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

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PastorOfMuppets

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One of the things I never understood about how European soccer works is people seem to be okay with how non-competitive it is.

The German Bundesliga for instance has been around since 1963 - 51 years. In that time, one team - Bayern Munich, has won 23 championship titles. The English Premier League is dominated by four teams over the last 20 years - although that seems to be changing with Manchester City being bought by a billionaire. In Spain's La Liga, it's pretty much a two team league with Barcelona and Real Madrid vying for top spot every year.

I get why the top flight teams have fans. I also get why the lower run teams have fans, there is drama in wondering whether your team will stay in the big show next year or not.

What I don't understand is why do teams that are on the B-tier continue to have fans. I know Everton for instance will never be bad enough to be relegated but they will also never be good enough to fight for the top spot unless some crazy Russian billionaire buys them and decides to go nuts.
 
What's the point in stanning for Lady Gaga?
What's the point in being a Ninfan?
What's the point in standing by your PSVita?

People have a wonderful propensity to get attached to lost causes.
 
The same can be said for any major sports league. Why do people watch the mid level teams? Some people like the local team. Some may like particular players. And some people, some people are just plain crazy.
 
I guess this sort of attitude explains all the plastic American fans.
 
You could also ask why someone would be a fan of a team that wins all the time. Where's the fun in that?

I think rooting for the underdog has always been appealing because the emotions tend to run wilder.
 
Almost all towns and cities have their own club – 92 league clubs in England, in a country smaller than some US states, for example – so people support their local one. Tribalism, basically.

Also bear in mind that some clubs like Everton, to use your example, were huge back in the day. Kids frequently support the same team as their parents, so people who remember the glory days will pass it down the generations.
 
Cause you're born into families that support them. Or you live in the area... Or just enjoy their play style, even if they're not going to win shit. It's not that hard to understand. Not to mention many clubs that today are shit, was at one point great, power can shift and you're a plastic cunt if you just start not supporting your team, cause of bad results.
 
Ikuu said:
I guess this sort of attitude explains all the plastic American fans.
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I don't get it. All of our leagues are at least competitive with SOME degree of salary control.
 
1) Success in degrees. A Rotherham fan is as happy with promotion as a Chelsea fan is with winning the PL
2) The hope for growth
3) You can still follow the top-level, and even support a top team
4) It's good to support a local club
5) Easier to get tickets at that level
6) Football is football
 
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.
 
So you're basically saying why support a team that doesn't win.

I'll never understand this attitude. It can be about where you're from, where you live, even just that you liked their jersey and supported them because of that.
 
Er, people have lots of reasons to support a team. Just because certain teams usually win doesn't mean everyone will like them or have a reason to support them. Sounds like you don't understand football or life in general.
 
Clegg said:
So you're basically saying why support a team that doesn't win.

I'll never understand this attitude. It can be about where you're from, where you live, even just that you liked their jersey and supported them because of that.
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You'll be tested on this if Moyes keeps his job.
 
PastorOfMuppets said:
One of the things I never understood about how European soccer works is people seem to be okay with how non-competitive it is.

The German Bundesliga for instance has been around since 1963 - 51 years. In that time, one team - Bayern Munich, has won 23 championship titles. The English Premier League is dominated by four teams over the last 20 years - although that seems to be changing with Manchester City being bought by a billionaire. In Spain's La Liga, it's pretty much a two team league with Barcelona and Real Madrid vying for top spot every year.

I get why the top flight teams have fans. I also get why the lower run teams have fans, there is drama in wondering whether your team will stay in the big show next year or not.

What I don't understand is why do teams that are on the B-tier continue to have fans. I know Everton for instance will never be bad enough to be relegated but they will also never be good enough to fight for the top spot unless some crazy Russian billionaire buys them and decides to go nuts.
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Funny you mention Everton, the team that has a chance to get a spot in the Champions League if they overtake Arsenal. You never know when a team might break out of it's mold. Most of the time people support a team/club because of civic pride, but there's a myriad of reasons that some people would support certain teams (Favorite player plays/played for them, caught them on TV and kept following them, etc.)

A world in which people only rooted for the favorites would really suck.
 
Sneds said:
You'll be tested on this if Moyes keeps his job.
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ibb4OGhQfoc7ks.gif
 
see5harp said:
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.
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Another one that doesn't get life. The fact that someone supports a team almost certainly means that there is a connection. Pretending that a physical location is the only connection someone can have to something is disgusting. Why should someone want to aspire to be a footballer at a big club when they have a quaint little FC down the street.
 
It's a family tradition or maybe it's your home team, no matter what it will always be loved.
Also, loyalty. A true fan always supports his team, even more in the bad times.
 
Same reason people cheer for any team that is mostly unsuccessful. Loyalty to your hometown or player or something.

Dumb question.
 
Rocket Scientist said:
Another one that doesn't get life. The fact that someone supports a team almost certainly means that there is a connection. Pretending that a physical location is the only connection someone can have to something is disgusting. Why should someone want to aspire to be a footballer at a big club when they have a quaint little FC down the street.
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Which is why I said "some connection." Maybe your parents rooted for Chelsea but if you are just some bandwagoner for a winning team, and you already have a team in your city, then I don't respect you.

EDIT: and I don't even know what the hell you are talking about with the "aspire to be a footballer." I'm talking about people like the OP. Guys that don't understand why you might want to root for you home team, regardless of whether they win or not. You should root for your home team, assuming you have some connection to the team. If your parents raised you to be a Chelsea fan and you live in Liverpool, that's really not your fault.
 
FootballFan said:
You can always be like some people in the football thread and support 3+ teams
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or really just pick the most successful team of all, that you have no relation with, on the other side of the globe.

Hypnopompy said:
I've never seen a man age so much in such a short stretch of time.
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Think the Fulham match aged him at least 2 years.

SamVimes said:
Well they're certainly not mid tier.
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Ugh, yeah they are very much so. Lucky to be in the region they are, and score easy points for the rank list.
 
i dont like watching high level soccer matches.

i like seeing the american soccer championships when they are on.

they are just the right level of average with a dash of technical skill that the ball never stays with one team too long.

a bad attempt here, and dash of balls between the legs. a score attempt every 2 minutes due to haphazard defense. awesome!
 
Because you like the team?
Because you enjoy the matches?

It's not like everything has to be "Win a championship or your season is a failure."

Liverpool's going to win the league!
 
I support a team that hasn't won anything for 41 years and is being relegated this season because we are the greatest club on the planet.
wtzgU.gif
 
It's not about not winning. It's about cheering for teams that have no chance to win down the road save for some crazy billionaire owner buying it and going nuts.

The relegation system in European soccer makes it fun to cheer for lower rung teams, I get that. It's nice to see a team go from the C to the B to the A league over several years.

The top teams will have fans because they consistently win.

It's the teams in the middle that are left in the dust. They are never a threat to win anything but at the same time, they will also never be threatened with anything either. I don't understand how you can be a fan of a team that will always be middle of the pack.

North American sports all have mechanisms where a mid tier team can become one of the elite teams with a few changes. Sometimes it's a new coach and other times its introducing a new star player. I'm a fan of certain teams not because they consistently win or lose but because I have reason to believe that if they don't win, things can change down the road and if they lose, there are mechanisms in which they can improve down the road - free agency and the draft.
 
I know a guy that flies from holland to london once a month to see tottenham. Dude has been a spurs fan for like 15 years now.

You should talk to him.
 
I'm a supporter of Portsmouth who, although they had recent success in the Premier League and the FA Cup, have since gone through two bankruptcies and 3 relegations and are currently fighting for survival in their current league. You don't stop supporting a team because they're bad or going through a bad phase, I still go to games from time to time and my dad has held a season ticket since before we were promoted to the Premier League in the first place. I was born in Portsmouth and will support them for the rest of my life, it's not a matter of how well they doing it's about who they are. People don't just support football clubs to revel in winnings (although there is still plenty of stuff to win at lower levels), but to enjoy the sport, to enjoy supporting their team and because football clubs mean more to some people than just an institution through which to seek glory.
 
Now you know why club football sucks outside the Champions League final stages, or international finals. They should put limits on player prices and salaries to stop the richest just dominating everything but of course there's just too much money involved. It literally kills domestic football in less well off areas because people want to see the big players and not support their local clubs.
 
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