you settle on a team yet, Fire Fan?
i'm not sure who you should root for, but don't root for ManUtd, Liverpool or Arsenal. EVERY single American fan I know roots for one of those three teams. Its boring. I sort of follow Oxford United since I actually spent some time in that town. Their football is terrible though...
Not sure. With school I haven't been able to follow the EPL as closely as I would have liked, and now that MLS season has started up again, that will only more be the case. I guess if I have any rooting interest at this point it's for Blackburn to squeak into a European spot because of Freidel.
Hey, I work FT and go to grad school...Dynamo will be meeting fire on the field... Regardless, there is always time for EPL...I've been addicted this year...started with Fulham, (still like them)...followed the Spurs, Wigan, Arsenal, Man U and Chelea this year...Think I'm liking the Spurs at the moment...Wouldn't root against Fulham though...
If you have good taste and enjoy the English game more than the French game, then you'll choose Tottenham. But if you want to support a crumbling club, which will be ruined by only UEFA Cup football when moving into a brand new 60,000 black hole of a stadium, then choose Arsenal. Oh, and if you want to be surrounded by fans who will change loyalties every few months, then go for Chelsea.
Each club has it's own personality, style and history - you can't just "pick" a club - it has to be something deeper than that. Where you're from is the obvious one, but most fans aren't from where their club is located so there are many other ways that a club can "speak to you". Lets take style to begin with - take some other sports you may/may not have an interest in and compare some teams: Hockey = Blackburn (no offense, I happen to like Rovers physical play), Springboard Diving/homosexual wrestling = arsenal ('nuff said), Parachuting = Sunderland (they dropped faster than a cannonball off a skyscraper) bull fighting = Liverpool (more spaniards there than Madrid) boxing = millwall (go to a match and you'll see a few rounds) Ok, you get my point. Notice I didn't mention Spurs - because I don't want fans who pull for Spurs just b/c someone told them they should. Do some research, watch them play, and I'm sure one club will pull you in. Don't mean to sound preachy, but it's something I feel strongly about.