How did you decide/end up following your team?

ROCKMAN

1 of the reasons...

Father and brother were Liverpool fans so it was only natural I became


a Man Utd Fan

G1032

Because my father said to me 'If you're watching football in this house you're going to support Arsenal or else you won't be watching it in this house'

Lawrence1895

I was born into a family of Borussia Dortmund supporters, and they would have broken my face, if I had chosen a different team

And there is Shels as well...righteo...Tolka is round the corner from where I live, and I needed a team with decent supporters :cool:

D_turbo

Uncle was A huge united Fan, had got me all Jerseys, Videos etc, So he had a big influence when i was young.
When i was old enough to make my own decisions I looked else where, Realised Id hated United, And hated the typical United Or liverpool Choices

Newcastle took my fancy,was always something going on, both good and bad,
Didnt really Start Following them properly Till about 2002 Ish, Jenas, Solano, Bramble etc

Stuck with Them Since through ups and downs

ibFoxer

I think it was either 1990 or 1991, Venglos was the gaffer, Irish connection with Cas and McGrath, i was mesmerised by Platt, and my cousin was a Villa fan. Plus my mate who is a couple of years older literally gave me the choice between them and Norwich (easy call, i never really liked yellow)

I remeber it was fully cemented a couple of seasons later with Mcgrath being joined by Staunton and Houghton.

Funny thing is everyone else was Liverpool, Utd or Arsenal (except one poor chap who was nd still is a Bolton fan)

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

I got bored of everyone in my primary school class supporting Man United, so I started supporting Man City instead. A treacherous and contrarian move.

Wichita Lineman

I saw Liverpool on TV (probably MOTD) during the 75/76 season (I think) when I was very little and I remember Jimmy Case smashing tackles in and I've been a red ever since.

DvB

My grandfather, Father & uncle all supported Rovers so I was brought along to Milltown at a young age & that was that, hooked from day one.

Broxi_Bear_Eire

I was lucky though my old man was a Rangers fan he took me to see Clyde and even Celtic when Rangers weren't at home Thankfully I made the right choice and 55 Years on I still support The Gers

Lawrence1895

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

I was lucky though my old man was a Rangers fan he took me to see Clyde and even Celtic when Rangers weren't at home Thankfully I made the right choice and 55 Years on I still support The Gers

Wow...you are older than me? :eek:

Never mind, 55 years shows real loyalty, following your team through thick and thin in always a good sign

Broxi_Bear_Eire

Lars1916 wrote: »

Wow...you are older than me? :eek:

Never mind, 55 years shows real loyalty, following your team through thick and thin in always a good sign

Cheers Lars been good times and bad times but thats how it goes yup to be really honest its not actually 55 years until August but its near enough

Captain Havoc

I follow a few teams:
EPL: West Ham because my brother moved to Upton Park when I was 11 or 12.
LOI: Shamrock Rovers, closest team to work after I got my drivers license (and Kilkenny City had folded).
Switzerland: Lausanne-Sports, because I lived there and used to watch them play.
France: PSG, because I lived there and used to watch them play.

major bill

Broxi_Bear_Eire wrote: »

I was lucky though my old man was a Rangers fan he took me to see Clyde and even Celtic when Rangers weren't at home Thankfully I made the right choice and 55 Years on I still support The Gers

I'm interested by this....Would this happen alot in Glasgow or was it a thing of the past?

Broxi_Bear_Eire

major bill wrote: »

I'm interested by this....Would this happen alot in Glasgow or was it a thing of the past?

I know people who take there children to different teams games now and again. My case was a wee bit different we lived not far from either Parkhead or Shawfield that was Clydes old ground. you have to remember this was in the days when in the main your team played at home one week and away the next also Rangers and Celtic never play at home on the same day. So often the choice was Celtic or Clyde but I would say Clyde was the more preferred choice as my Uncles supported them

The_Kew_Tour

Happened everywhere back in the day not as much now.

Know plenty of Hibs fans who went to watch Hearts and United fans watch city and vice versa.

My dad was Cork Hibs supporter but used to go watch Cork Celtic too.

Duck Soup

By mistake. It was 1970/1 and I had a Score annual. The headline on one of the features said 'Chelsea - the team that had to win the FA Cup 4 times'. Being about 5 or 6 at the time, I took this to mean they'd won the FA Cup four times. That sounded good, so I decided I was going to be a Chelsea fan.

It was only years later, when I read a few stats about the club, that I realised that what the Score feature was saying was they had to come back from behind 3 times plus score another goal to take the lead and trophy. It was the only time they'd won it.

Never regretted it though. Many happy years standing on crumbling terraces in Division Two. No prawn cocktails then, mate.

Paully D

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Happened everywhere back in the day not as much now.

Know plenty of Hibs fans who went to watch Hearts and United fans watch city and vice versa.

My dad was Cork Hibs supporter but used to go watch Cork Celtic too.

I know elderly Sunderland fans that used to do the same thing with Sunderland and Newcastle back in the day. They say it was very common in the 1950's and 1960's and early 1970's before starting to die off around 1980.

No one could afford to do it now.

Fr Tod Umptious

Am I the only one who got a scarf as a present (Utd late 70s)/remember a FA Cup final as a kid (Spurs '81,'82)/followed a team with Irish guys (Oxford '86ish)/followed a different team to be different (Oxford again)/lived close to a team (QPR early '90s)/stood in a terrace with mates who were fans (Arsenal early '90) but never got interested enough to follow a team for life ?

They all fizzeled out no matter how hard I tried to get 'into it'

token101

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

I got bored of everyone in my primary school class supporting Man United, so I started supporting Man City instead. A treacherous and contrarian move.

And wanting to be Niall Quinn played a part.

Duffy the Vampire Slayer

token101 wrote: »

And wanting to be Niall Quinn played a part.

I'm too young to remember Niall Quinn at City. The likes of Shaun Goater and Sun Jihai were my heroes back in those days.

popzmaster

I've never lived any further than half an hours stroll from the Carlisle. English is a bit funnier, in the yard in school aged 4-5 (1993-94) someone approached me one day and said " Liverpool or United?". Since I love water features and such, I fervently hope for a Suarez hat trick today twenty odd years later.

Ratzo Rizzo

I'm an AFC Wimbledon fan having seen the original Wimbledon play at Plough Lane in the late 1960's when they were still in the Southern League...

BraziliaNZ

Bohemians because of my Dad and Uncle and always used to go to games as a kid. Now it's Everton because I live in London and my best mate here has always been an Everton fan and we go to the games here when they're in London. Always seems to be in Fulham, going there on Sunday for what I think is the 5th Fulham V Everton fixture I've seen there. A bit sick of it tbh but it's a nice little ground!
Fulham is quite a posh area for those of you who don't know where it is - the away fans sing some hilarious songs -

White wine, you only drink white wine, you only drink white wine...

Doooooes your butler know you're here! Does, your butler, know. you're. here. doeeeees your butler know you're here!

upandcumming

Was a fan of United until I was about 9 and I realised that I had never been to Manchester, let alone a match. I couldn't understand how all of my friends had never been to any PL game yet supported their team so strongly. After United won the treble I remember seeing all of the supporters in Manchester enjoying the night and welcoming the team home and that was the end of it for me. I appreciated what the United supporters had with their team - seeing them on a regular basis and going to Old Trafford and I wanted that!

Now, there is only one team - Longford Town. You simply cannot beat live football at your door.

BOHtox

My grandad played for Bohs in the 30s or 40s. He brought my Da when he retired and now my da brings me! 3 generations of Bohs fans. One pensive thought that bothers me is that there were never 3 generations of BOHtoxs at the same match! Would have capped it all off!

wandatowell

wandatowell wrote: »

http://www.11v11.com/matches/leeds-united-v-arsenal-21-november-1992-20955/


Saw Arsenal lose 3-0 to Leeds and couldn't get enough of them.


Christ they were poor that day, dunno why I chose Arsenal though.

You must have been blowing your load rightly through the last two games :pac:

My father was an Arsenal fan before me but i was hooked when i seen the highlights of Anfield 89 the following day as a six year old. Too young to even know the rules of soccer back then but i was well on the road to learning after that. Italia 90 the following year solidified my increasing love for the game.

dreamers75

BOHtox wrote: »

My grandad played for Bohs in the 30s or 40s. He brought my Da when he retired and now my da brings me! 3 generations of Bohs fans. One pensive thought that bothers me is that there were never 3 generations of BOHtoxs at the same match! Would have capped it all off!

Speaking of which our "5-0 on Ice" as its now known, saw all generations of my family in the same place.

Kerrs 2nd last game before joining FAI.
Beating Bohs 5-0

Last time my entire family was in the one place at the one time.

Priceless.

Rikand

When i was in Primary School, I liked football, but I didnt follow any teams. A friend of mine supported Aston Villa, so I kind of followed them, but not really.

When I started in Secondary School (circa 1993) my friend cornered me and said :: " Right, you have to pick a football team for yourself. You can't just pick X's team, you have to pick your own one. "

I didn't really know many of the teams in the top division, so I got my friends to list out the teams in the league. When they mentioned Blackburn Rovers, I said..... "Yeah, Blackburn Rovers have a cool sounding name, I'll support them! " To which one of my friends said, " that's a good pick, they are doing really well this season.... "

They came 2nd that year and won the league the next season. Sadly things have not been going so well of late, but I've stuck with them ever since

BraziliaNZ

Rikand wrote: »

When i was in Primary School, I liked football, but I didnt follow any teams. A friend of mine supported Aston Villa, so I kind of followed them, but not really.

When I started in Secondary School (circa 1993) my friend cornered me and said :: " Right, you have to pick a football team for yourself. You can't just pick X's team, you have to pick your own one. "

I didn't really know many of the teams in the top division, so I got my friends to list out the teams in the league. When they mentioned Blackburn Rovers, I said..... "Yeah, Blackburn Rovers have a cool sounding name, I'll support them! " To which one of my friends said, " that's a good pick, they are doing really well this season.... "

They came 2nd that year and won the league the next season. Sadly things have not been going so well of late, but I've stuck with them ever since

I remember I got them in a packet of chewing gum or something, the cards, you'd get a crest of the club for an album. Anyway I got BB rovers and I was so clueless about football at the time, about 9 years old, so I swapped it for Liverpool in school, who were the Holy Grail of these cards at the time, and I was a laughing stock with my brother and his friends (about 4 years older). Little did they know they'd win the league a couple of years later!

Manach

An Arsenal fan. Those were the days when great Irish (North/South) internationals played for the club - so that was the initial differential for me.

BraziliaNZ

Manach wrote: »

An Arsenal fan. Those were the days when great Irish (North/South) internationals played for the club - so that was the initial differential for me.

It's sad to think we haven't had anything even close to an AFC player since Graham feckin' Barrett!!!

HalloweenJack

I follow several different teams with varying degrees of loyalty.

Wanderers: Am a Bray lad and had a remote interest in the LOI as a young one in the 90's. Flirted with being a Wanderers, Pats and Dundalk fan before really getting into Wanderers when they came back up in 2005. Was a season ticket holder for a few years and then started reporting on them, I probably went four or five years without missing a home game or missing very few at least. Haven't lived at home since 2011 so have only been to the odd game here and there, a 2-0 loss to Pats last August being the last one (I think).

Chelsea: The first team I properly got into as a young lad. A few factors came into play. I didn't have any English team and all my friends were United or Liverpool and one Arsenal fan but I always wanted to run against the crowd so didn't go for any of them. Blue is my favourite colour. My dad lived in London in the 90's. A certain ray of sunshine called Gianfranco Zola scoring a hat-trick against Liverpool in the FA Cup in 1997. Because a lot of my friends were Liverpool fans I was convinced they were actually a decent team so Zola's performance impressed me and also the opportunity to rub salt into the wounds of my friends was too much to pass up so became a Chelsea fan. Have never made it over for a game, though.

Atletico Madrid: Did my Erasmus in Madrid in 2010 and lived in the southern part of the city, which is the hub of Atleti fans and got drawn in. In fairness, it was a good time to do it. Went to quite a few games over there, the Europa League semi against Liverpool being the biggest.

Zbrojovka Brno: I lived in Brno in the Czech Republic for a year and this was my local side. They're one of the bigger sides in the Czezch Republic but are something of a sleeping giant. Playing in the second division and with a fairly dismal squad led by a 35-year-old legend, they finished in sixth but were promoted because four of the top five teams didn't have the funds/stadiums to go up. Have done alright so far but won't be challenging for the title any time soon. Great atmosphere at the games there, though, and I never got to experience any big teams coming. The derby with Banik Ostrava is supposed to be nuts.

I currently live in Cordoba and their team are in the second division. I went to a few games last year. They played Barca in the cup but the cheapest tickets were 80, compared to 13 for a league game, so no chance. That game still sold out whereas league games are about half-empty. Decent team but just haven't got into them as much as others, probably because when I'm among Spaniards, I identify as an Atleti fan first.