Supporting English Soccer Teams

[AMayoSheep]

Im a fan of soccer myself but find it very hard to understand how people in this country are so obsessed with the premiership and english soccer teams in general!

Like ill walk into a pub on any given saturday and see loads of people sitting wearing man united and liverpool jerseys wathing a match. Im a big fan of soccer myself and bought into the hype in my earlier years and later realised that supporting spurs compared nothing to supporting mayo or ireland, because i had nothing in common with the club and i wasnt from north-east london.
So after a few years of caring less and less if they won or not kinda gaves up supporting them.

Some people go on about supporting teams like liverpool and man u for their history but i honestly dont believe that-not for one second wpould they support them if they wernt successfull. I mean Not Forest have a good history but you wont see many of their fans in this country.

I find myself having more and more of an interest in the eircom league now. Ok it isnt near the standard of the premiership but you dont see other nationalities on a massive scale supporting a team outside their country, in fact they find  it hard to understand.
     

[sureyouwill]

It's the "we" thats pathetic - we beat you last night - we being a English Permiership team, that the person in question has probably never saw playing live in their lives, that is owned by some European Consortium, that has 22 players - 2 from England and the rest from Europe, S'America etc.   Think it steams from when you were a kid in fairness, the 40 somethings are leeds the teens today Chelsea, Man U etc - everyone just seems to pick a team that is successful and then when you ask why in later years, their cocker spaniel or something was from Liverpool. 

[Uladh]

When you compare fooball and soccer, there is no contest in terms of skill and entertainment but soccer has the 24/7 hype, global audience and presentation which lures people in.

for me, the acid test is that those who play and are decent at both sports, you generally will always see they love the football far more.


edit:

The sense of identifying with a team as your own appeals to armchair fans. how often do you get to shout at the telly at your gaa team or argue the bit out with your mate, who probably supports the same football teams as you?

[tayto]

I find myself having more and more of an interest in the eircom league now. Ok it isnt near the standard of the premiership but you dont see other nationalities on a massive scale supporting a team outside their country, in fact they find  it hard to understand.
     

Prepare to be called all sorts by the premiership brigade! 

Even in england you get londoners who support man united, why? well because they win things and they're on the box all the time. I don't think too many sligomen or women support Shamrock Rovers. Whats the common demoniator? The fact that a club has a successful history or the fact that one is spoon fed to you through TV?

[his holiness nb]

Its because the Sun and the Star tell them too 

Whatever about the Rovers boys on this board, at least they are supporting their local side!

[thejuice]

I was the same, I supported Villa for a while (till about 94-95) and just felt it meant nothing to me,  Other teams fans were giving me grief and i just didnt care enough to put up with it. ive stopped watching soccer altogether now.

[An Fear Rua]

Even in england you get londoners who support man united, why? well because they win things and they're on the box all the time. I don't think too many sligomen or women support Shamrock Rovers. Whats the common demoniator? The fact that a club has a successful history or the fact that one is spoon fed to you through TV?

Do you think London is made up of only jellied eels fanatics? In England you generally find that people support who their mum or dad supported(or their arch enemy (sic)) that may be the team down the road, or if your dad was a scouser who moved to dat der london , you'll prob end up supporting them. What about all the lads running round London, Brum , Manc etc in Mayo, Dublin Tyrone shirts- all born and bred in England, they still refer to the particular county as we, are they wrong too?
The Cockney Reds (utd London fan base) have been around since the mid 20th century, a mixture of people who hailed from manc, who were mates with them etc. Utd have had a massive following across england for a long long number of years, long before sky , ferguson and trophies. Its not black and white.
The glory brigades stem from areas where there isnt a prem team nearby, coupled with a hollow need to be seen to be "into" football, as a hangover from Euro 96 , these people are sometimes referred to Hornbys. There are many many dedicated home and away fans who travel huge distance to get to OT or Anfield week in or week out.  Would you rather a OOT(out of Towner) beside you every week supporting the team properly , than a local who goes once or twice a year, and spends the whole time complaining about oots?

[Greenabovethered]

I always find the following questions get your subjects (usually taxi drivers) thinking when they use the "We" word, when talking about their favourite American owned British sawker team;

You're originally from Liverpool/Manchester?
No
Ahh, your parents/ Grandparents then?
No
Were you living there, you've no accent?
No
You have close friends or family there?
No
Your Surname isn't "Glazier" by any chance?
No
You've got me there, what's the connection?
I love them, there (sic) the best.
Ahh a connoisseur of the so called beautiful game, tell me how many times have been to the Anfield/Old Trafford?
I just  watch them on the telly in the pub, but i never miss a game.

Ahh, i never miss an episode of the Ear to the Ground.

[An Fear Rua]

Theres a parallel with the taxi driver and the wee girl from the hairdressers with a ticket for the AI for her first game in years?
Theres a huge diff in betwen the taxi driver, and the person who gets up off their arse and goes to the games?
Who gives anyone the right to dictate who someone else should and should not support?

[his holiness nb]

Nobody is "dictating" anything to anyone.
Just making valid points, we arent saying you shouldnt follow an English team, just saying we dont get why you would want to.

[sureyouwill]

Nobody is "dictating" anything to anyone.
Just making valid points, we arent saying you shouldnt follow an English team, just saying we dont get why you would want to.

Nail on head, and why do people from here be so passionate about the English team they have hooked up to, it's like they were togging out for them, i just don't get it!

[supersarsfields]

I'd say the reason I would be so interested in Liverpool was because my two brothers were. Plus there is no shortage of hype in the meeja over here regarding the EPL so it was enjoyable to follow a team. Always enjoyed the banter with my mates who followed other teams.
I think people are analysising it too much. I would get over to the odd liverpool game, not near as many as I would like. But I would use "we" when  talking to my mates. Not because i'm togging out for them or anything, just because it handy and they know what I'm talking about. And like anything that you follow for a period of time you can become passionate about the team. Not near the level I would feel for Tyrone or Ireland but still a big interest.

[Hardy]

People need to identify with something and it's human nature to break into tribes. Psychological studies have shown that you can take a group of people, arbitrarily divide them into groups, assign each group a colour and in very short order they will get passionate and sometimes violent in defence of their colour and in attack of a different one.

TV provides readymade colours/teams and the pub/workplace/coffee-break an arena to defend your chosen one.

Jonathan Swift illustrated this human trait well with his Bigendians and Littlendians. Manchester United are just Bigendians and Liverpool are Littleendians. Or is it the other way around? Let's have a fight about it.

I've chosen a colour/end/team that represents the locality I was born in. I often succumb to the temptation to taunt those who have chosen Chelsea and call them "we" and that makes me feel good about myself and my loyalty to my roots, etc. But it's not fair really. If I didn't have Meath, I'd probably be calling Manchester United "we" or siding with the people who crack their egg at the big end and looking for Littlendians to argue with and making fun of people who get passionate about Big Brother contestants. Actually, that's something we can probably all agree on.

[magickingdom]

its great people have an interest in sport period. i was in the states for years and loved baseball but over here its hard to stay a fan when you dont see too much of it. same with soccer i support liverpool but its nothing like supporting kerry to me but i really get great enjoyment out of them. a serious point here: if all the premiership supporters here started supporting eircom league clubs the gaa would have a much harder fight on their hands for players/supporters/etc despite the obivious fact to me that gaelic football is a far superior game...

[ONeill]

It's not that I feel sorry for those who can't understand the pleasure of supporting a cause outside of their immediate surroundings, but I do think they are missing out on something. It's like falling in love with HP sauce. You try it once for the craic, then it grows on you.

I support English Scottish and Irish soccer teams. I support an American football team. Support as in lend my support to them, mostly albeit from the comfort of my settee or in merchandise. It's life I suppose. Some people love climbing mountains. Some like prayers or saints' days. Some like sport and can be passionate about it. I suppose it's the same as gambling, only long term. You'll support a horse for 4 minutes, you'll support a team for life. I'd say that although those who cannot understand how someone can support something from afar may be missing out on that tribal pleasure, it's understandable that it's just not for them.