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Overseas fans, How? Why?

Barn
Barn
in General Chelsea FC

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I've never followed a sport that's played out in another country. As a kid I had a favourite Spanish, Italian and French team, but I never really gave a sh*t about them. I've always loved all sports (except tennis) but never really developed any feeling for a team or individual without having some sort of a link to them -local or family ties.

It's clear though from this site and from some of the scenes of Chelsea and other clubs arriving in Asia, USA, Canada etc etc that the feelings for these teams run pretty deep with some people. I'd really like for some of our overseas fans ti try to put into words how and why Chelsea matter to you.

Thanks to anyone that responds.



When I was growing up in Dubai everyone followed the premier league, and everyone had a team they supported (this was back in 1998/1999) so i decided to jump on the band wagon and choose a team to support.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in school either supported Arsenal, utd or Liverpool. And they were all dicks (haha, not really) so I decided not to follow any of those. First premier league game I properly watched was Chelsea utd, with Chelsea winning 4 nil I think. That's when I started looking them up.

Couple that with the fact my brother was a Rangers fan as he was born in Glasgow, he gave me his blessings for reasons I didn't understand back then! A few seasons later Chelsea signed a sponsorship deal with Emirates (Dubai airline) and I was set, it's like chelsea's successes would translate to the success of the city as a whole, and since our national team where (and still are) sh*te, it was nice to support a team that won every now and again. With style!

Then came to England in 2002 and went to watch Chelsea Leicester at Leicester. Zola scored a beautiful free kick with hasselbaink contributing a brace. I knew it was the start of a beautiful relationship... A relationship where the sh*t times felt when losing seems a lot worse than the glory of winning. Wish I never got into it to be honest, but now I'm stuck...

Anyway, that's my story.

I'm not an overseas fan but I think football has expanded vastly, the Premier League is absolutely massive in the Caribbean and parts of USA, some of my relatives would literally stay up till early hours in the morning to watch Premier League Football. The standard of MLS is poor and they don't get to see stars like Drogba, Torres, Lampard, RVP, Fabregas, Rooney etc like we do, I think it is something British fans take for granted.

European countries have a lot more history than the likes of Qatar and USA (no offence intended) and so do the football teams from Italy, Spain, Germany, France etc hence why fans from those countries tend to follow those teams.

People in some African countries have been known to kill over football

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/8072356.stm

http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-90213.0.html

To some people, sport and football is absolutely everything.

I love Chelsea FC, but to me there are things more important than the club, health and wellbeing of myself, friends and families for starters. Other people don't see it that way

I've never followed a sport that's played out in another country. As a kid I had a favourite Spanish, Italian and French team, but I never really gave a sh*t about them. I've always loved all sports (except tennis) but never really developed any feeling for a team or individual without having some sort of a link to them -local or family ties.

It's clear though from this site and from some of the scenes of Chelsea and other clubs arriving in Asia, USA, Canada etc etc that the feelings for these teams run pretty deep with some people. I'd really like for some of our overseas fans ti try to put into words how and why Chelsea matter to you.

Thanks to anyone that responds.

I've often wondered this myself.

When I used to be a regular match-goer, meaning when I lived in London, we had fans from all over England, from as far afield as Carlisle. But they used to go to matches. Some were originally from West London, others just fell in love with the club. But they were regular home and away match-goers, they knew their way around. Proper fans, if you like - in an old fashioned sense, of course.



Also, I know there are some on this board who think fans from outside the country are plastic fans... Maybe the reasons of them following the club were not justifiable to some on here, I do understand that, but I'm being honest when I say I've met more hardcore fans of the premier league back home than I have here in England...

The fans don't choose the clubs... The club chooses the fans... (except if they support Liverpool, as Liverpool fans are just as deluded back home as they are on merseyside)

When I was growing up in Dubai everyone followed the premier league, and everyone had a team they supported (this was back in 1998/1999) so i decided to jump on the band wagon and choose a team to support.

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in school either supported Arsenal, utd or Liverpool. And they were all dicks (haha, not really) so I decided not to follow any of those. First premier league game I properly watched was Chelsea utd, with Chelsea winning 4 nil I think. That's when I started looking them up.

Couple that with the fact my brother was a Rangers fan as he was born in Glasgow, he gave me his blessings for reasons I didn't understand back then! A few seasons later Chelsea signed a sponsorship deal with Emirates (Dubai airline) and I was set, it's like chelsea's successes would translate to the success of the city as a whole, and since our national team where (and still are) sh*te, it was nice to support a team that won every now and again. With style!

Then came to England in 2002 and went to watch Chelsea Leicester at Leicester. Zola scored a beautiful free kick with hasselbaink contributing a brace. I knew it was the start of a beautiful relationship... A relationship where the sh*t times felt when losing seems a lot worse than the glory of winning. Wish I never got into it to be honest, but now I'm stuck...

Anyway, that's my story.

think you are talking asbout us beating utd 5-0 in 1999.



Also, I know there are some on this board who think fans from outside the country are plastic fans.

No I wouldnt be as arrogant enough to think that, its a form of snobbery to say "I'm a real fan you are plastic", the trick is for the newer generation is to realise that success is not an entitlement, Chelsea has been around since 1905 not since 2003 or some time in the 1990s and winning is not the be all and end all of what following chelsea is all about.

No I wouldnt be as arrogant enough to think that, its a form of snobbery to say "I'm a real fan you are plastic", the trick is for the newer generation is to realise that success is not an entitlement, Chelsea has been around since 1905 not since 2003 or some time in the 1990s and winning is not the be all and end all of what following chelsea is all about.

I'd agree with that. This is exactly why a certain overseas posters pronouncement that the last decade was all the history he needed to know was met (and quite rightly too) with such scorn.

Hutch and Benches,

I get what you guys are saying, and I cannot even imagine what it was like when Chelsea weren't a successful team. I would never take any of the success for granted, I do know the history of the club and the difficult times that many of the posters on here have been through in their Chelsea relationship!

But again, I repeat, I just can't imagine what it must have felt like!

The first professional game I ever saw outside of MLS teams was a friendly Chelsea played while I was visiting England. My father managed to get tickets right in the middle of all the traveling Chelsea fans. I will never forget their clear passion for the team, their singing. It's something you never see in American sports; it was contagious and I remember as a young boy joining in the chants. It's honestly what got me into football and I've loved Chelsea ever since.

edit: adding to what Dubai_Blue said about overseas fans being plastic, anyone who knows me well knows I'm not plastic. I always support my teams through thick and thin. The fact that I support such a successful team is due to, again, as Dubai_Blue said, the club choosing you. Except for Liverpool supporters (and once again, Dubai_Blue hit the nail on the head with this one). Although I notice it with Man U fans too, though they tend to be less delusional (I remember one of my friends who was a Liverpool fan told me that least year they would have won the league if Dalglish had been coach from the beginning...). Honestly though, whenever they ask me why I support Chelsea (most people around here support either Man U or Liverpool, not Chelsea for whatever reason) I tell them the above story and they say that's cool. When I ask them why they support Man U or Liverpool they can't really give me an answer. It's a glory hunting thing I suppose; they just want to support the most successful teams. Of course Liverpool fans can't really say anything about recent success but they like to live off history as well.

In any case, if someone tells me I'm a plastic fan, I just kindly remind them that I'm from Detroit and support all Detroit sports teams. And as such, when was the last time a Detroit sports team won anything (besides the Red Wings)? Doesn't matter to me; I still support them.

Edited by Planet Drogba



No I wouldnt be as arrogant enough to think that, its a form of snobbery to say "I'm a real fan you are plastic", the trick is for the newer generation is to realise that success is not an entitlement, Chelsea has been around since 1905 not since 2003 or some time in the 1990s and winning is not the be all and end all of what following chelsea is all about.

I always feel like I'm missing out on something when you guys get talking about the old days. I was born in the summer of '89, so we've (just about) been in the top division my entire life.

For me there are three reasons that really helped me develop an affinity for Chelsea over the short time (since 2002) I've been supporting the club. First, and this is following the same logic as Dubai_Blue had stated, it was, in a sense, the other team - I never liked Man Utd, and Liverpool even less, mainly due to their supporters here, and at the time Arsenal were the top dogs in the premiership (the only league that Canadian tv picked up at the time), and their support were as arrogant as for the other two, and I didn't really get any pride or motivation watching the those clubs. I think, that the initial underdog, and Blue against the World impression I got from the Chelsea followers and the media sealed me to the club, which was even more helped when Jose came on-board.

Secondly, one of my high-school teachers was a supporter, and he was somewhat of a regular (as much as an oversea supporter could be - although he was a season ticket holder for two years while his wife was studying in London) he helped nourish my love of the team. He would literally interrupt our classes when there was a Chelsea CL game showing mid-week. He introduced me to the clubs history, achivements, and commitment.

The last reason, and this one is probably the worst one, I was excited when we signed Kezman, as he was a Serbian player making it into the Chelsea ranks. Unfortunately, after his great pre-season showing in the States, he went on to be rather disappointing, to say the least!

I was in London during the 2006 World Cup and we stayed at a nice little hotel less than a mile from Stamford Bridge. My dad and I would go to local pubs to watch the matches, and we always struck up conversations with the locals, a lot of which were CFC fans. At the time, I really did not care at all about football, but I enjoyed watching the WC so much that I decided to start following Chelsea when I got home. Spent a lot of time looking up players on Wikipedia and stuff like that to learn about the players and the sport.

Still have yet to see them play, saving up money to make it back over to London in the next year or so.

Also, it's funny how, even when they are in the US, the Liverpool fans I know are just as delusional as the ones living in England.

Born in Oz in '89, moved to England 6 weeks later. Lived in Hampton. When I was old enough to really understand what support actually is, I chose my team. I might point out, at this stage, I felt entirely English. I knew nothing about Australia, I spoke with a lovely little British accent, for all intensive purposes, I was English. There were a number of teams I could choose from. I could go for the succesful teams, like United (and came close to...I was a kid, quite fickle), or I could go for a more local team, or for some other random reason. So about the time I was 5-6 years old, at school I talked to friends at the time, and one was talking about Chelsea. It all sort of started there. Sadly, I only got to a couple of games before the family moved back to Australia at the end of '96. I believe the first game I went to was Coventry v Chelsea at the bridge. I get the feeling we either drew or lost that match.

Anyway, getting back to Australia it became very difficult to continue following the EPL, and Chelsea. For a few years, I started to put Chelsea on the backburner as I looked to immerse myself in local sports. Rugby league, cricket, AFL in particular were all sports I started following, and supported local teams (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) in all of them. While it was difficult to keep up to date with the football, it wasn't impossible. Yes, the internet was not widely utilized at the time, and we didn't have pay tv, but we did get issues of Shoot and Match airfreight from England. They may have been a month late, but I bought them, and that's primarily how I kept up to date with what was going on.

After a while I got into video games, and started playing FIFA and management games. I was always Chelsea...so I got to know more about current Chelsea players at the time (obviously it wasn't always accurate), but it was another way of me keeping the door open. As the years went on, I lost most of my English ties. I felt more Australian every day (despite still having an English accent - that wouldn't really leave until my voice broke). I supported Australia in everything, including football, but kept a passion for Chelsea.

As it turned out, I supported Chelsea for longer than a local football team. When I arrived, the Australia league (NSL), was not a professional league, and wasn't widely broadcast like the other sports, so despite following the Socceroos, I wouldn't support a local football club for a while. When the A-League started up, Australia professional football league, I started supporting Queensland (Brisbane) Roar. Around that time, I convinced mum to get Foxtel. The major attraction was I'd get to see EPL and A-League games (by this stage, I was already in full support of Chelsea again, using the internet to keep me up to date). Since then, I've supported both Brisbane and Chelsea as my teams. I can go to Brisbane games, but not Chelsea games. And although it's impossible to attend Chelsea games, I'm able to stay up till 4am, or waking up at 6am to make sure I see just about every game Chelsea play (FA Cup and Carling Cup are more difficult).

I don't care if I'm not Chelsea through and through. The fact is, I had a connection to Chelsea when I was only 6, and despite moving to the other side of the world, that connection stayed strong even through years, where there wasn't much I could do about it. Now, I consider myself to be truly Australian, I was born here, and have spent mroe than 2/3 of my life here. I support England in nothing, but I never forget the first team I genuinely supported in any sport.



First and foremost, I grew up playing soccer, and it was always my favorite sport. (Sorry....born and raised in California. So even though the word "football" makes a hell of a lot more sense to describe THIS game than it does to describe American football, it is what it is. Soccer's the one where you kick the ball, and football's the one where you throw it and tackle each other. It'd feel phony and forced if I started calling this one football, so soccer it is). Anyway.....soccer's been my favorite game to play since I was maybe 4 years old.

Until fairly recently, it was hard to see Premier League games here. For one, there just weren't that many televised at all. And two, prior to DVR and the ability to record games, it would've meant getting up before God often times to see kickoff. (one of our upcoming preseason matches is at 3:30am California time. Yikes!) So it was hard to REALLY follow any overseas team. Eventually coverage expanded and it was possible to see enough live matches to get to know the teams -- their style, their fans, their atmosphere, etc.

So why Chelsea?

Probably the biggest reason is that it was my little brother's favorite already, and I figured it'd be more fun to go to pubs and root with him than against him. I liked that they were good without being elite. Arbitrarily picking United or Liverpool, to me, would've been like someone in England saying they're a Yankees fan or a Lakers fan. It's easy to pick to the historically most successful franchise and latch on to them. But I didn't want that. I liked that I could watch Chelsea at (insert other team here), and hear Chelsea's small visitor section out-singing the home fans. I liked the players. I like the attitude. I liked the playing style. It all just appealed to me.

I travelled all over Europe with my family when I was about 13, but we didn't make it to England. So, part of me also wanted a London-based team in case I ever actually did make it to England.....figuring it'd be "easiest" to get to a game in London. (Incidentally, my wife and I have long delayed a planned trip to Europe because she got pregnant. But now that our daughter is old enough to stay with grandparents and be away from mommy and daddy for a week and a half, we're heading over in September, so I'll see my first live game at Stamford Bridge versus Swansea on the 24th. Can't freakin' wait).

So.....do I know what it's like to see Chelsea barely hanging on in the top division? No. I wasn't around that long ago. Hell, I was only 8 or 9 when the Premier League split off from the rest of the leagues, and back then we got basically zero coverage of it here. But in my opinion, whether or not you experienced the dark days of the past doesn't determine whether or not you are, or can be, a true fan. The real question is where will you be the next time the team is in the dumps? All my teams, except maybe the Lakers, have had long stretches of embarrassingly bad results. As an example, I don't know how many of you (if any) follow college football, but my alma mater - USC - is one of the top handful of college football programs of all time. I was a fan from the time I was 3, and lived through 8 year and 13 year stretches where we didn't beat our two biggest rivals, and had unprecedented levels of failure. Think: ManU going about a decade with no trophies, and often finishing around 15th or so in the table. I remember our 90k seat stadium having maybe 40k fans in attendance while we lost to some small crappy team that should never beat a school like USC. And then the 2000s came and we were back on top of the world. And the bandwagon fans came pouring in. Every game was a sellout, and tons of people in the stadium who swore they were lifelong USC fans couldn't name half the starting players, or the previous head coach. Goes with the territory.

I'm sure that you Chelsea lifers who have been with the team for 30, 40, 50 years sort of look down on us johnny-come-lately's. And I get it. Just don't assume we're all bandwagon jumpers. Chelsea could fall to League 2, and I'm not going anywhere. (although I may be asking you for constant updates since they don't televise League 2 games here :laugh2: ).

In 1994 some FA Cup matches were shown live on Dutch TV. I think I watched it from the semi finals onward (can't remember that too clearly), and some team in blue played some attractive fighting football. I was hugely disappointed by that blue team's loss in the final, and my hatred of anything red stems from that day.

I started following Chelsea in earnest in the season 1994-95, so, contrary to what most people think, the signing of Ruud Gullit has nothing to do with it, as he started playing for Chelsea in the 1995-96 season.

In Holland I support PSV, but for me, there is really only one team, and its results make or break my day (sometimes week, or even month :) ).

I come over for a match/piss-up once or twice a season, wishing my wallet was big enough to do that more often.

Edited by Valerie

So why Chelsea?

Probably the biggest reason is that it was my little brother's favorite already, and I figured it'd be more fun to go to pubs and root with him than against him. I liked that they were good without being elite. Arbitrarily picking United or Liverpool, to me, would've been like someone in England saying they're a Yankees fan or a Lakers fan. It's easy to pick to the historically most successful franchise and latch on to them. But I didn't want that. I liked that I could watch Chelsea at (insert other team here), and hear Chelsea's small visitor section out-singing the home fans. I liked the players. I like the attitude. I liked the playing style. It all just appealed to me.

Going off topic slightly, but that section reminds me of my recent foray into American sport. I've never been one for baseball (it's almost as boring as cricket and they play pretty much every day!) but I always had a thing for american football. Until recently, I didn't really follow the sport - I'd watch the play offs and pick a different team to root for every year. Then back in August, I discovered that it's possible to see every game of the regular season even from here, so I decided to pick a team.

I missed the start of the season, but figured that it wasn't too late to start following it this year. I had a few criteria - I didn't want a team that was really bad and no fun to watch (Panthers etc), or a team that was too high profile that get a lot of bandwagon fans (Pats, Colts, Steelers) and it couldn't be the Cowboys (have always hated them).

Anyways, I watched every game of week 3 of the season and kinda liked the way the Falcons played against the Saints, but when I saw the Eagles beat the Jags, I knew that they were the one. When I learned that they also hate the Cowboys, it was even better. Since then, it has become almost an obsession for me - I've spent countless hours reading about the team and the players and trying to get a better understanding of how the game actually works (some of those plays are confusing - I still don't really understand what goes on with defense :P ) even staying up 'til 4am to watch those "Primetime" games.

I don't claim to be their number 1 fan, but I can tell it's the start of a long and happy relationship; we've all gotta start somewhere, right?



I loved cricket since my childhood (being an Indian its like you are born into the religion called cricket) but as I grew older and went to the college, I restricted myself to playing only and stopped watching cricket apart from some important test matches like against Australia or Pakistan. Part of the reason was that I was drawn towards football. I had played football as a child for my school but it was nothing like cricket. However when I joined my college in 2003, I was surprised to see football being the sport of choice.

I tried my hands, or rather feet, on the sport and took a liking for it instantly. I have played many sports and there seems to be something in me that I pick most of them up pretty quickly. I established myself first in the hostel and then college team. Subsequently I also started watching the game and EPL was what everyone seemed to be following. There were United fans, Arsenal fans, Liverpool fans but only one Chelsea fan who was one of my best mates. He introduced me to the Blues and I started watching Chelsea games with him, liked what I saw and the rest as they say is history.

I remember thoroughly enjoying our victory over Arsenal in the CL QF tie. I remember jumping with joy when Bridge scored the winner. I remember showing middle finger to all the Arsenal following crowd (and then getting my ass kicked, in a friendly sort of way!) The Blue in me was born.

I have rejoiced in our success, been upset at losses, felt a pain in my heart after defeats like the CL semi final against Pool, the draw against Wigan that killed our title challenge in 2008, the CL final against United. I have tracked youth players' progress, read up most of our history (thanks to Rick Glanvill's book and many internet articles), fought with my partner to let me watch Chelsea play an obscure North European team in a CL at 1 o'clock in the night.

One of my biggest dreams is to visit Stamford Bridge and see my heroes in action.

Edited by rahul

I supported Chelsea because I failed at jumping on a bandwagon.

When Chelsea played Barcelona in 1999, I was hooked on the team that thrashed the likes of Rivaldo and Luis Figo. I never watched the return leg- please don't tell me the result.

A few years later I got cable TV so could watch the EPL more regularly. All the kids at school were Arsenal, Liverpool or United fans I decided to stick with Chelsea, only finding out a while later another guy in my grade's family were massive fans, having moved from London originally.

I feel that i have quite a good perspective on all of this. I was born in England (1989) and lived there for 10years. Been a Chelsea fan since before i can remember. Moved to NZ when i was 10years old and i have seen a number of my friends get hooked on the football bug. Not so much when i was first in nz but from 05 onwards it has become huge over here. Every prem match is now shown, which was not the case for a few very frustrating years when i arrived.

My friends have choosen clubs through different means but then as they feel distanced from it to try and get more of a connection with the club they immerse themselves in the history of the team, buying multiple strips per season and trying to create a real bond with the club. A lot of them really do seem to succeed in this as well and although I have lived in London and been a childhood fan of the club i feel that they are just as much fans of their teams as I am and they care just as much about the results and the success of them as I feel for Chelsea.

People living in England probably don't understand quite the commitment a lot of people around the world have to take for their teams to watch them play. Sure we arent going to the matches but we have to wake up at the ungodliest of hours to watch them and this often leads to very very tired days at Uni for me, or work for some of my mates. I do believe it is genuinally possible to form a connection with a team these days, with all the exposure that the premier league has without actually being from the place or being a match-goer, or is some cases having never ever visited the city.

I used to live in West London, not too far from the Bridge and was a diehard Chelsea fan. Decided to emigrate to Australia just over 5 years ago in search of a better life for my family, which I have found although I do miss being able to go to games and also the pubs here are a bit sh*te! Chelsea will be forever my number 1 club although I now support them from afar. My son is now a Chelsea fan and I will be taking him to the Bridge for the first time when we visit the UK next year. My daughter is too young to know what day of the week it is but she will be a Chelsea fan as well.



The short version is that I was in the right place at the right time.

One Saturday in October 1981 I found myself in the middle of a blue and white crowd as I turned onto the Fulham road then, into a pub followed by a fair bit of drinking then found out they were all going to a football match. I went along and saw my first match. I was more of a party for me than anything else I was sure it was a one off thing. Still wasn't a big soccer fan.

Forward to 1990, it was Italia '90 that got me hooked on soccer.

Then around the 1997-98 season we started getting a few Premier League games on TV in the States and when I caught a Chelsea match at some point it occurred to me that this was the same team I had seen years before. It was love at second sight.

So though I must honestly say that I started following Chelsea during the Vialli years, I can say in truth that I saw Chelsea play in the 2nd division.

Carefree MoFo's ::ChELSeAFaN::

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