Why is it OK to support non-hometown team but...

[BaaLocks]

We have fans on here from Iceland, London and further afield and we're happy to have them. There are lots of Liverpool, Man Utd etc fans from Surrey, Hampshire and the like.

Yet the concept of someone supporting a national team other then your own is completely alien. Why is that? The logic isn't any different to an Arsenal fan from the Midlands who "loved watching Denis Bergkamp" and it went from there". But if a friend of mine said "I'm a Brazil fan because I like them" I'd think them a bit weird.

[Ram-Alf]

Nowt so funny as folk, St Patricks day, Why do English people celebrate this and wear those big black and green hats?

?

 

 

[Day]

It's ok to support a non hometown club, likewise it's ok to support a different county.

It's also ok to have an opinion on fans doing so.

You do you.

[Stive Pesley]

I didn't know it wasn't ok!

I am a big Croatia fan..not just the Stimac/Asa thing. Have visited the country many times and even got married there in 2008

[Cisse]

All of my friends have number two national team after our own. England, Brazil and Argentina are probably the most common. I know there are also a lot of fans for Denmark and Netherlands.

 

[PistoldPete]

I agree. It's OK to support Derby County if you were born in Matlock. 

[Ram-Alf]

Mum was Austrian, My uncle,,,Herbert Grohs played 7 times for Austria in the 50s, When Austria played England we were based in Saltzberg, Caught the train to Vienna and met by my Sister Chrystal and her Fella Guggi, We saw the match in an open area bar just off the Mariahilferstrasse, Our group 16 of us were out numbered by quite a few, Everyone loved us to death even the bar staff.

Never felt inclined to support Austria only when they played Germany ?

[Boycie]

42 minutes ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Mum was Austrian, My uncle,,,Herbert Grohs played 7 times for Austria in the 50s, When Austria played England we were based in Saltzberg, Caught the train to Vienna and met by my Sister Chrystal and her Fella Guggi, We saw the match in an open area bar just off the Mariahilferstrasse, Our group 16 of us were out numbered by quite a few, Everyone loved us to death even the bar staff.

Never felt inclined to support Austria only when they played Germany ?

Well all support the other team when Germany are playing.

[BaaLocks]

2 hours ago, Stive Pesley said:

I didn't know it wasn't ok!

I am a big Croatia fan..not just the Stimac/Asa thing. Have visited the country many times and even got married there in 2008

Yeah, but are Croatia your number one team? Over and above England (assuming you are English). That's my point, there's actually no different logic to it than someone from Surrey supporting ManUre but - at least to me - it just feels like an unwritten rule. You have to support the country of your birth (OK - maybe family could also influence it) but I can't imagine someone just picking another country and saying "right, they are my number one national team".

[BaaLocks]

1 hour ago, Boycie said:

Well all support the other team when Germany are playing.

Ah, that's another thread on it's own - which national team do you consider to be your national team's biggest rival. As a (sort of*) England fan I would say Argentina are a far stronger rivalry to me than Germany, Scotland or any other.

* - I actually don't like the England national team that much, never have. Mainly it's the fans, they are all the bad things about England (of which there are a few) boiled down into a five foot tall, middle aged, balding man with a tattoo on his back, pot belly and a couple of teeth missing singling the 'two world wars and one world cup' like it's the funniest thing ever. Generally!!

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

2 hours ago, Cisse said:

All of my friends have number two national team after our own. England, Brazil and Argentina are probably the most common. I know there are also a lot of fans for Denmark and Netherlands.

 

Find a lot of kids get drawn to The Netherlands as a team they like.  Normally because of the rather vibrant orange kit.  Reminds them of all the E numbers in sweets they love consuming.

[Mucker1884]

My former son in law was born in Germany. Dad was an English squaddie. 
He supported the favourite. For any game between the two, he’d usually wait for the final whistle to decide… or until after the peno’s!  ?

[Stive Pesley]

9 hours ago, BaaLocks said:

Yeah, but are Croatia your number one team? Over and above England (assuming you are English). That's my point, there's actually no different logic to it than someone from Surrey supporting ManUre but - at least to me - it just feels like an unwritten rule. You have to support the country of your birth (OK - maybe family could also influence it) but I can't imagine someone just picking another country and saying "right, they are my number one national team".

Ah ok. Got you. No Croatia are my second team after England

[TimRam]

I have Canadian cousins so watching them with interest in the World Cup. They did deserve a draw the other night and with better finishing might have got the win.

Edited November 25, 2022 by TimRam

[Tamworthram]

To digress slightly from the original topic. When choosing a team I want to see win (assuming the game doesn't include England), for me, to my shame, a certain amount of schadenfreude sometimes kicks in. My rather annoying older brother now lives in France. Although  until he moved over there he spent his entire life living in England, he seems to dislike England and I reckon he now considers himself half French and half Welsh (his wife's parents are Welsh). 

I can't help but smile (inside) when either France or Wales lose even though I love going to Wales, worked there for three years and one of our grandfathers was a Welsh speaker. France is also one of my favourite holiday destinations. Shameful and illogical but sometimes I can't help myself.

[RadioactiveWaste]

14 hours ago, Boycie said:

Well all support the other team when Germany are playing.

I don't, I like Germany.

[RadioactiveWaste]

I tend to look at things like this as a question of what's in your heart, not where you landed or ended up.

So whilst its the Scottish national teams for me, I still have my Derby accent, I lived in Wales for quite a few years and I'll "banter level" ABE or nominally Wales it's not a big emotional connection.

However, there's lots nations or international teams I like or dislike so I'd hypothetically want to do well or not. 

[Anag Ram]

I quite like Iran now ?

[BaaLocks]

3 hours ago, Tamworthram said:

To digress slightly from the original topic. When choosing a team I want to see win (assuming the game doesn't include England), for me, to my shame, a certain amount of schadenfreude sometimes kicks in. My rather annoying older brother now lives in France. Although  until he moved over there he spent his entire life living in England, he seems to dislike England and I reckon he now considers himself half French and half Welsh (his wife's parents are Welsh). 

I can't help but smile (inside) when either France or Wales lose even though I love going to Wales, worked there for three years and one of our grandfathers was a Welsh speaker. France is also one of my favourite holiday destinations. Shameful and illogical but sometimes I can't help myself.

I'm the opposite actually, I've spent a lot of my recent years working for a French company and I actually have quite a soft spot for them. They're not my first team - I'll always be English first (earlier caveat aside) - but I quite like them, particularly in rugby.

[Tamworthram]

23 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

I'm the opposite actually, I've spent a lot of my recent years working for a French company and I actually have quite a soft spot for them. They're not my first team - I'll always be English first (earlier caveat aside) - but I quite like them, particularly in rugby.

Like I say, it's probably more to do with my annoying brother's new found dual nationality.