Why do you care about your football team?

Ok, before I answer your questions, a bit about myself and who I support. England : Leeds United, Everton Spain : Real Madrid Where do I live ? India. Also, I'd suggest you read this answer once before reading what I have to say, Now coming to your questions. I can see where you are coming from, and as a guy in India, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for me to be supporting Everton (no merchandise, no trophies, no advertisements, nothing). But at the end of the day, there are two things that need to be remembered : 1. As Bill Shankly once said, "Football is not a matter of life and death ... it's more important than that" 2. You do not choose a team to support, the team chooses you. What said about passion holds true. There is something about watching a sport which you like that is unparalleled. On the top of it, its just 11 guys in shorts running after a ball trying to put it inside a rectangular area more times that the other 11 guys on the field. But its more than that, much much more. It's about joy, anticipation, hope, despair, it's a rollercoaster of emotions. What do I get out of it? Nothing tangible, and yes from a personal point of view, maybe it's time wasted. However I believe that time you enjoy wasting is not really wasted! Why I support whom I support. Coming to how I came to support the clubs that I support. I started to play football in school, and that's when I started to watch. I still remember the first game that I watched, it was a Euro 2000 match between Portugal and Romania (billed as a battle between Luis Figo and Georghe Hagi, two of the best footballers of that time, Portugal won that match 1-0 in the 94th minute). I became a fan of Luis Figo. That year, he transferred to Real Madrid and I was determined to watch every match of his (he played on the right wing, I played on the wings as well so maybe that's where the fascination came from). And from that day onwards, I've been a Madrid fan. And obviously I support Portugal (yes, even though Figo is no longer playing, but now that love affair has lasted for over 12 years and it's a bit tough to break it off!). At that same time, I started to watch the English Premier League (which had a much more friendly television schedule for Indian viewers). Leeds United were in the Champions League that year and I was enamored by their style of play. They were drawn in a group with Barcelona and AC Milan, and were pretty much the underdogs, but progressed at the expense of Barcelona. Then they were drawn in a group with Real Madrid! Loved those games, and against all odds, they actually reached the semis. I guess I've always liked to support the underdogs. That started my love affair with Leeds. Then they got bankrupt, all the players left, except for Paul Robinson, Alan Smith and Mark Viduka. Two years of insane trepidation, will they get relegated? Will they survive? While my friends were all cheering for Manchester United and Arsenal as they accumulated points in non consequential games, I found myself caring for every point, both for Leeds and other clubs who were in the relegation dogfight. We finally were relegated in the 2003-04 season (haven't made it back yet). Now, I did not have any club that I felt an allegiance to, but I needed my weekly football fix. 2004 was the season when a small club with an insanely small squad and a non existent budget finally managed to break the hegemony of the top 4 (Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea). This club was Everton. With a squad full of journeymen professionals on the wrong side of their peak, they got the job done week in week out. Agreed it wasn't the most beautiful football that they played, but they grinded out the 1-0 victories and it was fascinating to watch this group of ragtag players mixing it up with the big boys whose transfer budget is bigger than Everton's debt! I started rooting for this squad and their manager, who seemed to be able to get the best out of these players. And I had found my team again. Every year, through every up and down, for the better part of the last decade, I've fought every battle that Everton have, delighted at every victory, devastated at every defeat. But I guess you get something out of the reasons why I started getting attached to certain teams, sometimes it a player you really like and you want his team to win, and at other times it's just a club that somehow catches your fancy by the way they play. Players are professionals and going somewhere else to test their talents and get a better paycheck while at it is normal and not something that is abhorrent. Maybe if you liked a club because of a player, your allegiances might shift to where he is now. If you liked the player because you liked the club, then you'll probably hate him if he goes to a rival. It's all about why you supported the club in the first place. At the end of the day, I guess playing a sport and following a team is like a drug. You need it, you do not know why, but you need it and you feel it in your veins. You get sick to your stomach when your team loses and you have that feeling of unbridled joy when they win. What do you get out of it? Nothing really, just the feeling of satisfaction at having been there. It's a love affair, and like all love affairs, it costs you a lot of time and money but there can be no rational explanation for it, I guess. It starts off as a fling, you like the club, support it for a couple of matches. Then you get to know more about the club, its players, the manager, the history, and as you know more, you fall deeper and deeper into that chasm and you will always emerge a true supporter. P.S. Of course that's my view point. What you have said is true, there are a lot of so called "glory hunters" and people who just get on the bandwagon (see Barcelona or Spain for example). How many people know what position Barcelona was in their league after Figo left and before the Ronaldinho era? How many people know about Hierro, Guti, Morientes, Joaquin, Canizares (and this is just from the 2002 Spain team, not going further back)? Just look at the number of people who bash Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovich et all, even though these guys are phenomenal players, just because the media portrays them in a certain way. Ultimately, I guess it's good for football to have new fans, but I do not speak for them in this answer. P.P.S. I also hope can now understand how someone who lives over 300 miles (and more) away and has never been to Goodison can support the Toffees. I have been to Santiago Bernabeu though, and it was insane.

I follow Norwich City, and have done for 35 years. During that time I have seen some ups and downs, including limited success in the Premier and winning the league cup but also being relegated to the third tier in English football before bouncing back. Norwich is my local team and I cannot be termed a glory hunter in any way! I don't understand people who support a team from 300 miles away - or another continent - when they have local alternatives (Cockney Reds anyone?). I used to go to a lot of Norwich games when in my teens and early 20's but I seldom attend matches now as I live further away and have other comitments. I was lucky enough to see Norwich win the league cup at Wembley in 1985 but also suffered the agony of attending an FA cup semi final which we lost when red hot favouries to win. When I was growing up the two local teams in the area were Norwich City and Ipswich Town. My dad is a Norwich supporter so I was only ever going to support them (he did allow me to do the normal kid thing of following the "team of the day" for a few years, up to my early teens - Arsenal then Liverpool). My support for my team is strong and I am a passionate follower of foootball. It matters to me greatly if Norwich win or lose but it is not the be all and end all of my life. Why does it mean so much to me? Partly this is about shared history - going to games with my dad and my brothers (my two brothers are season ticket holders), partly this is about how men in particular communicate in my circle. Football is a default opening in many conversations and few people I come across do not care about the sport. I dont know if you have read "Fever Pitch" by Nick Hornby but this really sums it up for me. In this book attending Arsenal matches is the glue that holds together a divorced father and his son. I also play the game regularly - five a side twice a week - and again, and entirely to be expected, there is a lot of joshing and banter about the game. To sum up, passion about my team is a big part of my upbringing, and cultural and social background. I can understand why so many people love and enjoy following the game and their team. I do however have some misgivings about adults in particular following a team from miles away or from another country just because they happen to be successful.

Before you get hammered by others for asking such a question, I'll give you the short answer: passion. What is Passion? I think wikipedia does a good job of explaining that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passion_(emotion) Why does anyone watch any sport at all? What do you gain by watching some people kicking the ball around or hitting the ball with a bat or <insert your sport of choice here>? If you have an answer for it, skip to the next question else read on for some of the common reasons why people follow sport: - They like the physical nature of the game: Mankind has loved physical confrontation since the time we invented stone weapons and realized that we could actually defeat predators - They like the technical complexity of the game: Most sports, if you follow in detail, are quite complex. This is a very good passive intellectual avenue. - They grow up playing a sport: You said it yourself that you understand this. People watch sports as a family pass time and as a kid, you might have played this game - They use it as a way to socialize: Sports bring people together and it's easy to get going with others if they know about the game. - They have money/time invested in it: Many people have businesses running around sports. Apparel manufacturers, hotels (for away games), betting etc There are more reasons but I hope you get the gist. So we do get attached to a game. Moving on to the next natural question: Why would anyone (who understands the sport and follows it for the above mentioned reasons) care for a football (or any other sport) team? Assuming a person become passionate enough about the sport and understands the game well, a person starts forming appreciations for some teams and biases against the others. - They associate with the style of gameplay: I personally know a lot of Arsenal and Barca fans who totally get the "total football" style and are fans of these clubs for the same reason - They just picked the best performing team at that time: Newcomers to any sport tend to do this. You automatically start absorbing more information associated with the league leaders or cup winners or the top teams. How many times do TV pundits discuss Wolves as compared to Manchester United? - They start following the team that their friend follows: This is self-explanatory - They just happen to like the name: Yes, I am an example of that. I just liked the name Liverpool as an 11 year old kid on the other side of the world. - They happen to like a player: Many people just like a player (reasons ranging from his 20 goals last season to fashionable hairstyle) tend to start supporting the team he plays for. More reasons exist. But again, I hope you get the gist. We do get attached to a team Moving on to the actual question: Why would anyone who a. understands the sport b. follows a team care for a player? Assuming that the fan does not like a player for the reasons mentioned in the previous section, the fan can start following a player because - He's a key player for a team: Self-explanatory since the fan already has an affection for the club - He's highly valued by other clubs and your friends: That raises that players value in your own eyes - You read some good causes that the player is supporting: And this increases your respect towards that person - He's a trouble maker: And you like rule bending people in general Plenty more reasons. We do get attached to a player After reading all this, you must realize that this whole process of appreciating a sport, a team, a player takes a long time. A person who really appreciates them has invested a significant portion of his/her life in understanding the game and has a natural attachment to it. This attachment builds up some passion toward that sport. This passion is the "connection" you are asking about. This is not very different from asking: - Why does one care about a great pianist who is not related to you? - Why does a someone care for Linux and contributes to it, even if not getting paid? - Why does anyone care for sci-fi/drama/action/romantic/any genre movies? - Why does anyone care for any movie actor/actress? - Why does anyone care for the state of the stock market index on any given day? - Why does anyone care for their respective religion/faith? - Why does anyone care about the android vs iphone war, they are just phones aren't they? One could also ask you personally: Why do you like to play football, a game that gives you nothing unless you are practicing to become a professional player and earn money (and hence your life) out of it? Isn't the answer attachment? You might ask, why do people go to such great lengths to build an attachment to something that doesn't reap material benefits? Fortunately, a lot of people people aren't shallow enough and believe that they would gain more in life by passionately following what they like rather than just aiming to level up their purchasing power. I'll also give you my first hand example. - I played football for the first time on the street with a bunch of kids when I was 9 years old. I realized I could dribble past them - I started playing FIFA 99  when I was 11 years old. I had to pick a team in it and I picked Liverpool because I liked the name. I came to know about Michael Owen from it - Two years later, one fine day, I flicked ESPN on and saw a football match going on LIVE on ESPN. Barcelona vs Liverpool. 0-0 Draw. But I saw all the fictional players from FIFA on tv - I looked up some fixtures and tried watching a couple of games of Liverpool and Barcelona (in their respective leagues). I really enjoyed watching the game - After a few games, I started grasping the complexity of it. Meanwhile, I also started playing in school football teams. So I did have a keen interest - Just so happened that I kept following Liverpool for quite long. Read up their history, followed football pundits on their comments on Liverpool, understood their game style, key players, fan following etc - Played more FIFA games with Liverpool as my team. Played Football Manager games as Liverpool's manager - Bought Owen and Gerrard replica T-shirts - Understood all the transfer dealings and hated the mess in which Owen left us in 2004. He was arguably our best player. How can we win anything without him? We were just transitioning into a new manager. Loved it when we won Champions League a year later. There were others who picked up the mantle. By 2010, I had invested 11 years in following Liverpool one way or the other. I cannot just be expected to forget them :) Also, I would like to point out that most people never manage to develop such passions for anything. Very few do. Fewer manage to make their passions their full time job. Btw, if you think I wasted my time, consider this...I am a computer programmer interested in computer architecture and operating systems. I have a Masters in Electrical and computer Engineering. This is another thing that I've invested 8 years of my life in already. I am passionate about it and care deeply about it too :)

Excerpt from my blog (http://shaumikthinks.blogspot.in/2012/05/keep-blue-flag-flying-high.html). Let's rewind back to 18th December, 2005. Chelsea vs Arsenal at  Highbury. It was the one of the very first premier league matches that I watched live, and I  certainly did not have any orientation towards any club. All I knew that  Arsenal had achieved an undefeated season just over a year ago, and the  core of the 'Invincibles' remained pretty much the same. At the same  time, I, in no way, liked Manchester United. The reason: well, every  second football maniac in school supported United, without knowing  anything about them(They could even mistake the Arsenal jersey for that  of United). Coming back to Highbury, it was the match which changed my life as a  football fan. At the pre match conference, the pundits highlighted Joe  Cole as the player to look out for and praised John Terry for his  performances in the recent matches. It was just before half time that  Robben slotted in home a Didier Drogba rebound. Joe Cole, later, doubled  Chelsea's lead with a clinical finish; an effort of the highest  quality. The importance of that match was even more because it basically ended  Arsenal's title bid and put Chelsea nine points clear of second placed  United. From that game on, there was no looking back. To be honest, I  had no idea how many millions Abramovich had invested, or how good  Mourinho was. I just knew Mourinho to be fairly new, with a bad  relationship with the press. Others argue that people like me support Chelsea because of the riches.  Well, there's always a catch, isn't it? I question them as to why they  support their own club. They have certainly not been here to cherish all  of United's 19 League titles, Liverpool's six European Cup triumphs and  certainly not Arsenal's record number seasons in top flight. Maybe they  were there when the Invincibles were doing their magic, or when United  defeated Bayern in the Champions League final, or when Liverpool won  their last two European Cups. The reason why you support your club is  simple: You love their football, and you are willing to stick by your  club no matter how they play. I personally hate people who change their loyalty after a major event.  These people are plain hypocrites. Players and trophies can not be held  over the club. In any case, someone who changes the loyalty should be  ashamed of calling himself a fan.

When you start supporting a football club, you don’t support it because of the trophies, or a player, or history, you support it because you found yourself somewhere there, cuz you found a place where you belong! - Dennis Bergkamp You know I've seen many people like you who just can't stand the fact Football is gaining popularity in India cuz you are too stuck with Cricket and can't see beyond it. Agreed that there are a few wannabe followers too who do it just to appear cool or whatever, but most of the people are genuine football fans and those few people or gloryhunters or bandwagoners as we call them are ridiculed more by the genuine fans more than anyone else. Football is a beautiful game. But you need to watch it to understand that. And it doesn't have to do just with the clubs we support. We are fans of the beautiful game. So, don't just look at it like support for a particular club. Look at it like the support for football itself. The reason we support some club is just that we like their style of play a bit more than others'. We don't need a reason to like something. It mostly comes from within. Do you not fall for a charming american or european or arabic or any other women as quickly as you do for an Indian women. You do.... right?! Similarly, we don't need to look for anything meaningful to like Football. It's just the best sport and we love it for just that. You ask what does it add to our life. I'll ask what does cricket add to the lives of millions of Indian followers. It only adds to the pockets of the cricketers and BCCI. Hell, if everyone starts asking "What's in it for me", would the concept of sports as entertainment business even exist?! No, it won't. So stop looking for reasons and stop obsessing with why other people love something or not. If you don't 'Get' it, great... you're not supposed to! And ohh by the way, tell you what.... we don't really need you to understand us and we don't need your respect.

I support Manchester United. I care about football like the way I care about my school,family.I enjoy watching it rather than playing.I like technical aspects of game. Why?Because it makes me happy.Like someone said-I help you not because you need help.But because it makes me happy.I did it for myself. Why Manchester United? When I started watching EPL Arsenal is at their golden age.But when I watch one Manchester United match,I found the X factor.The way they play,its magical.I got hooked up. The feeling that I can't describe in words. So when Manchester United wins,I win. When Manchester United lift the trophy,I feel on top of the world. When Manchester United lose,I got sad. When Manchester United makes comeback,I got energy to do something.

It's all about what you interested in. I prefer some great games with many goals, so I like Real Madrid and Bayern Munchen most.

As I was reading each sentence of this post, I couldn't help but think "Finally someone who has some f' common sense and thankfully I am not the only one! I have, despite trying to, never understood what supporting a club is about, ever! Its stupid but some of the comments below haven't answered your question since I guess they haven't understood your point of view. It's hard to explain the point of view of people like us, despite it being so simple to understand! I LOVE football, it's an amazing game, I play it and I also watch it and understand it....I LOVE players and respect them and their style of play etc...... but support a club??