Why did you became a fan of your favourite club?

gerd

gerd

Retired Footballer
8 January 2002
Over the moon
KRC Genk, Spurs
I've been thinking to start this thread for a long time now.
There are all sorts of fans and sometimes i'm amazed at the way some fans support their club.

My questions:
What is your favourite team?
Why did you become fan of that team?
How far would you go?

The third question is an odd one but it will become clear after i have answered it myself.

My favourite team is RWDM, a club from Brussels.
I guess i became a fan of that club because my father supported Anderlecht (another club from Brussels) and i guess as a young kid i felt the need to oppose him (not as an act of rebellion, i was barely 6 year old at the time).
In 2002 it became clear that RWDM had done some fraudulent things (tax evasion and things like that). They were caught out and lost their license. As a result they were relegated to the bottom of the Belgian football pyramid: 8 divisions lower. I miss my team, but i would be lying if i would say that i still support them. Another team from Brussels (FC Brussels) bought their license and is now playing in second division (but faces relegation) and i kind of support them, but i don't have the same thrill anymore).

So my third question refers to a possible AFC Wimbledon scenario (or worse like my club). Be honest, would you still support your team wholehearted or halfhearted (like me) or would you search another (more succesfull) favourite team?
 
this is an absolutely brilliant idea for a thread mate. i can see this becoming one of the most interesting threads in the forum.

my story is pretty boring, to be honest. i support palermo because i was born in palermo. and since i spent almost half of my life away from palermo and italy (especially in my childhood), caring about palermo's football club was a way to "stay connected" to my roots.
as for your third question, for most of my life (i'm 31) palermo has played in inferior leagues (serie B and C)... i still remember some of palermo's legends during those years: caterino, biffi, soda.... when u think of the amazing squad we have today, filled with classy player who might be playing for a top club (and some of em in a few months probably will be playing for a top club), those "serie c days players" look like nothing but below average footballers.... yet during those years, they were our below average players, and we loved them as if they were world class stars :D
i still remember the day we got promoted in serie a (2004). that night was insane. women, men, teenagers, adults and grandparents... there wasn't a single palermitano who didn't spend that entire night out celebrating. probably even people who didn't care about the team joined the celebration, just to get into the spirit. What a night that was! now it seems a life ago.... it's hard to believe it's been only 7 years since then http://img688.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=festaciccio009jpg.jpg

i also got a soft spot for napoli, as my mother is a napoletana, and so is half of my family. i lived in napoli for a few years and i had the opportunity to get very close to the club, because my uncle was a team director for napoli in the late '80s\early '90s (and i mean really close to the club).
i care a lot about napoli, but my team remains palermo, of course. :))
 
Yeah great thread gerd. I am sure everyone has their own story here.

Well I started the football experience as a kid watching the 1998 WC in France. This competition got me hooked to RONALDO. Seriously, I idolized this player and followed all of his matches from that moment which where Inter's. I wouldn't miss a match, sneaking past my bed time sometimes. I wasn't an Inter supporter, but a more Ronaldo one. Then after his injuries, I had to turn away from Inter so another player got me hooked at 10 years old that was Maldini which is weird considering kids were drolling over attacking players like Del Piero,Ronaldo,Inzaghi,Batistuta,.. back then. From then on, I am a Milan supporter.
 
Last edited:
My second club in Belgium is Racing Genk because for my job i often have to go to Genk and because i have a "community project" with Racing Genk. The other reason i love Genk is because the last very good player of RWDM ended up at Racing Genk (Wesley Sonck).

But i will never support a club like RWDM.
 
Leeds United for me.
My Dad used to go in the 60's and 70's, "when they were good" like many people do ;)
I used to ask my Mum where he was(I was about 3 years old), and she would reply "he's gone to watch Leeds". This became a quest for me - I wanted to find out what Leeds were? what they did?? why did he go???

Once everything was explained to me, and I started to watch them on MOTD and Soccer Special - that was it - I wanted to go, but he always said "you're too young".
I pestered him like mad and he finally took me to an end of season game against Coventry (we won 1-0)
He made a stool from bits of wood for me to stand on in the Kop, but even then, I could only see half the pitch.
The atmosphere was amazing and I was hooked!

Unfortunately, my Dad stopped going on a regular basis and my chances to go were few - possibly two games a season when he found the time.
He wouldn't let me go by myself because we lived over 10 miles away and the hooligan element was at it's worst.
Once I was 16, and free to do what I wanted, I talked my sister into going (he would never take her to the games even though she wanted to go)
She had a car by then, and getting to Elland Road was only 40 mins drive.

We had season tickets for 22 years - I only missed one home game in that time, against Coventry (ironic) because I was on the other side of the world that week and couldn't make it. If there was a chance, I would have done to keep up my record!

Because of work clashing with Saturday games, finances, etc - I don't go to as many games now (five a season at the most) but I'm still mad about them.
 
My favorite team - it's FC Zenit of St Petersburg, my hometown. Began to ache for him somewhere in 2002-2003 after the World Cup 2002, because that's when I fell in love with football in general. It began to ache for the club, probably because my grandfather was very supported Zenit and I just could not stay away. If I had a lot of money and time, I probably walked and rode to a greater number of matches of this club, and so I limit myself watching games on television and very few marches into the stadium. If Zenit flew out even in an amateur soccer league, I still would support him, as do so only real fans of team. :)

Also for me there is still a couple of clubs that I support, but in a smaller scale - it's CSKA Moskow and HJK Helsinki. Well, that's another story. :D
 
Very nice idea for a thread :)

For me it is a bit complicated. My favorite team is Inter for sure.
I cannot remember when it was but at least ten years ago. I was 8 years old and i was beggining to enjoy football, after WC98.
I think what determined inter as my club is the departure of ronaldo a few years later. I was quite disgusted of the way he behaved, even if i understand his motivation and i think my fighting spirit made me want inter to succed without him (and honnestly it has not been always easy).
But i apreciate tons of other clubs, first the clubs of the city i lived in in the past (ado den haag and sparta praha) and also PSG because all my family is for OM :p
And to finish i like german clubs, all of them because it is a both spectacular and tactical football (not always tactical unfortunately but all the time spectacular).
And to finishi i admire english clubs. The football i see there (spirit, game and athmosphere) is what i'd love to see everywhere !

How far would i go for inter ? Difficult question. When i think about it i find myself really demanding with inter. For example, i think what happened against Milan and Schalke last weeks is deserved for us because we played badly, with no will to win.
Inter makes me cry some time. After a undeserved/difficult loss, or at the opposite after a wonderful moment (Figo last match and Maldini's last derby, the 2 wonderful derbys against Milan last year, and of course after a title -every title-).
This club is part of my life for sure but it is not all my life, even if after hard times, i am much more irritable, less patient, .... :)
 
Last edited:
What is your favourite team?
Liverpool

Why did you become fan of that team?
My dad was born there and is a mad Liverpool fan. He has been to most of the EC finals, was at Athens, and even went so far as to come back from a treck through India / Katmando / Nepal / etc. to go to Rome, ...only to end up watching it in a bar.

How far would you go?
Tbh I have a somewhat pragmatic view of football, in that I find it pretty pointless and question the point of people associating their identity to a club. In the same way it annoys me that when Liverpool win or lose it actually has an (limited) effect on my mood. So I really see it as a way to enjoy myself, or entertainment. So if the club stopped doing that (which at points the last couple of seasons has been the case) I've stopped "wasting" my time by watching matches. However I wouldn't bother follow/support another club, as there is still this link to the club which has a relationship effect with my dad.
 
Nice one gerd!

What is your favourite team?
Cruzeiro

Why did you become fan of that team?
Hometown.
They say my first baby shirt was Cruzeiro's, but from a friend since my father is Flamengo.
Its a common thing in Brazil to give football related stuff even for babies.
But I don't really know if someone influenced me cause I can't even remember when I started liking this club.

How far would you go?
I used to go to the stadium in a very young age, I even turned my father in a fan too, he still likes Flamengo but he prefer our club nowadays.
But after we won the national championship, which was something our rivals used to mock my whole childhood, don't get it wrong our club used to dominate in those days the national ship was the only thing we did not had we used to mock our rivals way more, but that one title used to bug me a lot.
That national title was coincidently when I graduated from high school, and I decided to move on with my life, starting college I would not mock people about football, I would not be affected as much as before, but I would still follow every single game.
I also stopped going to the stadium, its something I intend to return, specially after the world cup reforms in our stadium.
Evo Web and PES also helped me be a more open minded football fan, watch other clubs, see my own club without 'glasses'.
But I guess its part of life, somethings are more attractive when you are a kid.
 
My link to Manchester United happened just as the Premier League was being created. I know that makes me sound like a glory hunter, but honestly it's not like that!

Playing football in the playground and being surrounded by kids whose parents had drummed it into them to support the likes of Arsenal, Spurs & West Ham (I live in South London), they usually picked their favourite players to 'be'. My parents had just split up & starting a divorce, so I never had any football influence (for the record, he's an armchair Liverpool fan, who only knows the big players, and nothing else).

Being clueless at the time, after reading a football magazine, I found a fellow left footer by the name of Ryan Giggs, so decided I'd have United as my team for the playground. I gradually found out more about the team, and was pleased with my choice.
In 1992, we went to Brighton with my Grandparents, and all I can remember from that holiday is reading a Man Utd magazine on the journey, and Beckham scoring THAT goal against Wimbledon from the halfway line. Shortly after that I had my 10th birthday (I'm 28 now), and got my first United shirt.

Over the years in secondary school I had the usual abuse of "glory hunter" & "how many times have you been to a game then", but overall had good banter with Arsenal fans as the title race was close for a few years.
I looked forward to Saturday nights, sitting in my room watching Match of the Day, and then there was the European cup games on normal TV (we didn't have Sky back then).

About 6 years ago my mum met my (now) step dad, which also was a bit of luck for me. He's a big United fan, and has been a season ticket holder for nearly 30 years, and he took me to Old Trafford for my first game. It was a Bank Holiday evening kick-off, took us 4.5 hours to get there, pissing down with rain, & a terrible 0-0 draw with Sunderland, and we got home at about 3am.
And I couldn't wait to go back! Since then it's almost become a religion for me.

I've now been a season ticket holder for the past 4 years, and we share the drive up to Manchester for every home game, and the European games if we can both get time off work.
I actually look forward to people thinking they're clever by challenging me on how many times I've been to Old Trafford now... ;)
I get worked up when some rival fans refer to us as 'Man U' (though I understand quite a lot of people just aren't aware of it being offensive), and mock our Munich disaster. Especially when some of them have their own football related disaster that hurts their history. Anyway...

Before I was able to have a United season ticket I became a Charlton Athletic season ticket holder with a friend. I was born in Greenwich, and they are the nearest team to there. My Grandad is also a supporter, so I'll take him to a couple of games each season if he's up to it.
If one of their games clashes with a United fixture I don't go, but it's my way of helping my local team (and how they need it since their Premier League days). But like Gerd & his second team, they'll never replace United for me.

So that's it really. How I became a football supporter :)
 
Last edited:
Very good and moving post jamesy. I can see why somebody become a United fan for Giggs. I love Giggs myself.
 
Probably it all started after Milan's 1-0 defeat against Marseille in the 1992/93 CL final.

Before that, I knew my father supported Milan but I couldn't care less about football (apart from Captain Tsubasa's anime of course).
But during that match I felt a kind of frustration, a kind of sadness that I never experienced before during a football match.
It wasn't the first match that I had seen, but it has been the first one that moved me that way. After the match I was just in tears.

And the reason I became a Milanista, was what my father told me the day after.
He just told me "There's no problem, we'll win it the next year. it's a promise."

So during the following season I started to be interested in Milan's matches because I really believed in what he said, only to find out that, well, he was right: Milan really won the 1993/94 CL after defeating Barcelona in Athens.
But, at the time of the final, I was already a Milanista :COOL:
 
So far most people support the big club which is nearest to their home or their hometown club. This is rather problematic for small countries.
I will give you the example of my son.

We live in Duffel that is halfway between Mechelen and Lier, both cities are situated 6 km from our home. With Lierse and KV Mechelen they both have a forst division club. In a range of 50 km beside these two clubs we have in the Jupiler League GBA, Westerlo, Anderlecht and Lokeren. In a range of 100 km you can add AA Gent, Club Brugge, Cercle Brugge, Kortrijk, Zulte Waregem, Sint-Truiden and Racing Genk. So in the end only Eupen, Standard and Charleroi are situated more than 100 km from our house. Yet in the year Standard played that well in Euro League, i went watching all their home games because that is roughly a journey of less than two hours driving from our house...of course that is a luxury situation...but how does a young kid choose a favourite club...
Until now Barcelona is my son's favourite club, but he likes Anderlecht more and more because he loves Lukaku...but of course next year Lukaku will not be at Anderlecht any more (i guess)...
 
gerd very nice idea my 1st question its a bit like urs ....

my father its one big united fan and from when i was kid he was always showing me things of united history and talking only about them , but as a kid i dont know yet but i start to support Liverpool (and im happy now for what i pick) , one of reason was also amazing fans that Liverpool had after com 1 reason more that was Michael Owen .... but after he went away the same i was fan of Liverpool and i didnt change so if i dont change in that time for one BIG reason why i start to like Liverpool and I was yet young I will never change my team more even if things go bad or i dont know what

also i like much Lecce i start to like them from 2004-2005 season from time of Zeman (trainer) he did one great football and i think its on history of serie a they take so many goals but in same time they score many also and was serie a one championship that we all know for strong defence and way to play was close not much open and usally 4-4-2 but he play with more forward then defender lol love that way of football :D , many amazing matchs they did that season and i start to like them and from that year I follow them in serie a and serie b :D

sorry for my bad english !
 
I was born in the hospital adjacent to the ground. Growing up we were in the top flight for a time and my father took me to the ground. I have always been and always will be a fan of my local club.

I've never understood why people gloryhunt club sides and don't support their local sides more. It's become an ever worsening problem with saturation coverage of football on television.
 
Long time since I last posted on this forum. A very interesting thread, I have my own story to share too.

I have been a Manchester United fan since 1995, during the Cantona times. The circumstances under which I came to love United is purely fortuitous: On that very day, I just happened to switch on the TV and saw a team in red absolutely dominating another, in light blue. The final score was 5-0 and the team in red dazzled me completely with their attacking prowess.

It was only after a few years that I knew that the game was a Manchester derby. Prior to that, I have only started playing football in 1993 and have totally no idea of the who's who in the world of football. Perhaps, you can say that it's fate that brought United to me.

I am personally a pragmatic fan, as in, I won't be too emotionally affected by United's results. Of course I do care, just albeit in a detached way. What I admire most about Manchester United is their never-say-die spirit.
 
What is your favourite team?

Spurs

Why did you become fan of that team?

Tottenham_Klinsmann_94.jpg
 
What is your favourite team?
Cardiff City

Why did you become fan of that team?
I was born in the city and my dad was (and still is) an avid fan. I first went to a match with him in 1989 when we were in the old Third Division and we ended up getting relegated that season, but it never put me off. In school I seemed to be the only person in class who supported Cardiff as my first team, others tended to class them as their second team after Liverpool, Everton or Man Utd. Even in those pre-Premier League pre-SKY TV times the local youngsters caught the "big club" bug. I've supported the club through thick and thin in those 22 years: yo-yoing between Divisions 2 and 3, putting Man City out of the FA Cup, nearly dropping out of the League altogether in 1996, Sam Hammam buying the club and alienating us by nearly rebranding us the "Cardiff Celts", then making up for it by doing "The Ayatollah" in front of the Leeds fans when we put them out of the FA Cup on TV, promotion to the Championship, and of course last season the heartache of Blackpool beating us in the play-offs. If we fend off Norwich, Reading and arch-nemesis Swansea in the season run-in (5 games left) that would top it all off for me.

How far would you go?
Obviously I would support Cardiff 'til I die, but if they did go out of business I would follow the successor club, though in such a situation they'd probably have to play in the Welsh league system, where the standard of football is a lot inferior. Indeed the club's future had been in doubt for a while, even last season when we pushed for promotion there was a lot of financial problems off the pitch. But some wealthy Malaysians stepped in and it looks like they've brought some stability to the club. Hopefully we'll be in the Premier League next season as the first "foreign" member.
 
Last edited:
United were the first team on MOTD the first time I ever saw it, way back when I was a three year old. My first experience of football and I was hooked. My uncle then decided to push United on me and my sister and I was sold.

Obviously it helps that United started winning around the time I got into football, but I think even if they hadn't I'd still be a United fan.

My dad is a Liverpool fan and he tried countless times in vain to make me change but I enjoy the fact that I've defied him too much.

I've now got a million memories linked to the club and can remember various landmarks clear as day with where I was and what I was doing at the time.

One of the best is getting my first United shirt from Old Trafford with my mum, the 94-96 home shirt, going to a little hut outside the away end near the old megastore to get 'Giggs 11' on the back of it and then not being able to wait to put it on and showing it off in Asda to everyone

If I had the money I'd follow them around the world, but unfortunately I don't. Maybe in the future, and I'd love for it to be something to achieve with a future son or something.
 
I support

Arsenal

I live across the pond no correlation w/ Highbury. My cousin still lives in Cambridge her boyfriend at the time took me to see Arsenal I thought they were average at the time, I loved the NY Cosmos as a wee. I was at the WC`94 in Orlando, Florida(citrus Bowl stadium).

And .....

1253583.jpg


Since living now in Central Florida I do support the local team here at the Citrus Bowl stadium 70,000 . Orlando City Soccer Club "Lions"the owner is a board member of Stokes Phil Rawlins
Orlandocitysc.png
 
I support Arsenal, always lived about a 10minute walk from the stadium and my Dad Grandad, Brother and two uncles all Support them.

To be honest I always supported Arsenal when I was young, but it wasn't until 1991 when I went to my first match (11 years old) well the game I remember anyway we lost 1-3 to Benfica;

Dailymotion - Arsenal-1 Benfica-3 de 1991 - um vídeo do canal Sports & Extreme@@AMEPARAM@@http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video@@AMEPARAM@@video

We lost but I absolutely loved it! Loved Merson, Adams etc. but for some weird reason my favourite player was Lee dixon?! god knows why, it only lasted for a season or so.

I remember standing and when we scored my dad picking me up because the fans would celebrate and push forward, with my dad smiling and singing, it was a great evening. This is the night I became a proper fan.

I would definately support Arsenal if they fell down the leagues. To be honest I would love to be able to go to every game :DD The whole stuff happening now with Wenger and the way people are reacting and demanding we win things, makes me think that alot of those supporters would jump ship if we were ever to drop.

I love Arsenal but I have never been to an Away game, which is very weird. I think that is more due to lazyness more than anything else. also I love going with my Dad and he didn't like to go to away games. My good friends all supported spurs so I never went to games with friends that often.

Great thread Gerd :))
 
Arsenal hasn`t won anything in nearly a decade. What sort of glory hunter follows a club w/o glory. Once you fall for a club theirs no going back, seems to be the case. I`m labeled "plastic" because I`m not a local. I wish it was easy to detach ,but I dare not too. Anyhow, I`m grateful for the Dutch connection that led me to follow The Arsenal!
 
What is your favourite team?

Bayern Munich

Why did you become fan of that team?

When Bayern win the Champions League 2001, I was 8 years old. I remember I sitting in front of the TV and I had a sympathy with this club.
But after the final I lost the connection for many years. I follow the results, but I don't see anything in TV because I had really hard time of my life and I'm really really happy that this time is over.
Then 2005, I began to watch the Champions League matches, I remember espacially the Juventus and Milan matches.
This club gave fun in my life. Since 2006 my life is very good, I have the chance to follow every match of Bayern live in the TV.
And so I have the chance to show my emotions. My pleasure after wins, my oppression after defeats, my tears after very painful defeats like the Inter ones.
I was impressed by Hitzfeld, I really like him, by Kahn, Makaay, Sagnol, and now Lahm, Schweinsteiger or sacked van Gaal.
I really love all of this guys and I'm really proud to be a part of this great club with such an history.

How far would you go?

I would say, Bayern is nearly all for me. My atmosphere depends on the performance and the success.
I cried after the sacking of van Gaal, I cried at the Kahn retirement. I cried after the Champions League final last year.
So, how far? I think crying is enough.
Club changing is an absolute no-go and I don't waste a thought to it, Bayern will always be my club.

I wouldn't do suicide or something like that, if they don't have success.:DD
 
What is your favourite team?

West Ham United

Why did you become fan of that team?

As a Bavarian living near Munich it may seem a bit confusing why I chose West Ham as my club. When I began playing football for my local club (was about six years old) I didn't know West Ham nor the EPL. At that time I "supported" Bayern Munich because it was a big local club and I admired Mehmet Scholl. My dad is pretty into football but he doesn't really support a certain club. He prefers the German clubs on international fixtures but it doesn't matter if they lose, all he wants is an entertaining match. Nevertheless he was responsible for my first visit of the Olympia Stadium when Bayern won 2-0 against VFB Stuttgart many seasons back. The years went by, I visited further games and watched their matches on TV but I didn't care too much anymore. In 2005 or so I watched a football show called "laola" that showed matchday highlights from international league games. That day they presented the English Premier League. The only thing I still remember were those players in claret and blue who played an excellent physical and offensive style of football I never saw before, I was just thrilled by their performance. To be honest, I'm not sure if it was West Ham or Aston Villa that day, the only thing I remembered were the claret and blue shirts (;.
Shortly afterwards I started a Master League with West Ham, checked their results and watched the highlight show as often as I could.
A few months later I got my first West Ham hoody. Apart from the TV show it was nearly impossible for me to watch a live game because we didn't have sky nor a pub that broadcasted the EPL. But then someday I discovered video streaming..that should have proven to be the final nail in my claret and blue coffin. Since that day I missed only two or three games and I started to become a nervous wreck on each matchday.
As a student my money is always short so I've visited the Boleyn just once up to now, but I'll be back in the 11/12 campaign.
Although the Boleyn and the atmosphere in London (first of all the West Ham pubs) was incredible and pure magic, I've had my personal best week involving West Ham at home when they were just a 15 minutes’ drive away for their last years pre-season trainings camp. I had the opportunity to meet the team for a whole week - it was just pure heaven. I had great talks with most of the players and Avram Grant and got two trainings shirt from the Staff + Scotty Parker gave me his sweater when they left.

How far would you go?

For me West Ham is more then just a football club it's an attitude to life.
Lots of people don't understand why I support West Ham and don't really care about the German Bundesliga but that's how it is.

I am a Bavarian, I am a Hammer and stay a Hammer no matter what and I am proud of it.
 
Last edited:
What is your favourite team?

FC Zenit St.Petersburg

Why did you become fan of that team?

Support your local team

How far would you go?

This story with a happy ending, I started to support the team when we played in the second league, after USSR collapsed, all money went to Moscow and Kiev, Spartak and Dynamo are constantly played in the Champions League, while we were fighting for survival.

Some time later we were back in the Premier League, with main target beat Spartak=Russia NT.

Further began more than 10 years, destroyed the hopes. We have many times tried to win the title, showed the best football in the country, but rich Moscow clubs to beat us on the field, and usually beyond the field.
Until one day, gazprom has not ceased to be our sponsor and became the owner. The basis of the team is still comprised local players, but we were able to buy some strong players from Europe, and to protect team from referees.

Over the past 4 years we have won everything that you can (except the Champions League, I am a realist and I understand that this is not possible), I was lucky. But the strongest feelings were, then when we were poor and the club have not won anything. These were the dreams

I do not understand people who support the strong clubs from other countries, you can watch Real, Barcelona, ​​Manchester. Say wow... space soccer. But the support never.
 
Awesome idea for a thread Gerd! Can't believe we didn't have one before and no one had thought of it.
 
At the end of 90s as a young fan of football i had no idea of LFC, i came to like LFC while watching Michael Owen...then i got more interested in the club... after i found out that my uncle is die hard LFC supporter since early 80s....He told me that there is no other club like Liverpool.

but mostly it´s becouse how i developed as a person..i always liked for example the Beatles when i was 15 or something.. then i got more interested in the city, club, other clubs, history, rivalry...i was in Liverpool once but i had not much money to visit all what i wanted..that was in 2006..

If someone asked me why i support Liverpool FC and i have to answer quick, i would say, becouse of the team anthem, YNWA..

many people leave their lives around the world walking through a storm, but with hope in their hearts, they know they never walk alone...this i think is true.

the football club is more than just a sport club for me currently...it´s about the community, people, about hope.
 
Good thread.

As most of you know, i'm a Liverpool fan.

Lets see, for the first 16 years of my life i lived 650 yards from the entrance to The Kop and then moved to a house 330 yards from The Kop. So there's one reason.

Then there's my dad and my brother, who are die-hard reds, there was no way i was going to be any different, even if i wanted to be an Evertonian it would have been beaten out of me :LOL:

I started watching football at about the age of 7 (1992) and i have some great memories of watching the reds back then, like Mark Walters' goal against Auxerre in the UEFA Cup, and the FA Cup semi-final win on penalties as well as winning the final itself. But it was the following season that i started watching more often, only on the telly of course, some great memories such as the 3-3 Man Utd game.

I remember my first time at Anfield for a match (i'd been in 1991 for the Hillsborough Memorial Service), it was Ronnie Whelan's testimonial vs Newcastle, i remember Neil Ruddock broke Peter Beardsley's jaw in this game. I sat in the Main Stand and for the first half hour or so i just looked around the stadium in awe, yes Anfield at the time wasn't a super-modern structure, it still had a single-tiered Anfield Road stand with multi-coloured seating, the Centenary Stand had only been open a few months and also had multi-coloured seats (including a brown section ffs), but looking at The Spion Kop it was an extraordinary sight, this sea of people moving as one, and even though it was a testimonial match the atmosphere was superb with The Kop creating a huge din while the Newcastle fans danced to The Twist at the opposite end. Once i'd been there for a match there was no way on earth any other team could tempt me. Everton could have gone on to win the league 10 years running and it wouldn't have swayed me one bit.

As for the final question, it's hard to say "how far i'd go", but one thing i would say is that if Liverpool FC were to cease to exist there's no way i'd switch loyalty to another established club, i'd probably get involved with AFC Liverpool a lot more, when they started out i was involved briefly, even coming up with some designs for their emblem, i always keep an eye out for their results and news. It wouldn't be the same, i'd never feel the same love and connection for any other club, even a grass-roots version of LFC, but it'd be as close as i could possibly get.
 
Favourite Team: Manchester United and Brazil!!

Why Man Utd: Its a really stupid reason, but they caught my attention because a few things happened, in Winning Eleven 4 (when ML first started) I couldn't read Jap then and just picked a random team because I really liked their jersey ('99 Sharp with Umbro on the sleeves). The same year, I started watching club football and caught this massive team that was so good and started watching them. Apart from their jersey, their attacking display and team work caught my attention the most and as they came to Hong Kong that summer tour, I saw them and loved them. I have since loved them through their highs and lows...

Why Brazil: I think the success of 1994 World Cup caught my attention, but the main reason I loved them was because of a player called Ronaldo and their samba style of play. It was so pretty to the eye and how they moved the ball through defenders just took me away....since then, I've supported them as my main national team...well, since Hong Kong or Canada don't seem to be making any strides to become a World Cup participant...I guess its not that bad that I support a country thats not my own...

How far would I go? For Manchester...when I went on a school trip that stopped by London for 3 days, I lied to my teachers that I had relatives in Manchester and I wanted to see them for our only day off, they believed me and I went to Manchester looking for the stadium just to take a picture of Old Trafford and their store. I was 14 at the time and had no money after buying the two way train ticket to Manchester and a one way ticket from Manchester to Old Trafford. I couldn't even tour the stadium nor buy a ticket back to Manchester Station. So I hoped on the train praying that no police would stop by to check my tickets and went to Manchester Station to take the train back to London. I had no food that day either, but it was well worth it!!! Since then, I've watched a few games but none like the one at Old Trafford 2 years ago...truely sensational.

As for Brazil, I hope to visit that country once and watch a match from the Selecao...hopefully 2014...

I'm very emotional about my teams...I remember jumping like crazy when they win, or being super pissed or even crying when they lose....I've broken lamps, cellular phones, and stuff like that either by throwing them when they lost, or by kicking a ball at them and breaking them....haha, Good old days...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom