Your favourite team - why, how, when,what?!

[GIMH]

So I was just in the thread where we picked our favourite football XIs, and wondered what makes everyone support the team that they do. Not just in football, but in any sport, and pretty much everyone has one team they value above all others, ie for me Tranmere Rovers comes before any of our international sides, it comes before food and water tbh.

So how/why etc did you become a supporter of your team?

I was born in the mid-80s to a Dad who is unbelievably passionate about Liverpool Football Club. Seems easy that I would have just followed that path, yet 1 European Cup, 4 FA Cups, 3 League Cups and a UEFA Cup V 1 League Cup Final and a relegation later here I am as mad as cheese for the whites. Odd really.

I wasn't really big on football, until I was 7, we moved into a new street, made a new friend who had a season ticket for Tranmere, his mum said he could take a friend. I remember, the night before my first game, my Dad was giving it the "we support the reds in this house" routine, but really didn't mind. (He has always said that I should be a Tranmere fan, because I was born in Birkenhead, and have always lived over t'water. ) Well, we played and beat Barnsley, don't remember much about the game, but I do remember it got me so hooked it's untrue. i was in Year 3 in school, and got moved desks, because there were girls on my table who were fed up of me talking Tranmere all the time; ironically enough there are no women on my desk at work, possibly because they can't be doing with my constant Tranmere/Cricket talk.

It only takes one match to get hooked on a team, I reckon, that's certainly what happened to me.

What about the rest of you?

[Samuel_Vimes]

My favourite club is Bodø/Glimt - 1,000 km away from me...

The reasoning is somewhat like this: my first contact with football was radio coverage of the weekend's matches in Eliteserien, and so it didn't really matter geographically what team I supported, since the local team Stabæk hadn't yet promoted. When they did, people in our place didn't really care that much - the team had been getting huge cash injections from a "big man" in advertising, and even my mum, who grew up at Stabæk, didn't like them. Basically, they weren't from here. They bought ten players within the first season of getting up in Eliteserien; in 1999 they had three players from the region, only one of which was a regular, though the region has a population of 150,000.

With Grandad being from near Bodø, and Bodø/Glimt being a fairly good team in the early 1990s, as well as everyone there speaking with thick North Norwegian accents, the choice was rather simple. I didn't really focus on one club until about four years ago, though, my allegiances went a bit to Odd Grenland (for the name, obviously), but after Glimt took second place in the league three years ago, I've been following them. I watched five or six games live this year - on the second level, they got relegated last season.

Not really a huge football fan compared to other sports, and my first game was aged 9 - which was the cup final between Bodø/Glimt and Tromsø, we lost 1-2, and our goal was apparently a handball. Then I watched them play Stabæk a few times, in particular one game where they went 1-0 up, I gloated to my dad (who's adopted Stabæk despite coming from Oslo and supporting Vålerenga from an early age)...and Glimt conceded six goals.

Think I've watched as much speed skating as football (in hours) live, though.

[steds]

St Helens RLFC

Why? St Helens born and bred. Simple as, really. It's a rugby town. We're proud of it. All three of my living grandparents are big rugby people, and all three are Saints fans. I were just brought up to be a Saints fan. My first sporting memory is being sat about a foot away from my grandad's tv watching Alan Hunte scoring a full length try in some Challenge Cup (I assume, as that's all the BBC show) game sometime in the early/mid 90s. The first sporting event I can remember seeing and can recall in some detail was the 1996 Challenge Cup final, when we were trailing Bradford 26-12 with 23 minutes left. Bobby Goulding turned on the magic as only he could (pity he was scum. Could have been one of the greats) and Saints ended up winning 40-32.

I've lived less than a 3 minute walk away from Knowsley Road since I was 11. For the last 12 months, I've lived even closer, but on the other side of the ground. Football can **** off. I've got the BBC's team of the year right on my doorstep.

[Tomm NCCC]

Nottingham Forest -

First things first, I was born in Nottingham so for me it only makes sense to support the team where you were born, where you live etc, My family were Forest fans, so I got dragged into that when I was about 6, and in the first full season of watching them, we got promoted to the premiership

[Matteh]

Football - Mansfield Town

Whenever someone asks me why i support them i can never really give a proper answer. I was born in Hannover (who i support in the German leagues for obvious reasons) so birthplace doesn't come into play, even where i've lived since being in the UK doesn't have a bearing. I was that age of 7/8 and needed a team to support, decided not to support a higher up team, and it really could have been any other number of teams that i ended up supporting but i chose Mansfield and i've stuck with it for the last 10 years.

Cricket - Warwickshire
Easy one, lived there for 16 years of my life and Niedersachsen aren't represented.

[Chubb]

I don't like football very much so I "support" Havnar Boltfelag Torshavn, the national champions of the Faroe Islands. I went there in April and started following them after that. I've been to their stadium, which has an artificial pitch because the weather is so bad. HB are the biggest club in the Faroes, the team all the Faroese (who are very passionate about their football) either love or hate. This year they stole the league from EB Streymur on the last day of the season, having been behind all year. All the players are just in it for fun- they are all part-timers and don't get paid much even by English conference standards.

HB have a website- www.hb.fo. I have no idea what it actually says but it's pretty good considering.

[Neil Pickup]

Get Hakky to translate.

As for the Grecians - well, despite being Grimsby born and bred, I only got to Blundell Park once - and that was 'cause we got free tickets from Primary School. Mum and Dad would never take me/allow me to go for some reason. As a result, I never became a Town fan, and my club growing up was Blackburn - simply for the reason that everyone else in the school supported ManYoo and I couldn't stand them, even as a seven year old, so I had to be different (as if ginger hair and massive NHS specs wasn't enough) and pick Rovers, who at that time were the only side challenging them. I never saw Blackburn live.

When I started Uni in September 2003, I was at a loose end at the end of Fresher's week, and decided to go watch Exeter v Northwich. Like Geraint, I just got hooked. Can't explain why, or how, but all that matters in football now is the Grecians, and I'm pretty sure they're all that ever will.

[Jamee999]

Originally Posted by Neil Pickup

(as if ginger hair and massive NHS specs wasn't enough)

Have I heard that description somewhere before?

[Langeveldt]

Plymouth Argyle - Family are from Cornwall and PAFC has always been the local club for dad.. Been lucky enough to take advantage of a couple of season tickets to home park in recent times

South Africa/Mercedes Warriors - Lived in SA when I was younger and Allan Donald and co stopped me ever liking an England cricket team. Recently lived a stones throw from St.Georges park so EP have naturally been my favourite franchise

[Langeveldt]

Plymouth Argyle - Family are from Cornwall and PAFC has always been the local club for dad.. Been lucky enough to take advantage of a couple of season tickets to home park in recent times

South Africa/Mercedes Warriors - Lived in SA when I was younger and Allan Donald and co stopped me ever liking an England cricket team. Recently lived a stones throw from St.Georges park so EP have naturally been my favourite franchise

[Matteh]

Originally Posted by Jamee999

Have I heard that description somewhere before?

Matt Pitt?

[Tom Halsey]

United - Dad supported them, he supported them because of the Munich Air Disaster. Started really following them around January/February 1995.

[BoyBrumby]

Arsenal - fairly arbitrary decision really. No particular family or geographical connections (although they're only about sixty miles from my place). They were having an ok FA Cup run & I've stuck with them ever since. I can't remember making a conscious decision to be an Arsenal fan, the team found me, pretty much. Remarkable really 'cos my old man was ManUre & my mum's cousin Paddy (his surname's hilariously Murphy too, we're dead Irish on her side) who used to take me to footy as a kid was T*ttenham!! I can only imagine how much he must've loved taking a junior Gooner to ****e Hart Lane...

[pinchy81]

football: Man City, Watford and Torquay reason for all: dunno

cricket: Sussex reason: dunno

Basketball: Timberwovles: reason: dunno

Ice Hockey: Ducks, Flames reasons: dunno

American Football: Giants reason: cause i heard the team name on the movie Madagascar

Ruby League: Sharks reason: because they had the coolest name well thats what i thought...when i was three and i've supported them ever since

[superkingdave]

Oldham : can't really pinpoint the start of my support but it's my local club and i was a member of the junior latics when i was about 3 or 4 (Membership no was 591). My brother used to go to the games and i'd go with my mum to pick him up and watch the last 15 minutes when they opened the gates and let you in for free at the end. Then when i started going I used to go and stand at the front barriers in the paddock in the days when you'd turn up at 1.00pm to get the best spot and freeze for a couple of hours. Was mascot against Portsmouth on 30th December 1989, we drew 3-3 and had my picture taken with Andy Ritchie. Had a couple of birthday parties in the Junior Latics lounge aswell, good times.

Had a season ticket for about 12 years before i went to Uni but since i now play football on Saturdays i don't get down to as many games as i'd like - think i saw about 15 last season and been to about 6 so far this year.