How to Choose a Soccer Team To Support
by Eddy Carrillo
Choosing a club to support is a rite of passage every soccer fan goes through during some point in their life. They will suffer, rejoice, cry, and scream with this team during their highs and lows. Soccer fans will always remember their first soccer game and how they got into the sport. My first game was the inaugural game of the 2006 world cup between Germany and Costa Rica where Germany won 4–2. This led me to find my favorite player at the time, Lionel Messi, an upcoming talent on the Argentina National Team who was making a name for himself at FC Barcelona. Other fans will get drawn in by a popular domestic league like the English Premier League or the Spanish La Liga. If you’re a new soccer fan make sure to follow your heart.
The Beginnings
In my opinion, I would strongly consider choosing a club from the five major leagues and/or your hometown. The five major leagues being La Liga (Spain), Serie A (Italy), Premier League (England), Ligue 1 (France), and Bundesliga (Germany). The best bet when picking a team is one where you can watch them on television. So, if you’re in the US, good leagues to follow would be the MLS, Liga MX, English Premier League, and Spanish La Liga. I would also recommend you support a local club, as the MLS is currently on the rise with new franchises coming in such as Inter Miami. The support of local fans is unmatched, and you truly feel a sense of pride with your local or state team. You can also attend matches regularly and you won’t struggle to find and obtain your team’s jersey.
Value
The next step is to find out what you value in a team as a fan. Do you prefer to support teams who don’t spend close to a 100 million euros every season, do you want like historical teams, or do you want to follow a specific player.
In all honesty if you choose to follow a big spending team like PSG, Manchester City, Real Madrid, or Barcelona, you won’t receive respect at the beginning and you could be branded a bandwagon fan by envious fans. But if that doesn’t bother you, go ahead and buy a jersey and start looking at their schedule.
Historical teams are a great first team package. They have passionate fans, great players, and money. Most of the teams are currently on a rebuild and are looking to bring back the glory days. If this sounds like you, I suggest you follow Manchester United (England), Liverpool (England), AC Milan (Italy), or Inter Milan (Italy). There are also historical teams that have abided by a special policy that makes their club a great side to follow every season especially if they are predicted to succeed. Two historical teams come into mind: Chivas (Mexico) and Athletic Bilboa (Spain). Their teams only contain Mexican and Basque soccer players respectively. Chivas has had success in the past decade, winning Liga MX and the CONCACAF Champions League. Athletic Bilboa on the other hand are known for their historic success by having the third most trophies by a La Liga side behind Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Do you care about specific soccer players? If this sounds like you, I suggest watching the World Cup or random league matches. Some people love Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović and have followed and supported them to every club they have gone to.
Lastly, who doesn’t love a good underdog team. One who has the potential to be special, doesn’t have big superstars but are willing to put up a fight against the big sides in their leagues. If your side loses it isn’t a big deal but when you win, it is a feeling like no other. These sides also tend to not spend big quantities of money every season. Some teams that I suggest are Leicester City (Look up their title winning season in 2015, what a story), Atletico Madrid (Spain), Atalanta (Italy), Marseille (France), and Leipzig (Germany).
Last Words
Don’t rush your decision and don’t be afraid to support a team that your friends and family oppose. I personally grew up in a Barcelona household but always watched Atletico Madrid. I loved watching Messi, but I loved to secretly support Atletico. There was just something special about them and their striker duo of Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan. I finally decided to change my allegiance because I knew deep down, I loved the team and they would bring out my inner fan spirit. But once you pick a team, don’t change it. Soccer fans hate when people change their loyalty without a good reason. Now go out and find you team or teams, and start experiencing soccer in a new way, filled with moments of crying, anxiety, stress, and extreme joy! Soccer is the beautiful game and being a fan is the best part.
Eddy Carrillo is a Zag Alumni and soccer enthusiast! He is a member of the Bobble Sports marketing team and a blogger.
