Comments on: Switching On To Football: An American Supporter Awakes… Part 1

By: Ethan Armstrong

Ethan Armstrong — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:13:35 +0000

If I can add a brief anecdote:

A friend and I went into a pub to catch a Champions League match in 2007. Nobody was watching the TV so we asked the bartender to switch it over to ESPN2. Only, we got there too early. ESPN2 was showing men’s beach weightlifting. Huge dudes. Tiny bathing suits. The entire bar turns to look at us. “There’s a soccer match on after this…” I tried to explain.

“Riiiiiight,” said the bartender.

By: AtlantaPompey

AtlantaPompey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:57:49 +0000

Great article. Mine is a very similar story, although I’ve followed the World Cup since first experiencing the crowd around the television in Moscow in 1986. Never really got into club football until 2006 after watching Pompey survive relegation. Been hooked ever since.

By: Matt in MA

Matt in MA — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:50:26 +0000

I too would like to say that this is an excellent article and it’s wicked cool to hear about other yanks interested in the EPL. Like most of you, I played soccer as a kid (up until 8th grade) but didn’t get interested in it until college when one of my roommates was a big soccer fan. I followed the WC closely in 2002 and 2006. But I don’t really have an EPL team. It was Reading until they got relegated and since I don’t currently have Setanta and can’t see Championship games, I can’t really follow them in the States.

One thing I would like to bring up: it’s completely B.S. when Americans don’t like soccer because it’s too low-scoring. The most popular sport in the States right now, American football, is just as low-scoring and defensive as any soccer game. Look at the stats. The top scoring team in the NFL (The Saints) averaged 3 touchdowns a game. The top scoring team in the EPL (Liverpool) averaged 2 goals a game. Is that really that big of a difference? The scores of NFL games only look inflated because a touchdown is worth 7 points. I know that’s not the deepest analysis of scoring in both leagues, but if one looked closed, I’d bet you’d find they were more similar than most Americans give them credit for.

By: NJ

NJ — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:47:47 +0000

Great stories from everyone. I played a little bit back in my earlier years and would stay in touch with the game as much as I could, namely Fox Sports weekly round up show. I was lucky enough to have a break in my college schedule when the show came on each week.

Following college I read Fever Pitch, and my interest continued to expand, as my support for Arsenal began. I followed as best I could between ‘02 and ‘06 (World cups, and the weekly game I picked up on my Fox Sports affiliate) then in 2006 with the World Cup, watching as much as I could, and glued to the TV for the Semifinals and Final, I ponied up for the expanded TV package, and took my support to the next level.

With Fox Soccer I also received GolTV (until Dish rudely cancelled it on me, so I’m very excited about ESPN’s La Liga partnership) and have actively followed the EPL and La Liga since, as well as MLS domestically. Its funny how quickly the game can go from, a following from afar, to a passion that takes up a lot of time. I’m constantly reading news, blogs (the EPLTalk family of blogs are great) etc. and my wife complains everything that I read and watch is soccer/football related. I’ve even learned a little Spanish so I can more actively follow La Liga.

I wholeheartedly believe our stories can and eventually will be the stories of many other Americans, who have their interest in the game stoked by one event or another, and as we all know its a very slippery slope and interest can quickly become PASSION!!!!

By: BC

BC — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 03:52:28 +0000

Great article, as a recent Yankee convert to the beautiful game I guess I’ll share my story too. I wasn’t a soccer fan by any means, but would follow the World Cup every now and then until I came across the Champions League in 2005. The first full club game I ever watched was the 2005 CL Final where Liverpool had their incredible comeback. Needless to say, I was shocked that a soccer match could be so exciting. After that game I started to follow the club game a little more but following soccer still wasn’t a passion of mine. That was until the 2006 FA Cup Final.

I remember I first saw the ‘06 FA Cup Final on tape delay on FSC. I had a vague idea of what the FA Cup was from seeing some EPL games that season. I was excited that Liverpool was playing since I remembered them from the famous ‘05 CL Final. As soon as Gerrard fired that rocket in the 90th minute to equalize I was a committed soccer fan and a committed Liverpool fan. I will never forget that shot as long as I live as one of the most amazing moments in sport I’ve ever seen. Thanks to those two games I’ve been addicted to soccer and support Liverpool, the US National team and my local team, the Columbus Crew.

I feel a little guilty latching on to one of the Big 4 to support as an American EPL convert, but blame Steven Gerrard, he’s the one who made me a soccer fan.