I see your point mate, but I don't think it's necessarily glory hunting. It's being a casual observor and seeing those teams and enjoying watching them and becoming a fan. It probably becomes glory hunting after a time, or is for some people, but not all of them.
Some people (not your good self btw) take an attitude to football supporting that's akin to the horrible sort of music snobbery we get on here as well. "Ooh, you like United/ Liverpool/ Chelsea/ Arsenal therefore you're a Johnny-Come-Lately who has no idea about the game. I support some Toilet team no one outside a 50 km radius has ever heard of, which gives me some real credibility". Newsflash - no it doesn't.
Support who you like and feel free to put **** on someone when their team loses or whatever, but not on some faux-snobbish or rose-tinted glasses basis, as though supporting a smaller, struggling team or sitting on the hill at a ground like the old Cumberland Oval at Parramatta (or its English equivalent) gives you more cred than someone who supports one of the big four or sits in a comfortable seat in the stands at the new Parra Stadium (or its English equivalent). It doesn't, and people who look on those things romantically are just pulling their puds. I went to the old Cumberland Oval - there was one toilet block for 20,000 people, one grandstand, if it rained you sat in muddy puddles. As a kid I thought it was fun. Looking back it was ****. Thank God we burned the bastard down in 81.
Support who you like. Same with music - listen to what you like. I couldn't give a tinker's that people think you're an idiot if you like some bubble gum pop crap - if you like it, listen to it. It's harmless, it's enjoyable, so do it. Laugh at the music snobs - their first point of reference generally is "It's popular, therefore I'll ****-can it". I've got a mate who's always banging on about Bob ****ing Dylan. If it's not Bob Dylan or someone belting out an Aria from some Puccini opera he ****-cans it. Great bloke, but on this point there's toss-pottery involved. Who cares? I couldn't give a **** if some bird poured into a pair of leather pants can't hit a high C, if the song's catchy, I'll listen to it. And I'd rather see her film clip than some old footage of Dame Joan Sutherland for which I'd definitely need my wide screen.
Growing up here in the 80s, you got one match a week from England, if that. You got virtually nothing from the Continent, unless you were a Soccer-Bloody-Soccer (SBS) TV watcher. So people watched the match of the week, and it was generally always one of the big clubs, because it rated well here. I guess it sort of grew on itself - they showed those teams coz they were popular and would usually win, so more people supported them, making them more popular. For the casual fan, it's much the same today, though there's less of an excuse now than there was back then, given the standard of coverage is so much better now than it was then.
From the point of view of the English football competition, I definitely see long term problems as the same sides dominate year in and year out, but that's something for the FA to (somehow) sort out if they can. Not sure how they'll do it tbh. For my part, despite supporting United, I still raise a smile if a side like Pompey or Hull or whoever gets up and beats them. It does the competition good, and in the long run it probably does my team good as well.
). Only 1 guy (bar me), in my football team follows anyone outside of the big 4, and that's only because he grew up in London following Spurs. I'd think you'd get a broader cross section of fans over there, as the affiliation of the UK posters on CW would suggest.
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