Why do fans support non local teams

Is it too late for me to change to Arsenal? They are quite good at the moment. At that Olivier chap... :eek:
 
Pighardia said:
Fair enough, you are right.




Yes I agree, and I have tried to word it so that it didn't sound disrespectful or baiting in any way. I was trying to make the point that when people support big clubs from far away, I think there is a bit less of a connection, and commitment, which means that the club can, and often is, easily dropped when they get bored. For example, the club plays a big part in my life, I spend a hell of a lot of money to see them each year(far too much!) and for this reason, and the one about seeing other supporters often, and friends etc, supporters like this have a connection that ones who don't interact with their club much lack.
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I dont think this has any relation what so ever to how much distance there is between fan and club.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who live in Asia who tune in religeously to watch their team on tv (and spend small fortunes on memerobilia etc) just as much as Im sure there were a load of Chelsea fans (just one example) living around Stamford bridge who forgot about the club before their recent successful stint with RA

It is down to that particular fan - and even spending money regularly with the club doesnt automatically mean you are a better supporter than someone who doesnt spend anything. It just says you have more disposable cash available :) - and if they "live and breathe" the club they support.
 
There are varying degrees of being a fan. Some are more involved than others, and some play a more crucial role in the football club. Being based in a different location to the team you support doesn't make you any worse a fan than someone else who supports their local club, but it may mean that as a supporter you're unable to be as involved in the club.

I, personally, feel a little sorry for those fans who are incredibly focused on/highly supportive of their particular club but don't have the means to watch them on a regular basis - whether that be a location issue, or financial, or circumstantial (they may work weekends, have to look after the kids, etc.). I love going to live football, it means an awful lot to me to be part of a small, traditional club. But at the same time I can understand the attraction of sitting at Upton Park or St James' Park. It's all relative.

This weekend is my second favourite date in the football calendar - first round of the FA Cup, where the minnows all have genuine opportunities to topple much bigger clubs. We've got Staines Town at home, a local derby made sweeter due to the fact that their manager is Marcus Gale, a cult hero at Brentford.

How much better can you get?

At the same time, I'm off to WHL for Spurs v Newcastle on Sunday. First EPL game I've been to in maybe a decade, first time I've sat in a huge crowd for about 5 years, and I'm really looking forward to it.
 
I support Middlesbrough because I live here. Seeing as though they absolutely suck at the moment I've also decided to follow Spurs as I need a Premier League team and because I lived not far from Tottenham for a while and my girlfriend supports them :p
 
My dads side of the family all support Chelsea inc my brother and have done for years (I still remember my dads Chelsea tankard in the pub about 30 years ago). I was different though (rebel) ans my uncle (mums side) got me into football and he was a Liverpool fan so that's where I went.
The one name that he kept repeating was Dalglish and so I tend to follow him instead. I supported Blackburn when he went there (before they won the title) (went to as many matches as I could despite being 200 miles away) and followed Liverpool for a bit too when he went there. I hope he joins another club and I'll follow them too. Possibly.

I've become disillusioned in the past couple of years though to the point I sent my shirt back to Blackburn last year and critiscized the new owners for driving the club down with bad decisions.

I'm from a town south of Oxford so they would be my local team (or Reading) and now I live in Newport but I don't care for any of them the way my mates did when I was 10.
 
I was born in Hongkong, moved to islington when I was 4. Dad took me to watch an Arsenal game at 5, never looked back. Have some great memories of Highbury. My kids support Arsenal. I was 10mins from Barnet and used to watch them at the Underhill.

However we moved to Surrey/Hants when I was 13, started going to non league Aldershot. Brilliant. Still follow Barnet but still like to watch Aldershot. I will take the kids when they are old enoughh to see over on the teraces!

Josh
 
I was born in North London and support arsenal, I live in Surrey and im surrounded by glory hunting **** united and Chelsea fans! go and support Woking or Aldershot you noobs
 
I'd hate to live far away from the club I support (QPR). In fact I spent 5 years in Germany and it was horrible being away from games, although there wasn't really any streaming back then. I used to go and watch Bayern or Unterhaching instead.

Those who do support teams outside of their easily travelable area - do you ever go and watch other local games? When QPR aren't playing I sometimes take my 4 year old son to watch the local Evostick Southern team. His first game there when he was 2, then QPR when he was 3 - I've moved West so QPR is about 45 mins away now.
 
The team I supported was the first team I saw on TV. Which happened to be Man Utd. My first exposure to football too.

So you can't force someone to support a team. It just happen's.

Like love. :D
 
Rossi~ said:
If you flip the question.

Why should people support their local team?
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This.

To answer the OP: because my local team isn't even in the league? :p And they're close to being dissolved anyhow.

Having said that, I don't support any team. I wouldn't support the Chelseas or Arsenals due to no connection with them. And I strongly dislike Man U due to their horrid fans :p

But I would rather watch the Prem than the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Would you rather would people race Ford Fiestas or F1 cars, if you had no connection to the drivers?
 
Em3bbs said:
Those who do support teams outside of their easily travelable area - do you ever go and watch other local games? When QPR aren't playing I sometimes take my 4 year old son to watch the local Evostick Southern team. His first game there when he was 2, then QPR when he was 3 - I've moved West so QPR is about 45 mins away now.
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Depends on what you call easily travellable, my team is about a 7hr round trip (excluding the match). I very occasionally watch other local games but usually around 0-2 a year compared to about 10 home games a year for my team.
 
I do always think though that if you're a 'plastic' 'gloryhunter' whatever, you should get down the local side every so often, always a good afternoon out, just that quite often the football spoils it :/
 
Glory fans are everywhere but there does seem to be a lot of glory United fans in Surrey and Kent!

There's also a lot of Liverpool fans here in Manchester as their parents were glory hunting Manc's.
 
Andybtsn said:
I suppose it's how you're brought up and as a kid you're going to be fickle and just support who's winning.

I just went with who my Dad supported. Damn him.
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This pretty much. When I was at school kids would chop and change their teams depending on what was the in thing at school or who had the coolest kit in P.E. Local teams being Ipswich, Norwich and Forest. My dad a born and bred spurs fan would often take me to white hart lane. I ended up with United because red was my favourite colour and I saw them once away to spurs. Quite simple decision really. Little did I know the powerhouse they would become.

I still remember the comment of my year 6 teacher saying he supported Man City because he wasn't a glory hunter. How those days have changed. :D
 
Thankfully my Dad had been attending every Grimsby Town match since the 1930's, I wasn't brainwashed into supporting the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool etc from a young age, like quite a few of my friends have.
 
I support Manchester United because my dad and his dad did. It was kind of pushed on me and they were both born in the NW.

That being said I've lived in Banbury, Stoke, Coventry, Worcester, Birmingham, North London (Enfield), York, Beverley and now Chepstow all in the last 20 years and I've always made the effort to also go and see my local team, who ever they might be (Banbury vs Brackley Boxing Day matches are always fun). I've only been here a year (Chepstow) and I'm still working out who exactly to go and see, I'm thinking Newport Town.

I do think those that are all too quick to judge non-local supporters should think about getting out more...
 
Also you tend to want to support a Premiership side due to the popularity and coverage. So you'll get instances were the local team is a ****er so you pick a regional team etc.
 
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