It’s quite rare for Manchester United supporters to look as glum as they did on Sunday. Dimitar Berbatov missed several half chances. Antonio Valencia came close in the first half when his shot was saved by Paul Robinson. But, other than that, it was an uncharacteristic static performance from Manchester United during eight days that has seen them lose against Chelsea, knocked out of the Champions League and has now seen them lose two precious points at Ewood Park.

And it doesn’t get any easier for United from here. Next up for United is an away match against their cross-town rivals Manchester City this Saturday. And how City — and especially Carlos Tevez — would love to end United’s Premier League title aspirations at the City Of Manchester Stadium.

Being a Swansea City supporter, I sometimes wonder what it must feel like to be a Manchester United supporter. With the Swans, it has been heartache and anguish following the team from the late 70s to where they are today. There have been relegations, times when it looked like the club was going out of business, almost relegated to non-league football, but some good times mixed in now and again. But the constant theme for me with the results they have achieved is one of disappointment.

I mention this because it must be always the opposite feeling for Manchester United supporters — and supporters of any major club — in that the club has a much higher percentage of winning matches. Going into each new weekend must be a much more enjoyable experience for United supporters. Their chances of losing are pretty slim. The buzz of a win can make a person’s weekend.

But what do you do when your team loses more often than it wins? Or this season, for the Swans, they’ve won 37%, lost 23% and drawn 40% of their matches. What do you do when you know that your club will most likely win only 3.7 out of every 10 matches? And that’s a good year for the Swans.

You can imagine how a team that often disappoints manifests a defeatist attitude in the supporter. Or at least a different type of attitude going into a game that a Manchester United supporter.

So for me, in the 31 years that I’ve been a Swansea City supporter, I always want them to win. However I’m pleasantly surprised (and pleased) when they do win. But when they lose or draw, it’s often in agonizing circumstances. They’ll come so close to winning or drawing that it’ll be a late opposition goal that will throw their chance of getting three points or even one point. This has happened so many times in my history of following Swansea City. And it’s happened in promotion play-off finals, cup competitions and other critical games such as derbies.

To be completely honest, I’ve been emotionally scarred so many times by Swansea disappointing me over the years that I’ve built a perverse attitude to their games. I always want them to win, but I’d rather them lose so I can deal with it better than to have them come so agonizingly close to winning and then eventually lose. For me, that type of loss is sometimes too much to bear where it can and sometimes will ruin my weekend. I want the team to win, but if they’re going to lose, don’t torture me.

Of course, I realize that in sport that games are often decided by what happens in the last few minutes of matches. But when your team often is the one who is defeated more often by late goals, it’s a painful and depressing feeling at times.

The strange thing is that in life I am very optimistic and positive. I’m almost always smiling and don’t upset very often at all. At the same time, Swansea is having one of their best seasons in 30 years but they still continue to disappoint. They still may be able to qualify for the playoffs for a chance of promotion to the Premier League, but even if they do, their chances of success are few and far between. When it comes down to it, they draw too many matches and aren’t good enough to make it into the Premier League right now.

I write this because I wonder if there are other supporters out there like me. Or if you have similarly strange or bizarre feelings toward your team to help you cope with the horrors of disappointment. Manchester United supporters and supporters of other top clubs will most probably not understand. But for followers of teams that historically have more lows than highs, do you find yourself in the same boat?

Watching the Midlands derby on television Saturday between Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers, a smile crept on my face when I saw an elderly woman in the crowd celebrating after Aston Villa scored a goal. To see her beaming and jumping up and down was a natural and beautiful thing to see. It filled my heart with joy even though I’m neither a Villa or Wolves supporter.

It made me immediately think of my dearly departed grandmother. Except she wasn’t a soccer fan. Neither is my father, my mother, my sister or neither was my brother, who died eight years ago. In fact, I was and am the only soccer fan in my entire family. My grandparents on my father’s side were passionate Liverpool supporters, having lived in the city. But everyone else had no interest in the sport.

When I listen to interviews or podcasts such as The Spurs Show, I constantly hear stories of how fathers pass along the love of the sport and their support of a particular team to their son. For many families, it’s a birthright to become the supporter of a specific club. And the child is raised to become a supporter. But for me, I never had that. I learned on my own and alongside my cousin Kevin who was a mad Leeds United supporter.

When I went to my first professional soccer match when I was 10, it wasn’t with my father but it was with my best friend and his father. We travelled in his car to a mid-week game during the dark of winter. And seeing the bright green pitch under those floodlights changed my life forever.

I didn’t have the luxury of my parents understanding my new found passion. It was always something they had a hard time coming to grips with and it always seemed to them that it was a distraction for me from my schoolwork and more important things in life.

I did find a way to get my parents to come with me to two soccer games, though, which was a proud but unusual experience. The first was a game during what became the final season for the Miami Fusion where the team was playing some of the most beautiful soccer I’ve seen a team play in person. The crowd of over 12,000 was into it too, and my parents really seemed to enjoy the match. The second game they went to was to celebrate by seeing me propose to my now wife during half-time of a Miami Fusion soccer game.

As a father, I’m now in the role of encouraging my children to follow the game of soccer as I do. But the three girls I have are interested in playing the game more than watching it on television. My fourth child – my son, named Christopher, is still too young (one and a half years old) to get into the game, but I’m sure I’ll encourage him when he gets older. For me, it’s an opportunity to raise my children in a family that is as soccer mad as I am and bring them up with the game, if they’re interested.

What about you? What has been your experience following soccer with your family? Are your parents or grandparents into the sport, and have they taken you to matches? Do they understand why you’re so passionate about the sport, or do they look at you as the bizarre one in the family following that strange game? Share your stories and tell us about your parents and family, and their involvement (or non-involvement) with the beautiful game.

Photo credit: Geoff Penn

When you’re wearing the shirt of your favorite soccer team in public, have you considered what nonverbal communications you’re sending?

Sure, the majority of the time, we’re wearing a soccer shirt because it’s the team we support, we like the design, it’s comfortable, fashionable and sometimes it’s one of the few pieces of clothing that is clean and readily available. But a soccer shirt is much more than that.

Let me explain.

When you wear a shirt, you’re sending nonverbal messages to the people who walk past you and notice the shirt you’re wearing. One, you’re different. A soccer shirt stands out from ordinary clothes. It’s usually more colorful and the design looks completely different than the plain clothing that most other people wear. People notice that you’re different. Some may like that. Some may not. But whether you like it or not, you’re sending a message to people that you’re different than the average person walking down the street.

Two, you’re sending nonverbal communications to strangers that you’re a soccer fan. It’s just like buying a T-shirt at a concert for your favorite rock band. You want people to come up to you and engage in a conversation. “Hey, I like them too.” You’re identifying yourself as a soccer fan, but also as a supporter of a specific club thus allowing at least two topics that strangers can discuss with you.

Three, you’re advertising a brand. It’s no wonder that Nike, Adidas, Puma and other manufacturers spend enormous amounts of money on advertising and securing contracts with soccer clubs. Wearing a soccer shirt with the Nike logo on your right chest sends a message to the public and, in itself, is a form of “free” advertising for the shirt manufacturer.

Four, not only are you advertising a brand, but you’re also advertising a sponsor. Corporations have their name and logo emblazoned across most soccer shirts. When I used to wear my Swansea City away shirt in the 90s that looked like an AC Milan shirt, the front of it had the words “Gulf Oil” across it. Complete strangers in malls in the United States would come up to me and ask me if I worked for the oil company. They were perplexed, as I was when they asked me the question. Whether we want to believe it or not, we are advertising corporate brands when we wear shirts of our favorite soccer clubs.

Five, if your shirt features a number and/or name on the back, you’re also communicating to the public that you support the player identified. You just have to hope that the footballer stays with the club. Otherwise the shirt becomes outdated far too quickly!

Six, and perhaps most importantly from a psychological perspective, you wearing that shirt is sending a message that you’re part of an exclusive set of people. Not everyone can own a soccer shirt. Not everyone can afford. And not everyone can figure out how to even find one. But wearing that shirt tells people that you’re special. It’s just walking into a nightclub or restaurant and seeing a certain group of people sitting behind a velvet rope that is exclusively for VIPs.

These are just half a dozen of the nonverbal communications you send out there when you wear a shirt. There may be more than those. Sure, wearing a soccer shirt is a harmless joy. But whether you like to think it or not, you’re buying much more than the support of your favorite soccer team. You’re buying the attention of the public.

Jan Molby is a player that I have a lot of time for. The Danish footballer was a maestro in midfield. While he’s best remembered as being a pivotal player for Liverpool during his time there between 1984 and 1996, he has a special place in my heart for being a pioneer with the club I support, Swansea City, where he introduced a beautiful style of play as player manager which laid the groundwork for Roberto Martinez’s arrival, much later, in 2007.

Judging by Molby’s artistry on the pitch with Liverpool and Swansea, it’s no surprise then that Molby’s early part of his career included two years playing with Ajax where he won the Dutch Championship in 1983 and played in the Ajax youth academy alongside Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Jesper Olsen. For those of you who had a chance to watch him play, either in person or on television, there was something magical about the way he played and how adept he was at passing the ball. To see just one example of his skill, watch the video above.

Fortunately for us, Molby will be visiting the United States next month where he’ll be making an appearance in New York City on December 19, 2009 at the 11th Street Bar. Molby will be available to sign autographs and memorabilia, as well as to pose for photographs. If you’re interested in attending or want to learn more details, visit the Liverpool FC New York Supporters Club website. Tickets to the Jan Molby appearance are $20 and tickets are limited, so sign up today if you want to meet the legend.

No offense to the celebrities that we’ve interviewed over the past few years for EPL Talk, but sometimes the best stories are from the actual fans themselves, like yourself.

If you’re a regular reader to EPL Talk, you’ve read hundreds if not thousands of words from the fingertips of myself and the team of bloggers on this site. But now it’s your turn. Please take a couple of minutes and share with me and the other readers how you started supporting your favorite team.

It doesn’t have to be a Premier League side. For example, after you’ve added your story by clicking the ‘Comments’ link below, you can read about how I became a Swansea City supporter and my memories of the first match I ever attended in 1979, as well as a few stories from fellow EPL Talk readers.

Just click the ‘Comments’ button below and stsrt writing. And thanks in advance for sharing your personal story of how you became a supporter of your favorite team. I look forward to reading your contributions.

While you’re enjoying EPL Talk, don’t forget to check out the sister sites in our network for a taste of German, Italian, Spanish, European and American soccer.

Bundesliga Talk has the statistics comparing Schalke to Atletico Madrid for the most enticing Champions League third round qualifying match. Another new article written by Bundeliga Talk correspondent Mark Moll is a piece on the new manager at Hamburger SV, Martin Jol, who lost 2-1 yesterday against Real Madrid in the 2008 Emirates Cup in London.

Prolific writer Lonnie Smetana at Champions League Talk has been busy previewing the most exciting matches in the Champions League third qualifying round stage, the latest transfer market activity in Europe and a roundup of the results from the third round of the Intertoto Cup.

If you’re a fan of Major League Soccer, Kartik Krishnaiyer writes on a near daily basis at Major League Soccer Talk about topics such as Cory Gibbs who may be heading to LA Galaxy, the list of MLS players playing in the Olympics, how the Mexican players are notorious sore losers when they get defeated by US club sides and/or the national team, and a very interesting article entitled, Does SuperLiga Have A Future?

Over at Serie A Talk, Kevin Walker has an interesting article about the Italian connection at Bordeaux, as well as rumors about Tiago leaving Juventus.

Yours truly has written an article about the Spanish influence at Swansea City under the website Championship Talk. Shakira Graham meanwhile writes about one of the best supported clubs in England, Derby County.

If you’re a fan of the world’s game, be sure to check out the sister sites on a regular basis.

Growing up in Wales, many of my cold, wet winter nights were spent cowering under a lightbulb studying every word and every page of football programmes. I had my Swansea City programmes that I brought home from matches, but I was deeply indebted to Steve Earl Football Programmes for helping to grow my collection. Goodness knows how much money I spent with them in the late 70s and early 80s.

When I moved to Florida in 1984, I was immediately thrown into a world where soccer was virtually extinct. The Fort Lauderdale Strikers had just folded. There was nothing on TV. As a high school freshman, all I had was the varsity team I played on as well as a local travel team where I achieved one of the few highlights of my pretty short soccer career. My coach’s name was Steve Ralbovsky, recipient of the 1975 Hermann Trophy (soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman trophy) and had 15 U.S. caps to his name. My claim to fame was being the only kid on the team to tackle our coach and keep the ball away.

To help cure my homesickness, I began collecting football programmes again. This time, I spent what little pocket money I received by converting them into international money orders and sending them to the Swansea City Club Shop. There Myra would send me a batch of programmes every few weeks to my home, where I would again scour through every page as I read about Swansea slipping further and further down the Football League until their near extinction.

So when I went to Switzerland a couple of weeks ago to watch Italy against Holland at Euro 2008, I was excited at the prospect of buying a football programme. To be bewilderment, there were none available for sale at the game. No one was walking around outside or inside the ground selling them. When I arrived in Zurich the day before the game, I remember seeing the official programme for the entire tournament for sale at a newsagent, but I passed up the opportunity thinking it’d be easier to get one at the match. I’m kicking myself now that I didn’t buy it at the time.

But with the popularity of websites, blogs, message forums and the advances in being able to surf online on mobile phones, is there a place for football programmes in today’s society and are they slowly becoming extinct? Maybe it’s me, but I don’t hear or read discussions about football programmes anymore. Even when attending Premier League matches, I don’t see many supporters purchasing them. And in the United States, they seem to be even less popular than in Europe.

I fear for the future of football programmes. The cost of printing and paper is exorbitant. Plus there’s the issue of being timely. With the Internet, articles can be written in minutes after news breaks. Football programmes have to be written days or weeks in advance, so the content is usually more dry such as programme notes from a manager or a player profile or an article about the history of the club.

But there is a certain appeal about football programmes, something a lot more tangible than visiting a website. Years from now, football programmes are a wonderful souvenir that bring back so many memories. Sometimes it’s just the smell of a programme that triggers vivid images of being at a game. That’s something that websites can’t do.

Let’s hope that football programmes stick around for Steve Earl’s sake.