Do you support any British sports teams?

OPENROAD · 17-09-2011 11:17pm

No

Dotrel wrote: »

That's cool. I don't mind you supporting who ever you like and accept you have your reasons and emotional attachments. I just don't see the logic of it. I mean I could just as easily support the Spanish national team as support Ireland but I don't. I'm using that as a more extreme example of supporting a team that doesn't really represent you.

Same with people playing for a country they were not born or brought up in?

Dotrel · 17-09-2011 11:23pm

OPENROAD wrote: »

Same with people playing for a country they were not born or brought up in?

Depends on the case. From Ireland alone On one end you have guys like John Sheridan who chose felt a connection with the country and chose to play for Ireland from a young age when it was neither wise or profitable. On the other end you have guys like Ray Houghton and John Aldridge who were clearly mercenaries using it to further their own careers at the offset at least.

Mars Bar · 17-09-2011 11:24pm

No

Dotrel wrote: »

That's cool. I don't mind you supporting who ever you like and accept you have your reasons and emotional attachments. I just don't see the logic of it. I mean I could just as easily support the Spanish national team as support Ireland but I don't. I'm using that as a more extreme example of supporting a team that doesn't really represent you.

Thank you!

There is no logic to it. Emotions are not logical.

Emotions are meant to be respected.

OPENROAD · 17-09-2011 11:25pm

No

Dotrel wrote: »

Depends on the case. From Ireland alone On one end you have guys like John Sheridan who chose felt a connection with the country and chose to play for Ireland from a young age when it was neither wise or profitable. On the other end you have guys like Ray Houghton and John Aldridge who were clearly mercenaries using it to further their own careers at the offset at least.

And maybe people feel a connection to a certain city and club from a different country from a young age

Dotrel · 17-09-2011 11:28pm

OPENROAD wrote: »

And maybe people feel a connection to a certain city and club from a different country from a young age

Based on what tho? Are your immediate family from North London originally for instance. That might make some sense then for example otherwise it just appears to be pick a glamour club attachment.

jimdeans · 17-09-2011 11:30pm

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

I'll guarantee you that it's either Man Utd or Liverpool. 95% of the time it is, but before they were successful of course!:rolleyes:

It's always the case.

All my plastic friends claim they supported man utd/liverpool etc since before they were successful or it was because an uncle brought them to a game. Load of nonsense.

What about all the other unsuiccessful teams in Gillingham and birmingham and Dagenham and Hartlepool and Wigan where loads of irish ended up. Where's all the irish fans who were hearing stories about those teams from their uncle, or supporting them because of the passion, irrespective of success.

I have to meet a single solitary "sky 4" fan in Ireland who will admit they are a supporter because of success.

It's one of those situations where we all know they're lying but we have to pretend it's up for debate

OPENROAD · 17-09-2011 11:31pm

No

Dotrel wrote: »

Based on what tho? Are your immediate family from North London originally for instance. That might make some sense then for example.

You don't have to have family from a place to feel a very close connection to a city or place.

Mars Bar · 17-09-2011 11:36pm

No

Why do you have to have a connection with the place?

Why can't you just have a connection with the club?

I bet if I said to a strong LOI supporter that I'm a staunch Cork City fan, they probably give me a pat on the back and say fair play for keeping it in Ireland.

I've been to Cork once in my life and I have as much a connection in Cork as I do Manchester. (Actually, I do have family in Manchester and not in Cork but anyway...)

It's all hypocritical.

Dotrel · 17-09-2011 11:39pm

OPENROAD wrote: »

You don't have to have family from a place to feel a very close connection to a city or place.

No doubt. I love Boston, London, Berlin and Paris and don't have family from any of them. But even tho I love Boston you don't see me supporting the Celtics. I love London, Berlin and Paris but you don't see me supporting Arsenal, Hertha BSC or PSG.

I just believe that when it comes to supporting some club that it would make sense that there is be some sort of social or genealogical connection there otherwise it just seems like you're just picking a team that suits you.

jimdeans · 17-09-2011 11:41pm

mars bar wrote: »

Why do you have to have a connection with the place?

Why can't you just have a connection with the club?

I bet if I said to a strong LOI supporter that I'm a staunch Cork City fan, they probably give me a pat on the back and say fair play for keeping it in Ireland.

I've been to Cork once in my life and I have as much a connection in Cork as I do Manchester. (Actually, I do have family in Manchester and not in Cork but anyway...)

It's all hypocritical.

But most sky4 fans don't have a connection to the place OR the club. They invent the connection and foster it in their own minds.

It should be about having a connection and therefore supporting the club. Not selecting a club and then deciding you have a connection because you've picked a club.

jimdeans · 17-09-2011 11:43pm

mars bar wrote: »

I bet if I said to a strong LOI supporter that I'm a staunch Cork City fan, they probably give me a pat on the back and say fair play for keeping it in Ireland.

I've been to Cork once in my life and I have as much a connection in Cork as I do Manchester. (Actually, I do have family in Manchester and not in Cork but anyway...)

It's all hypocritical.

It's not hypocritical because that would almost never happen with LOI supporters. They usually support the club they have a connection with or represents their locality.

This kinda logic is straight from the irish fans' guide to supporting soccer in England.

Dotrel · 17-09-2011 11:45pm

mars bar wrote: »

Why do you have to have a connection with the place?

Why can't you just have a connection with the club?

I bet if I said to a strong LOI supporter that I'm a staunch Cork City fan, they probably give me a pat on the back and say fair play for keeping it in Ireland.

I've been to Cork once in my life and I have as much a connection in Cork as I do Manchester. (Actually, I do have family in Manchester and not in Cork but anyway...)

It's all hypocritical.

I'm not trying to score points for the LOI here but I do believe local support makes more sense than picking a team far away in some other country (and that's how I feel about anywhere in the world. You get loads of people in London who support ManU too so it's not just an Irish thing). I would however think a guy with no connection to Cork travelling from Galway to support Cork City is as odd as a guy with no connection to Manchester living in Galway going to support a team in Manchester.

Mars Bar · 17-09-2011 11:46pm

No

jimdeans wrote: »

But most sky4 fans don't have a connection to the place OR the club. They invent the connection and foster it in their own minds.

It should be about having a connection and therefore supporting the club. Not selecting a club and then deciding you have a connection because you've picked a club.

Most is the operating word here. For those like me, we all get tarred with the one brush and it's unfair. It's like me thinking all LOI fans are jealous little twerps with an agenda because of a few of their idiot fans.

But what you say makes complete sense, especially in todays society.
It's gonna happen with Shamrock Rovers now and we've seen an insane amount of Man City jerseys around due to their...not success but whatever you want to call it. Financial prowess I suppose.

Mars Bar · 17-09-2011 11:50pm

No

jimdeans wrote: »

It's not hypocritical because that would almost never happen with LOI supporters. They usually support the club they have a connection with or represents their locality.

Great for those who have a club in their locality then isn't it!

There is no club in the LOI in my locality. I would not consider Galway City local to me at all.

jimdeans · 17-09-2011 11:51pm

mars bar wrote: »

Most is the operating word here. For those like me, we all get tarred with the one brush and it's unfair.

I still don't see what your connection to manchester united is. But I guess we can agree to disagree.

jimdeans · 17-09-2011 11:51pm

mars bar wrote: »

Great for those who have a club in their locality then isn't it!

There is no club in the LOI in my locality. I would not consider Galway City local to me at all.

there's clubs a LOT closer to you than manchester :pac:

Mars Bar · 17-09-2011 11:54pm

No

jimdeans wrote: »

I still don't see what your connection to manchester united is. But I guess we can agree to disagree.

My point is there is no connection apart from some far distant family that I don't bother with.

But why can't there just be an unexplained attachment to a club?

K-9 · 17-09-2011 11:54pm

Dotrel wrote: »

Depends on the case. From Ireland alone On one end you have guys like John Sheridan who chose felt a connection with the country and chose to play for Ireland from a young age when it was neither wise or profitable. On the other end you have guys like Ray Houghton and John Aldridge who were clearly mercenaries using it to further their own careers at the offset at least.

Houghton and Aldridge were both picked when they were at Oxford, hardly a fashionable club. Dalglish signed them based on football ability, not nationality. Indeed at that stage being Irish nearly counted against as you were a foreign player!

jimdeans · 17-09-2011 11:55pm

mars bar wrote: »

My point is there is no connection apart from some far distant family that I don't bother with.

But why can't there just be an unexplained attachment to a club?

Because it's very easily explainable

Mars Bar · 17-09-2011 11:55pm

No

jimdeans wrote: »

there's clubs a LOT closer to you than manchester :pac:

They aren't local though! I don't have any connection with them so why is it wrong that I just happened to be a United supporter and not of any of those clubs?

jimdeans · 17-09-2011 11:56pm

mars bar wrote: »

They aren't local though! I don't have any connection with them so why is it wrong that I just happened to be a United supporter and not of any of those clubs?

But you're from Galway. Galway City represents your county.

Mars Bar · 17-09-2011 11:56pm

No

jimdeans wrote: »

Because it's very easily explainable

Now you have me confused and making my head hurt! :pac:

Mars Bar · 17-09-2011 11:59pm

No

jimdeans wrote: »

But you're from Galway. Galway City represents your county.

No, Tuam Celtic is the club that represents my area.
Galway City represents Galway City.

OPENROAD · 17-09-2011 11:59pm

No

jimdeans wrote: »

But you're from Galway. Galway City represents your county.

Would be it ok for her to support Man Utd if her grandfather was from Manchester and emigrated to Galway at an early age?

jimdeans · 18-09-2011 12:00am

mars bar wrote: »

No, Tuam Celtic is the club that represents my area.
Galway City represents Galway City.

Well, support Tuam celtic then.

Mars Bar · 18-09-2011 12:02am

No

jimdeans wrote: »

Well, support Tuam celtic then.

BUZZINGA!

I do. I coached the girls academy and set up their ladies team and was their first ever registered female.

jimdeans · 18-09-2011 12:06am

mars bar wrote: »

BUZZINGA!

I do. I coached the girls academy and set up their ladies team and was their first ever registered female.

That's just bizarre then.

Do you get emotional when you go to see them play, and would you want them to beat man utd if they played them? I would hope so!

Dotrel · 18-09-2011 12:09am

K-9 wrote: »

Houghton and Aldridge were both picked when they were at Oxford, hardly a fashionable club. Dalglish signed them based on football ability, not nationality. Indeed at that stage being Irish nearly counted against as you were a foreign player!

Charlton identified right wing and striker as the two weakest positions in the Ireland team when he took over. He basically offered a pair of players who had tenuous links with this country, who were overlooked by their native countries, already in their mid-to-late-20s and playing for todays equivalent of a team like Wolves guaranteed first XI place at international level. Within in a year they were both at Liverpool. No doubt they were worth their places at Liverpool but likewise I've no doubt that getting international football also helped their careers both financially and in term of profile.

Also Liverpool already had a tradition of Irish players when they signed Aldridge/Houghton. They already had Jim Beglin, Ronnie Whelan, Steve Staunton, Mark Lawrenson and Brian Mooney on their books when they signed Aldridge/Houghton so I don't know what point you're trying to make there.

Mars Bar · 18-09-2011 12:11am

No

jimdeans wrote: »

That's just bizarre then.

Do you get emotional when you go to see them play, and would you want them to beat man utd if they played them? I would hope so!

No I don't get emotional. The team doesn't grip me like Manchester United does. Then, I've supported Manchester United longer than I've lived in Tuam so...

Hmm...I'd find it easier to take on the chin if United were to lose to Tuam Celtic than if they were to lose to Chelsea tomorrow.

jimdeans · 18-09-2011 12:14am

mars bar wrote: »

No I don't get emotional. The team doesn't grip me like Manchester United does. Then, I've supported Manchester United longer than I've lived in Tuam so...

Hmm...I'd find it easier to take on the chin if United were to lose to Tuam Celtic than if they were to lose to Chelsea tomorrow.

So you set up their ladies team AND they represent your area, yet you say about the club "It whets my appetite until I get over to Old Trafford" (in one of your previous posts0.

i know you won't get it, but in the eyes of many, that is the definition of a plastic sky fan. Though, to be fair, at least you're involved in your local team.

Do you support any British sports teams?

Comments