Why should I support my local team?

I'm often told by people that I should support my local team, while teams visiting Old Trafford often boast that they do so, as though such a thing is laudable. Why should one support one's local team? Why is that admirable?

inb4BigLad.

I do support my local btw

ResurrectionRooney wrote:I'm often told by people that I should support my local team, while teams visiting Old Trafford often boast that they do so, as though such a thing is laudable. Why should one support one's local team? Why is that admirable?

Because Preston North End are the greatest team in the country.

Viva Ronaldo 7 wrote:inb4BigLad.

I do support my local btw

Stockport County?

Theo Filippo wrote:

Viva Ronaldo 7 wrote:inb4BigLad.

I do support my local btw

Stockport County?

No, Bohemians FC.

Viva Ronaldo 7 wrote:

Theo Filippo wrote:Stockport County?

No, Bohemians FC.

Since when was Stockport in Ireland

Because it's easier to watch them live.

Because it makes you a better human being.

Somehow.

Theo Filippo wrote:

Viva Ronaldo 7 wrote:

No, Bohemians FC.

Since when was Stockport in Ireland

It is not in Ireland

Football is entertainment. If this logic was expanded to other areas, say movies, then only New Zealanders should like the Lord of the Rings movies. Foreigners who like this are glory hunters, and should thus be criticized.

My club does a lot for my community and the ones around it, they have a great impact and it would be a shame to see them fold.

Other than that......it's like supporting your country. Pride in where you are from.....actually being part of something that is significant to you. Glory hunting isn't significant, I couldn't bare imagine trying to lie to myself that I actually had any reason to support a team other than my local one.

I don't have a problem with someone supporting a non-local team expect when they flip-flop. Whoever you choose to support at first, you should stick with through good and bad.

But the reason people promote the support of local teams is somewhat similar to the promotion of local job creation.

Lux wrote:My club does a lot for my community and the ones around it, they have a great impact and it would be a shame to see them fold.

Other than that......it's like supporting your country. Pride in where you are from.....actually being part of something that is significant to you. Glory hunting isn't significant, I couldn't bare imagine trying to lie to myself that I actually had any reason to support a team other than my local one.

What if I couldn't give a toss about my local community? What if my local community has changed nunmerous times since I was born? Where's the logic in having "pride" in something that never mattered to you anyway?

Edit:

By changed I mean moved around a lot.

Viva Ronaldo 7 wrote:inb4BigLad.

I do support my local btw

Nope you stay closer to City.

Alan wrote:

Viva Ronaldo 7 wrote:inb4BigLad.

I do support my local btw

Nope you stay closer to City.

I was talking about my hometown

Football players and managers are from all over the world, so whats wrong with fans being from all over the word. If you support a team just stick with that team whatever happens.

Viva Ronaldo 7 wrote:

Alan wrote:Nope you stay closer to City.

I was talking about my hometown

I was only joking anyway, you like anyone can support who you like.

Don't really care for people supporting their local team. Just hate it when they do stuff like Ahly says. People have to choose a club and stick with them through thick and thin, and not jump off the bandwagon once they start declining and jump onto the next good club. I personally am just a neutralist because I can't really identify with any of the clubs, because obviously they're in England. There are teams that I like, and teams I don't like, but they are mostly because of the players and management at the time, not because of actual geography or club history (well, this plays into it a bit actually). But with that said, I do always like the teams that I like, if that makes sense, and I dislike the teams I dislikes all the time.

Other sports I follow such as hockey and baseball I support my local team, but it is different in Canada/North America, because usually there in only one team (sometimes 2) per state/province/region you are in.

Laurencio wrote:What if I couldn't give a toss about my local community? What if my local community has changed nunmerous times since I was born? Where's the logic in having "pride" in something that never mattered to you anyway?

Edit:

By changed I mean moved around a lot.

If you move all the time then maybe....

But if you just generally don't care then I'd simply say that you can't be a true supporter of a club.....and that's that person's fault (and by that I mean personality wise) for that club or place not "mattering" to them.

I don't particularly go around gloating, or saying "you can't do this or that"....but end of the day I feel like a better fan and nothing anyone does or says will change that .

I don't understand people who just go for some powerhouse they are nowhere near or have no connection to...where's the fun?

Kelloggg8 wrote:I don't understand people who just go for some powerhouse they are nowhere near or have no connection to...where's the fun?

Is your family from DF?

On topic:

In an ideal world for me everyone would support their local team or some team they have a real cultural and family connection to.

For example your father was born and raised in Liverpool and even though he's left his life a crime behind and moved to London or something he's not suddenly going to stop supporting Liverpool right? More than likely he'll try to get whatever children he spawns to be Liverpool supporters too and I think that's fine.

Of course I really don't mind if someone decides to start supporting some team for whatever reason, in the end it really doesn't bother me very much but I just can't imagine myself doing that.

Yes...

Personally I wouldn't do it, just doesn't appeal to me. Everyone is free to support whoever they like! Often, they can be great fans. In the end it doesn't matter. It's just a game, really.

Kelloggg8 wrote:I don't understand people who just go for some powerhouse they are nowhere near or have no connection to...where's the fun?

I am not from England but there are a few reasons I started to support Tottenham in the beginning when I first started watching EPL football like 5 or 6 years ago. I wont go into depth because no one probably cares but for me I didnt have a local team at the time, as the Philadelphia Union were created a few years after. Its not like England where there's 5 clubs within a few miles radius for some people. The Union is about 45 minutes from my home, but 20 minutes from my college.

reasons I started supporting Tottenham

-they were fun to watch, win or lose they were usually entertaining and scored and let up many goals
-they had some players like Keane, etc who I liked
-they hated Arsenal as much as I did

I make it my goal to go to White Hart Lane numerous times in my life, so every time I watch their matches I imagine what my first time there's going to be like.

end of story

blah blah blah

My main annoyance is people using the word 'support'.

If you don't buy merchandise or attend games from the club you follow, you don't support the club in any way whatsoever.
If you buy merchandise but don't attend games, you only support the the man who owns the club. You have no control over what he/she does with the money, at most you are indirectly supporting the team, but in most cases your money will not affect the team at all.
Now if you go to games, you can have an impact on your actual team. I think we all agree fans at the game do make a difference, players feed off a good atmosphere and fans are credited by players and managers many times.]


Let's use Stoke as an example.
A Stoke fan buys a Stoke City shirt but lives in London, he is supporting Coates, not the club, he could easily be supporting the betting company owned by that man. Does this fan impact on the team? Nope.
A Stoke fan at the game, along with 20,000 other Stoke fans do their daft noises at crosses and throw ins and build up even more pressure on the opposing team.

So now we establish what actually supporting your team means, we can answer the first part of the original question.

Because it directly benefits your team.


Why your local team?
Feeding the big clubs with money, whether you go to games or not, is ruining competition in football. People complain about billionaires spending all of this money... But as Chelsea and Man City have shown, they have no choice but to do that if they want to catch up Man United. Glory hunting effectively ruined the chance of a small club building into a big club or even a mid table club building into a big club. There is a reason clubs have risen the leagues quickly but not managed to go further than Wigan. Wigan have hit a brick wall. Hull tried but failed. I imagine Swansea will have a good season and then do a Wigan or crash back down the leagues. Blackpool had half a season in the PL and are now heading back to league 2.

Yeah, I could write more but I have a feeling RR will do his usual twisting of words or it'll just turn into another argument. I have quietened down with the glory hunting topic for that reason... I still believe every single thing i've said in the past.

Excellent point James, I don't think there's much to add to that.