Clubs you 'support', or have a soft spot for

Was going to ask in the Ben Whiteman thread, but didn't want to take it further off-topic.

Do you support any second, maybe even third teams? Or just have some soft spots for certain clubs?

For me:

Waterford FC (lived in the city and loved it)
AFC Wimbledon (the story of injustice & the romantic ending to the story)
Ajax (Like their development model)
Hibs (Don't laugh, but the Proclaimers )

Wouldn't claim to be a true fan of any of them, but I like to look out for them if I can as a side interest

 

AC Milan, from watching Football Italia as a kid. Phenomenal side in the early 90s with likes of Maldini, Baresi, Van Basten and Gullit. The last football shirt I bought had Shevchenko on the back, probably about 15 years ago.

I went through a phase of managing Stalybridge on Football Manager a few years back and used to look for their scores, but not so much now.

 

Tottenham - no idea why, but always liked them.
Seattle Sounders - watched them a few times when visiting the wife’s family. The “Fight and Win” video wasn’t good though...
AC Milan/Juventus - I was a massive Pirlo fan, so followed his teams when he was at his peak.

 

Toronto FC

 

I used to play as Havant & W, after they gave Liverpool a scare in the cup (same year we knocked them out)

 

Football Italia on channel 4.. great memories! James Richardson has his own Italian football podcast now, worth checking it out as it looks back on that time.

 

Scarborough (from holidays as a kid), always followed their results and hope they get back to the football league one day.
Fiorentina, went to watch them when I visited Florence

 

Mansfield Town
Real Salt Lake
Pescara

Then any of the teams my buddies support (there are several) I don't have a "soft spot" for but I always make sure to check up on their results usually.

Internationally maybe I a soft spot for Senegal a little bit. My first world cup that I remember was 2002 and they did real well and impressed me. Also if my friend or a girlfriend has certain heritage then I don't mind getting behind their teams.
USA/England my top two, then Italy third, then anywhere a friend or girlfriend is from lol.

 

A few. Chelsea, Leyton Orient, Huddersfield, Grimsby, Penny Church, Stanley (since our away day).

 

Carlisle- been a few times with my mate who is a fan. Went to the famous Jimmy Glass game with him and the day they went down to the conference which was horrible.
Arsenal - again friend is supporter. Highbury was one of best ever match day experiences

 

Juve are my European team. I remember being young and watching the highlights on channel 4.

I was born in, lived for the first 10 years of my life and have family members in Norwich so I’m always wanting them to do well and look out for their results. Apart from when they play us of course.

 

Genoa and Stenhousemuir are my two. Genoa because of the English heritage connected to them and we share the same birthday / formation date. Supported em since finding that out in a copy of Football Italia magazine in 1992.
Stenhousemuir cos on final score the name stood out to me when I was a nipper.

 

I watched the '75 cup final between Fulham and West Ham with my dad (he died in 76 - I was only a kid), he was a big West Ham fan and it was the last one I ever got to watch with him so I've always looked for their results.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoa_C.F.C.

According to Wiki, Genoa FC formed in 1893, 6 years after Barnsley.

 

I idolised my late Dad. He died at the tender age of forty seven. It was he who during his short life,
helped me to both understand the laws and engendered my perennial love of the game of football.
His favourite teams outside of supporting and working for Doncaster Rovers on a part time basis, were
Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham respectively.

I once asked him why he had a soft spot for those particular Clubs and always remember him telling me that
his pal and former Donny manager Peter Doherty played for Man City and he was one of the greatest players he
had ever seen. As far as Villa was concerned, he admired the football played under their former manager Joe Mercer,
who also went on to later manage Man City and England. Finally, his respect for Spurs was borne out of the exploits of players like Tommy Harmer and Jimmy Greaves and the extremely attractive " push and run" style of play advocated by the then Spurs manager Arthur Rowe.

As a result, I have always had a certain affinity with those same three Clubs and whilst never ever going along and
physically cheering them on, after checking to see the Reds result (when we play away from home, ) they are the next three results I look out for every week during a season.

In recent times, without being able to forgive Gary Willard and the actions of certain Liverpool players on that black day in our one and only season in the Premiership, due to the way that they have played the game in recent times, I have also formed an affinity with them as well . At times, the football they dished up last season and some of the goals they managed to score were quite breathtaking.

 

Have a soft spot for FC Union Berlin, in my view they have the best stadium in the bundesliga. Always punch above their weight and have a great community spirit like FC St Pauli. First game I attended was in 2011 with a German friend from university who supported them.

 

Snap to the Stenhousemuir because they were the perennial whipping boys in Scotland to the point that in 2001 I made the trip up to see them play Stranraer at home. They drew 0-0 but I remember I wanted to buy a shirt and because they did not have my size in stock they presented me with a match worn shift from one of the players. I still have it somewhere can't beat community clubs

 

Ipswich Town from my days at college in Norwich. I used to go and watch both Norwich and Ipswich who were both in the top division but always preferred Ipswich who had their great team of Mick Mills, Terry Butcher, John Wark, Paul Mariner, Kevin Beattie, Alan Brazil, Arnold Muhren etc.
I saw them beat FC Koln in the UEFA Cup Quarter Final the year they went on to win the trophy.
Seems odd they're now in the third tier.

 

Living in Birmingham I keep an eye out for all of the West Midlands teams. I've got particular soft spots for West Brom and Walsall. I put a brave face on when talking to Villa and Blues fans, but secretly I really enjoy it when they're going through rough patches.

 

That was a great team under the wonderful Bobby Robson.