Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted February 8, 2023 Some other team tried to move to Stratford before West Ham secured the Olympic stadium, so that was almost a modern example. I don't think you can compare the culture between American and 'British' sports. The way they are followed, organised and played are vastly different. I remember reading an article about the Hudson River Derby- which is the heated rivalry between NYC FC and New York Red Bulls that dates back as far as 2015. The article was from a few years after NYC FC were formed, and their rivalry already had its own name! That seems insane to me, but there is a genuine rivalry and who am I to deny that. But that just goes to show that in America you can manufacture some sort of passion and following pretty quickly, much like with franchises moving, whereas over here it's more organic and that's why everyone was up in arms following the Wimbledon move to MK. Going off piste a bit, but one thing that does surprise me is how few 'new' clubs have emerged at a high level in this country, especially given the rise of post-war new towns. Most of the EFL teams are 100+ years old. You have the odd team- Stevenage in the 70s, Accrington Stanley (don't) in 1968 and Burton Albion in 1950- but that's really it. Even The Class of 92's pet project were formed in 1940. I wonder what the largest city/town in England is to have never had a team in the football league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted February 8, 2023 5 minutes ago, PunkStep said: I wonder what the largest city/town in England is to have never had a team in the football league. Think I read somewhere it's Poole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted February 8, 2023 Makes sense, somewhere down there in rugbyland would've been my guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 (edited) 13 minutes ago, PunkStep said: Some other team tried to move to Stratford before West Ham secured the Olympic stadium, so that was almost a modern example. Just making sure we got what we wanted and some other sucker ended up there. Levyball baby!!! Edit: Wakefield apparently. Edited February 8, 2023 by SuperBacon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 1 hour ago, PunkStep said: I wonder what the largest city/town in England is to have never had a team in the football league. Wakefield? 1 hour ago, PunkStep said: But that just goes to show that in America you can manufacture some sort of passion and following pretty quickly, much like with franchises moving With American sports, certainly American Football, college is where the main rivalries are. NFL teams are more akin to European national teams, given the numbers and the geography. But College ball isn’t franchised and is more town based, some of the most rabid and atmospheric fans are college level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny Vegas Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, PunkStep said: I don't think you can compare the culture between American and 'British' sports. The way they are followed, organised and played are vastly different. One thing that got me thinking recently was that I believe football is marketed, particularly to kids differently now than it was when I was a kid. In US sports particularly NFL and NBA its much more common for people to be fans of players rather than just teams and that's something I feel is increasing here. My son is only 5 but he's obsessed with Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, Salah, Son, Kane, Haaland etc. Nobody in our family supports any of the teams they play for or did play for and we actively discourage his obsession but he's set on it even going so far as asking could he get a Spurs kit. 😮💨 At his age I had no concept that the majority of Southampton or Celtic's players were shit or that there were much better players at other teams. All I wanted to do was run up and down my back garden pretending to be Jackie Dziekanowski or Tommy Widdrington, I had no interest in the stars of the game. I think as football transforms ever more into tourist friendly "experiences", particularly at the top levels and away from the atmosphere's of old it is becoming more and more americanised. I think there's less and less emphasis of an affinity with a team or the connections most of us had and still have. Roy Keane warned us about those fucking prawn sandwiches. Edited February 8, 2023 by Jonny Vegas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted February 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted February 8, 2023 19 minutes ago, Jonny Vegas said: In US sports particularly NFL and NBA its much more common for people to be fans of players rather than just teams and that's something I feel is increasing here. That was also something I noted about the Japanese as well. I remember in the late 90s seeing news reports about rabid Beckham fans who followed his move from United to Madrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 37 minutes ago, Jonny Vegas said: Nobody in our family supports any of the teams they play for or did play for and we actively discourage his obsession but he's set on it even going so far as asking could he get a Spurs kit. 😮💨 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 Back in the day I worked with an Algerian lad who always wore Juventus tops. I often wore Inter tops so that’s how we got talking. He supported Juve because Zidanes parents were from the same region as him. Sure enough, when Zizou signed for Madrid, he started wearing Madrid tops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted February 8, 2023 Globally, supporting a player has become commonplace over the past 10 years or so in football. For example, Mesut Ozil has a larger following on Twitter than any English club not called Man Utd. But in this country I'm not sure it's anywhere as common. You get kids that like certain footballers, sure, but is it really that different to when we were kids? I loved Ronaldo when he burst onto the scene in the 90s, as well as Romario, Suker and curiously Fabrizio Ravanelli. My best friend's hero was Batigol. But in this country club still takes precedence amongst kids when it comes to who they support from my experience. There are more instances of player-supporters in this country than there were 20 years ago, but nowhere near the extent you see elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 3 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said: Back in the day I worked with an Algerian lad who always wore Juventus tops. I often wore Inter tops so that’s how we got talking. He supported Juve because Zidanes parents were from the same region as him. Sure enough, when Zizou signed for Madrid, he started wearing Madrid tops! You won. Inter shirts >>> Juve shirts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 8, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted February 8, 2023 4 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said: I often wore Inter tops I had a Bolivia top when I was about 13, purely because it was reduced to a tenner in the local sports shop and that's all I had to spend on one. I went full hog though. Decided that Erwin Sanchez was their best player as he scored their only goal at USA 94 so I got his name on the back of the shirt with number 8 (he didn't even wear number 8, but Ian Wright did, so I thought that will do). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Houchen Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 51 minutes ago, PunkStep said: But in this country I'm not sure it's anywhere as common That’s probably because English players play at the very highest level in huge numbers. Algerians and Turks don’t, so that’s why they’re national heroes when they do. That’s my opinion anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted February 9, 2023 Paid Members Share Posted February 9, 2023 Absolutely, and not just English players but the teams are amongst the biggest in the world. You only need to look at where much of the Cristiano Ronaldo fanbase is for example- the following he has in the middle east and across Africa is massive, countries that don't have teams and in most cases players at the highest level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METAL ON METAL Posted February 9, 2023 Share Posted February 9, 2023 I remember going to Egypt around 2015/16, the bloke had done fuck all at Chelsea and was out on loan in Italy but fuck me, I’ve never seen a country so obsessed with a player than the Egyptians were of Salah. He was the topic of conversation within 10 seconds of meeting any local. All the knock off Chelsea & Roma kits hanging in every little market stall and his face plastered on nearly every billboard you’d see. Not one single mention of Ahmed Elmohamady mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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