Adopting a club, or two

[bedir than average]

So most of us here are not living in Europe. So how do you determine what team to follow? Which leagues?

For myself I have been tracking Firenze as my brother studied art there. Recently I have decided to track the Hatters of Luton as well having found out one of my customers played on the club there.

[Dada]

That a tough question. Cheering for soccer teams involve a lot of passion.

Let me give it a shot though.

Soccer fans are very regional, as all other sports fans. Soccer fans are very loyal to their blood. So if your dad liked a team, you like that team, period. Btw- I'm generalizing. Or in some cases, religion determines your team. I guess that goes with the whole blood issue.

Now that I've given a quick description of the typical soccer fan, a person like you has a big advantage when picking clubs, simply because you are not part of the above.

The best league in the world, or the most prestigious, is the Italian league. Every player in the world wants to play for an Italian team. It is also where the competition is the stiffest. It is the cream of the crop. Some people might want to argue for the Spanish or the English league, but really, the Italian is where the best players prove themselves. Here's the catch though: the Italian league is boring. The play is, in general, very defensive-oriented. So the games are usually 1-0, 2-1, etc. I often find myself falling asleep during the games - and I'm not kidding.

The Spanish league would be right behind the Italian league. The Spanish league has some huge names (player-wise, ie. Ronaldinho). The top Spanish teams can hang with anyone in the world, and often beat the Italian teams. That's a different issue though, for another time. The Spanish league is more entertaining to watch. More goals, more nice plays, just more fun. But let me tell you this: either Barcelona or Madrid wins in Spain.

...to be continued (gotta go)...

[TheHoo]

I'd rank the Premiership above the Italian league.
As far as picking a team to like, look at recent history, tradition, current personnel, all these factor in to which team to like.
Also, there's no shame in just watching the games for sheer entertainment.

[Wiggen]

I agree regarding the Premier League. I really enjoy watching those matches - and I think there are more good teams in that league than in some of the others. Anybody can beat anybody in that league, and that doesn't always seem to be the case in the Italian or Spanish leagues.

As for my team, I'm afraid I'm stuck with Newcastle United, being actually born in that city many, many years ago - and seeing them play many times as a child. They never win anything but that's part of their charm. Sort of like the Chicago Cubs.

[bedir than average]

I used to be a Magpie fan, back when Schearer was in top form. Also because I lived in Newcastle, WA.

Dada, most posters on this board weren't born in Europe so adopting the home team for a topic footie league isn't easy.

I used to have an MLS club, but McBride is no longer with the crew, for US soccer I'm all Sounder now and praying for expansion.

[Wiggen]

Aaah Shearer! Perhaps the last of the traditional English center-forwards. Strong, fearless, not above applying the occasional elbow or two, and absolutely deadly in the box. Ruthless and greedy, the two traits you most want in a striker.

[steeplechase3k]

bedir, you root for both the Flounders and you're a magpie? Damn, I really want to like you but you make it so hard!

I root for Sunderland because their fans friggin' rock. Over 500 of them traveled to Portland following Sunderland on their preseason tour in 2004. We partied like crazy with them, and had a blast.

Then in the spring of 2005, 35 Timbers fans traveled to Sunderland and partied some more. They helped us raise over $2000 for Timber Jim's (a man they never met since he was out of town when they were here) granddaughter's trust fund. They treated us wonderfuly and were blown away that we would travel so far to see the worst club in the Premiership.

Curently Sunderland is in the Coco-Cola Championship. They have been bouncing between the Championship and Premier level for the past several years.

I also sortof follow Harltepool. They are a Leauge 2 team about 1 hour down the North Sea coast from Sunderland. About 12 of us traveled down there for a match wile we were in England (because the match fit into our schedule). We showed up on match day and were given a tour of the grounds by members fo the front office. The team wasn't very good, but their fans treated us wonderlfy, and were also blown away that we would travel 5000 miles to watch a few football matches.

I also like Hartlepool because of their nickname. They are called the Monkeyhangers. This name came about for people of the region in the Napoleanic wars. A ship was wrecked off thier coast, and the only survivor was a monkey in a silor suit which washed ashore. Having never seen a monkey or a Frenchmen, the decided that the monkey must be a spy. They put him on trial, and put him on the stand. He didn't deny being a spy so he was hung. The other people in the are obviouslt through this was funny so they started calling people from Hartlepool "monkey hangers" as an insult, but (like with many insults) they tunred it around and embrased the name.

I also make every Portland Timbers (USL1) home game (I missed one the day my brother got married), and have made every match (about 8 of them) in Seattle for the past 3 years (and one in Vancouver, BC).

[TST]

Ok, here's my two cents. There are a number of criteria you can base your choice on. Realize that you are in a luxurious position, as Dada pointed out, in the sense that you have a choice. Me myself, i grew up within hearing distance of the old Ajax stadium, so the choice was made for me. Examples are crude and a bit biased towards Holland/Ajax. Here goes:

1) Historical/political/religious factors: Almost every team is more than just a football team, most of them have 100 or more years of history behind them both on and off the pitch. The best example of course is the catholic/Irish Celtic vs protestant/British Rangers. But also Barca, the pride of Catalunia vs Real, the team of Franco. Actually the Barca stadium was the only place where the catalan language was tolerated during his regime. Another good example are the Moscow teams during the Soviet regime; Spartak was the union's team (and the only one with a fan base), Torpedo was the army's, Lokomotiv the railways' and CSKA the secret service. Read anything by Simon Kuper if you're interested in this.

2) Style of play: Every team has it's own historically based style of play. In Holland, Ajax is technical, Feyenoord is hard working and PSV is effective. In Italy most teams are defensive and aiming to win by 1-0 or so. Milan is an exception because of the 3 dutchmen (Rijkaard, van Basten and Gullit) that changed their style in the 80's. I guess this also goes for picking the league you want to follow: Italy defensive, Spain technical and offensive, England fast paced etc.

3) Players: Look for players you like. Maybe someone you've seen play at the WC (or someone from your own country). Also look at what players a team has generally. Do they buy most of their players (Real tends to buy multiple superstars) or do they come out of their own youth system (Ajax is the best example)

4) Success: Do you go for the favorite or the underdog? Do you like to cheer often, or irregularly but more intense?

5) Other factors: Perhaps most important. Just pick the one your instinct tells you to.

[Zen653]

But let me tell you this: either Barcelona or Madrid wins in Spain.

Check out who is in first place in La Liga. It's not Barcelona. It's not Real Madrid. It's FC Sevilla, which just so happens to be my favorite team.

I picked Sevilla for familial reasons. I'm half-Spanish, and my mom was born and raised in Sevilla. She grew up a rabid Real Betis fan, along with my uncle, grandfather, and virtually everyone else in my family. The only exception is my grandmother, who is now in her 80s. Her parents had been Sevillistas, and so she became one too. Unfortunately for her, she was for the most part unable to pass on her rooting interests to anyone in my mom's generation or my generation (virtually everyone picked Betis.)

Not wanting to leave my grandmother alone, I vowed at a young age to root for Sevilla, and have done so faithfully ever since. I bought the Sevilla uniform, the Sevilla pennant, the works. When the family gets together, my grandmother, great-aunt and I are the only ones on the pro-Sevilla side, while everyone else calls us "palanganas," - a derivisive term for Sevilla fans (it literally means washbasin or bedpan.)

For awhile, Betis was the much better team but now Sevilla is doing really well (won the UEFA Cup, first place in La Liga, etc.) I'm certainly enjoying Sevilla's current success, as is my grandmother, who loves to rub that success into the faces of our many Betis relatives.

Stateside, I root for the New England Revolution of the MLS. I can't say I'm a hardcore fan of the Revs; I just don't get that excited by the inferior talent level. That's why I'm looking forward to this next phase of the MLS, one which seems to include competition for top free agents. Beckham is a nice start, and hopefully we'll see a few more big names come over here.

[Cali Ed]

How to pick a club indeed! I settled on the Premier League, largely because I wanted to be able to follow "my club" beyond just what I saw on the telly. As you will soon be able to tell (or could already tell, if you looked at other places I post), I'm very much into web forums, web sites, etc., to follow my team beyond "match day". So that meant an English team.

So how to narrow down the EPL's teams, circa 2004-2005 (the first year of Fox Soccer Channel in my area)?
1) Eliminate the London-area clubs (too much like rooting a New York team... it's a Cleveland thing): that took care of Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Charlton, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
2) Eliminate Man U, because they were the "Yankees" of the Premier League. No way I root for the "Yankees of the Premier League".
3) Eliminate the teams favored to be relegated (because if they were, how would I follow them live?): Norwich City and West Brom were added to that list, as were Southampton, Pompey, and Everton (remember their horrible 2003-2004 finish?)
That left Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers.

After some further investigation into fan support, team history, etc., I narrowed my choices down to Newcastle and Liverpool, before settling on Liverpool because of a friend's comment that "supporting the Magpies would be like supporting the Chicago Cubs... you're perennially hopeful, but be prepared for perennial disappointment." (Funny, when I mentioned it to a Magpie fan I just met this past year, he had to concur). So I chose Liverpool, and have never looked back.

[Cali Ed]

Originally Posted by Dada

Soccer fans are very regional, as all other sports fans. Soccer fans are very loyal to their blood. So if your dad liked a team, you like that team, period. Btw- I'm generalizing. Or in some cases, religion determines your team. I guess that goes with the whole blood issue.

Kinda. But I'm surprised at how many I've met/talked to on-line who don't support the family's team. I met a Magpie fan recently who's wife was born in the Merseyside area. He told me her brother, uncle and two cousins are Reds, but her father, other uncle and several other cousins are Toffees. And they aren't the only ones I've heard of, just the "most divided" in terms of support.

Originally Posted by Dada

...

The best league in the world, or the most prestigious, is the Italian league. Every player in the world wants to play for an Italian team. It is also where the competition is the stiffest. It is the cream of the crop.

I'd quite disagree. Outside the "top 3" (Inter, Milan and Juventus), the other sides are an occasional presence, but never a serious contender for anything in Europe aside from "also ran" status. And the bottom clubs? Not at all impressed. I think the Prem and La Liga are stronger top to bottom.

As for the "most entertaining", well in the last two years, the league that consistently has come to entertain with a much more wide open, end-to-end style is the Bundesliga (and growing up watching the "Bundesliga match of the week" in high school, who'd'a ever thought I'd be saying that?). While the overall strength of the teams has fallen off some (how many advanced to the knock out rounds this year, or last, in the CL?), I find myself consistently entertained (much more often than not) compared to the others. La Liga is probably 2nd in that regard, and I'd say the Prem and Serie A are about even (outside of matches involving Inter and Milan, I've seen many entertaining matches this year. And of course, the match of the year, so far, was the incredible first Milan derby).

But, of course, that's just me...