Yeah, born and raised in New Zealand but my dad is from London (grew up in South London but his dad was from Islington hence the Arsenal connection).
Surprisingly there are a decent amount of Arsenal fans here despite our lack of top-tier success in the last 15 years or so. I think being relatively competitive as well as generally playing good football has probably played a big role in that.
This place is really the only chance I get to have any sort of decent football discussions though as most fans here arent hugely invested in the game even if they do support a particular team.
Football is very popular in terms of playing numbers though, in fact, more people here play football than rugby.
I do tend to agree with @sevchenko, but donāt really know why.
I feel a bit of a cheat because this team was Arsenal for me until I went to uni so itās an easy stance to hold. My family never took me to games (I went to a handful with my neighbour) but going into school the next day surrounded by a ton of other Arsenal fans after a big win was always great. I couldnāt imagine being a fan of a team based in say, Manchester where Iāve never even been.
I donāt want to force my boy to be an Arsenal fan because heās 100 miles from there and would be happy for him to be a Bournemouth fan. Iāll call him a cunt if he decides he wants to be a Liverpool or City fan though no matter how silky Big Kev is.
Also how far down the ladder are you meant to go? I think Poole Town FC might technically the closest geographically to me, theyāre 7th tier. Am I glory hunting going for Bournemouth? Most people I know around Dagenham way support West Ham and not Dagenham despite them being reasonable, is that allowed?
FWIW for people who support a club for reasons like you or @Cristo described doesnāt make them any less of a fan imo, that not my point. I can def say there are fans who have even been to the UK before who are more knowledgeable about Arsenal and a more devout supporter than I currently am.
I think I dislike the erasure of familial and communal ties to a local clubs. Kids from Stockport should be following Stockport County with a minor interest in City or United or something
My Uncle and older brother, but they were basically drawn to the club because of itās popularity in London and nothing else so theyāre glory hunters in a way. Arsenal didnāt have the stink of a WH or Chelsea after the 80s
What if you donāt have a local club? Baltimore didnāt have a real team when I was a kid. Am I supposed to default to DC which only got a team in 96? (Which also ignores the weird mutual loathing Baltimore and DC have for each other)
Football is not a duty for me so I will support whosoever I feel connected to and get entertained with.
Imagine growing up with morals & determination to live a life where you try your best to not associate yourself with negative entities; and then you end up near Newcastle supporting a Saudi regime-sponsored football club; or supporting Chelsea or supporting a club that is involved in match-fixing or money laundering etc.
Out of interest, does this technically open the door to you potentially switching what team you support?
Cos I agree that you have no duty when it comes to what team you initially choose to support, but that after that point a football fan essentially does have a bit of a duty to stick by their chosen side for good.
offside rule, just getting more and more stupid and stringent. Now add the VAR and the 5 minutes of drawing lines and checking to the milimetre.
As strange as it sounds yes i know it is a HUGE part of the game, but personally i would be intruiged to see what the game would be like without it. I mean it would lead to a lot more goals but i think that could be more exciting. āoh but that striker was 5 meters away from the last defenderā well start bloody defending better then.
I think it could add more of an edge to the game knowing full well if you donāt defend properly a goal will definitely be coming from it and there would not be āwell i might luck out his big toe was probably offside what a let offā
I would love to see what teams would do to counteract the fact that there is nothing to rely on that could potentially give you an outā¦it is defend properly or pay for it. That free kickā¦best defend it properly because it wont matter if the attacker is 1/2 a metre in front of you, same with that ball into the box.
No more arguing anymore āoh he was definitely offside in the lead up but it wasnt picked upā
i wish it could be trialled, but i know it isnt gonna be because it is such a big part of the game.
Iād love sin bins / āorange cardsā for certain offences. Get the offender off the pitch for 5 or 10 minutes.
Mouthing off to the ref and deliberate time wasting seem like good ones. Might seem harsh, but Iād also punish cunts who encroach on free kicks, as well as those wankers who block the ball from being restarted (to help his own team get back into shape).
Iād also love to see it used as a blanket punishment for any player who makes a certain number of fouls per game. Would hopefully stop repeat cynical fouling (ie that bastard Rodri and Pepās merry band of cunts). Letās say 3 or 4 fouls and you get instantly sin binned. Cynical fouling breaks up the flow of games and itās such a fucking underhand, anti-football tactic that I want eradicated.
Once you have the connection, it is hard to not stick by your chosen side. It is not even a duty, but rather a part of your personality at that point. It would take something severe to break that connection and change who you are. You have to eradicate a big chunk of your life efforts to lose that connection.
If someone loses that connection, There has to be some severe reasoning behind it and we should let that individual do whatās best for him.
I canāt imagine anything realistic that would break my Arsenal connection tbh but do understand the point. If there ever was anything that significant, I think itād just stop me being interested in football.
I couldnāt go and be a die hard Liverpool or City fanā¦it would never feel the same genuine passion.
Plus I already disappointed my dad enough becoming a gooner, I donāt think as a red manc he could take me switching to either of those
Another unpopular opinion - Iād love to see what would happen if we just fucked off heading altogether. Just blanket remove that shit from the sport. Gone.
Overall, I think it would raise the technical level of the sport substantially over the next 10-20 years. More of a focus on flair and intricate play to score goals. Rather than just pinging balls in at head height, or launching to a target man. The technical level of futsal is insane, for example.
Freekick and corner kicks would essentially be a means of keeping possession, or thereād be some serious elaborate set piece movement to compensate (Iām thinking NFL style shit).
This sounds good, but how would they go about implementing this? Treating touching the ball with head same as hand ball? Because technically a player can touch the ball with any part of the body other than arms, thatās why using head and chest is prevalent. So only way to stop heading is to treat that as a foul just like hand ball.
