Football fans, since when are you a supporter of "your" club and why?

It would also be kind of useful to say which club it is...

I have been a Werder Bremen supporter ever since I cared about football, which means roughly 1986 (I was 5/6 years old then, also been to the stadium for the first time that year). The reason for becoming it probably has to do with it being the local club and my father being a fan of it. The reason for staying it ever since has something to do with the club's whole image and way of handling things very well fits with my own views. And of course with loyalty in general.

I've been a Stranraer fan since 1988 (8 yrs old). All my family is Hearts fans but we moved to Stranaer I wanted to see live games and so i support the mighty blues!! Incidently we have had our most succesful period since i became a fan, 2 league titles and a cup!

MON THE BLUES!!!!!!!!

I support Everton. I supported them because my Dad did. They were the joint closest top division team to where I grew up (although admittedly there was a closer lower division team so I can't really take the moral high ground with out of town fans). He took me to my first match in 1982-83 season, a 2-2 draw with Swansea City. For the next 10 years or so I attended the majority of home matches. When I moved away from the area at first I couldn't get back too often, but my position has improved recently so for the last few years I've had a season ticket again.

I really love a lot of the culture that surrounds my club, although there are bits I despise.

I love that we are 'the people's club', that the conflict that defined our early existence was a classic landlord v tenant struggle (we were the abused tenants, and the evil landlord then set up a rival team called Liverpool). And I really love that Everton have still the most traditional fans in the league, and have resisted more than any other the Murdoch-ification of english football. I also love that throughout history we've managed to avoid any of the sectaraian nonsense that poisons Glasgow football (Liverpool was as sectarian a city as Glasgow in the 1st part of the 20th century but contrary to popular opinion neither of the big 2 liverpool teams were associated with either Protestants or Catholics).

What I despise about my club is that there is still some racist supporters, and even this season some racist chanting.

I surport Charlton if you didnt know

i surport them as they are my local football team and everybody who lives down my road surports them i went to my first match when i was 11 in the 96/97 season for Charlton v Man City first division when they did the brilliant promotion of kids for £1 though i have been surporting them before that. Charlton is a nice family football club for home fans and have never seen or heard anything that i could feel could offend anybody except the ref.

Im a Liverpool fan and have been since i was 5 or 6 years old. I became a Liverpool fan because my neighbour who is 2 years older then me, since he was my hero back then.
And ive always stayed loyal i guess.

Unlike my neigbour who first changed to Newcastle for a few seasons before he changed to Man Utd, bastard

I'm a tifoso of....duh...

Well.. I've always been a fan of Inter, like my dad, and my late grandpa..I started to really follow the team in '97..when Ronaldo joined Inter (I was 11..)

My club is Cardiff City, the club closest to me. It's also the club my father supports and always has supported. He supported them years ago, back when we were good (comparatively)...he saw us beat Real Madrid. I can't remember my first game, but I must have been about 7, give or take a year. I currently have a season ticket.

Apparently I support Rangers because I am a glory hunter, who doesn't really care about football, I just want to see my team win games. I don't really care much if my team wins or loses, I just want to be able to brag.
Alot of people who do not support an old firm team (Rangers/Celtic) seem to hold this opinion anyways, including "stranraearfc". But I think he has a leaning towards Rangers, as he managed to sneak "rfc" into his name, and said "MON THE BLUES!!!!"

I live just outside Glasgow in a small town without a team. For some reason my brother supported Rangers, I think he liked Brian Laudrup, and since I have always looked up to my brother I have supported them too (since I was about 3/4)
Going to Ibrox for a guided tour, and getting the football strip(s) (at a young age) cemented my loyalty

I was brought up in the west-end of Glasgow, so theoretically, my club should be Partick Thistle. I was a Celtic supporter when I was a kid (and I'll still support them over Rangers), but Motherwell was my team in my early teenage years because I liked their colors, and Clydebank was my other team because it was easy to get to their games. But the last Motherwell game I went to, was their horrific 3-1 defeat at home to MyPa 47; Clydebank no longer exist.

I'm now kinda left without a team, but since my family live in Ross now, maybe I should adopt Ross County or Inverness Caledonian Thistle. However, I don't think I'll ever have a team again, so I'm content to support all Scottish teams playing in Europe. So next year, I'll support Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Dunfermline.

I've been a supporter of Dutch football club Feyenoord since I was 6 years old or so, so that must have been around 1989-1990. I didn't really care about football back then, but a bunch of kids I didn't like were always asking me which club I supported. Since they were all supporters of Ajax, and also because at the time I though the name 'Ajax' sounded really stupid, I decided to become supporter of their arch-enemy Feyenoord. My liking of Feyenoord was later further enforced because I liked the city of Rotterdam better than Amsterdam, and because Feyenoord is often the underdog, and I have a natural inclination to support underdogs. I don't care much about football anymore now, but I'm still a Feyenoord supporter.

When I first got interested in football I was only young (about 8 years old) and where I grew up there were no major football teams (i.e. teams actually in the football league). My family all supported different clubs so I decided to support Nottingham Forest because Nigel Clough was my favourite player (don't ask me why). The first game I ever saw was Nottingham Forest vs Leeds at the City Ground (1-1 draw). Nigel Clough then moved to Liverpool in '93 and I duly started to support them, concidentally after this we went on an 8-year trophy drought. As I grew up and Clough didn't get in the team as often I began to support Liverpool the team. Now I'm a diehard Liverpool fan who prays desperately for a return to the glory championship-winning years, or at least a return to the year Man Utd got relegated.

MrPresident said:

Nigel Clough was my favourite player (don't ask me why).

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But it is very tempting to ask...

Hitro said:

But it is very tempting to ask...

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I think the lyrics of a certain Beatles song are approriate for this situation.

"I am the eggman, they are the eggmen.
I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob.
Goo goo g'joob g'goo goo g'joob g'goo."

I've been a Tromsø-fan since 1986. I became aware of football then (age 8) because Tromsø won the norwegian cup and also had their first premiership season that year. It was natural for me to like them because I am from Tromsø

I started following english football in 1991/92 and Sheffield Wednesday became my favourites. Mostly because of Chris Waddle, my favourite player then, but also because I liked their kits and thought their stadium was really cool. I still consider myself to be a fan of the Owls, but its hard (theyre in the 2nd division now)

Liverpool FC, my mum is a scouse and my dad is a Man City fan. When I was 7 or so 12-13 years ago, absolute no brainer. It is to my continual shame that I have been to the 'Theatre of Dreams' more times than Anfield though...

I support Leeds because that's where I'm from. I've supported them since when I got interested in football.

the mormegil said:

I support Leeds because that's where I'm from. I've supported them since when I got interested in football.

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Ever considered moving?

NEVER! I will support Leeds throughout their troubles and Leeds is a fine city.

Hearts are my one true love, having being born into that side of Edinburgh. I do occasionally watch Colchester United as the local team to where I play, but can't get too upset if they win or lose. The area where I'm probably out of kilter with the other replies so far to this thread is in my support of Manchester United...

I moved from Scotland to England about 18 years ago, and, being a young and opinionated person, quickly told my new work colleagues that the new Man U manager was clearly going to turn the club's fortunes around. I staked my reputation on it. After all, Ferguson had been a success with St. Mirren (I mean, St. Mirren, fer god's sake!) and Aberdeen. Clearly, the man was a brilliant manager, and he was bound to get the success to come to Man U.

And after Ferguson's first, err, slightly disappointing season in charge, I again put all of my experience, nous and reputation on Man U taking the championship.... And the next. And the next.

And, slowly, perhaps in inverse proportion to the remaining amount of credibility I had left as a football pundit, I started to care more and more about how Man U did each weekend. And suddenly one day you find yourself jumping up and down when a goal is scored on the TV and you realise that you've somehow suckered yourself into supporting one of the teams that nobody with any soul is supposed to support. I think it was about '96 that my conversion was complete, with Cantona's goal in the FA Cup Final.

I do wonder how I will feel about them when Ferguson goes.

I've supported ManU since - well its genetic really. My parents are both from Manchester. My mother is a sports fanatic and supports ManU still; my father supports ManCity - still - (it suits him; he is a natural pessimist). In the interests of equality I was taken by various uncles to Maine Road one week and Old Trafford the next. I selected ManU as my team because I preferred red to blue and my mum was a greater influence.

I grew up in a town about 20 miles north of Manchester - home of the world famous Accrington Stanley and went to school literally less than 10 metres from the ground. I still have a soft spot for them.

I've supported ManU through a lot of bad times. I remember my mother crying because she had journalist friends who worked for manchester papers who died in the 1958 Munich crash. I remember not being allowed to go to the Cup Final of '63 because I was 'too young'. (3-1 v leicester ) I remember the 68 European Cup Final. I remember Denis law's backheel in the manchester derby that sent us down to division two in the seventies. I remember being chased through London by knife wielding Chelsea fans because we dared to cheer when ManU scored. Then the glory years of the nineties. We could enjoy them because we'd had our share of bad times watching Liverpool in the eighties.

I find it hard that people can ever change the team they support. You pick a team as a child and support it all your life. Thats the way I was brought up and thats the right way!