What's the point in cheering for a mid level European soccer team?

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Yeah, I actually stopped for a beer at a bar in Omaha when I was there a couple of years ago, and I can't remember the name of it, but it was all Yankees themed. They had all these jerseys hanging on the wall, maybe a statue of DiMaggio.

Saddest shit in the world.

It could be for expats from NY I guess...that would be OK. There are a lot of former Chicagoans here in Louisville, KY. and there are a few bars that have all Bears/Cubs/Blackhawks/Bulls stuff up and serve the Chicago favorite beer, Old Style.

But no self-respecting non-New Yorker should ever be cheering for the Yankees.
 
Fellow Rover! Don't worry its not much better when you live just up the road from Ewood!

Anyway to answer the OP I was born and raised in blackburn, we were destined to be a mid table top / second division team until a local fan made it big in the business world and invested heavily in the club with the thought 'think big' his money took us from lower end of division 2 to CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND in about 4 years. Sure it didn't last and we are back where we were and frankly a bit shit but we still had those times.

I'm still a season ticket holder and its still a great feeling just to win a game, we hope next season we can challenge for promotion, our uglier neighbours have just about done it this season. Success is relative though you don't need to be winning the premier league to have success.
Well that makes me feel slightly better. Still be nice to somehow see their games :(
 
This is why OP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWj5LyD34tk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2b-Uika8Tg&list=UUii5E2yKFnrxZt52f-cZJXg

Though not technically midtable we still rarely win anything, so I guess we count. Motherwell till I die.

C'mon the Well ;)

Although I've been abroad over 10 years now, the Well will always be my team. I still check for news on them daily & follow the games every Saturday. Flew back for the weekend a few years back for the cup final. I'm a huge proponent of supporting your local team, I always detested the whole Celtic/Rangers dominance of people's loyalties across Scotland just because of sectarianism more than anything.

Yeah, Motherwell are never going to dominate the league or Europe, but it doesn't matter - they're *my* team. They're the team I watched on drizzly Wednesday nights at Fir Park with a few thousand other people. They're the team I trekked across the country for away games. They're the team I supported when they got relegated. They're the team I supported when they cheated relegation a few times. I was there for the cup win. I was there for the losses. They're the shared experience with my dad more than any other hobby/pastime.
 
Because it's your home team? To me it's disgusting that people that have no connection to a city or place root for some random ass team. It's like bitch you live in Nebraska. You root for the Royals, the Huskers, the Chiefs, and Creighton maybe. You don't get to root for the Dodgers.
There are no pro teams in Hawaii. I root for the Broncos, Trailblazers, and the A's. Been following them since '89.
 
I root for the NFL New Orleans Saints and they were hot garbage for like 40 years. Only in the last 10 years have they gotten it together. Then they finally won it all. It made it very special.
 
This was pretty special as well - especially for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O-_9bg0DFE#t=23s

Last day of the season. Cardiff were already promoted. We (Hull City) needed to win in order to secure promotion - Watford could overtake us if they bettered our result.

I can't even describe how horrible some of those moments were. The long wait especially, never really knowing for sure what was happening.
 
Relegation is so delicious. I really wish we had it in American sports -- would be incredible.

It won't happen because franchising protects the investments of the owners. If anything, there's more interest in pushing things the other way, as there have been plenty of foreign owners of English football clubs proposing a franchise model after being horrified at the possibility of their shiny new purchase being dumped to a lower, less lucrative league.
 
Other reasons aside, a mid level team can be like a roller coaster. It has the potential to do amazing things against great odds (being the underdog) and it can also fail miserably.

When you are a fan of a mid level team and it somehow ends up winning the league/cup, the level of excitement is off the charts. For a big club, the main excitement comes from beating some of the other big guys but regular wins are just routine, it's what is expected from you. For big teams, losing two games in a row or not winning something big for a few years feels disappointing actually.

So yes, there's something good about mid level teams. A roller coaster of emotions and feeling like you are the king of the world if your team pulls a small miracle. For those teams every game is a constant fight.

That may be the reason why so many people cheer for more than one team, one of the big ones plus some underdog/their local team.
 
I don't think you know what pertinent means since this question have been answered several times in this thread. To a point that I think its not worth answering your question at all.

You know what, I'll be brief. In Bundesliga for instance, there have been 5 winners in the last 10 years. In France, There have been 6 champions in the last 6 years.

Yet, you still think that the same fucking team contend for the titles?

and in the Bundesliga bayern have won 24 titles with no one else coming close. They won this year's title ridiculously early and it seems like no one will come close to challenging them.

In ligue 1, you are set if you have rich sugar daddy willing to bankroll you. And the situation there is not going to get better.

Don't pretend that we don't go into every season knowing that there is a discrepancy in both resources and talent every year and that there are only a handful of teams which have a legitimate shot at winning the title.
Come back to me when you have cellar dweller that has a realistic shot at winning something and not because they found a rich Russian or Arab sugar daddy.
 
I'm a Mets fan. I'm sure every American sports fan knows about their failures over the last eight years.

For non-Americans, the Mets could be considered one of the biggest laughing stocks in Major League Baseball, if not all of American sports. Here's why.

- Haven't made the playoffs since 2006.
- 2007 and 2008, they were in first place in their division with a handful of games left in the season and wound up missing the playoffs entirely both years, making them the butt of many a joke.
- Haven't had a winning record since 2008.
- Their owners gave money to Bernie Madoff and were sued by his victims, adding even more to their comical public image.

All this on top of sharing a city with the Yankees, who've won a hell of a lot more than the Mets.

I'm still a fan though. Why? I live in New York and when I was picking a team to support, they were more interesting at the time. Anyone can be a Yankees fan but it takes someone with a ton of patience to be a Mets fan because of everything they've went through over this almost decade of futility. However, when that day comes when they win a World Series, it'll make everything they put their fans through a thing of the past... for a little while.
 
As a Newcastle United supporter its mainly because I love seeing us buy quality players on the fringe of being great. Develop them and then sell them on so plastic fans can go on enjoying watching their owner's playthings dominating the league/cup competitions while we flounder about in mid table.

In all seriousness its cos I get a thrill out of seeing our coach headbutt people *facepalm*

Maybe I just love the tortuous soap opera that is being a toon supporter.
 
I'm a Mets fan. I'm sure every American sports fan knows about their failures over the last eight years.

Gee, it's been 14 whole years since they've been in the World Series... And 27 whole years since their last Championship.
Life sure is tough for those long-suffering Mets fans... A franchise that didn't even exist a bit more than 50 years ago.

I'm almost not sure if that post was satire or something.
At least your heart's in the right place by not being a Yankees fan.
 
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