Supporting English Soccer Teams.

Just picking up on Luckycharms comment in an earlier post.

Why do Irish People support English Soccer teams with so much passion when the they have no affiliation with the club or area?

Should that passion not be invested into your local soccer, gaa or rugby team instead?

If it's for banter, fair enough. Banter is grand, but some are a little sad singing terrace songs in pubs (with lancashire accents added for effect)

Live and let live.

It's possible to support lots of teams and lots of sports.

I support Chelsea, Ireland ( rugby and soccer), Real madrid, Shamrock rovers, Leinster, Ruby Walsh, etc., etc.

I don't think its that big a deal, a lot of people support who their families have done before them. Perhaps a relation moved back home from for example Liverpool, Manchester etc.

I don't support an English soccer team, but I don't think it should be a big deal if I decided to support someone because I had ties to the city or country they were from.

Don't get me wrong, everyone to themselves.

But coming from a GAA Background where I follow my club and a poor county team, the passion is something else. I love it, but for me it would have to be something I am involved with at ground level.

Soccer is merely an entertainment product nowadays. People are free to choose whatever entertainment option is out there in the marketplace. By your reasoning you should be asking why Irish people don't just listen to diddley-eye music.

Sherman said:

Soccer is merely an entertainment product nowadays. People are free to choose whatever entertainment option is out there in the marketplace. By your reasoning you should be asking why Irish people don't just listen to diddley-eye music.

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Not at all Sherman. Music is Universal. And following one band doesn't mean that you will be labeled as a turncoat for following another.

To my recollection, I haven't heard anyone in work saying that Take That are rubbish and Supergrass are miles better.

Or at least not with the passion associated with putting on a Jersey and kissing the crest as if it's there own. Sport has far more devisions in it and shouldn't be compared to music.

Diddley-eye or no diddley-eye music.

Sherman said:

Soccer is merely an entertainment product nowadays. People are free to choose whatever entertainment option is out there in the marketplace. By your reasoning you should be asking why Irish people don't just listen to diddley-eye music.

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Furthermore, It seems a bit like supporting X local band in preference to...I dunno...The Arctic Monkeys or whoever.

If you truly think the local band is better - fair enough. But if you are into music in general, surely you will support/follow bands with a lot of talent/inventiveness/originality - whatever, in preference to the underachieving local mediocre pub band.

I'm sure if you are a soccer fan in general, the same principle would apply.

Most avid soccer fans I know have favourite teams in all the major leagues - Italy, Spain, France, Germany etc etc not just the Premership. The also have favourite LOI teams.

Given that Dublin is officially twinned with both Liverpool & Barcelona, you can understand why many Dublin people are also Liverpool FC and FC Barcelona supporters.

Fans of other major sports are no difference - I know rugby fans who follow their local club, but also support clubs in both the English and French leagues. I know people who support other sport who have a favourite Irish team and favourite teams in other leagues.

You dont get this in GAA as you dont have any major GAA leagues outside Ireland. I wouldnt entirely agree that the GAA is built on local support. It may be in rural areas, but not in Dublin. None of the GAA clubs in my area or surrounding areas can even bring themselves to use local names in their club names. They're all St. Somethings or called after some Irish patriot with no reference to the areas they are based - its as if they are ashamed to be identified with them and consequently there is little loyalty to them even amongst GAA players (who will play for whatever club takes their fancy and move around when suits). There are some notable exceptions around Dublin, e.g Kilmacud and Ballyboden, and its no coincidence that these are successful clubs. Other Dublin clubs could follow their example and try to identify with their areas rather than setting themselves up as clubs for ex-pat country people living in Dublin. [Sorry for the mini rant - one of my pet hates is sports clubs who refuse to name themselves after the town/city/area/suburb they are from].

Locke said:

To my recollection, I haven't heard anyone in work saying that Take That are rubbish and Supergrass are miles better.

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I don't understand the analogy - apart from this being an obviously true statement that is.

Anyone who supports english soccer teams is doing so since they were 5 or 6 literaly all their lives, its what they saw and liked when they were that age, are you supposed to discourage this, How do you explain its a foreign team form an area you have no alegence to. Very few if any started supporting teams in their 20s and I think no one would.

Now this is passed down to the next generation, but it started somewhere.
eg
In the 70s you had MOTD, scoop, shoot, roy of the roves etc, this is how kids started identifying with and looking up to soccer players.

anyway so what

I will walk on with hope in my heart next season....

One of my main points was People will pay hundreds of Euro to go see English teams play while a load of Eircom league teams are on the brink of going bust. Yes I know the product is not as good but at least you are supporting your local team. It is not as if there are too many Irish players playing in the Premiership these days.
My other point was these same fans will be supporting Gerard, rooney etc passionately playing for pool/utd but when they are playing for England really hoping they lose (which is quite ironic).
Me I am rugby fan always goes in this preference Country, My club, province , other provinces if mine is knocked out no one else!!
Don't get started on the amount of times one of the Irish provinces is playing and because 2 average premiership teams are on at the same time e.g. Bolton v Portsmouth and they would not turn over the TV because one man and his dog is watching it!

Luckycharm said:

One of my main points was People will pay hundreds of Euro to go see English teams play while a load of Eircom league teams are on the brink of going bust. Yes I know the product is not as good but at least you are supporting your local team.

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Perhaps they're not soccer fans, but English Premiership fans ? And sure can't you get up to more mischief 500 miles from home, than you can attending your local LoI club ?

sure some Irish people support provinces other than their own in rugby.....

glory hunters.....

Luckycharm said:

One of my main points was People will pay hundreds of Euro to go see English teams play while a load of Eircom league teams are on the brink of going bust. Yes I know the product is not as good but at least you are supporting your local team. It is not as if there are too many Irish players playing in the Premiership these days.
My other point was these same fans will be supporting Gerard, rooney etc passionately playing for pool/utd but when they are playing for England really hoping they lose (which is quite ironic).
Me I am rugby fan always goes in this preference Country, My club, province , other provinces if mine is knocked out no one else!!
Don't get started on the amount of times one of the Irish provinces is playing and because 2 average premiership teams are on at the same time e.g. Bolton v Portsmouth and they would not turn over the TV because one man and his dog is watching it!

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You make some good points.

I am a football fan and have been all my life.

I am a season ticket holder at my local LoI club and really enjoy going along to the games (am also a follower of Real Madrid - hence my username). I appreciate that the standard of football I see in the LoI will never match watching the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal, Real Madrid or Barca, but I accept that because they are my local club and I have a passion for them. Plus they don't have a full squad earning anywhere between £20k and £140K per week. If you pay that sort of money then you should have a fantastic product. But there is a lot of ****e in the EPL than many will try to tell you is great, only because SkyTV are telling them its great.

I also know many people who are incredibly passionate about the likes of Liverpool and Man Utd and practically live in bars when their games are on. They show so much love for them its unreal. I have even seen rival fans start fights over EPL games on numerous occasions !! How sad is that. But if you ask these football fanatics about going to watch their local team the response is usually "I wouldnt watch that sh**e if you paid me".

Football in Ireland is dying slowly, and for me the Sky TV generation are guilty as charged.

Most people over 30 years of age support EPL teams because of some connection.

• Liverpool, Man U and Arsenal all had plenty of good Irish players in the past. That's enough for many people.
• There is also an undoubted connection between Ireland and Manchester/Liverpool. Having watched matches in both cities the reaction always amazes me. Very different from the response an Irish accent once got on the stands at Chelsea!!! Hello Mr. Headhunter.

Other people are just glory hunters and chose Leeds in the 70's, Liverpool in the 80's and Arsenal/Man U in the 90's because they were winning.

Personally I could never support Real Madrid for political reasons. I have a soft spot for Barca. Once I read what the Catalans had gone through I could not support the royalists.

I dont get these kind of arguements . .

Im a GAA fan and support my club , St Vincents and Dublin.

Im a soccer fan and I support Man United (have done since I was a child). My dad brought me to Eric Cantonas Debut in 1992 so I have great affection for the club.

One big question is where should your "support" of local stop. Should I buy all local produce, should I support the club Im nearest to (if I move area or County) . . .

This is similar to the weak arguement people make about Irish Fans supporting english clubs but then cheering on every opponent England play. If you make a point like this you simply do not understand the sport or the backround to Irish dislike of something representing the queen mother. . .

I think it would be great if we all supported a local club, but supporting a foreign club shouldnt be somthing that people should frown upon!

VOR said:

Most people over 30 years of age support EPL teams because of some connection.

• Liverpool, Man U and Arsenal all had plenty of good Irish players in the past. That's enough for many people.
• There is also an undoubted connection between Ireland and Manchester/Liverpool. Having watched matches in both cities the reaction always amazes me. Very different from the response an Irish accent once got on the stands at Chelsea!!! Hello Mr. Headhunter.

Other people are just glory hunters and chose Leeds in the 70's, Liverpool in the 80's and Arsenal/Man U in the 90's because they were winning.

Personally I could never support Real Madrid for political reasons. I have a soft spot for Barca. Once I read what the Catalans had gone through I could not support the royalists.

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I had to listen to a lot of ****e from other football fans for years about supporting Real Madrid, people saying that as an Irish Nationalist I should be ashamed of myself for not supporting Barca and that I should read my history.

Well I started to follow Madrid for purely football reasons in the 80s. It was the flowing, attractive football that caught me, not anything political. I have since read up on all the history and appreciate what happened in Spain, but I don't think Raul, Casillas, Guti, Sergio Ramos or Juande Ramos had anything to do with it.

I am able to separate politics and sport. And indeed able to move on in life.

Like NorthDrum I would also consider myself a big GAA fan and follow my local team Kilmacud and obviously the county team.

But Id also be an avid supporter of Man Utd since the early eighties when many Irish players and in particular our own Dublin born Kevin Moran played. However what I find difficult to understand is how so many Irish fans would rather see 'their' English club win a premier league or european cup in place of say the national soccer team winning any major honours. I think a bit of perspective is needed at times!

RMCF said:

I am able to separate politics and sport. And indeed able to move on in life.

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I object to you inferring I cannot " move on in life".

The romantic notion of Barca is a wonderful thing. Full of drama and incidents. It is a club of the people and not the state. It is steeped in a political background where the only place you could speak Catalan was within the stadium.
To forget those days would be to take away the soul of the club and its position within football and the wider community.

If sport is only entertainment then we should all watch the Harlem Globetrotters.