Help Me Choose a Club Soccer Team to Support

You don't pick a team by asking a bunch of mooks on a message board. You watch matches until a team really gets you. Forget about being fashionable - too many lame-ass Barca and Man U fans in the world as it is.

When I was a kid Liverpool was the team to follow. So I did, but I can't say I had any real feelings for that club. I just watched. A few years later there was a team that really started to excite me - the way they played and the incredible energy and fight the team showed was just amazing to watch. This was the Everton team of the early 80s. They were awesome, and since then I've been a loyal fan. I didn't choose to be an Everton fan, it just happened.

Since then it's been torture at times. It still is frustrating to sit idly by as one transfer window after another passes without them strengthening their squad with big names like the other clubs. But they don't have a billionaire owner and they still do things the old-fashioned way by developing their own talents (Rooney, Rodwell) or bringing in rejects for cheap (Pienaar, Arteta) and turning them around. Moyes is a fantastic manager and he embodies the heart and soul of the club. Few teams show more heart on the pitch, especially against the top teams. I just wish they were more consistent.

Their fanbase outside England is small enough that we have a real sense of kinship. It's a certain kind of people who are Everton fans, not like the hodge-podge of bandwagon Chelsea fans who'll be gone as soon as Abramovich's money disappears. Chelsea used to have some of the most dedicated fans but the club has been spoiled. Same is happening to Man City now and it happened to United a long time ago. I'd definitely like to see an infusion of cash at Everton but I hope they'll never sell their soul like those other clubs.

I think the rule with choosing a team to root for is not to pick a team that is currently at the top of the table. For the EPL, you have to rule out United (bandwagon team), Chelsea (likewise), and Man City (just spending shit-tons of money to be successful). I guess you could pick Arsenal because even though they are top-4 and beat Barca once, everyone thinks their season has been a spectacular failure. I guess I would pick a team to root for that isn't a current powerhouse but is always kind of in the mix, like Newcastle or Tottenham. I grew up rooting for Liverpool, and they are easy to love.

A good move for Spain is Athletico Madrid, that way you can hate Real but not be on the annoying Barca bandwagon.

Newcastle just made it back to the EPL this year and sold their best player for 35MM, and there is strong suspicion that those funds are never going to make it past the owner's pocket. Rooting for them would basically be like getting a liberal arts degree... you'll be setting yourself up for a lifetime of disappointment.

Arsenal! The club of "poets, passers, and dreamers" (Ian Darke) - occasional tragic failures, but boy do they play beautifully. YouTube the "Invincible" season (2003-4) - there's an 11-part documentary on there - an impossible team and simply the most magnificent EPL football you'll ever see. The current team has reached that style a few times this year, and their average age is only 23-24 or something.

Pick one of the newly promoted teams, QPR or Norwich. Both have been out of the top flight for some years but both have impressive traditions and there'll be a lot of passion around them in the Premiership. Every win will be celebrated and it'll really introduce you to the amazing fan culture English football has to offer.

Sure, they've had a few rough years lately, but they've they were in and out of Europe from the late 90's until a few years ago. They've had some great players. And, their fans are passionate and they always seem to have some real wildmen on the team getting into fights. They're fun to watch.

F.C.Gold Pride! End of thread

Of all the teams so far mentioned, only one has a North American that is playing any kind of significant role in its team's success. That's Man U. If you're from the states, how can you not support Man U?

gibberish

Isn't Dempsey somewhat important to Fulham? Or am I way off base?

What does anyone know about Southampton? For some reason I want to root for them but they don't seem to have a chance to make it back to the top flight anytime soon.

You think Americans should support Man U because they have a Mexican in the squad? WTF?

How about Tim Howard at Everton? Brad Friedel at Aston Villa? Stuart Holden at Bolton? Clint Dempsey at Fulham? Jonathan Spector at West Ham? Marcus Hahnemann at Wolves?

Those guys all play significant roles in their teams' success. You need to pay some attention.

Amazing photo wrote:

What does anyone know about Southampton? For some reason I want to root for them but they don't seem to have a chance to make it back to the top flight anytime soon.

They've produced two of the biggest young English talents in the last few years, Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale, and they've got another one right now in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But like Walcott and Bale, he'll probably be off to a big club sooner rather than later.

I think there's a chance they'll manage a consecutive promotion to the Premier League this coming season, though.

Burbot wrote:

Blackpool.

With a win over Man U this weekend they will remain in the EPL.

Yes Blackpool with the most entertaining manager Ian Holloway. One of the good guys in football. Some of his quotes:

“I have such bad luck at the moment that if I fell in a barrel of boobs I’d come out sucking my thumb.”

"I don’t see the problem with footballers taking their shirts off after scoring a goal? They enjoy it and the young ladies enjoy it too. I suppose thats one of the main reasons women come to football games, to see the young men take their shirts off. Of course they’d have to go and watch another game because my lads are as ugly as sin."

“He’s six foot something, fit as a flea, good looking – he’s got to have something wrong with him. Hopefully he’s hung like a hamster – That would make us all feel better. Having said that, me missus has got a pet hamster at home, and his cock’s massive.” – talking about Cristiano Ronaldo.

SwissFamilyKnobinson wrote:

Nottingham Forest.

End of thread.

^ This one fo sho

not so fast dude wrote:

You think Americans should support Man U because they have a Mexican in the squad? WTF?

How about Tim Howard at Everton? Brad Friedel at Aston Villa? Stuart Holden at Bolton? Clint Dempsey at Fulham? Jonathan Spector at West Ham? Marcus Hahnemann at Wolves?

Those guys all play significant roles in their teams' success. You need to pay some attention.

What part of "thus far mentioned" did you not understand? You need to pay attention.

Haha, what a comeback!

Especially as West Ham, Fulham and Everton had all been mentioned before he wrote that. Oh well.

Pick Arsenal. Only team to have beaten ManU, Barca, and Chelski this year. Once they add some steel to the backline and defensive mid they will be able to deal with mid table hoof the ball in the box plodders like Stoke, too many of whom have been able to park the bus in the back and nick draws from set pieces. If you would have followed them this season you would have experienced brilliant highs and crushing lows. Beautiful team to watch and they're on TV enough that you can see them regularly.

Second choice would be Everton. Overachievers.