Choosing a football team as an international fan

**arnie_uk** · 06-28-2020, 05:29 PM

Originally Posted by GOTA

When I started watching the Premier League I became a fan of the team who was on every week. That was Manchester United. I don't think I was looking to become a fan. If you see a team all the time you're either going to love them or hate them but you will have a strong opinion. It's not the same when you can't see them on a regular basis.

Back in the early 90s ESPN used to play Australian Rules Football every Saturday morning. The West Coast Eagles were really good and on a lot and just like Manchester United, they became my team.

Access to the games has got to be high on the list. I know as an international fan that's what drove me to certain teams.

Apologies on behalf on UK united fans for you having to suffer since fergie retired

**darb72** · 06-28-2020, 08:47 PM

Originally Posted by SouthSide

I picked Aston Villa since my only time in England was in Birmingham while my wife was working in her PhD at Aston University.

I'd even watch or follow soccer, but felt it was important to pick a team- and stick with it!

Getting to spend that much time in England would be awesome. I only get a month every couple of years.

**SouthSide** · 06-28-2020, 09:04 PM

Originally Posted by darb72

Getting to spend that much time in England would be awesome. I only get a month every couple of years.

Oh, I only spent a week there. My wife flew over every month to spend a week there. But I had a week left to my own devices and wandered around the city . Squeezed in day trips to London and Warwick Castle in the process.

**WNCRavensFan** · 06-29-2020, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by arnie_uk

Apologies on behalf on UK united fans for you having to suffer since fergie retired

**Barksdale** · 06-30-2020, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by Barksdale

I think it´s also a big difference with casual fans and "real" fans. The casuals are the ones you get if youre very succesful or very visible, like Pats or Cowboys. Perhaps Yankees are the best example of all in US Sports. Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal in actual football (or soccer as you call it).
Maybe a real good look attract some, I know one or two that ended up Saints fans becasue of that. Can´t say I blame them.

For some reason that always had the opposite effect on me. I hated those soccer teams as a kid growing up in Europe. Settled for Notts COunty FC (Yes, you prob have to google them...). Big fan of motorsports, and cheered for Michael Schumacher as a kid (cool name 10 year old me thought). Then he started winning too much and I got bored. Always had a big soft spot for the Minardi team, those of you that now F1 get it.

I choose Philadelphia Flyers in hockey partly for their colours but mostly when my fav playver went there early ´90s. Then you grew quickly into it. Funnily enough, even if I had no idea, the Flyers are a bit like the Ravens of the NHL. Broad Street Bullies and so on.

The Ravens, that was a combination of the Wire and watching some football casually and the whole thing about Ravens was appealing to me. Even though I had a hard time with the purple at first, lol. Still think we should swap the purple and black in the logo and use all black with purple trim as primary.
The thing with Ravens though, I could never ever even imagine how much I´ve bought into the whole organization, what theyre about, what they do. It became my team extremely quickly and are miles ahead of any other favourite team today.

Should add that a spectacular, highlight reel superstar like we have now with Lamar will put us in the spotlight and add fans, and hopefully not just casual band wagoners. It´s an odd feeling being in the spotlight like that.

**Bhcforlife** · 06-30-2020, 01:32 PM

I'm not international, but I don't do DC sports teams at all so I had to pick something else for my NBA and NHL teams.

NBA wise I grew up on the Steve Nash/Dirk Nowitzki Mavericks teams in the early 2000s. I was a tall gangly kid with long hair that played and loved basketball, so both of those guys were definitely the shit in my eyes (but especially Dirk). I stuck with the Mavs and got rewarded with 1 championship out of it. They are fun to watch now too with Doncic and Porzingis.

NHL was much less interesting, just liked the colors of the Rangers, lol.

The ownership point is good, and really should be the first consideration for anyone getting into sports period, not just internationally. Imagine getting into sports and randomly picking the Bengals because you like their colors or you like tigers, or the Knicks for whatever reason (yes I know Dolan owns the Rangers too, but he's pretty hands off with them, complete opposite of his management of the Knicks) and being doomed to forever have a horrible owner.

**darb72** · 06-30-2020, 07:51 PM

Originally Posted by SouthSide

Oh, I only spent a week there. My wife flew over every month to spend a week there. But I had a week left to my own devices and wandered around the city . Squeezed in day trips to London and Warwick Castle in the process.

Holy crap at the frequent flier miles. I thought a three hour drive to Tuscaloosa and back was bad.

**seraph** · 07-01-2020, 12:03 PM

Choosing based on:

-team colors

-Players you like

-Geographical location

-Tradition and history

-Political leaning (team and fanbase)

**PTORaven** · 07-01-2020, 01:30 PM

if I was in the UK i might go with Jacksonville just because of their commitment to playing in England. but they also kind of suck most of the time and have some of the worst uniforms.

i really hate it when teams relocate and take the franchise and history with 'em, so off the bat i'd say that Raider, Rams, and Chargers are out.

washington is going to have to change the name and logo and all that in a couple years, and i only buy officially licensed jerseys and such, so they're out.

speaking of buying jerseys, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Miami and Houston are all out cause they're uniforms/colors suck.

if the NFL was only a side interest to another sport i loved, i might actually consider becoming a fan of Cleveland for purely ironic reasons. like i bet if you're in the UK or Europe people might buy you a shot if you show up to a sports bar wearing Browns gear. and while other bad teams of the last few decades have offered their fans glimpses of hope from time to time, just to crush those dreams by (for example) going 0-7 over a 20 year span but keeping the same coach for most of it, the Browns have been so consistently bad that it's much easier to never get your hopes up.

**Barksdale** · 07-01-2020, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by PTORaven

if I was in the UK i might go with Jacksonville just because of their commitment to playing in England. but they also kind of suck most of the time and have some of the worst uniforms.

i really hate it when teams relocate and take the franchise and history with 'em, so off the bat i'd say that Raider, Rams, and Chargers are out.

washington is going to have to change the name and logo and all that in a couple years, and i only buy officially licensed jerseys and such, so they're out.

speaking of buying jerseys, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Miami and Houston are all out cause they're uniforms/colors suck.

if the NFL was only a side interest to another sport i loved, i might actually consider becoming a fan of Cleveland for purely ironic reasons. like i bet if you're in the UK or Europe people might buy you a shot if you show up to a sports bar wearing Browns gear. and while other bad teams of the last few decades have offered their fans glimpses of hope from time to time, just to crush those dreams by (for example) going 0-7 over a 20 year span but keeping the same coach for most of it, the Browns have been so consistently bad that it's much easier to never get your hopes up.

Being a fan of Notts County must be like being a Browns fan actually, or worse. Atleast they cant get relegated.