Looking for US article on picking UK footy team

March 25, 2008 8:41 PM

Looking for an article by a US sportswriter trying to figure out which Premier League football club to support.

I think it was on espn.com's Page 2, and I'm pretty sure I got there from a link on Paul Lukas' Uni Watch Blog, but who knows. I've searched both sites to no avail.

posted by jtron to sports, hobbies, & recreation (8 comments total)

Bill Simmons.
posted by jeffmshaw at 8:49 PM on March 25

That's the one! You doubled the link by accident, but I was able to figure it out. Thanks a bunch!
posted by jtron at 8:59 PM on March 25

Followup: anyone know any other articles or sites that explain the demographic or sociological backgrounds to team fandom? Any team, any sport.
posted by jtron at 11:09 PM on March 25

mattr - you'll be sad enraged to know that Simmons picked Tottenham.

As for the followup question: the cross-town rivalries between Chicago's White Sox and Cubs, and NY's Yankees and Mets might be relevant. Those particular rivalries tend to have a socio-economic slant to them. I'd think this would be true of any rivalry in a sport where there is no salary cap - the perception will often amount to the more affluent team being able to "buy" victories via high-priced talent, whereas the "poorer" team has to get by with "heart," etc.
posted by krippledkonscious at 4:18 AM on March 26

jtron: If you Google "Celtic Rangers rivalry" you will probably get a ton of information on the historically relgious aspect of those teams. I found it completely fascinating to learn about (although somewhat sickening).

Anecdotally, since moving to the UK, I have learned about these common stereotypes of football fans:
Manchester United fans aren't from Manchester, most likely London.
Foreigners like Arsenal.
Millwall fans are thugs.
Newcastle fans like to go topless, colder the better.
Tottenham fans think they're big time after one lame cup win. (Disclaimer: I'm a gooner)
posted by like_neon at 4:29 AM on March 26

Incidentally, unlike most clubs in the UK, most Manchester United fans aren't from the UK at all.

From the article: ...the club was set to complete research into its global audience that was likely to show a fan base of around 90 million.
posted by WalterMitty at 4:57 AM on March 26

This is related... an American sports writer decides to follow Pompey (Portsmouth FC) and writes a book about it.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:40 AM on March 26

That article is a couple of seasons out of date.... sadly its mostly still true.
posted by tomw at 8:38 AM on March 26