Barnsley on the rare occasion they are on ESPN+ in the states (…and in the championship). My dad is from there and my uncle and his kid still have season tickets (or did until this year). I’ve been to Oakwell a few times.
I used to love watching the Arsenal teams in the early Wenger years, even if I didn’t particularly like Arsenal, if that makes sense. I have a twin brother who supported United, a best friend who supported Arsenal, so growing up in 90s I didn’t get chance to put much abuse in.
I also hope Leeds does well, my dad took me to a game when I was 13ish at Elland Road and I still remember Strachen lazily strolling around the place, and enjoyed watching those teams with Kewell, Radabe, Woodgate, Dacoure, Batty, Hasslebank, Viduka, etc. Kewell was must see TV for a couple seasons when he started going.
All that to say…generally I will enjoy watching a side that isn’t big lads that lump it nowadays, more than any particular clear second team (besides the rare Barnsley game I get to watch). The one and only time Barnsley were in the premeir league my dad flew back to England expressly to watch them in the league, and we were and are not a family with a large disposable income. Still gives me shit about how they beat us.
Generally, when a team is dire, I hope they go down and spare me the viewing cringe next time around.
It feels dirty to say now, but for me it has historically been City. My dad is a city fan, the first game I ever went to was at Maine Road and as a kid I was able to get to them far easier than I could Liverpool. I loved the Lake and Brightwell era and was genuinely upset when it fell apart. I hated that they went down after a result against us. to this day Georgie Kinkladze is one of my favourite Prem players ever. I loved the rebirth of the club associated with the move to the CoM Stadium and their early forays into relevance under Sven with players like Ireland (who I often called the best player in the Prem outside of the top 4) and Elano. I even celebrated quite a fair bit the final Aguero goal against QPR.
Im not sure entirely when it started going downhill, certainly before Mancini left, but quickly thereafter got to the point where I wish them to lose every single game. And not just because of the rivalry, but because they have shown themselves to no longer be the club that I used to like. In the early Mancini years they may have had the money, but they were still that club at that time. I think with success the attitude around the club changed.
a small team from my home town who play in the Highland League and they are crap!!!
we used to be 1 of the biggest and best teams in the league many moons ago, 18 League championships plus loads of cups, then it all fell a part.
the good players got sold, shit players came in
no success
lower attendances,
debt,
the main stand got set on fire
parts of the ground got sold off to pay debt,
it was all downhill,
there was 1 season we were so bad, and attendances were so low, that before the game the stadium announcer wouldnt announce who was in the team, instead he would announce who was in the stands watching!
that season we only won the 1 game, beating Rothes 1-0,
the clach fans did a pitch invasion!
we have won the league once again, maybe 20 years ago, and won the odd cup,
but we’ve never been consistent.
But i am still proud to support my local team and be a lillywhite!
(I even have a strip and a scarf!)
Swansea. Home. My dear old grandad divided my weekends between Vetch Field and carboots.
The rest of my family were Liverpool, so he was fighting a losing battle, but I’ll always have some kind of love for Swans.
I have always followed the local team from where I was living at the time. Originally that was Liverpool and tey have always been my team but I did also occasionally go to Tranmere on Friday nights. Other “locals” have included Newcastle, Cardiff, Celtic and Stenhousemuir.
At the moment we aren’t particularly near a major club. Nearest is Dortmund although a friend is a big Bremen fan so I do look out for them.
Hertha is a true love. I’d call them 1b to my beloved Liverpool 1a.
Union Berlin I enjoy seeing do well. Cool club, really fun and wild fanbase, beautiful part of town.
Swansea (In solidarity with my youngest son).
At the risk of being permanently banned from TAN, I’m admitting that I’m oddly fascinated by Burnley. Very bizarre to admit aloud. I absolutely detested Dyche, his tactics, his players, and his style of football…but if you stare long enough…it almost becomes attractive? He’s done a lot with very little.
Bristol City are my local club. I go and watch them a few times a year because it is the right thing to do. But god the football is appalling most of the time.
For more “political” reasons, I like St Pauli and Livorno. Soft spot for Newcastle - their fans are passionate remind me of ours. Also like to see Tranmere Rovers do well due to connections on the Wirral.
AC Milan, from living next to the San Siro growing up - derby days in the early '70s were something to behold. No particular recollection of why I picked red over blue, but I did, so my brother chose Inter.
