What made you start following *insert team name*

ntlbell

Just looking at some of the people here, blackburn fans, everton fans, aston villa, i think i seen a watford supporter.

Just wondering how people came about the team they support today?

I started playing football when I was about 6, the aul man was a man city fan everyone i played football with was a liverpool/celtic fan, back then i never came across spurs fans or blackburn fans, definitley no aston villa fans!

I always just had a thing for manchester united and i remember watching Brian McClair make his debut against the saints and fell in love with the way he played, and it was around this time i went man utd loopy.

i.e. the man utd carpet/curtains/wall paper/school bag/duvet covers/slept/ate/**** in the jersey's etc etc

so what sparked your love for your team?

BaZmO*

I support Manu because I like the colour of their shirts.

B.

PHB

My dad

talla

Can't exactly pinpoint what exactly started me following united, probable something to do with the Oul Fella. First memory of watching footie onthe t.v. was the 1983 FA Cup final between United and Brighton. Think it finished 2 -2 with United wining the replay 4 nil.

cruiserweight

Liverpool because of Ronnie Whelan goal versus USSR

por

I started supporting Chelsea in the last year cos they are winning everything, before that I supported Man Utd for a few years ( I also thought about Arsenal a few years back) and back in the '80s I supported Liverpool.
I also had a softspot for both Leeds and Blackburn in the past but that fizzled out........

Brian017

I was watching a F.A. Cup match on Sports Stadium on RTÉ a while back, and saw Keane and Irwin and since they were Irish and have supported them ever since.

Big Nelly

What made you start following Sheffield Wednesday was first of all seeing John Sheridan play for them....not sure when first time was but seen him play and he was class......where playing in old second division then and actually went on to beat Man Utd that season in Rumbelows?? I had been kind of supporting ManUtd till then because my mum had given me a yearly annual for them that year but never really got into them....used to watch anythign of Wednesday that was on TV....the mighty David Hirst was playing up front then!!!

Well thats how it started.....it was a first few great years but since then it been hard but still havent left Wednesday for another team!!!! NO GLORY HUNTERS allowed around me! haha!

Culchie

Nottingham Forest in fact very very

Was born in Nottingham and was brought along to see the then European Champions when I was 7/8 years of age.
Also played for their boys team (U-12) before we moved home to Ireland.

meepmeep

Grew up in the "blue" side of Glasgow.

Whole family were Rangers supporters.

And thats about it

evad_lhorg

been a United fan since I was a Kid. My OLDEST BROTHER HAD THE INFLUENCE OVER ME TBH.

Just thought Giggs and Cantona were amazing players!

Pepe LeFrits

Earliest matches I can remember were the two cup finals between Arsenal & Wednesday in 1993. I was captivated by gappy-mouthed Merson and the flair of Ian Wright.

Kept tabs on Sheffield Wednesday as well after that, although sadly they've gone in the opposite direction to Arsenal...

Badabing

Glasgow Celtic, i saw a clip of the 1980 cup final i was 3 at the time celtic won 1-0, i saw all the tricolours in the crowd and asked my dad who are they he explained and the rest is history, first match i went to was 1988 celtic v rangers i will never forget it.

Big Nelly

kaids wrote:

Earliest matches I can remember were the two cup finals between Arsenal & Wednesday in 1993. I was captivated by gappy-mouthed Merson and the flair of Ian Wright.

Kept tabs on Sheffield Wednesday as well after that, although sadly they've gone in the opposite direction to Arsenal...

Dont mention that on here !!!!!! where classic game alright but have had a slight hatred for Arsenal ever since that day!!! it was after those 2 finals that Wednesday started to go down and we are only on way back up now with Sturrock!!

treefingers

PHB wrote:

My dad

same here. father started bringing me to cork city games when i was a young 'un...

Ronan|Raven

Liverpool due to my father and longford due to them being my closest local team.

beer enigma

Arsenal.....maybe something to do with the fact that my bedroom window overlooked the Stadium

Mr Moon

I started supporting Man Utd cause everyone else supported Liverpool back then and wanted to be different paid off in the end! Also me aul fella bought me a Man U bag with "the red devils" printed on it!

Anyone remember the one's I'm talking about? (Early-Mid 80's)

Töpher

In order of preference:

1) Shelbourne: My grandad was close friends with Tony Donnelly (used to own the club) for many years, and so he had an interest which got passed down. My dad used to take me to see Shels play whenever possible when I was a wee lad.

2) Hereford United: Family from there. Spent alot of time there in my youth, with the stadium just down the road. Etc.

3) Aston Villa: Began to gain an interest in them when I was about 6/7 or so, I think the main reason for this was the relatively large number of Irish players in the ranks. Or, recognisable Irish international at least.

At the end of the day Shels are my main team, but I'm quite keen on Hereford as my English team, so to speak. My interests for Villa seem to fluctuate from not interested to mildly interested as the years go by.

BaZmO*

Mr Moon wrote:

Also me aul fella bought me a Man U bag with "the red devils" printed on it!

Anyone remember the one's I'm talking about? (Early-Mid 80's)

Yeah I remember them alright. Ahh, mammaries!!

Everyone in my class had one. Either Liverpool, Man Utd. or the occasional Celtic one.

Tried to get a picture of one on the net but couldn't find one.

B.

tetsujin1979

Man City because as a kid I grew before most of my mates so was taller than them, and had long(ish) hair so people thought I would be good in the air, usually adding the line "y'know, like Niall Quinn". He'd just joined Man City, so that was that.

Lemlin

Blackburn. And before you all say it, no I didn't start supporting them in '95 when they won the league like a glory hunter! That's the first question everyone I tell I support them asks but I already had 3 Rovers' jerseys by then.

Basically, in 1993, when I was the ripe old age of 9, I saw a match between Rovers and Villa towards the end of the season. Villa were second but Blackburn thrashed them 3-0. I couldn't believe it then after the match when the commentator mentioned that their best player was missing through injury (this turned out to be one Alan Shearer).

Hadn't followed anyone up till then (I didn't want to support United because all my mates and every second person did!) so I decided that they were as good as anyone and have supported them since that day.

BaZmO*

Lemlin wrote:

Villa were second but Blackburn thrashed them 3-0. I couldn't believe it.....

That Villa were second???

B.

Davei141

Dad supported em

BKtje

Im gonna sound like a glory hunter i guess but i dont really care

Started watching football in 1990ish at the ripe old age of 7. Wasnt really a huge footie fan at that time tho. Good friend of mine was a Liverpool supporter and got caught up in his passion a bit so started "supporting" liverpool. That said i was never really passionate about it and if i remember right, they sorta bored me compared to other teams. I was quite fond of Sheffield Wednesday tho

Anyway stayed "supporting" liverpool till the end of 92-93 season (last season of div 1.. or was that 91-92, always forget) when i just fell in love with man u's play style and passion. I was heartbroken when they failed to win it on the last day and saw the players reactions. Was then i realised who i really supported.
Was of course delighted when they won it the next year. This of course makes me sound a bit like a glory hunter but truth be told, i dont care. I know what club i love and only really ever supported.

mike65

My thing for Liverpool began with the FA Cup final of 1974 when Pool thumped Newcastle 3-0, it was the first game I recall seeing and I was impressed!

Mike.

A Dub in Glasgo

Celtic

My uncle travelled on the coach/ferry from Dublin to Glasgow every fortnight in the '80s. I thought it a bit strange that a guy would travel from Dublin to Glasgow but once I realised why, it all became crystal clear and there was no turning back.

My soft spot for Man United came from the 1979 FA Cup final.

Ronan|Raven

B-K-DzR wrote:

Im gonna sound like a glory hunter i guess but i dont really care

Dont feel so bad therew was a few more that went along with ye

Bateman

2) Chelsea; passed from Dad.

1) Bohs; home friendly against Chelsea in '93.

3) Athletic Club Bilbao; studied there for a year, went to home & away games, great club, great fans.

galwaydude

i went to london when i was 9 to stay with relations.My brother was working there for the summer.

One day he bought me the liverpool jersey and since then i have been hooked on the pool. I didnt even know who they were when he got it for me

Drag00n79

The earliest match I can remember was the 1977 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and ManU. Our street was pretty much split down the middle between the two teams. I didn't know which team I liked but after the match (2-1 ManU) I felt sorry for Liverpool and they became my team.

redspider

The story of how I came to support Liverpool is a bit like this.

The auld man was a Danny Blanchflower fan and started supporting Spurs at the time when Spurs won the double in 1961. Jimmy Greaves and co were his idols. My elder brother was influenced by the Georgie Best era and his success there at Man U and started supporting them at that time. My mother supported Man U and my sister supported Spurs, keeping the house balanced I guess.

Being a rebel by nature I wanted to support someone different. By the 1972 FA Cup Final, at that time the biggest match of the year, everyone in the local area was supporting Arsenal, or at least it seemed to me, including most of the lads at school. Arsenal had won the double the year before in 1971 and had beaten Liverpool in the final in 1971. Everybody seemed to love Arsenal for some reason. Even one guy had an Arsenal shirt, which back then was unusual. I had selected Liverpool for the 1971 final, the "Charlie George" final, which Liverpool lost. So, not a good start. Liverpool werent in the 1972 final but Leeds were, so I went for Leeds and routed for them as underdog and playing against Arsenal - so when they won it I was over the moon. I got a lot of mileage out of it, even in those days. Derby won the league and Leeds came 2nd with Liverpool 3rd.

The following year in 1973, Arsenal didnt make the final and I was still supporting Leeds, sort of. Leeds made the FA Cup Final against Sunderland, but disaster struck. They lost 1-0, and in the league Arsenal came 2nd and Leeds came 3rd. Well, that was just not on! Liverpool however won the league and resurrecting my support from the 1971 FA Cup Final, I switched my allegiance back to Liverpool. No chance of slagging from the Arsenal fans as to what happened to Leeds. The answer was Liverpool, and the slag "what happened to Arsenal" was returned.

And so came the 1974 season. Liverpool did well in the cup and the league, things were going good. And not so good for Arsenal. In the meantime, there seemed to be more and more Leeds supporters. Lads were switching. There were quite a few Liverpool supporters.

It goes without saying that everyone supported Celtic. That was just a given. There wasnt any choice about it really. It was like supporting Ireland. You just did it. Some eejits did opt for Rangers, or Hearts or Aberdeen. But they were the 1% minority, and soon switched back or went on to become the "village fools".

Liverpool made it to the FA Cup Final in 1974 and were playing Newcastle, Super-Mac was Malcolm McDonald. The press were hyping it up and there was a lot of support in Ireland for Newcastle, it seemed. I had to make a choice before the final, who would I support. Should I stick with Liverpool? What happens if Supermac gets a hat-trick like they are saying? I held fast and stuck with Liverpool. They won the final 3-0, Keegan and Toshack doing the damage. Fantastic. Great. Exuebrance. But in the league, there was Leeds. And Leeds won it, after so many 2nd's, and Liverpool were 2nd. But, I had struck my allegiance to the mast, I was "a fan" of Liverpool, not Leeds, favouring the underdog, well not a complete underdog like a Darlington but you catch my drift. So 2nd was 2nd, and that would have to do. The new Leeds fans stuck their oar in, but at least Liverpool had won the cup. The cup was after all "better".

Sticking with Liverpool at that stage was for me a fruitful choice, because it was a start of a wonderful era for Liverpool and no-one had any idea what was coming down the line. Liverpool finished the next season 2nd in the league behind Derby, but then won it twice in a row in 1976 and 1977. Liverpool were also having succes in Europe. By 1978, the number of Arsenal supporters had dwindled, Leeds also, and some were talking about Forest. But I was sticking with Liverpool.

Meanwhile my brother had languished with Man U, and has to be commended for sticking with them through all those years, and reaping the rewards in recent years. They were relegated (there is a huge amount of mileage in that!), but they did recover and managed to beat Liverpool 2-1 in an FA Cup Final. Spurs fans had to become philosophical and wonder if they would ever get back up. They had the odd FA Cup win though which keeps them ticking over. They need another one now though and getting back is much harder due to the inequality of money in the sport.

Over the years, the rivalry remains - Liverpool, Arsenal and Man U. And nowadays we are perhaps all having something in common - ie: ABC - anyone but Chelsea ...... well, not quite.

redspider

whiskeyman

Big Nelly wrote:

What made you start following Sheffield Wednesday was first of all seeing John Sheridan play for them....not sure when first time was but seen him play and he was class......where playing in old second division then and actually went on to beat Man Utd that season in Rumbelows?? I had been kind of supporting ManUtd till then because my mum had given me a yearly annual for them that year but never really got into them....used to watch anythign of Wednesday that was on TV....the mighty David Hirst was playing up front then!!!

Well thats how it started.....it was a first few great years but since then it been hard but still havent left Wednesday for another team!!!! NO GLORY HUNTERS allowed around me! haha!

Thought you might want to hear mine then.
Have lots of cousins over in England... we were over one summer when my Uncle in Sheffield (a season ticketholder and Owls nut) brought me to a game and I decided to be an Owls fan as it was my first big club footie game I was ever at.
3 days later we went to Manchester (Oldham fans there), but still did the tour of Old Trafford. Told my uncle there I was now a Wednesday fan... I guess had I not been to Sheffield first, I could be an Oldham fan... or worse.... Man Utd!!

Gotta say though, I dont really hate united. THey were amazing to watch during the mind to late 90s and I was well pleased they won the champions league in 99. I do have a soft spot for them I guess.

But, I hate the Arsenal!

Big Nelly

whiskeyman wrote:

I could be an Oldham fan... or worse.... Man Utd!!

You had a lucky escape man! haha! althou I have a soft spot for Utd still myself and always watch there CL games and hope they win! dont really care about the PL which I dont mind who wins it till Wednesday get back up and then they will be all the enemy! haha!

whiskeyman wrote:

But, I hate the Arsenal!

Good man!!

Mossy Monk

i honestly dont how i started supporting Arsenal but i am supporting them since i was about 2 or 3 by all accounts so that would be 82 or 83. my old man is a Leeds supporter so it wasnt him that influeneced me.

therecklessone

Been supporting Spurs since at least 1984.

I don't remember exactly why, but I guess it was a combination of my uncle supporting them, my brother supporting ManYoo (and me hating him , Spurs winning a couple of FA Cups in the eraly 80s and being top 3 material, and that Ricky Villa goal in the FA Cup against Citeh.

First game I remember watching was the 2nd leg of theUEFA Cup final that we won on penos. We actually had a great team up until the 87 FA Cup final, then the club went tits up under Irving Scholar.

Third_Echelon

Being a kid growing up in the 80's i suppose there was a lot of good teams to chose from...

I had a soft spot for Everton when I was about 6 (1986) as after a year in school, everyone was talking about football etc.

The following year (1987) our family moved to Australia, and my mothers cousin's husband was a big Everton fan, so from then on he took me under his wing and bought me the shirt etc.. They had just won the league as well, so I suppose they were the best team in England at that point.

So I really found Everton in Australia through my Singaporian/Australian 'Uncle'... not just because I liked blue or anything like that

And well... I've been a toffee ever since. I couldn't see myself ever supporting anyone else to be honest...

Once A Blue. Always A Blue!

The Clown Man

I was always interested in football but never claimed to support anyone until the mid-late 90's. My whole family supported Man U and most of my mates Arsenal and Liverpool. I didn't want to jump on any bandwagon so I supported no-one and watched all games I could.

However in the mid-late 90's I used to love watching Chelsea play more than anyone else because of their style of play and because although they had some amazing talent and were able to beat the big boys in what were usually great games they always seemed to slip against the smaller sides. It was so frustrating that I couldn't help but cheer them on every game.

I also loved their more european style and Zola was just a joy to watch. I though it was great to see players from Italy, France, Romania, Uruguay etc playing in England and Gullits thirst for more European names made them a very modern looking team. Great to watch and great to support. Bloody frustrating though!

Of course, now if you tried to say that you started supporting Chelsea because of their novelty you just get laughed at.

Slash/ED

Shels - They're my team, simple as that. Goes right back to my granddad.

Don't care about anyone else.

jonny68

Badabing wrote:

Glasgow Celtic, i saw a clip of the 1980 cup final i was 3 at the time celtic won 1-0, i saw all the tricolours in the crowd and asked my dad who are they he explained and the rest is history, first match i went to was 1988 celtic v rangers i will never forget it.

a man after my own heart