The Soccer Thread (Version 10)

Please regale us with tales of watching cricket while drunk.

 

Damn, Ibra again.

 

I missed this post when you posted it. It has thus prompted me to Tell My Own Boring Story About How I Became A Fan Of (Fill-In The Blank Club).

Those who began to discover English football in the cult days of the early 90s feel like the old men telling war stories now. It's not unlike being a fan of an underground band long before they broke big.

Until I was in college, the only English football we knew was Liverpool, and we only knew them because of Heysel and Hillsborough, or Nottingham Forest, because they were also at Hillsborough and they sounded like they walked straight out of Robin Hood.

If you were a teen in the late 80s? English football structure was never explained, promotion-relegation was completely unknown, and soccer was way off the map. American media treated English soccer (and European soccer generally) as a dangerous activity populated by psychopathic hooligans.

Still, it began to trickle through as cable grew. The first time I remember watching it in any kind of organized form must have been in 1989-90 or so as the old Sportsvision showed the then-30-minute First Division Highlight Show. (That show, later 60 minutes, was aired in the U.S. on various nets until NBC finally killed it off maybe two years ago or so. I'm sure it's still produced and I would love to find it. It was extremely influential to me.)

From there, I at least learned the teams. Luton Town ... playing on turf at the time, stuck out. They'd show the table at the end, usually with a line separating the teams going down and it took me a while to realize that those teams were getting kicked out. Holy shit!

The pre-Taylor Report stadia of the time were quite a shock to someone used to comparatively ultra-modern American stadia. I had no concept of segregated seating, terracing, etc.

What I was blown away by was the raw emotion when the goals were scored. Since I had no concept of segregated seating, I just thought English fans were shithouse crazy and just blew up like that as a matter of course.

I loved (and still love) watching the fans go nuts after scoring a goal. But maybe a year or so into watching this show, without having a club of my own yet, I remember one set of fans sticking out - Leeds.

What I didn't know is that Leeds had just returned to the First Division after a healthy spell away for most of the 1980s. I had no knowledge of their great 1970s teams at all. Since Leeds was back in the big time, and immediately contenders upon promotion, times were wild and crazy at Elland Road.

I was taken by the pure emotion of it all. Fans went berserk at other clubs too, notably Liverpool, but by then I had a concept of who the power brokers were and I was never going to pick a front-running club. So the best clubs of the era: Liverpool, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Arsenal were verboten. I chose Leeds.

Little did I know that Leeds was on the verge of their own title in 1992, the last First Division title before the formation of the Premier League. I sort of remember it, I definitely remember Eric Cantona being on Leeds, but still, it was catch and catch-can when I caught the highlight show. It wasn't a daily obsession yet.

Three things changed that. When the World Cup came to the U.S. in 1994, there was a sort of cottage industry of books written by English authors to introduce Americans to what soccer was all about. One of them, "Twenty Two Foreigners In Funny Shorts" was a travelogue of the 1992-93 season as the author, Pete Davies, followed his home club, Wrexham F.C., through a season. That's what really introduced me to the culture of English football. My casual interest was now much more than that. I was hooked. (And I still have a soft spot for Wrexham, now in the Conference, because of that book.)

Also, the proliferation of Borders/Barnes & Noble meant far more magazines were available, including World Soccer and then-new Four Four Two. I fanatically bought every copy. I'd even read the English newspapers on-hand to get an updated (likely two weeks behind) look at the tables. And it was all of the tables! There were four divisions and then a myriad of divisions below that!

A bit later, FIFA '95 came out - the first with English clubs on it - and that was the last hook in me as far as English soccer obsession was concerned and probably the last time I could have wavered in my club choice. I seem to recall making a conscious choice, should I switch clubs? I was tempted by Newcastle, Blackburn (then champions, bankrolled by a local steel magnate, sort of the Leicester of their day), Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich City, then-bumbling Manchester City and Southampton. I either loved the players these clubs had, their fan devotion, their stadium or their colors (Norwich in particular), but I stuck with Leeds.

A big reason why? Tony Yeboah. He was the absolute shit, a powerhouse Ghanian striker, though his star ultimately rose and fell very quickly. By 1995? ESPN started showing the Sky Sports Monday night games and I'd watch religiously. Yeboah went on a tear to start the 1995-96 season and was featured in one of those Monday games against Liverpool where he scored a wonder-goal. (It's on Youtube, look it up.) I got caught up in the ride and never got off. I was Leeds for good.

Soccer was still very much a cult thing to follow at the time and it came and went on TV as the rights switched frequently. ESPN didn't stick with the EPL for long. It was still an inconsistent viewing experience, but I caught it as often as I could.

One final purchase put me over the top on English football obsession. My wife and I went to Paris on our honeymoon in 1999. We stopped in the W.H. Smith bookstore on Rue de Rivoli.

The most influential book I bought was, of all things, The Rough Guide To English Football, by the travelogue publisher that was popular at the time. In it, the culture and history of every League club - Premier League to Fourth Division - was detailed in very well-written, sarcastic and opinionated fashion. Of all of the sports books I've read over the years? That one might be the most influential of all. I've probably read it cover-to-cover at least 10 times. Bear in mind, this was still in the nascent days of the internet so every word in it was a revelation to me.

Leeds had their Champions League run in 2001 and then financial meltdown. What's sad to me is that Leeds fell apart just before English football really began to take off here. They're really an unknown to most American fans.

Losing status is quite a jarring experience that most American fans will never know because they follow clubs that are rarely threatened with it. I can't believe its been 16 seasons since Leeds was in the Premier League, but I hold out hope that the sleeping giant is finally ready to wake up.

It's going to be a revelation for modern-day fans if Leeds ever does go up. It's cliche to say your club has the best fans, but Leeds fans have been through an unusual amount of bizarro shit and they still show up in droves. The downs have been very rough, but I'm still proud to be Leeds. Maybe prouder than ever knowing I never gave up on them when it would have been very easy to.

So there's my extremely long-winded soccer origin story. Sue me ... I was bored.

 

No legal action here. I'm actually kind of jealous of people who have taken that ride, forming an attachment to a club and following it through all its ups and downs -- especially if it's had at least as many downs as ups. Soccer only came on my radar in the run-up to USA '94, and the combination of not having a "local" (I grew up in central Nebraska) MLS team or access to European leagues led me to be country before club. Team USA was my team, and any club that signed and played Yanks Abroad had my support. This was a lot easier with regular internet access, which for me didn't arrive until the late 90s or early 2000s. The BBC and many clubs didn't know how (or care) to geoblock their radio broadcasts, so US fans could keep tabs on the likes of Eddie Lewis, Marcus Hahnemann, Ben Olsen, Joe-Max Moore, and others.

Even during the days of Fulhamerica or Everton's batch of US signings (Howard, McBride, Donovan, etc.), though, it never really felt right to claim them as "my club". I was only interested because of their Americans, and once they left I did, too. This isn't a comment on anyone else's fandom; rather, it's just that whatever it is that enchants people to support clubs passed me by, and I kind of envy those who have that. Maybe I shouldn't if living that is anything like how I experience following the US men -- swings between grinding frustration and relief at achieving just enough to get by, with occasional glimpses of actual joy -- but then again, I might just be a bad fan.

 

Sad story: Bolton Wanderers, one season removed from the Championship, on the verge of folding.

Bolton facing liquidation this week, say club's administrators

 

People over here have been fascinated with my Watford choice. Guy at the blackjack table last night asked me if I’ll stick with it if they get relegated. I mean, yes. Of course. It will suck, but I can’t just see investing in another club just to have Prem rooting interest.

 

Can't believe you thought my Burnley origins story was boring.

I kid. The first Premier League match I covered was Man United at home to Leeds. (Thank you, Tim Howard.) For a North American sports fan, the segregation of supporters really is something to see. (I covered an Old Firm and they even have separate trains for Rangers and Celtic in Glasgow.) Anyway, at Old Trafford, the away supporters are given this tiny sliver in one low corner of the ground. I have to tell you, Leeds supporters, dressed all in white, going mental... They made an impression on me.

There are a couple of times I can remember being actually fearful for the fate of the away end. Liverpool at Roma in the Champions League was very dicey. FC Copenhagen at Steaua Bucuresti in the Europa League—they were so segregated, there was enough empty seats around them so that nothing could be thrown at them, either. But that tiny slice of Leeds fans actually made me nervous for a stadium full of United.

 

Yeah, that surprised me on Saturday. Tried to stop in a pub and was wearing a Hornets hat and they said, no this is the away pub. The Red Lion wouldn’t let anyone in wearing vaguely West Ham colors. Had to either be a STH or be wearing a Watford shirt or hat. I contrast this to my experiences going to Raleigh for Caps games. Everyone is sprinkled together, which leads to some dicey situations in the stands. As it was, I had zero interaction with West Ham supporters because their section was on the other side of the stadium, and they had their own entrance, etc. The whole thing is really interesting.

 

You don't want to hang out with West Ham supporters besides.

North American fans think, like, Yankees and Red Sox are a crazy rivalry. They have no idea.

 

Israelis and Palestinians, not Yankees and Red Sox, is how I've seen it put.

 

I liked soccer a little growing up and would sometimes watch the Match of the Day on one of the lesser PBS affiliates. But other than the US teams, my interest level was fairly low. When I first moved in with the future Mrs. W in 1998, she was a super late riser on weekends and I was always up by 7 at the latest. Eventually, some of my friends and their wider circle of friends would go to soccer bars on the UES to watch the EPL and I tagged along enough to buy into the whole atmosphere. I became a Man United fan simply because they on a ton and were the most fun to watch. Loved Giggs, Keane, Beckham and especially Scholes. Unless weekend work prevented it, I was at my local pub for most of their games until Setanta/Fox Soccer started showing the league. Realize that I am a bit of a glory chaser, but as a Jets/Knicks/Mets fan, I don’t need to wear a hair shirt for everything.

 

My soccer love goes back to the 1994 World Cup. I went to two matches in Chicago, and then started watching highlights on SportsChannel Chicago and later ESPN and Fox Sports World. Liverpool were always on and I loved their high-scoring style. I actually was already familiar with them because of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. My wife and I were also introduced at our wedding reception using "You'll Never Walk Alone." I guess you could call me a front-runner, but Liverpool have never won a PL title during my fandom, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.