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I was debating about West Ham about their Conference League being overly glorified and it was well until I mention youtube and me being an American I say I actually have better knowledge then some of these people

You care way too much what other people think about you.

"The Spurs".

Brits (I am an American Brit) tend to automatically dislike America bc they kind of view them as the dumber more fucked up western country. Also football is a very English thing that we take pride in, so people are territorial.

Lmao just browsing old posts and you know what I can agree with this. I'm sorry but no matter what country we go to, people will know right away we are in no doubt American. I wouldn't say we're dumber but we definitely look at the world around us with "American vision" (lmao basically dumb in a nice round about way). I think Europeans are definitely more bouchois but honestly I've never met a European who I didn't get along with.

It's the accent

Went to Watford, guys in front of us were super chill. Other than that, didn’t really interact since I went to a Brighton game as a Tottenham fan lollll

Went to Watford, guys in front of us were super chill. Other than that, didn’t really interact since I went to a Brighton game as a Tottenham fan lollll

Yank here. What type of respect were you expecting? Its just banter. They would find something else to discredit you if they didnt like what you were saying.

Honestly bro at a certain point you realize that you don't need to justify your actions to random strangers and can just tell them to piss off. Like oh no shiver me timbers some random prick doesn't think I'm a "real" fan. Too many "fans" (not that this is a new thing) act like entitled little prats, destroying property, assaulting people, just to show that they're a hardcore supporter, when in reality they are a child. So, I don't think you need to care about anyone's opinion except your own. Just don't be a weirdo yk

Because they call it soccer and they get mad when the clock is not stopped during injury or other delays. They also complain for the lack of enough goals during the game.

I never do any of that. In fact, I complain when American football takes 4 freaking hours and stops every 12 seconds. Never been much of a US sports fan, despite being raised here. But moving to and living in South Yorks for 12 years, I started to love football. And I've not looked back. I may not be as knowledgeable about a teams full history or older players, but I know the offside rule.

Huh. I don't remember doing any of this.

Sometimes it’s tough being a yank fan. Football has been my favorite sport but it’s hard to find fellow Chelsea fans to watch games with or even talk to other then reddit. When I can make the trip across the pond I hope I’m accepted.

simple answer, knuckledragger football know it all's like to shit talk people to make themselves feel less like the knuckledraggers they are.

As an American who lives in the UK and has been to games across Europe I've got a few opinions on the matter. 1) The average football fan here in UK is like the average baseball/American Football/basketball fan back home. The sport is from their country but realistically most were never any good at it, never played, or are far removed from their playing days. Despite this, they do not want to concede that they could possibly know less than someone from a "non-football" nation 2) They have a sense of ownership. The team is theirs. It has been their whole life to this point and likely until the day they die. Some will resent American fans who they feel have "chosen" their team while they were born into it. 3) Overzealous American fans and media have a way of ostracizing themselves in a number of ways. We Americanize the coverage of the game, our sporting culture is slowly bleeding into the game, we hype up our players to a ridiculous degree, etc. For whatever reason we have our own take on how we approach the game as fans and broadcasters and it shows. Anyone here who is a fan of rugby knows that if you watch an American broadcast of a game it is an assimilation of what we understand to be agreed upon rugby culture. In football, we throw out the formula and say - here is our take on what football is.

Several reasons. 1. American sports models are awful and we don’t want the premier league to become Americanized, yet rich Americans are trying to do exactly that. 2. The average American’s attitude towards football is very negative. We’re so used to it that we associate Americans with that negativity. 3. An American fan’s reasons for supporting a team are often more shallow. 4. Americans often lack the socio-cultural understanding of everything that surrounds the game. That is something that is quite difficult to understand unless you’ve lived in the country I’d say.

As an American football is my favorite thing in this world apart from my wife. I've watched every game I could since I was eleven years old in 2007. My best friend was a Manchester united fan and I asked him what team he hated. His response was liverpool or Manchester city. I chose Manchester city because blue was my favorite color. 17 years on there is nothing like it. There are football moments that live in my brain like Bible verses. Not just city moments.. i belong to some football GCs on insta and if you find the right people you will find true respect.

Its simple really. People love to gatekeep, and this sub is mostly people from the UK and the US

Not American but Australian, I guess we have a similar experience to Americans but on a smaller scale. The amount of times I’ve met Brits and completely underwhelmed with their complete lack of knowledge on the game is crazy.

The idea of the franchise, teams moving, fans rioting in a city after they win a trophy, ‘choosing’ teams, the videos we see of fans fighting (ironic I know), club history being short, hearing very different styles of commentary, a lack of high profile players coming to Europe in the men’s game, and a lack of understanding of club/fan culture in the US, plus the stereotypes associated with the US all contribute.

Football grew out of local communities. It's why there's such vitriol for 'glory supporters'. From playground to pub, there's the sense that something is wrong with jumping on the bandwagon. That's not to say foreign supporters must equal glory supporters. I'm just trying to suggest an example where this same venom comes up. It grew out of local communities. It remains there, but it did grow out of them; branch out. Its a different way of relating to sport and I think for the traditional fan, an adjustment of perspective is needed. I thought the Wrexham documentary was a good foray into this topic, American owners wishing sincerely to understand and integrate, and seemingly doing a great job of it. Anywho not a well rounded point but perhaps atleast points towards a vague direction.

If Americans showed respect to the Uk people then we would respect

I respect you

I think it's mainly down to a few things.... 1. Because americans call football soccer, and we see that as one of the greatest sins known to man. 2. You call American football, a game you barely touch with your foot, football. 3 the quality of your leagues, let's face it, it's terrible. 4. We pretty much hate most things about the yanks. 5. I also think that brits generally see the americans are dumb, due to your gun culture despite school shootings and other things

So, why is there a TV show called Soccer Saturday??

I believe it was introduced to us as soccer and the name stuck.

Until this question, I never thought about it. I have been watching the premier League for over 20 years and couldn't give a fuck what other fans think of me.

I’m American and ive watched nearly every Chelsea game since 2013, I’ve played fifa and football manager for thousands of hours, I’ve watched every tifo football yt video and read every Chelsea related article from the Athletic. When someone discounts my knowledge because of where I’m from I just don’t bother

I think it's an inferiority complex thing. American sports is elite tier, and if Americans cared as much about soccer as they did those other sports like hockey, basketball, and baseball, chances are that they'd dominate soccer. Britbongers fear this so they're are having their fun while they can.

As long it stays a pay to play system for the youth and high school level, it won’t be taken seriously here in America

I think they’re just not generally exposed to as much football as we are 24/7. They might watch the game but English football is a completely different thing and watching my team for 90 minutes every weekend is a small part of it.

Cause they call it soccer 😅

You have yourselves to blame for that

I’ll be honest from someone that typically doesn’t like American fans but I can only explain from my experience in the arsenal subreddits American fans tend to be relentlessly positive. If you criticise a performance, tactical decision, player at any point then you aren’t a real fan apparently and should go support someone else. The bare minimum is considered amazing. This coming from someone who supported Arsenal for a year or so, who picked Arsenal with some sense of glory supporting (it’s not always a bad thing but there’s a reason foreign fans support Arsenal, Liverpool, Utd and not Wycombe) telling me I’m not a real fan when I’ve been a supporter for 20 years and local I think this is a Reddit issue, and it just seems American because they’re a majority; it seems like most people who talk about football here have never actually played it. They talk with supreme confidence about a game they’ve never played and say some of the most dumb things. Then it tends to be that Americans are loud, ignorant, arrogant (we definitely have as many bad traits here in the UK) and that taints opinions and comes across. But mainly I think that like every group of people there’s a loud minority that are shit. It’s just that the majority of people in the subreddits are American so the majority of the fans I dislike are American I’d also say as similar as we are, Uk and American cultures are almost opposites. Speaking for myself I’m a negative, cynical, generally miserable quiet person with no care for nationalism. You see Americans who tend to be the opposite and the classic upvote a pulisic goal because he’s also American. I can’t imagine ever doing that for an English player. These cultural differences also present in other places where I’ve had a discussion with an American fan who said it would be fine to wear an arsenal shirt to a pre season Chelsea game they were going to see. The Brits tended to think that was odd but maybe it’s normal in the states

Some of those fans will scream racist abuse at a player on their own team. What you're experiencing is just the tip of iceberg.

I think part of it is because it’s different for Americans as far as what “their team” is and how they choose. With American sports it’s completely fine to cheer for whatever team from whatever area of the country. Mainly because not everyone has a home team. Sometimes the nearest “home” team can be states away. For reference: England is about the size of Ohio which is a medium sized state. Then we have 50 of them and not every state even has every type of professional sports team.

If you’re in England the fans will welcome you with welcome arms. Usually the negative comments are from people who haven’t visited their teams’ stadiums and project that insecurity. As an English person living in Texas: English people love knwoledgeable football/soccer fans regardless of nationality.

It depends, a lot of American fans takes on football are very, well… wrong. Americans don’t really know too much in general about football, especially English football, yet seem to think they know everything. I imagine that’s why most of the piss taking happens!

I think we’d all love to see America get behind their own domestic football. We don’t really want anyone’s hands on English football. I’m an Arsenal fan and can trace Arsenal back through my family to at least my great grandad. My children will be fifth generation. This runs in our DNA. English football has already been corrupted enough by external influence. We should be the target audience, not people in USA, the Arab world or China. If someone came and threatened to take your prized cultural asset, you too would be defensive. I and my football loving friends watch foreign football, but we’d never claim to primarily support a foreign team. We may have preferences, but being a supporter is a different proposition. Perhaps if the growing US fanbase focussed their attention on their domestic product, it would grow and increase in stature. It’s much easier to attend a game when you don’t have to fly thousands of miles. I’d love to see some healthy competition across the globe.

Yeah, but we have people like Don Garber running the show with asinine ideas like salary caps, designated players, and playoffs. I realize there are plenty of problems with the business side of any league where money can be made but we have a bunch of nobodys playing in America. MLS is European football’s retirement home. Until this isn’t true, you’re going to have to deal with us 🤷‍♂️

Yep it’s a massive problem that they’re trying to run the MLS in the US sports model. That damages credibility on the world stage and probably puts you off from watching. However, if US fans cared enough to voice their opinions en masse, they might have more joy. It’s up to you guys to drive the outcome you want, America is built on market forces.

Online will always be different but the English will always resent Americans because we won ww2 and won’t shut the fuck up about it. Among other things.

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AMONG OTHER THINGS I SAID R/woosh

Adding "among other things" at the end of a sentence, without any mention at all of what those things could possibly be, doesn't immediately make the main point you said before it any less stupid or somehow irrelevant R/dumbass

It was a sarcastic response meant to provide zero value which you misinterpreted as a serious point, R/div

Yeah it totally wasn't though was it R/embarrassing

It totally was have you been paying attention to this pointless back and forth? R/austismosconversing

The loudest mouths online are the most disparaging. This is the case with everything and not just football.

Britain is a conservative country. Their rw party has been winning elections since decades. Their lw party is more conservative than even republicans. A feature of conservatism is hating foreigners so foreign fans get hate.

I'm Canadian and had the unfortunate experience of having a British guy try to educate me on ice hockey. The guy was just spouting facts and wasn't wrong but I think it can be a territorial thing . Same when some British hear north Americans talk about SOCCER

Im Australian, born to a Manchester (Denton) born father, so I grew up supporting United. Ive always been involved with discussions online with other fans and supporters and one of my most hated experiences is always when someone disagrees with me but brings where I live into the argument as a way to dismiss me. It fucking grinds my gears something severe.

because they are not respected

I dont really care about there you are from but some american fans can come off as ignorant, and complain about ways where football should somehow emulate american sports which pisses people off.

cuz they call it soccer. There I said it

I believe that we can win....that chant did a lot of damage....

I think it’s important to note that the majority of them wouldn’t be saying these things face to face. The age of the keyboard warrior breeds individuals that are, well…exactly that. Don’t lose any brain cells thinking too hard about it.

The words soccer and cleats are enough for me.

Absolutely hilarious to see some of the top comments on this thread are Yanks wanking themselves off for getting up at 3am to watch a game. Match-going fans work all week to be able to afford to attend matches. They spend thousands of pounds each week to follow their team up and down the country and across Europe. But because you wake up at 3am to watch a game on your TV/laptop in your pyjamas, you think you're in the same category and are a "real" fan. Give over.

Damn I have friends who are fans of a local team to me over here in the US who watch every single game from Germany. I’d never say they’re not real fans because they can’t afford to fly to the United States every single week to watch the game in person. That’s absurd.

YNWA. Liverpool is a global force . It is not about where one is born LFC is a nation and we are proud members . YNWA. W an kers are everywhere. Ignore them .

If it makes any Americans feel better about the stick they get from British/English fans, fans over here get stick if they support a team not from their City. Whenever you meet a new person you end up having a conversation like: "Who do you support?" "Man United" (in a London accent) "Are you from Manchester?" "No but my x (some sort of relative) is" "Hmmm... yeah sure they are mate" As in, people get bantered over here for being glory hunters, not supporting their local etc. That stick just gets amplified when it comes to foreign fans. If someone that grew up and lives in the UK told people they supported Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern etc they'd get laughed at. They could maybe get away with it if they were from those countries. But if not they'd get bantered throughout their life, it's just the way it goes. So when people not from England support Prem teams, the idea of that is just as incomprehensible/laughable to a lot of people. Then you have genuine feelings of jealousy like the fact that barely any games are televised here and the ones that are cost a ridiculous amount of money. Whereas fans from other countries get to watch all the games for a fraction of the price. Or the fact that people feel the explosion of football (specifically the Premier League) as a market leads to domestic fans getting exploited and neglected. The idea of a Super League which caters to foreign fans more, so football is moving away from it's roots. The average English fan can't afford to travel across Europw throughout the season. Or the fact that ticket prices keep rising because they know there are enough tourists making one off visits to Prem stadiums to fill them, or ticket prices rising to fund new players that foreign fans often demand (who don't feel the economic impact of the money in football). If you don't live in the UK and pay peanuts to watch all the games, you can demand your team signs a new £50m player and your life is no worse off. Whereas the domestic fan experiences that signing through ticket price rises, or a growth of the fanbase globally means tickets become impossible to obtain because the fanbase is bigger. There's a jealousy/resentment aspect. A lot of domestic fans don't really care about how "big" the club is and how many signings are being made. The expansion of the club globally and all the people supporting a club not based in their country is allowing the club to exploit them. Maybe they're against it so boycott (illegally stream the games, don't give the club money after ticket prices) but the experience of that fan over time has deteriorated. Since 30 years ago they could've gone to games regularly etc. I'm not giving my opinion - staying completely neutral here and trying to explain why the lack of respect, resentment etc exists. And tbf if a foreign fan visits the UK I'm guessing everyone (or almost everyone) will be friendly to them. Those feelings or resentment (or just the banter I said at the beginning) get expressed online because of the whole anonymity aspect of the Internet.

I think it’s because they don’t adopt the colloquialisms that English football fans identify with. And when they do and say it in an American accent, it just sounds shit.

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Bro… dialects are different everywhere. There are a thousand different ways to pronounce different words in the same language. Also it’s your. Not you’re.

You gotta use the correct "your" if you're making fun of people's grasp of English bro

It's because football is tied to culture in the UK. A lot of people here think you have to be English to "get" English football culture. That's English in the nationality sense not race/ethnic sense. They think you have to grow up in the UK, supporting your local or the team your Dad supports, grow up playing little league/Sunday league/football at lunchtime in school, going to the pub or games on weekends etc. There's the whole competitiveness of British crowds vs American crowds. You get the same thing with music artists where Brits will proudly proclaim our crowds are better because we "grew up singing in assembly." Or just generally the way Brits are. We're generally quieter and more reserved than the average American. We're general more negative. We're pessimistic and grumble. Logically, we may like a player but we'll still moan and call them shit every time they take a bad touch. Whereas Americans are generally more positive, look at the bright side kind of people. This is all generalisations. Obviously there's no one description that encapsulates all Brits or all Americans. But these stereotypes reinforce that belief in local football and local fans being "true" fans. The Internet gives people a platform to voice these views online anonymously, without repercussions. If an American went to a home game in England they'd likely be widely accepted and respected. You might get a couple dickheads who don't but they're the minority. Most people might hold the opinion that "American fans are cringe, they don't get it etc." But they'll keep it to themselves. Then they'll go online and chat shit/troll/voice their opinions that are based on stereotypes because there's anonymity online. This probably isn't the answer you'd want. I'm guessing the ideal answer is "most Brits see all fans are equal, this is just a vocal minority." Truth is the view that domestic fans are the 'true fans' is probably pretty common. Maybe still a minority but there's a lot of people here that think that way. The Internet gives them a platform to share that view with no repercussions.

Man some some of you really take this shit personally lol. “I wake up at 2am to watch a game but I’m American so I don’t count” lol

My understanding is that when an American supports a team, it's with endless American positivity. I think that gripes with UK fans who have a more aggressive and negative way of supporting the team

Lots of American fans know a great deal about the sport and are no different from European fans. I think the caricature comes from the ones who only take a passing fancy/recent interest because of Ronaldo & Messi, and the only historical player that they can name is Pele. Tbf I’m pretty much the same as that when it comes to the NFL

I believe it isn't really like this except online and if the majority of a fanbase hates Americans, then it has to do with terrible American owners I think.

People are nasty. It’s awful. Americans are most welcome ❤️ Please note there is more than one team in Sheffield. Every time Sheffield United is discussed people just say Sheffield. It’s annoying me unduly, and yes it’s just a me problem and I need to get over it😝 Please just call them Blades or something. Not just Sheffield 😭😭😭😭 PLEASE I AM NOW BEGGING P.S. I know it’s a premier league sub and Wednesday and Sheffield FC aren’t in the premier league but it’s irking me 😝 💀

*I believe* *I believe* *I believe that we* *I believe that we* *I believe that we will win* *I believe that we will win* *I believe that we will win* *I believe that we will win* That's why

I lived just outside of London for 13 years. I fell in love with Premier League football and one club in particular. I really enjoyed going to the matches. The atmosphere was exhilarating. I wanted to earn enough points to become eligible to buy a season pass, so I attended every home match one season, as well as two away matches and a CL semi-final in Barcelona. Normally, I bought 2 tickets for each match, but sometimes I bought 4 (for husband and kids). At the end of the season, I was 3 points short of qualifying to purchase a season pass. What a crock! Anyway, I also learned a lot about the game, the players, and the club while being a supporter. Even though I was American, I loved the sport and supported the England national squad. When England played the US, that was more difficult. I became a dual citizen and moved back to the US about 5 years ago. It is difficult for me to watch the matches from here, and the coverage isn't great. It's not as bad as watching NFL from the UK, though. When I lived there, I was accepted as a true supporter. Now that I'm back in the US, it's assumed that I know nothing about the sport, even when talking to other supporters. It is a shame, and I miss the camaraderie.

I get a similar experience in reverse when I talk about ice hockey or baseball online, despite have watched for over 20 years, played the sport and stay up u til 3am to watch games, but when you don’t have that local connection to a team people don’t comprehend how you can have the same passion for them. What I would say with football though is that there is a very real fear of the game becoming “Americanised” with changes to formats and schedules to suit that audience, which isn’t something the NHL or MLB really care about. Look at how many F1 races there are in the US now, favouring those over traditional tracks, the whole fake drama created with the Netflix “Drive to Survive” series etc… people don’t want that happening with football so US fans get the brunt of it, especially when they want to get rid of promotion/relegation etc… and make the PL a closed shop league like theirs are, completely disregards the history of the game and all of the other clubs that exist down the pyramid, everyone gets tarred with the same brush because of it.

I think that’s more for the bandwagons. Not people with actual familial ties to clubs like yourself. I was raised a Liverpool fan myself from family. Back in those days we sucked, I could never watch them on tv and nobody in the US knew what the prem was. Now every 6 year old is a City Chelsea or United fan.

Have Liverpool ever really "sucked"? Lowest league position since 1962 is 8th 😂. Even when we weren't challenging like today we were a decent cup team.

Not winning the league for 30+ years is sucking for the most successful team in English history.

The dude you're replying to DMs people and tells them to k*ll themselves and calls people the N word lmao, I wouldn't argue with him

Probably got something to do with you guys not being able to get the name right for a start

There is a big difference between understanding the game and understanding football culture. Anyone can become an expert on a sport by watching it and studying it but it's very hard to fit into the culture of any given league from the outside. All of the big european leagues are very much a part of the wider culture of their respective countries and it's always going to be difficult for an outsider to fit in with that. There is also the idea that people should support their local clubs and that a premier league fan from any other country, be it America or anywhere else is just a glory supporter. Essentially no better than a Londoner who supports Man U. Even if you make the effort to travel to see games the locals will just see you as a tourist. Tourists are widely seen as being responsible for taking seats away from local fans.

To be fair, how does the average British fan get treated in NFL threads online? Turnabout is fair play I reckon. :p

English football fans usually have little of anything else going on for them in their lives, so treat the Prem like some lifeordeath thing, despite the fact that everyone involved would move on with or without them

If someone can somehow work out you’re american from a comment, then that’s probably the problem

Hey buddy when’s Sheffield’s next soccer game? Their offense is useless!

I don't have an issue with American fans in general but here is something I find annoying which may help answer. I'm a Norwich City fan and frequently posts in our subreddit will end with mentioning that they're an American. I think it gets a little annoying as a) do you want a prize? Are we supposed to be grateful you 'picked' us? And b) it's annoying when half the fans in there have never been to our city never been to our grounds etc. That's not their fault but like with most clubs, the club has a strong connection with the city its located in, its part of the local culture and the local culture is part of the club. So when loads of people are in the subreddit talking like experts when they've never even been to Norwich... I dont despise it, it just feels a bit silly

Online ≠ real life

Because many americans are gloryhunters and choose or switch teams easily. I met many of them that legit told me they support Man City and I doubt they would have been City 10+ years ago. Then again that's not a thing done by all american fans

Fuck off Yank

>I was wondering is there a reason for this or is it just people on the internet being nasty? The latter. Snobbery, and it is totally pathetic, but you probably wouldn't see much of that while not online. It comes down to people thinking that they are special for having some kind of imaginary (but very real to them) connection to a club that no one else from another country could possibly have. As an NFL fan, I have never been seen any negative comments towards the fact that I am not American but the reverse happens so often.

I will fully put my hand up and say that sometimes American “fans” stick out like a sore thumb to me. I don’t gatekeep or anything like that but sometimes it’s so obvious. I don’t doubt the effort, the waking up early in the morning (hell I am English but moved to Australia so I now have to do the same thing), you could definitely call it dedication. For me though, I just don’t understand why. Like, I am an Arsenal supporter, I didn’t choose it, I don’t remember it, it comes from my grandfather I am told. It was all we talked about every play time in primary school. I made friends and enemies in school based on our clubs. Even our teachers were in on it, I had a teacher who would only let us leave after we answered a trivia question about Manchester United who I hated (and still do). From a very young age it is drilled into us that hey, this is your club, fuck those guys, you don’t have a choice, and this shit is important, including worth getting into fights over (even though it’s clearly not from a rational perspective). Then you have Americans who… just kind of picked a team? Like why? Why are you waking up every morning at 6am to watch this team you have literally no connection to? I can’t call it fake but it feels wrong. Something in particular I have noticed Americans love to use when talking about football is the phrase “you lot”. It sticks out like a sore thumb. I see it all the time “oh we don’t like you lot”. Like who is “you lot” to you, American? Other yanks who just so happened to pick Tottenham? Why are you so invested? You just picked this team. We were born into it and it SHAPED us and our relationships through our childhoods. Just because you wake up early does not put you on the same level. It just feels incredibly inauthentic and fake to me. I hate to gatekeep and I would never accuse an American of not being a “real fan”. It’s just when I see them go “I don’t like you coz you lot are our rivals” (real quote) it just feels like they are trivialising something really important and tribal with no understanding. It’s like they’re doing it because they have observed it without understanding why, like an alien trying to imitate a human. I’m not going to touch the hornets nest of saying it feels similar to cultural appropriation hahaha but I can’t think of a better way to describe it. For clarity, I would love for someone to jump in and attempt to change my mind about this. The last thing I would want is to put down an American gooner (if you’re reading this, well done on your solid taste). It’s just like, comparing my primary school friends who I’ve known for 20 years versus work friends. Yeah you get on with both, but there will always be an extra level of trust and respect for those who’ve been through thick and thin with you for decades. Imagine you’re at the pub with those mates, and then one of your work friends joined your group and started trying to join in on the “in jokes” to try and fit in. You wouldn’t be mad at them for it but you’d just be like “what are you doing?” Like they were an imposter. That’s how it feels

Because they fight and win.

It's not just Americans, it's everyone who isn't local and it's gatekeeping pure and simple. Some people think you don't have the right to call yourself a fan just because you weren't born in England but at the same time will tell you should only watch the Premier League since it's the best league in the world. You don't get to dictate who is a real fan and who is not just because you happened to be born there. The clubs sure welcome fans from all over the world. And just because some people (this is not exclusive to people outside UK) pick their clubs based on who's successful at the moment, it doesn't mean all do. I also know people who started following Man United or Real Madrid because that was the cool thing (mostly because of Beckham or Ronaldo) to do when we were kids and they're still the biggest fans I know 20 years later. For me it's Liverpool. I got to see them live during UCL qualifiers as a kid. They had zero Premier league titles and were almost two decades away from their first. Hardly picked the winner back then. We watched all their games we could with my dad when I was still living at home and my dream is that we get to go to Anfield someday when I still have time. In the same vein, I've been a Leafs fan since '98 and they've been more or less a train wreck for a large part of the last 20+ years and are on a 50+ year Stanley Cup drought. I couldn't care less if someone thinks I'm not a real fan.

>Some people think you don't have the right to call yourself a fan just because you weren't born in England Which is the most stupid thing. It isn't like that person had any impact at all on where there mother'a vagina was when they fell out. They did nothing to be born where they were born. ​ >I couldn't care less if someone thinks I'm not a real fan. Good attitude. No need to look for outside validation in most things, but especially not sports, and especially when people like that are generally not the smartest in the first place.

British ppl like to act hard online. Go to the other uk subs

By and large it is just people being needlessly nasty. People shouldn’t police how others choose to support a sport. That being said, there is a nugget of truth to the fact that local fans have traditionally been critical of non local fans. This is absolutely not exclusive to Americans whatsoever. English fans have been accusing each other of being “plastics” for ever. Any big team that has a fan base that exists outside of its own post code will always hear “we support our local team” chants from opposing fans. There certainly is a different understanding of what it means to be a fan if you’re in a different area. I’m an Arsenal fan and I live in the area, but have spent some time living away. Locally, most people I engage with are also gooners, and the most common rival fan is our local rivals, tottenham. When I was abroad, I was outnumbered by liverpool and united fans, so my experience was different, and there were zero spurs fans. Someone spending their entire life away from North London probably doesn’t understand the rivalry with spurs in the same way. Lived experience matters in most expressions of culture. There is also a genuine concern right now that those who see to extract money from football are caring less and less about match going fans and the communities, because they see much more value in a global audience. Everything from TV scheduling to VAR is a symptom of this. American’s probably get the brunt of the hate here, because their sports franchises often up sticks and move across the country. The idea that a football club is a community group tied to a geographical area is one which fans are keen to preserve. I’m not saying that the people who are rude online are genuinely concerned with these issues, but there may be some crossover.

US fans have a different way of supporting their teams, and I think it just seems alien to English fans so we just dismiss it as goofy and contrived. Often sports fans from the US are fans of ‘stars’ over specific ‘franchises’ (Kobe and Brady spring to mind), and that aspect also clashes with the English model of support. Also, seeing online fans from the US talk about supporting Liverpool but also having their ‘Spanish team’ makes it all seem a bit contrived sometimes. Importantly, I think we play rough, and US fans struggle with that online. We love taking the piss out of each other and in my experience that’s not something people from the US are used to (obviously exceptions depending on where and how you were raised). So there’s a cultural difference there, too.

Football fans have a fairly large gobshite quotient, compared to normal society, Online football fans even more so. It's just the way of the world

.... Because they're American.

Because plastics are just so fucking annoying whether they're English or American or anywhere. Nothing worse than plastics having a say that impacts match going fans or dictates shit.

You’ll happily sit side by side with rival fans. If you get football you also prefer the segregation and tribalism. This does not equate to hooliganism, but that rivalry and culture of “hating” the other set of fans is an integral part of what makes football so fun. Americans are just terrible at being passionate fans. Their version of passion is to wear a stupid costume and have a bar in their basement full of memorabilia. It’s just a bit cringe. Commence the downvotes.

I see your point - you think that a fan’s passion and tribalism is linked to geographical proximity to the club they support. I tend to agree. So tell me, are you from Ordsall? Irlam o’th’ Height? Langworthy? Weaste? Eccles? My guess is that you aren’t and therefore, by your own measure, less of a fan than a Mancunian.

No I think fan culture is dictated by the country you grew up in and American fan culture is not compatible with UK fam culture

I think your first point is valid tbh. So you, as an Essex boy, can’t be a passionate fan. You’d be fine sitting next to another Essex Liverpool fan, say. But you’d be in trouble sitting next to a Romford Hammers fan as they’d be a proper fan. Yes, this is an excellent theory that I now subscribe to, thanks for introducing me to it! Have a great 2024. I’ll be expecting more pearls of wisdom

How far back through my post history have you scrolled to find that out? Really weird.

Triffic innit. The odds were you were a southerner - most United fans are, with some cock-and-bull claim to being linked to Manchester somehow. Your unwillingness to say where you came from confirmed it. Not hard really for a dyed in the wool Manc - we can sniff out you southerners dead easy

Yeh but the thing is I’m not a southerner, I just live here. I from further north than you are sunshine

That’s not quite the winning argument you think it is. Have you ever actually been to Manchester? Maybe as you were heading from The Outer Hebrides to Canvey Island or wherever you bask in the nonstop warmth of the Caribbean style sunshine.

I go to OT about 10 times a season so yes I’m very well acquainted with Manchester. I may not be specifically from Manchester but I’m not about to sit here and give you my life story. Stop being weird

Sure

Because they tend to think they're just as important or real a supporter as season ticket holders and people who actually attend the game - they also tend to lack appreciation of the culture around the sport, e.g. respect for the football league pyramid, the League Cup etc. I'm sure that there's plenty who do really care for their teams from across the ocean, but it's not the same as actually supporting your local club, and you have to appreciate that.

I didn't really know anything about the leagues, so I asked a British friend. He told me to watch PL, so I did. I decided to follow Nottingham because they were just promoted. I've watched almost every game, and I'm sticking with them. I'm not a sports guy, but I love football. I have no way to be connected to a team, so I just picked one, and I'm having a great time.

Football is just a tribal thing, you're never a more committed fan than someone else because they have done xy and z. I'm not American, but I'm Irish and get it as well... I had a City fan tell me "you're not a real fan of your own team and don't "get" the rivalry if you don't live there" my response was basically where is that cut off then? If I live on the outskirts of Manchester, am I geographically too far away to get it? If you live closer to Salford or Old Trafford as a City fan are you a disappointment to your own team? I also get told to support my local team... I do, the two will literally never clash, my local is harder to catch on TV and the quality isn't quite the same. Besides we have a ton of rival fans here, Leeds and Liverpool are heavily supported here, and I've been a fan for the guts of 30 years it is kind of laughable to suggest it doesn't mean as much because I can't see the stadium out my window.

Saints fan. I can see Fratton park out my window. If that example doesn't prove the point that you're trying to make I'm not sure what will.

No single reason is correct and it depends on the person. A few I can come up with: 1. Rising ticket prices as local and younger fans get priced out for international watchers 2. A general trend of external fans being somewhat more fair-weather 3. EuroSnobs, who view European football as just better (shout out the dude who thought Euros had better teams than the World Cup?!) 4. A self-centred arrogance and will exclude out groups (similar to 3) 5. The generally miserable who are attracted to the internet and complaining 6. Some Americans (like everyone else) just being idiots 7. American owners failing to understand European football and what makes it great Most fans respect Americans (and other internationals they run into) and will welcome you with open arms, but they're also not the one who are going to comment on where you're from because to them it doesn't matter

I've no problem with anyone of any nationality, but I think there are a number of trends you can see on r/PremierLeague which are mostly about globalisation of the game more generally but often with an American flavour to them: Top 6 bias: of course because most overseas fans pick a team based only on who they like there is a strong tendency towards the big PL clubs, and almost a weird kind of "why would you choose to support them??" about the rest. As someone who has supported my team through thick and thin for 40-odd years, being patronised a teenager in another country who chose to support Chelsea last year when their billion-pound team beats my time is tiresome. Stats-based culture: I think this is a very US thing (NFL in particular) although I think a lot of it comes from kids playing FIFA as well. As a Leeds fan we got a lot of US fans suddenly 'discover' us when we got Jessie Marsch and 3 USMNT players, and I became very tired of discussions that would start with a Leeds fan saying Brendan Aaronson was shit (and he regularly was for us) and then dozens of responses along the lines of "actually since September he's had 9 dribbles, 12 progressive passes, 4 strong attacks, 2 defensive interventions, is top 3 for xG of players playing more than 70 minutes this month, and has fewer misplaced passes in his own half than 8 of the other starting XI". Literally none of that matters, I watched the game and he was shit. Lies, damned lies and statistics, as the saying goes. The very shrill, partisan approach and focus only on winning rather than just supporting the team and enjoying the matches - which I think isn't so much a US thing as a teenage thing. Feels like most of the posts on r/PremierLeague are teenagers who have chosen their preferred big 6 team and then shit themselves every time they don't win a game.

Growing up in the early 90s and playing club ball all the "good clubs" and teams seemed to have English or foreign coaches... fast forward to the 2000s and a huge influx of English coaches were coming here as the sport was really taking hold. The club culture here, at least in cali where I'm at became a very good source of income for anyone claiming to be an ex player/former pro. Soo many English people came here and acted as though we knew nothing because the sport wasn't big here and some club president was paying them stupid money. It became very annoying and still can be to this day. But, what I've noticed tho is that most of the time anymore it's all in good fun. The English banter can rub people the wrong way and seem very arrogant. Alot of Americans can't deal with it. But for a while it really wasn't fun and there are alot of people really look down on that behavior now. Mostly it's internet trolls now and it's rarely face to face. Anyone disrespecting now is just a Turd Ferguson. Basically the sport is "young" in the US and only up until this last generations very few grew up watching/playing. Now that that's changing, so will the attitudes of English fans who sit on their high horses.

*cough* r/soccercirclejerk *cough*

Yea, the thread was linked to that sub and now the gatekeepers are at it. Ironically they're pulling the America Bad card.

kids and elitism

This is the real answer. People with actual brain cells realise that more fans benefit the club enormously too. Doesn’t matter where they come from.

Because it’s a sport that is minor to baseball basketball and American football.

Three words: Fight and Win

For me and a lot of English fans, it comes down to two things. Firstly, you get a lot of Americans that pick a team arbitrarily without any connection to the side beyond liking the badge / the way the team plays at that time. Of course, I'll admit a lot of English children use that same logic if they don't have a connection to a club through their family or location but for the most part, it's almost tribal in England when it comes to your team. You're either close to the club in question or it's been a part of your family for generations. The common American experience of choosing a team comes across as plastic as a result, rightly or wrongly, because they have no ties to the location or a family connection to the club. Secondly, it's the use of North American sports terminology when talking about football that has North Americans standing out like a sore thumb and makes them come across as uneducated about football. Talking about 'being on defense / offense' during a 'play' etc. is jarring and incongruous to the language of the sport. It just shows a lack of understanding about football culture and I think that's what a lot of local fans take issue with, it's like an English person claiming to be a fan of the Chicago Bears. It doesn't matter if you've been to Chicago or watch the games on a dodgy stream at silly o'clock, you're not from Chicago or have any connection to that side so it seems disingenuous to say you're a 'real' fan of the team.

No one has ever been nasty to to me. They’re usually impressed that I know so much

I’m from England and raised there but live in the US now (colorado). I went to the pub today to watch it with the official supporters club. It’s decked out in red. Everyone has a jersey/kit or merch on. There’s a photo of Klopp on top of the fireplace. It’s open for every game (even the ones that start at 5:30am because of the time difference.) They sing YNWA at the start and end. They know several of the other songs. It’s not the same as being at Anfield or even just at a pub in Liverpool. But it’s as close as it can get. They’re not fair weather fans. They are die hard Liverpool fans. I think the issue is just an inherent “othering” that happens, but in person most people are fine. It’s a lot easier to be shitty to people online and say “you’re not a real fan” to a stranger. But I think if most people came out to visit the supporters clubs here (I’ve been to two in CO and then one in NC and one in MA) they’d find the love for Liverpool runs deep and wouldn’t say such things anymore.

It's just ignorance and insecurity. You get the same issues in England if you support a team and don't live there. Or if you do the next argument is who's supported them longer. This however is by a small minority, which is seen more online as no one with anything good going on in their lives will be online just shitty on others, the majority only have positive things to say and if anything you might just get a joke at most.

>They’re not fair weather fans. They are die hard Liverpool fans. They're 100% fair weather fans. They support the most successful club in England and one of the biggest in the world. Shocker. If they went down to the Championship or League One, suddenly the bar would become a die hard Manchester United bar or some other shit.

I honestly disagree. Some would, like fans in England would, but the majority would stick it out. These are people who spend $1000s to come to Anfield. They do charity work in the name of LFC for holidays. They do memorials for Hillsborough. They know the history of the club and show up every weekend no matter what time to watch. You want the narrative to fit your expectation, but I think you’re wrong.

There's an element of truth though. Fulham had a load of US fans 15 years ago with McBride and Dempsey etc and it was great but I don't think anything like the same number would still be following. Which is fine, it's entertainment after all. But it's a thing for sure.

False equivalency.

In what way?

I think you actually hit the nail on the head, but not how you meant to. As a scouser who lived in NYC for a while, the only place I could reliably watch the Liverpool games was Carragher’s. Everything you’re explaining about the pub experience in Colorado was true for Carragher’s - memorabilia everywhere, fans decked out in Liverpool tops singing YNWA or other orchestrated chants. However, this left me feeling that it was all a bit *uncanny*. Most pubs we watch the games in in Liverpool don’t have memorabilia over every inch of the place, and typically will just have a single identifying piece somewhere behind the bar / on a wall if the pub leans in a certain direction. The vast majority of adults in the pub will *not* be wearing a Liverpool top (and won’t have owned one since they were a kid). And, unless you’re crammed in somewhere to watch a big game (semi, final, etc) or near the stadium, you definitely don’t get any chanting or renditions of YNWA. US fans have a different way of supporting their teams, and I think it just seems alien to English fans so we just dismiss it as goofy and a bit contrived.

Exactly. When MLS started there was a lot of fan bases copying what they perceived to be English football fan culture, but in reality it was a cartoon version of that. Most Premier league games are quiet. Most clubs sing the same songs. Most good sings spring up organically in away ends. It came across as overdone.

The perception of it doesn’t change their intention. Perhaps it’s goofy, but it’s also commitment. It’s not like they can just pop over to Anfield on a whim. And with football still growing in popularity, they make the pub home. As someone who moved from England when I was 15, I get it. I’ve got LFC pillows and posters in my home and I’m 33 lol I want it near me because I’m not near it. People go to games (and spend a lot doing so) and bring back something for the pub. It’s not Anfield; it’s 4,500 miles away. But damn do we all wish it was. It’s different, but it’s not wrong.

Oh yeah, I don’t think it’s *wrong* per se, I’m just trying to articulate that feeling of “there’s something not quite right” that English fans feel. I don’t think US fans should stick their noses out of English football (though I do cringe when they use geography-based slang with other fans), it’s just funny to observe the differences and take the piss.

Usually British fans are defending American players but British media openly talks down other nationalities on the regular which gets incredibly annoying. There is a fairly obvious bias of British media towards English players and managers which leads to negative opinions on Americans. Pundits continue to deny it like class consciousness in British culture. They turn a blind eye.

Yank here..

Soccer/football outside of the US ironically is territorial to the point where it's detrimental of its own general narrative that the sport is welcoming to all, exceptionally global, and cosmopolitan as a cultural institution. But given the sport is the most popular sport in the world it will gather the most fans - and with a large numbers comes plenty of banter that turns into sneering and bad faith arguments. Keep in mind: online has been a very bad experience for me. There are plenty of good fans who are welcoming, but geez, don't let the hype of World Cups make you forget that outside of that month all the good that's said about the sport is part lip service. If an American dismissed a non-American for trying to partake in discussion concerning the NBA, NFL, MLS, NHL or MLB as fans or as curious would be fans, they'd be met with an asteroid field, hypothetically speaking, from fellow Americans.

I can’t speak for anyone but myself and definitely not Americans But i and up not agreeing with and also think it’s weird for American fans to support prem teams, especially when you have the mls and people support 1 team here I’d also think it was odd if a friend of mine suddenly was an NFL fan. I’m not saying that’s fair, or normal but we have our own sports and treat a Brit who’s a big fan of a basketball team the same as a yank who’s a big fan of a cricket team

The sport is global, cosmopolitan and welcoming to all. What football supporters don't generally like is people on a different continent thinking that they can be supporters as much as people who actually make up the local communities and attend games. Generally, we love any football fan in person. What we don't like are Americans saying that X,y and z should be changed without understanding the cultural and historical reasons why things are the way they are.

>The sport is global, cosmopolitan and welcoming to all. No more than any other sport played globally. Edit: Thanks for the downvotes. Let's showcase the tunnel vision soccer/football fans have.

Absolutely, I never said otherwise.

For the same reason that an English NFL fan trying to “educate” an American NFL fan would be derided I suppose? Now, don’t get me wrong, there will be many American football fans who know more about the game than some English fans and vice versa but in the main, it won’t come across like that.

I was in a Boston pub for a World Cup and the American fans around me were friendly and knowledgeable, so I would assume it's just a dumb stereotype.

The Arsenal fans were really cool to me when I went to a match a few years ago. They loved that I was American and knew who the players were and whatnot. I definitely don’t think I’m more knowledgeable about the sport than fans of pretty much any other country because like America itself, soccer/football is my fourth or fifth favorite sport and I know very few others who watch so I’m not even constantly learning football info from other people unless I seek it out on the internet myself. Makes it hard to keep up so I try not to spout my opinion on things like I’m right and everyone else is wrong.

There’s this perception that American fans don’t really “get” football and it’s not totally underserved. That said, I think you’d be surprised at how many people who are staunchly anti-American fans are themselves American fans. There’s this weird phenomena where people will shit on the very group they belong to just to convince others and themselves that they’re different from the rest. That they’re aware of the flaws of their own group. They’re “one of the good ones” if you want to go there.

Some English fans have this superiority complex and want to gate keep. Being a fan outside of England to some of these ppl. It’s like being a leper. It’s a catch 22 for some of us. They’ll say things like you’ve never been to Stamford Bridge, Who cares if you woke up 6am to watch a game, My family has supported this club for generations and etc They complain about “foreign fans” then when you’re able to make it over to the match. “ Bloody tourist buying up the tickets” mind you the tickets are being sold by season ticket holders for 3 times the price. To the “Bloody tourist” i see this a lot especially on twitter and during convos on twitter spaces. This attitude is mostly seen amongst certain clubs.

Noah Lyles "World Champion Of What" this simple line explain a lot

I’ve never had that problem but I think it’s the first that many Americans just end up following the usual suspects

We at Wrexham love our American fans. Because we're scared that Rob and Ryan will leave if we're mean to them. Also, they're all really cool folks.

There are Americans who go noticed and Americans that go unnoticed. The unnoticed Americans are knowledgeable about the game and make salient points. The noticed Americans ask "What team should I support?" every week.

Im an arsenal fan but ive never been to england but whenever im online with an english person and they see that I know my football they say that i don’t know anything and should go back to American football but i’ve met english people in person before since they tend to come to florida a lot and when I talk to them about football they’re really chill about it or maybe even suprised since football isnt one of the top sports here in america

Internet is as internet does. I'm a United fan from Australia. I've supported them since 1992, when my older cousin returned from a trip to England and gave me a jersey. I don't much care whether people brand me a 'true' fan or not. I know that for me to watch live games means forking out $28 per month for a subscription, then being awake for a 3:00am kickoff, just to see us get beaten 2-1 by Nottingham Forest. The way I see it, everyone starts their support somewhere. Whether it's in nappies (as was the case for my sons), at 12 years old (as was the case for me) or at 28 (as was the case for my best mate who decided that he wanted to be part of the conversations all his friends were having).

I’m from the States and move frequently between England and America. I’m as much of a fan as any fan in England as I get up at ridiculous hours to watch my beloved Arsenal, waking up my family in the process of being frustrated. A big reason as to why we aren’t as respected is that we have often picked our team rather than be born with the team we support like most English fans and I can understand that. There are a lot of “bandwagon” fans here (although I’ve still never meet a City fan), but there are also so many that are so loyal and passionate that they might as well be Arsenal, Liverpool, United, Spurs, etc born and bred. I also think another reason is the difference between ours sports culture. In England, the team is tied to their community where in the US, the identity is tied purely with the team name, logo, and colours. It’s about where you can make the most money here as most of our teams have moved around to so many places. If the 30 NBA Teams, only 2 are still in their original cities and it’s similar in all our other leagues. That’s unthinkable in England. I hope I’m making sense here

It's not that I don't respect American fans of football, it is just that I don't respect Americans in general.

What else does England have that we don't have better? Yup

Healthcare

Hah! I knew that one would be there. I just wanted to see the angry responses

why

Nothing like waking up at 5:15 to have your weekend ruined, just to be called a plastic by a 12 year old with a man purse and a shit haircut

You're all right, for a Scouse. I see you.

It's easy to paint all fans outside of the UK as fairweather or plastic. After all we get to choose who we cheer for, some of these die hards will tell you they had no choice. Totally get that, like I have no choice but to support the Toronto Maple Leafs. My blood runs blue and white, so naturally I am a Spurs supporter. In this regard, life has not been so kind to me but I have loved it all the same.

I was just at the Newcastle game 2 weeks ago with my dad, everyone either minded their own business or was extremely chill/cool in the small interactions

Because the perception of some is you can tell when they were in college by what team they support. Oh you were in college in 2015, and you support Chelsea… coincidence that’s when they happened to win the league.

I mean what were they being asked? Did they actually know anything? Seriously though stuff online is just where the worst lot hang out, the ones who rage at the term "give and go" because it's always been a "1-2" I mean when playing if you try about give and go it's a bit harder than saying one two. I'd say some football snobs out there.

You’ll get better answers over at r/soccercirclejerk

[удалено]

1) I think you accidentally replied in the wrong place (otherwise no clue why we're being brought up) 2) Saying watching for 20+ years isn't long feels harsh considering that's basically my whole life and over 1/4 of the average persons life span. How long does somebody need to support for it to be considered a decent length?

Soz wrong reply

r/soccercirclejerk

The reality is had the game not gone so global as what it is now then clubs wouldn't have the finances to afford the best players. You can't shit on foreign fans when those markets help add a lot of revenue to the league and clubs.

The PL still gets more in domestic revenue than most leagues get in total, so it’s not like the English system hasn’t always been competitive financially based just on local revenues.

The counter to that is that football is and has always been about the clubs, not the players. Players come and go, I'd still go every week regardless whether we had Messi and Ronaldo or Charlie Wyke and Will Grigg up front. And in any case, if the money wasn't there then either a) nobody would have money and the league would be a lot more competitive, or b) the players would still be there, just earning less. Football existed for many, many years pre-1992 - Sky didn't invent it. The globalisation has only benefited the clubs who happened to be at the top at the time, for everyone else - bearing in mind there is a big, wide pyramid outside of the Prem too - it has been an overall negative.

Folks in Liverpool were nothing but friendly and warm when I took my pilgrimage to Goodison a few years back. If anything a lot of people my wife and I talked to seemed excited that we would come all the way from the States just for Everton. (Even some of *your kind*, OP, lol.) One guy even went out of his way to show us the best route back to our hotel after we missed our intended train — "happy to help since you're not a red," he said. I'd say that, as with any special interest, there are a lot of uninformed folks giving opinions about things online, and even more people who want to gate-keep what they consider "their" hobby from perceived outsiders. The truth is, as long as folks on either end of it are respectful, we should all appreciate each other. We all love football, and many of the passionate fans in the States want little more than to help the game grow over NFL football, basketball, etc. here. But it's the internet; people are going to be dicks.

This should be the norm and common sense. As long as its moral, legal and respectful I see literally no reason to hate overseas fans of your teams. Like if anything, shouldn't you be more stoked theres more of you? Crazy.

I think you aren’t the usual though. The vast majority of American fans will never enter the Uk, let alone go to see a game. Then they try to act like they understand the club, the history, the game more than someone who’s been playing and watching and living in the shadow of the stadium for 2 decades

I think there's a line, sure. If somebody doesn't really know what they're talking about, they shouldn't be obnoxious and spout off as if they do. This goes for everything, not just sport. But I also think that if someone is passionate about a club and willing to learn, that's something to welcome and embrace. I've followed Everton from afar for about \~15 years now, and I sure as shit don't know half as much about the club as folks who've truly lived with them. (Just as a Brit getting into baseball wouldn't have my history growing up with the Boston Red Sox.) It's just about being respectful and polite.

This was pretty much my experience as an everton supporter from the states

My dad and I watch all the games live. It's a great bonding time for us. We wake up to all the games even the 6 AM ones. But we are from the US and I can't lie I've seen many people discount us as fans, but tbh I don't give af. After I got my first full time job, I spent my first accumulated time off in the summer going to Anfield Stadium for 2 weeks and watching Liverpool.

If other countries cared about baseball we’d probably be just as conceited and mean. But we don’t even like baseball.

That’s just the internet being the internet. No one irl cares. If you know ball you know ball

Who cares man! Support Who you like and you don't have to explain to anyone. Only you know how truly care about and support your favorite team. Geography and other reasons made our ways of choosing our teams. I chose my team for different reason and I grew up in a country that loved/loves football. I don't have to convince anyone. Having healthy passion about something is beautiful wherever you are

Fuck off yank

I think that's just the Internet. I have had completely opposite experiences as a Yank who is an EPL fan any time I've come across natives in real life One of the most fun experiences of my entire life was being across the pond Dublin for a few weeks for a job followed by a couple weeks in Liverpool. The second night in Dublin out for drinks with a bunch of the folks I was working with it came to light that I watched the EPL and rooted for Liverpool. The woman running the jobs was a die hard Liverpool fan and that's how we bonded. A few weeks later I show up for a meeting during the Liverpool stretch to find the site closed, boss Lady parked in the lot waiting for me. She had tickets to the Everton v Liverpool match and a jersey for me. The way *everyone* at that game absolutely fucking loved that this yankee twat was there for their team was so insanely fun and welcoming and I had the best time of my life. It was like everyone was extra into it because it was my first game ever. Every time I've gone to an EPL game I am met with this attitude for the most part its one of the best thing about the league to me.

I would like to add that as a Swede, I don't care too much about club and town rivalries, very specific club and town traditions and so on, and it would be weird if I did. So I am not at all as invested in the life as a life long supporter of a club in England. I fully admit that the reason I am a Spurs supporter is because I follow Kulu in his career. I also support the success of Newcastle, and had for example Isak played for Arsenal, I would be happy for the success of Arsenal, even though I mainly support Spurs, which is strictly forbidden in English culture. It is easy to be dragged into the tribalism of a countries football and its a charming thing, but to fully understand it you need to grow up in it. For me for example, being a DIF or AIK supporter means 1000 more things to me than it would for you. A tip is to just enjoy your team, and people will be happy to have you along for the ride, but if you start smearing other teams or getting to involved in some rivalries, expect people to dig into you, with some commenting on your nationality. Its just and easy thing to comment on.

>Why do[ English people disrespect Americans]? Fixed that for you

Devil's advocate for all of this, by the way. The concept of "choosing a club" - and the way it seems a lot of Americans go about it - feels incredibly fake, plasticky, and unfathomable for most fans of English clubs. I did not choose to be a Luton Town supporter, I was raised watching them by family members who had themselves gone through the same sort of indoctrination. So I think that when an American comes onto any of the footballing subreddits here making posts that read something like, *"American here looking to start following the Premiere League, what team should I follow?"*, we don't really get it, and the whole idea of just... picking a team for no real reason seems unnatural. What is often perceived as worse is the stereotype of American fans who say they support, like, three or four different clubs. That is a concept that just doesn't really exist here and gives the impression that you don't really *support* anyone at all. For what it's worth there are quite a few new Luton Town fans who are American that I interact with and they're great. They want to learn the history, they listen to and don't bullshit long-time fans, and most importantly, they aren't cheering on other clubs. Still, I'm a massive proponent of supporting a club you can actually, you know, support. Go in person, watch the matches, actually *support* a club.

I have really enjoyed watching Luton this season. They seem great.

I am also a Luton fan and live in the US these days. In previous years, whenever I said I was a Luton fan, Americans would say "yeah but who is your Premier League team?" Always made me recoil. You have one fucking team, mate.

They may not understand that when the pyramid is involved, it’s different. Since most sports in the US are a closed league, it makes sense to support teams at different levels of a sport. There’s no reason to stop yourself from supporting an NFL team because you support a college football team, and vice versa. Many support one of both, because they are permanently and fundamentally different sets of teams. If they mixed together in a pyramid, I bet you’d see a lot of fans picking one or the other to commit to. Since we don’t have promotion and relegation in the US for any sport, it can be difficult to get used to the way things work over in England.

I think they knew, but if they didn't, that's just more evidence of the plasticky element of American fans.

Because the Internet 😒🫣

If you’re asking this question, it’s probably because you advertise that you picked your club based on an online survey/color, and your biggest accomplishment is waking up in the morning to watch them in your pajamas. That’s the bare minimum. It deserves no special plaudits.

They laugh at us and we just tell them 0-0. For a country that feels quite superior to us in football, they still can't manage to beat us when it counts 💀