There are a lot of Manchester United fans based in London. Just as there are fans of teams within the Premier League up and down the country that live many miles away from their side’s home stadium. The Manchester United v Chelsea Champions League quarter final stirred up a lot of passion especially in the case of the north-south divide that so many commentators elude to when a northern team meets a southern team in the big match ups. One issue that was raised whilst this writer was watching Manchester United knock Chelsea out was local clubs and fans that support clubs miles away. My argument would be that the badge of the club is what you support, so no matter whether you live in Cardiff, Falmouth or Glasgow the team you follow doesn’t matter – so long as your support is genuine.
The fact of the matter is that football is a global game and people have become more and more mobile over the last twenty years. British people especially are moving around the world and they are taking their clubs with them. If a British person lives in Sydney and supports Arsenal that should be celebrated not frowned upon. Our game, especially the English Premier League is viewed by millions of people, Fifa President Sepp Blatter is on a mission to bring the World Cup to the dark corners of the globe – does it really matter if supporters have little or no allegiance to the city their team comes from? Maybe fifty years ago when clubs were packed with players from their areas but nowadays things have changed dramatically.
It is an interesting question that should be debated. Without a doubt, smaller local clubs are falling on hard times at the moment (with the exception of Crawley Town) and this may be due to youngsters choosing to support the larger clubs. However, the Premier League didn’t get to where it is today because fifteen years ago youngsters were supporting their local clubs. Massive clubs buy players from around the globe, tour around the globe and entertain us week in week out. It is no wonder their fan bases are huge and wide.
Does it really make someone less of a fan if they support Liverpool but live in London? Fans that tend to get annoyed about this kind of geographical disloyalty do so with a certain amount of envy – the green eyed monster comes out in fans that have seen their club lose a game. However, I still cling to the belief that people do not choose who they support. They are guided by parents, by a player they want to emulate on the school playing field or simply by the badge meaning something to them. There is a decline in attendances at lower league football clubs and the imbalance needs to be addressed. However, the attitude of glory hunting and geographical distances mean very little in today’s football. So long as you’re fully behind your team, there should be little room for criticism.
Read more of Tom’s articles at This Is Futbol
[divider]
[bet_365 type=’odds’ size=’300′ af_code=’365_050711′]
