Well i would of supported Cardiff when i was choosing my team but my parents didnt even tell me we had a football team. I think they just wanted me to support Man Utd as they do but i decided against it so it kind of backfired on them. Although i dont support Cardiff i will always want them to do well.

it amuses me

I hate England, but I'm still proud to say I was born here and still support the national team. I think you should support the country you were born in, but it's up to the individual person what they do, it has no effect on me what so ever. My cousin was born in South Africa, but she still says she's English and supports every thing English.

you hate england?

the mean england as in the country itself or the football team?

Hate to say this but i agree with steely and is my exact feelings also.

Dundee till i die

National team wise I'm England - my Dad is English, and I was brought up in England. Yes its infuriating/frustrating/disheartening more often than not, but thats the way the cookie crumbles.
Likewise Tottenham, I have family in Enfield and took to Spurs, rather than Watford who I could have opted for because of family again.

Look how much pain and agony that has caused me over the years!

My Mum came from Trinidad so I have a strong afilliation for the caribbean island - have been there a good few times since very young so has a lot of good childhood and more recent memories. Had I grown up there, I like to think I'd be a T&T supporter, but I wasn't, so I'm not.

If/when I have kids, I hope they would be either England, Trinidad or Ireland (begrudgingly!) supporters. My missus would much prefer they were Trinidad rather than English supporting, and we have a good bit of banter regarding this...if they chose Ireland, I would be 100% behind them though.

Both.

What if the nearest professional Club to you is in a different Country and you have relations with a Club from another Country also situated in the UK?

Your reasoning for supporting Arsenal?

Aye. Well there are no professional Clubs over here. My nearest professional Club is Tranmere Rovers in fact.

My Dad lived in London for a long while and went to many Arsenal games in the late eighties. He didn't really support them, but rather went along with work-mates to matches and such. Just happened that when I was around six, I started to get into football and one night caught my first live TV football match; Arsenal V Auxerre in the UEFA Cup. I followed Arsenal to the final of that competition when they got beat in the final and before I knew it I'd fallen in love with the game and with Arsenal. I was no glory-hunter, in fact Arsenal weren't that strong back then before Rioch, then Wenger was in charge and I became a Gooner off the back of a Cup final defeat and nothing but despair - I cried my eyes out!

There's no way at that age that I could have banished that attachment and suddenly started supporting the team down the road who are made up of some hoods and some regular chumps from around the area that we'd know.

Maybe if I had of known the level of football and who were my nearest professional Club, then I might have supported Tranmere Rovers. Then again, that would have been extremely difficult as they weren't ever on TV or even in existence in my knowledge and they weren't easy to travel to support!

So I don't see me being a Gooner as a problem. I do miss the whole local attachment, where North London Gooners will get - they'd live, breathe and eat Arsenal Football Club and relate to the Club in so many ways. But I do love and support the Club passionately and I buy the merchandise that I can afford and get to the games that I can.

But yet, they are English no matter who is fielded and a large part of the Gooner fanbase is English, and I'm still happy to be attached to that. And that says something for an Irishman!

For most part I would agree with Steely Hill with the local Club thing. But I do think professional football is something we all love and can support well. But local amateurs are different. In that case most people should be supporting their non-League locals [if they are closer to you than the nearest professional Club] first & foremost and only them for eternity!

Your last paragraph interested me most there. If my team Dundee.f.c were in the english league i think we wouldny be far off away from the conference. Maybe league 2.

Its weird i look across this forum and i see welsh people supporting - Man United, Arsenal, Spurs and i see irishmen supporting - Liverpool, Celtic and Arsenal. "not always the case i know" Only checked those i remember who they support. Just why support always the big teams? Surely there were proffesional teams kicking about who werent such a big team? But its always the same it was my dads grandads budgies rabbits brothers uncle who supported them.

I got alot of respect for the mod. Conaldinho "spelling could be wrong" for supporting his team and sticking by them across in ireland. Many welsh and irish here who dont support there hom teams.

Oh well thats football.

I am English therefore by default my national football team is England. How anyone can support a national team that is different to their own nationality is difficult to comprehend.

of course there are exceptions to the rule.

supporting a club because a parent does for example would be reasonable.

the thing is that people with no club around them will ALWAYS go for a club with success. Man United being the prime example.

that grates on me.

as everybody know...im just supporting holland... and always will....

And same for Ajax...i live in Amsterdam so my heart goes to Ajax.
Now if i would move to lets say Rotterdam (not that i ever will move to that place) then i wont change team.
...

What's that got to do with supporting an international team? Our team and fans always seem to draw unwarranted criticism. Why is that?

im saying that national support should be the same as club support. whatever club/nation is your area.

most people dont follow local clubs so why should people follow their own country?

In my opinion, international and club football are entirely different from that perspective. International football is only on ONE level, there are not several different levels of professionalism as in England where we have amateur, non-league and league sides to choose from. Not everyone is fortunate (or unfortunate depending on your view) to live in a large city or town with a professional club to follow. Club football gives punters a greater variety of choice whereas with international football, most people only have one nationality, and therefore ONE choice.

Would you prefer that MOST punters that don’t live close to a top club side chose to support West Ham United? If they did, would that grate on me? I sincerely doubt it because I couldn’t give a t*ss who supports West Ham United. I am only interested in supporting my team and everyone else can make their own free choice. That’s life.

its a fair point.

its merely my opinion.

the reason a club is called what it is called is because it represents that area.

for me, its as simple as that.

Yes.....it is as simple as that for a lot of people......but there are a lot of people in a position where it's not quite so clear cut when the choice comes down to club football. As far as international football is concerned......I'm with you......I will never be able to understand people like Johaldo who choose to support a national team that is different from their own nationality.