Supporting a 2nd Team – Acceptable Practice or Ultimate Fan Treachery?
by Steve Candy
I am a Tottenham Hotspur fan. If that hasn’t been made clear when reading my previous columns I feel it should be stated now. Sometimes I wonder why the statement is greeted with colourful language and laughter. Then I remember we live in a world where Nicklas Bendtner got away with wearing luminous green boots.
Regardless of the banter, I am a Tottenham Hotspur fan. I worshipped Erik Thorsvedt, I used to nominate myself as Paul Stewart when kicking a tennis ball in the playground, I wanted to learn how to tackle like Tarricco and I really, really wanted Steffen Freund to score a goal. I even nodded in sober agreement when a nearby fan at White Hart Lane actually screamed in melodramatic protest when Wilson Palacios looked to angle the ball to an ineffectual Tom Huddlestone in our recent defeat to Stoke. As you can see I didn’t grow up with the famous ‘push and run’ team of Arthur Rowe or the glory days of Bill Nicholson but I am still a Tottenham Hotspur fan and am sure to still be when we are playing in the ‘Favourable Fried Chicken’ stadium from the middle of the next decade.
Everything you have read previously has been written with the deepest of sincerity (except the Mauricio Tarricco reference) but I wonder if, as a fan of football, I am finding it to be enough. I say this because over the years a small collection of clubs have been allotted a small place in my affections just underneath the lilywhites. It has not been adequate to restrict myself to my chosen club side and the national team to sate my footballing desires.
I don’t just seem to start liking teams, although I cannot pinpoint one definitive reason for me to ‘follow’ them in the classifieds on a Saturday evening or in Sunday’s newspaper to see how they’ve done. I also have never gone as far as wearing these teams’ replica jerseys or other merchandise, though I have gone to see some of them play. Different factors appear to have contributed to my fondness for this disparate and ( if Tottenham’s travails over the twenty years I have been a fan are anything to go by) unfortunate group of teams:
1) My local team are Welling United. Throughout my youth they gave free tickets to my schools in order for attendances to be boosted by groups of children that only went along to run on the pitch after the final whistle. I watched Northwich Victoria beat them 5-1 on a Saturday once. They used to call their ground (Park View Road) the San Siro as a Fiat dealership was located opposite. Two years ago they played their evening games at a ground whose team were at least a league below them because they couldn’t afford to get theirs fixed.
I really started to follow Welling United when, in secondary school, a classmate came along in a full kit. After some tongue in cheek questioning I realised my narrow-mindedness in making my choice as a six year old. I had gone for Gazza over geography; I was still committed to my relationship with Christian Gross and his underachievers, but became slightly angry at the infant me.
Years later I saw the boy that brought out so much admiration from me and told him so. After paying more attention to the club I was able to converse with him and he imparted that the small group of loyal away fans were often bought a drink by then manager Adrian Pennock in the bar after a game. What a way to feel appreciated by your club.
2) My university education happily took me to Devon. It is not an area regarded for its footballing achievements like the North West. Being situated an almost equal distance from Exeter, Plymouth and Torquay allowed me to sit on the fence and follow all three teams.
I was living in the county when Plymouth Argyle rose through the leagues to be a constantly progressing feature of the Championship (sadly not the case now) and felt betrayed when Ian Holloway abandoned ship. Exeter City became a circus and went into non-league football with me being a spectator at (the still properly named) St. James Park in those bewildering times, but rose from that with an admirable supporter-led stewardship along with Alex Inglethorpe’s management (now, coincidentally, at Tottenham) to achieve a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford. And Torquay United…was very close to the sea. With each of these teams in a different tier of the football league I am allowed to watch out for them happily and equally until that changes. I really do not know what would happen if they came up against each other in cup competition.
Watching football in the pub was also an experience. Given the teams were so rarely chosen for television coverage, supporters of the three teams got over this by twinning their club. Liverpool was cheered on by Plymouth fans, Manchester United by Torquay and Arsenal by Exeter. This led to the majority of games in pubs feeling like local derbies and my affection for the three clubs grew.
3) I never thought I would look out for a team in Greece but it happened. The team is Aris Salonika; I follow them because I like to be able to talk with my Greek friend about his team rather than make him listen to me go on about Spurs’ weakness on the left hand side. The fact that their result forever seems to be 1-0, 0-1, 0-0 or 1-1 allows me to question whether or not they are called the binary codes by their loyalists.
For the exact same reason my team in France is Olympique Marseille. It is a lot easier to converse with my Gallic friend about his boys. Ligue Un obviously receives infinitely more press coverage and the team has had some of the world’s recent best footballe
rs wear their shirt. I’ve also accompanied my friend to Marseilles and been in an ultras bar for a televised game. I never used to like Van Halen’s ‘Jump’ but will always be invigorated by fond memories when that song is played now.
When I was fourteen I was on a school trip in Holland and a group of us were taken to see Roda JC play. Roda won 3-0 and I have looked out for them ever since. For the record they came perilously close to relegation last season. What has reinforced my link with this club was the fact that the manager of Roda JC that day was none other than Martin Jol. I only realised this when I took a look through my old programmes and his chin led grin looked back at me. I felt affirmed.
There are other teams that I like to see do well. Burton Albion are one because I admired Nigel Clough for taking a, with all respect to Burton Albion, lowly job and almost seeing it through to the football league. I’d love to have seen Clough take them past the non-league post and then triumphantly start at Derby County this season. Managers and players I admire also usually lead me look out for their clubs – Dario Gradi’s Crewe Alexandra and Paolo Maldini at AC Milan being examples.
Is it right to follow clubs like this if you officially support just the one? Was it hypocritical of me to disrespect my friends who chopped and changed from Manchester United to Blackburn Rovers to Arsenal and then to Charlton Athletic when they got up to the Premier League for the first time in 1998, when I have just admitted my liking for others?
As always let me know what you think with questions, criticisms and advice. I thought about including Phil Jagielka somewhere as he always seems to crop up in comments to my columns. Would be great to see him mentioned again!
(Pic 1 courtesy of starrynightontopofthemoon on Flickr)
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About Steve Candy
Steve Candy became a fan of football at the age of six thanks to Italia '90 and a fan of Tottenham Hotspur directly after that. He is known to converse politely with Arsenal fans.
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It depends, really.
I grew up as part of a large 'Irish in England' community, many via Glasgow – so pretty much everyone suported Celtic. I drank in pubs and clubs heavy with Celtic memorabilia, and, quite naturally I supported Celtic.
But my first team is and always will be Spurs. If the occasion should ever occur wherre I had to chosse between, there really would be no contest – I suppost Spurs, end of…
I don't think that makes me treacherous; funnily enough, however, most of my mates support Celtic and either Liverpool or Man Utd, but most of them just wouldn't otp for the English club in a straight competitive match. But me, it would always be Spurs first.
I think this a 'load of crap' article. I've never come across an ego like it apart from David Bentley's.
Who do you think cares about your tastes, likes and dislikes.
Nice to see 15:03 getting into the swing of things. Mate, it's just a guys opinion. He has as much right to air it as you had not to read it.
Spurs fan too but follow Billericay Town (local side)and Leyton Orient (lower league, cheaper to watch!). Soft spots for Southend (town of my birth) and Stoke City (went to uni up near there.
Not treachery. Just love football. End of
Passion dictates two teams in an Englishman's life England then whatever your league or premership is. To support or follow other sides is nonesense!
I support Barcelona in Spain and wouldn't like to choose between them and Spurs if they played each other. Probably side with Spurs, really.
As far as I'm concerned there's nothing wrong with supporting a 2nd/3rd/4th or 5th team as long as they're not in the same division or direct rivals.
I have soft spots for a lot of teams around the world based on things like going to see them once or twice (Corinthians in Brazil for example), or friends in other countries supporting them (Marseille as well, Alianza Lima) – random things like that.
What would be unacceptable I reckon though would be supporting someone like Spurs and then enjoying watching Arsenal every now and then.
And the worst of all – the worst of the worst by far is definitely changing the team you support. Once you're in, you're in come what may in my opinion.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with supporting every team in England! I "officially" support Sheffield Wednesday but because of my Yorkshire roots I like to see Barnsley, Rotherham, Doncaster and Bradford all do well. But I have never liked Sheffield United or Leeds United and I have a certian distaste for the constantly winning teams, Man Utd, Liverpool.
I moved to Nottingham, where because of their affiliation with the greatest English manager ever, I will always support Nottingham Forest. I lived in London for a long time, but never supported Arsenal, Chelsea, Charlton, Crystal Palace or any of the many others. I had a certain likeness for Tottenham, having liked the character that is Bill Nocholson that I read about but I never saw them play and I don't support them.
All in all, you may support as many teams as you want, but like Jonathon above you always go back to your original team, you can't change them, your in for better and for worse. And being a Wednesday fan all my life, I know it can be hard.
Nothing wrong with having a second team. the first game I ever went to was on a Boxing Day, Orient v QPR, with my family. Boxing Day at the O's was always a tradition. In 1979, I started going to Spurs games, home and away, in 1979 with all my mates for the laugh. I've lived in the U.S now for 23 years, and whenever I get home I'll try to go to see both teams. Incidentally, back in the early Eighties, Spurs played against the O's in a Cup game. I supported Spurs, but just didn't want them to run up the score too much.
I think all you lot following different teams are mad! One team, your team, the team you feel
pasionate about and no other!
And yes the commment about actually changing your team, that is sacrilege !
For me the best article so far.
I feel the football fan of the premiership secretly yarns for a lower league team to support.
The globalization and the influx of money has disconnected the working man from the premier league football star.
Lower league football gives back to the local man and his dog.
Inherited Spurs through blood
flirted with Sheffield Wednesday and West Ham in my youth
have a soft spot for Charlton
Anonymous 22:19
I support two teams every week. Rangers and who ever is playing Celtic.
Haha I like that. This guy above me sums it up well!
Mr Candy,
My Life was always Oxford United growing up with a fondness for Man Utd (as the only person in my family who liked football was my uncle – a united season ticket holder – from Didcot. Of course.)
Oxford are, and always will be, my main team and now living back here – I feel it stronger than ever.
However, over the years I have inherited, like odd bits of furniture from Ex-Girlfriends and rented houses, a few add-on teams.
A Friend at Uni, in Devon was a Spurs fan and… as such… I began to follow a little. To the point now Huddlestone is that altar i worship at and the first team I use on FM is always Tottenham.
My dad was born in Torpoint, across the river from Plymouth and so Argyle are always close to my heart.
Perugia, because of Hidetoshi Nakata.
Anyone who beats Swindon.
They are my favourite teams.
Absolutely nothing wrong in supporting more than one team. I am a season ticket holder at Arsenal but regularly look out for Colchester UTDs results & get to their games when I can.
With the gap between The Premiership & Leagues 1 & 2 bigger than ever, it feels like I support 2 teams from completely different worlds.
Well i'm a Charlton fan and I always had a soft spot for Brighton as someone who went to my school as a youth plays for them. The only problem now is that we are in the same league! Due to Charlton yo yoing up and down the leauges i've decided to support Phil Jagielka instead!
Otherwise an interesting article that is often talked about in general coverstation, good work!
Come on Phil!!
its a tricky one. I dont believe you ever actually support a second team, you take and interest, an armchair following which will always fall short of your first love. As i Palace fan (and i write that knowing it suggests i have none/little knowledge of football) ive often supported the player and followed there sucess ie ian wright at arsenal and of course mark bright sparkling bbc career (god he makes a recall for barry venison to punditry seema realistic shout) As for jagielka, he is the benchmark of the premier league. If ure worse than him you shouldnt be allowed out of the football league. This is opitimised by his stupid name, exotica mixed with the blandness of phil. Daft. Maybe ure next article should be why do the better teams have better sounding players ie cesc fabregas v wade elliot. maybe its nominate determinism i dont know. ta ra westy