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Favourite (International) Teams and Players?

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Cornel

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Dear Chelsea Fans,

My name is Cornel and I am Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey. About 13 years ago - in the heydays of Gianluca Vialli, Tore André Flo and Dan Petrescu - I focused on Chelsea fans in my PhD research on football and globalisation (later published by Routlegde under the title "A Game of Two Halves: Football, Television and Globalisation").

Recently, I was asked by a French journal, Politique Européenne, if I was interested in conducting some follow-up research.

One of the things I am particularly interested in, is how your interest in other teams and players has developed over the years with football becoming more and more international after the Bosman Ruling.

So I would love to hear your views on the following:

  • Do you follow any other teams or leagues, either domestically or abroad? If you like, maybe tell us a word or two how you came to be interested in them.

  • Are there any particular players (including current or former Chelsea players, but also other players) whom you follow with particular interest?

  • How important are European competition such as the Champions League to you?

  • How has your interested in national teams, including England, developed (sorry for once more opening up the old club vs. country debate :-) )

If you fancy it, just post your answers here, maybe this is a discussion that interests a few others as well. Alternatively, if you don’t mind me emailing you a few questions, you can contact me at [email protected].

Many, many thanks for your help!!!

Cornel

 
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I follow my local professional team, the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS team). I'm originally from Detroit (as my avatar suggests) and in every other sport I support the Detroit over any other team but they currently do not have a professional football team so I'm stuck with San Jose's team. I also follow the MLS in general just because I feel I have a duty to, being American and all.

I follow all Americans and Romanians who play abroad. This being because I am Romanian by descent and of course I am American. I don't care as much about the Romanian national team as I do the American one but I still follow all the players who ply their trade in foreign leagues.

Champions League is very important to me. Europa League not so much. I see it more as a Mickey Mouse league for clubs who would never make it in the Champions League.

Not being an English Chelsea supporter, the club vs country debate rarely ever surfaces for me. On occasion though, I think it happens with everybody, but I don't think I can give you a universal answer. It really depends on the situation. For example, when Clint Dempsey was taking a penalty against us in the dying minutes of our away game against Fulham last year, I was glad he missed it because as much as I want to see American players do well, my ultimate loyalty is with Chelsea and not Fulham. When Jonathan Spector and Tim Howard were with Man U I still wanted to see them do well, even though they were playing for a rival team. I guess what it comes down to is I would like to see Americans play well as long as it's not against us. After all, they have 36 other games in the season to impress, but Chelsea dropping points is a no no for me. It ruins my day even if it was an American who did it (I'm looking at you Dempsey when you scored a brace against us in a 2-2 draw a few years back). Also, I fully support the club in their sacking of Mutu. Regardless of his nationality, he broke his contract and deserves what's coming to him. In any case, the guy is a bit of a twat. He got banned from the national team recently for a drinking binge the night before a game. He's a class A idiot and I find it difficult to support him despite the fact that he is Romanian.

 
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Mathieu Debuchy just made a fantaatic run from the right side to assist on France's first goal against Germany. Really pacey and a perfect pass.

(Didn't know where else to put it, so I chose this thread.)

 
Well, it's relatively simple for me. I want Australian players to perform, just not against any club I support with any conviction (Chelsea/Fiorentina/Brisbane Roar). For instance, I'm very happy when Mark Schwarzer keeps a clean sheet against another PL side, but not when he does against us.

Naturally, on the international stage, I want Australia to win every game (even though that's obviously not going to happen).

 
Me too (though in fairness I've supported Chelsea since well before the A-League's inception)

 
Really? That's interesting. Never expected to meet someone from my city here so soon.

But yeah, I supported Chelsea before the A-League's inception also. Actually, there was no national league when I started supporting Chelsea.

 
My dad used to drink in the British Lion in Camberwell and he had a mate who used to wear a hat with Chelsea on one side and Glasgow Rangers on the other side. That always stuck with me so when it comes to the SPL i do look out for their results and Hearts due to family from Edinburgh. I like to watch Spanish footy and follow Espanyol as i love Barcelona as a city and obviously hate Barcelona fc. As for international footy thats a no brainer for me, im English and patriotic so i always have and always will support my country 100%

 
DaRick said:
Really? That's interesting. Never expected to meet someone from my city here so soon.

But yeah, I supported Chelsea before the A-League's inception also. Actually, there was no national league when I started supporting Chelsea.
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I lived In England from 8 weeks old to 7 years old, and picked up supporting Chelsea about '95/'96 (you know when I was old enough to pick a team and stick with it). Got back to Australia, struggled to follow as much as I'd like (just weren't the options we have now...didn't have pay tv, the internet wasn't really big for a 7 year old), but continued watching the SBS premier league shows on a Sunday, and buying the magazines (Shoot, and Match) that were air freighted to Australia from England. Started watching other sports which I had no interest in in England (even though they play), like league and cricket.

But yes, I have supported Chelsea for 16+ years. Obviously once the Roar started in the A-League, I naturally started supporting them, because I'll support just about anything Brisbane/Queensland, and football is definitely my favourite sport. Only last season became a season ticket holder, before that I went to games sporadically, but watched them all. Felt like a bad fan...I mean, if I was still in England, I would be a season ticket holder for Chelsea, why couldn't I do it for my local team, who I feel just as much of an affinity for? So I did, and it was great. In the Den every home game.

 
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