The book is great
200 pages about independence and oppression, 2 pages about the football club
Usually you don't do that, but...
I support my hometown club (Hannover 96) for all my life. But since they used to play in lower leagues (2nd Bundesliga and third division) in the past for a long time
I picked other Bundesliga teams that played well at the time. Some years ago I liked Hamburger SV (the Kaltz/Hrubesch years), later Borussia Dortmund (Riedle/Kohler years).
Since Hannover play in the Bundesliga on a regular basis again I only support my team.
I know many of my friends did the same, some stuck with the new team, though. Mostly Bayern.
I have zero respect for people who claim to be Bayern fans but aren't from Bavaria. I just can't do it.
As for me, I can't say I've ever switched allegiances. As far as MLS goes I was nominally a New England fan in the first few years of the league because that's where I grew up, but by this point I don't really care and follow the league as a whole.
This is clearly McSorely's way of looking for validation to change his team .
What about bloodlines? My family is Bavarian, but I've never been there.
Not that I beat my chest about them, but they're the only European club that I have any familial ties to. The other European teams I follow are either much smaller (AGF in Denmark, KuPS in Finland) or largely random (Tottenham became my English team largely because I hated all of their rivals).
I used to be a Ronaldo fan boy, but now have switched my allegiance over to Messi.
Does that count?
When people talk about "family" connections, what do they mean? If your dad is from there, that's a pretty good reason but if it's like your migrant ancestors who hopped on a boat in 1855 it's kinda silly.
When people talk about "family" connections, what do they mean? If your dad is from there, that's a pretty good reason but if it's like your migrant ancestors who hopped on a boat in 1855 it's kinda silly.
Well if you're from another country and you follow the team, that's fine I guess (unless it comes at the expense of your local team!). I'm mostly talking about Germans who follow them and spurn their own local teams as a result, simply because Bayern never loses. That's just lame.
I know you support LA Galaxy, so obviously I'm not talking about guys like you!
We agree on most things so don't take my reply necessarily as a reply to you, my posts in here are more to explain where I'm coming from because it's something that a lot of European fans simply can't fathom. There was no local team to support, the only connection I have with England is that I speak English (though like many families in Pennsylvania, I do have relatives spoke strictly German around the house), and I've moved around.
I've had multiple people that supporting anyone but the Pittsburgh Riverhounds is a farce...meanwhile the Riverhounds are a lower level team that didn't exist before 1999, changed stadiums almost annually until they finally got their own stadium, and the
I have a soft spot for the Hounds because they're the 'hometown' team, but they were a joke of a franchise that went through owners as fast as they did high school football stadiums that didn't even exist until I was 13 and were on hiatus when I finally did start to get into the sport. If I were to switch to a Riverhounds fan if they ever were bumped up to the MLS I'd be a turncoat.
I used to be a Ronaldo fan boy, but now have switched my allegiance over to Messi.
Does that count?
I understand that to a certain extent, but we're now getting to the point at which Americans (and to a certain extent Canadians) can no longer use the excuse that they had no local (or in this case regional) team to support, now that MLS has been around for 20 years. I just turned 40 - MLS launched when I was 20. People my age and over could conceivably have developed allegiances to other teams elsewhere in the world prior to MLS, but people younger than me are veering dangerously close to snob mentality, where they support massive brands from another country because those teams rarely lose and play in more glamorous leagues. And that's fine too, but expect to be ridiculed for it, you know?
Of course no one says you can't follow teams in more than one league at the same time, or even follow several leagues at the same time. As long as you don't ignore or disparage the league in your own country, there's no problem. I live in Austria. We have a very mediocre league, the teams here rarely survive European competition past Christmas, and everyone is well aware that the quality isn't great. But it's still rare to find people who ignore or disparage the domestic league in favor of a glittery foreign brand. And you don't even have to, because you can support your own crappy local team and a glittery foreign brand if you have to. Problem solved. If you follow a foreign brand exclusively you would generally be considered a poser and be subjected to the appropriate ridicule.
In your specific case, you wouldn't have to watch your allegiance back to the Riverhounds if they ever joined MLS. My guess is you would wish them well and generally wish for them to succeed, but cheer for the Galaxy in direct duels. And that would be perfectly acceptable.
I understand that to a certain extent, but we're now getting to the point at which Americans (and to a certain extent Canadians) can no longer use the excuse that they had no local (or in this case regional) team to support, now that MLS has been around for 20 years. I just turned 40 - MLS launched when I was 20. People my age and over could conceivably have developed allegiances to other teams elsewhere in the world prior to MLS, but people younger than me are veering dangerously close to snob mentality, where they support massive brands from another country because those teams rarely lose and play in more glamorous leagues. And that's fine too, but expect to be ridiculed for it, you know?
Of course no one says you can't follow teams in more than one league at the same time, or even follow several leagues at the same time. As long as you don't ignore or disparage the league in your own country, there's no problem. I live in Austria. We have a very mediocre league, the teams here rarely survive European competition past Christmas, and everyone is well aware that the quality isn't great. But it's still rare to find people who ignore or disparage the domestic league in favor of a glittery foreign brand. And you don't even have to, because you can support your own crappy local team and a glittery foreign brand if you have to. Problem solved. If you follow a foreign brand exclusively you would generally be considered a poser and be subjected to the appropriate ridicule.
I started liking Real Madrid because Beckham went there, but Man U was always my favourite.
When I was younger I was a fan of the Italians, but I switched to England around 2000 when Beckham was front and centre on the team Rooney had started moving up the ranks.