Help me find the right EPL club

[fishnc]

Hey RealGM Soccer board,

Long time soccer fan and long time RealGM poster here. I'm looking to settle down and commit to an EPL club but I'm having some trouble finding the right match. Obviously living in the States I don't get as much exposure to European football as I'd like, so I'm not as familiar with a lot of the team/city history and rivalries that go into making clubs who they are. Seeing as this is the only forum that I regularly post on, I thought I'd venture over to this board for some advice.

Just a little info that may or may not be useful:

- Most of my European football knowledge comes from UEFA Cup matches, World Cup matches, and playing years upon years of Fifa and Winning 11.

- I've never been to the UK so my knowledge of the individual history of all the cities and the fans that live in them is limited.

- I'm a huge Portland Trail Blazers fan so any obscure similarities that the Blazers may have to an EPL club is a bonus!

- I don't want to be a bandwagon fan. So no Big 4 teams.

- I also don't want to have to worry about my team getting relegated year after year because I would likely get no chance to catch any of their games on TV.

- Other than that, I'm open to any ideas

Thank you for taking the time to help out an EPL newbie like myself and please correct me if I've made any incorrect assumptions!

[magik9113]

what better time than now to pledge your allegiance to Newcastle United

[kdawg32086]

Arsenal FC...there are 3-4 of us from the Blazer board who are Arsenal fans. Join us!
They're big 4 but I don't think being a fan puts you on a bandwagon...Man U is really the only bandwagon team.

Edit: Video for you about Arsenal

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcbV5yyaNYQ[/youtube]

[Point forward]

- Most of my European football knowledge comes from UEFA Cup matches, World Cup matches, and playing years upon years of Fifa and Winning 11.

- I've never been to the UK so my knowledge of the individual history of all the cities and the fans that live in them is limited.

- I'm a huge Portland Trail Blazers fan so any obscure similarities that the Blazers may have to an EPL club is a bonus!

- I don't want to be a bandwagon fan. So no Big 4 teams.

- I also don't want to have to worry about my team getting relegated year after year because I would likely get no chance to catch any of their games on TV.

- Other than that, I'm open to any ideas

This is your lifetime opportunity to become an Aston Villa fan. The Portland Timber will play them in a friendly on July 24, they have some of the coolest looking kits in the EPL (claret/blue), and your #1 fan would be Prince William. See Catherine and Pippa in the VIP box instead of your usual Hollywood junk

You are from Portland? See the Villans live vs the Portland Timber on July 24:
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index ... _epls.html

(Other than that, maybe Blackburn, Newcastle or Tottenham?)

[5DOM]

Swansea ?

I'd say just keep watching the games and support the team whose players or playing style you like the most. Vast majority of EPL watchers - myself included - are bandwagonners/glory hunters anyway.

[TyrusRose2425]

I'm a Bayern fan, but decided to pick an EPL team recently. I went with Arsenal since they aren't the best team out there right now, but will forever be relevant and have they have the resources to become the best in England again.

[LittleOzzy]

Liverpool is a good choice, lots of history of winning, just none recently in the Premier League.

Why pick a team that has already won it all? Choose Liverpool as they will never drop out of the top flight football league, yet they have never won it either.

[jerrod]

back when i picked a team, it was summer so i just watched tons of the old epl games they were showing on fsc until i had a preference for which team i wanted to watch.

[fishnc]

Arsenal FC...there are 3-4 of us from the Blazer board who are Arsenal fans. Join us!
They're big 4 but I don't think being a fan puts you on a bandwagon...Man U is really the only bandwagon team.

I'm a Bayern fan, but decided to pick an EPL team recently. I went with Arsenal since they aren't the best team out there right now, but will forever be relevant and have they have the resources to become the best in England again.

I do enjoy watching Arsenal play. I just feel like I wouldn't appreciate their wins as much as with a team who isn't almost always going to finish top 3. I enjoy the drama of the peaks and valleys that most sports franchises go through. I do appreciate what Arsenal and Liverpool have been able to accomplish relative to the teams with limitless budgets. If I were to pick one of the big 4, it would be one of those two.

This is your lifetime opportunity to become an Aston Villa fan. The Portland Timber will play them in a friendly on July 24, they have some of the coolest looking kits in the EPL (claret/blue), and your #1 fan would be Prince William. See Catherine and Pippa in the VIP box instead of your usual Hollywood junk

You are from Portland? See the Villans live vs the Portland Timber on July 24:
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index ... _epls.html

(Other than that, maybe Blackburn, Newcastle or Tottenham?)

These are more along the lines of the teams I was considering. I don't care too much about celebrity fans, I'm used to not having many with the Blazers. I think Timothy Hutton is our only real celebrity regular, and he sucks anyway.

As for the Aston Villa friendly...I lived in Portland a long time ago, but unfortunately am nowhere near there now. That would have been a great opportunity to see them play live.

Swansea ?

I'd say just keep watching the games and support the team whose players or playing style you like the most. Vast majority of EPL watchers - myself included - are bandwagonners/glory hunters anyway.

I watch as many games as I can when I have spare time, but I'm worried about selecting a team just based on players or playing style. Players seem to come and go quite often. I would hate to choose a team based on their current roster and realize later down the road that the players that used to play there were the only reason I liked them. If that makes sense.

what better time than now to pledge your allegiance to Newcastle United

They are very fun to watch right now!

[fishnc]

Right now I'm leaning towards Tottenham, Newcastle, and Blackburn, and to a lesser extent I'm also considering Liverpool and Arsenal despite my OP.

[Man of Steel]

If you don't want to be considered a bandwagon, your best bet is liverpool

[Yellow Flash]

pick liverpool or arsenal. it is no bandwagoning when they don't win any trophies.

[treiz]

Newcastle or Spurs IMO.

Especially Newcastle, they just feel like the Portland of the EPL, especially last years Portland.

[fatlever]

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 3163_n.jpg

^here is the link since the pic is cut in half.



this should help it always makes me laugh.

[Schad]

Watch games from the Premiership and the Championship next year...don't suddenly decide that you have a team, just see which one starts to gain your allegiances and go with it.

[fatlever]

in regards to avoiding one of the top clubs, i will say this, if you select a team that will never compete for top 4 or top 6 you will be missing out on one of the best aspects of european soccer which is the champions league (and to a lesser extent the europa league). so if you pick a team like blackburn, at least have a backup favorite team that will compete most years in the champions league, whether its an english team or a team from another league.

and as someone else mentioned, it really only the big 1 - man united. arsenal and liverpool have the long track records of top 4 finishes but neither has won the league in ages. chelsea has been top 4 the past decade, but before they were just a mid-table team and this year are in 6th. tottenham and man city, do they count as "big 4" in your opinion? tottenham is sure fun to watch, at least as long as they have bale and modric.

everton has howard (and sometimes donovan), fulham has dempsey, tottenham has friedal, bolton has holden and ream, villa has lichaj - something to watch if you love rooting for the USA players.

stoke is fun if you love watching your team beat the living **** out of the other team, same goes for QPR to a lesser extent. swansea plays really attractive football for a lower table team (plus they are from wales, so thats kinda cool).

good luck

[fishnc]

Thank you all for the responses so far!

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426688_10151203425060015_779015014_22564586_2009573163_n.jpg

^here is the link since the pic is cut in half.

this should help it always makes me laugh.

Supremely helpful

Watch games from the Premiership and the Championship next year...don't suddenly decide that you have a team, just see which one starts to gain your allegiances and go with it.

I've been watching EPL and CL games for many years, but I've never focused on getting into one team in particular. In those years one team hasn't cemented itself in my heart so I figured I needed to be a little more proactive about the process.

Newcastle or Spurs IMO.

Especially Newcastle, they just feel like the Portland of the EPL, especially last years Portland.

What about them specifically feels like Portland? I hope not the franchise crippling injuries.

[lukekarts]

Watch games from the Premiership and the Championship next year...don't suddenly decide that you have a team, just see which one starts to gain your allegiances and go with it.

This. Don't pick a team, just watch the games as a neutral and enjoy. You'll naturally start to like one after time anyway.

[Schad]

Newcastle is a good choice, if you have a strong stomach and a sense of humour. As rich a history as any, but much of that history consists of ripping the hearts out of their fans. I know a handful of Geordies and they are a great bunch, so you could do a whole lot worse even if they weren't on such an upswing.

Plus, they have the best song in football (language): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOKaq7ucO8E

Still, I'd watch the Championship as well...it's fun football, and there are some clubs with rich histories and fairly bright futures down there. Plus, you can never be accused of being a plastic.

[fishnc]

in regards to avoiding one of the top clubs, i will say this, if you select a team that will never compete for top 4 or top 6 you will be missing out on one of the best aspects of european soccer which is the champions league (and to a lesser extent the europa league). so if you pick a team like blackburn, at least have a backup favorite team that will compete most years in the champions league, whether its an english team or a team from another league.

and as someone else mentioned, it really only the big 1 - man united. arsenal and liverpool have the long track records of top 4 finishes but neither has won the league in ages. chelsea has been top 4 the past decade, but before they were just a mid-table team and this year are in 6th. tottenham and man city, do they count as "big 4" in your opinion? tottenham is sure fun to watch, at least as long as they have bale and modric.

everton has howard (and sometimes donovan), fulham has dempsey, tottenham has friedal, bolton has holden and ream, villa has lichaj - something to watch if you love rooting for the USA players.

stoke is fun if you love watching your team beat the living **** out of the other team, same goes for QPR to a lesser extent. swansea plays really attractive football for a lower table team (plus they are from wales, so thats kinda cool).

good luck

That first part is a good piece of advice and something that I'm weighing heavily. I'd like to see them play in the CL. If I did end up with a club like Swansea or Blackburn, I would likely have a backup club in La Liga or Bundesliga that I could pull for.

My distaste for the big 4, aside from the bandwagon aspect, lays mostly in their ability to outspend the rest of the league. Being a fan of a smaller market NBA team (yes I know we have Paul Allen), I harbor a little bit of resentment to large market teams like the Lakers and Knicks that carries over to other sports.

In this case, the only clubs I'm really counting out are Man U, Chelsea, Man City...and to a lesser extent Liverpool and Arsenal. I know Tottenham have spent a lot of money in recent years, but I don't know, they just feel smaller to me despite being in London.

I pull for Americans when they are wearing USA jerseys in the World Cup, but outside of that I don't follow any American players just because they are American (unless they are particularly good).