I need the kind of help that only a British person could give me.

[caketastydelish]

I have been a Manchester United fan for roughly 10 years. I'll be straight up honest and say it was a bandwagon thing at the time. Man United is still strong now (maybe not quite as strong) but that is entirely besides the point.

Why am I leaving Manchester United?

My philosophy (at least now) as to which sporting organization I will support comes down to the city or geographical area itself. I read a bunch of stuff indicating that Manchester is a poor city filled with uneducated thugs, racism, and soccer hooligans. I'm sorry, but this is not a team I can get behind. And with Manchester United fans constantly clashing with Manchester City, its more like Manchester divided amirite?

I want a new British team to support. Here is my criteria:

1) They must be in the Premier league. They definitely don't have to be a top team, but at least be within the Premier league. Teams not in the Premier league don't even get TV coverage (at least where I live, in the US). Plus I can tolerate a lot, but the team can't suck THAT bad.

2) They should be as culturally close to Seattle, Washington, as possible. What does this entail?

The condensed version: Somewhere heavily left wing. Somewhere very educated, with the majority of the population holding Bachelors degrees or higher. Somewhere where people are articulate and informed. Somewhere with a good music scene. Somewhere where the fans act civil and not like animals.

Any ideas?

edit: I can't support this:

 

[W|M]

I recommend Sunderland

 

[caketastydelish]

It appears you live in Brazil, in which case your help is not necessary.

 

[really]

I had a scan down the list of options and nothing sprang to mind - Arsenal maybe as they are based in a Labour voting part of North London. (Jeremy Corbyn is a local MP)

Broadly though you are looking in the wrong place - soccer isn't exactly associated with articulate and informed discussion.

Stereotypically rugby union would be more middle class, less northern.

 

[W|M]

I grew up in the UK, and Woolwich is from South London

 

[caketastydelish]

Uh. First, Labor party is a bit too left for me. Maybe Lib dems? Of course beggars can't be choosers. Arsenal may very well be my best bet.

I can't get into rugby. Sorry.

 

[caketastydelish]

I grew up in the UK, and Woolwich is from South London

In that case I want to know more. Can you give me the specifics as to why Sunderland would be a good choice? I know absolutely nothing about Sunderland.

 

[W|M]

Sunderland are a great team who are in the Premier League, are the only Premier League team in their region and are based which has tons of lib dem voters and is quite rich; football hooliganism and racism are pretty much unheard of there

 

[really]

What's your opinion on Brexit OP?
It could be very relevant.

 

[caketastydelish]

Fair enough.

Short answer: I'm quite indecisive on Brexit, but if you put a gun up to my head and said "you must say whether or not you like Brexit. Just say yes or no." I would say no. I slightly lean against Brexit.

Long answer:

Spoiler Long version :

I see a lot of truth to both sides, with perhaps more truth to the anti-brexit side.

First I will address why Brexit could be good. Regulations of the EU are bad for business. Opening your borders like a mindless robot to a whole bunch of countries just because they're vaguely from the same continent is not a good idea, especially when some of them are harboring terrorists (like France). Then there is the point of Universities. As the EU law currently stands (as I understand it) all EU citizens can attend the Universities of all other EU countries.

Theoretically it's a good idea- all the students can go wherever they want. In reality, its bad for some countries and good for others. Allow me to explain. The UK has some of the best Universities. Poland, among other countries, do not. What does this mean? It is not ACTUALLY a fair trade. Students from other countries can literally get a full ride scholarship to Cambridge or Oxford, and some poor students who were born on British soil are working at McDonalds with no real future.

They have a right to be bitter, and to say they are only bitter out of 'racism' is a wild accusation. That's another problem I have with the anti-brexit people. Apparently somewhere around 50% of the British public are all a bunch of neo Nazi skinheads that want to kick out the black and brown people. I have a hard time believing this.

In general it seems the EU is good for the poor countries (Greece that keeps getting free money) and bad for the rich countries (Germany). I also don't buy 'if Greece collapses everyone else does'. If you look at Germany's net domestic income (or whatever the proper term is called I don't know) how much of it is specifically with Greece? Germany would take a hit if something happened to Greece, but it definitely wouldn't cause German economic collapse in the same way it's happening to Greece now. They are paying the money to be nice, don't kid yourselves.

Finally, a lot of the talk from the anti brexit people is the pro brexit people are a bunch of racist, old baby boomers who can't handle change. The UK joined the EU in the 1970's. Who voted for the UK to join the EU in the first place? Apparently, the same people against the EU now. Maybe they have something to say?

Now I will discuss why Brexit was a bad idea (and like I said, this is where I slightly lean towards). First, much of the stuff Nigel Farage says is pure horsecrap, and that's coming from an American who has never even been to Britain. The idea that Britain will become a 'world superpower' just for leaving the EU is absolutely laughable. Leaving the EU is not going to turn back the clock from 300 years ago where you were kicking everybody else's ass. Even 100 years ago the British Empire was on the decline, and you were far more significant then than now. And even in World war 1 and World war 2 (where you were more important than now) you'd have been speaking German on two different occasions were it not from the United States.

And while 'all the UKIP and brexit voters a bunch of racists' would obviously be an overgeneralization, it does seem to me that the racists are overwhelmingly favoring them, which still makes me wonder. Also, leaving the EU is not necessarily going to solve your economic problems, and indeed could cause even more. Even the United States cannot manage a self sustaining economy without major trade partners, and we are in a 100 times better position to do this than Britain. The EU is geographically close to Britain, far more than any other part of the world is. You will have to make trade deals, partnerships, alliances, etc with SOMEWHERE. You've just given a middle finger to what has already been your best friend, and there was a reason why you joined the EU in the first place.

 

[caketastydelish]

Sunderland are a great team who are in the Premier League, are the only Premier League team in their region and are based which has tons of lib dem voters and is quite rich; football hooliganism and racism are pretty much unheard of there

I'm sold. Sunderland it is.

edit: Apparently Sunderland is at the very bottom. Not exactly a 'great team'. Nonetheless they meet my criteria (supposing everything you said is true) so they are my team in that case.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I'm sold. Sunderland it is.

edit: Apparently Sunderland is at the very bottom. Not exactly a 'great team'. Nonetheless they meet my criteria (supposing everything you said is true) so they are my team in that case.

Sunderland voted: Remain: 51,930 Leave: 82,394

http://www.electoralcommission.org....u-referendum/electorate-and-count-information

 

[caketastydelish]

Of course, even though I acknowledge the importance of Brexit, that doesn't make Brexit more important than every other political decision made in Britain combined. And as I said, my opposition to Brexit is very indecisive, it is far from a deal breaker for me. If everything West India man said is true (you tell me if it is) then I'm still sold.

 

[PhroX]

I'd wait till the end of the season before making your mind up if you're leaning towards Sunderland. They're looking very likely to get relegated, and though they have pulled off some pretty impressive escapes in recent years, the fact that they only seem to have two even vaguely decent players (Pickford and Defoe - the latter of which has scored something like 70% of their goals this year) doesn't make it look likely this time round.

However, I feel I need to correct something in your OP. Manchester United might have the city's name in their name, and their stadium is indeed in Manchester, but they're not really a Manchester club. People from there support City. The typical Man Utd fan hails from Surrey or Kent - well off, conservative counties south of London.

My personal suggestion would be to support Southampton, but given that my support from them comes from my dad indoctrinating me as a kid and not actually living there, I can't testify on the political makeup of the city or indeed the music scene.

 

[EnglishEdward]

I do not feel qualified to comment about the relative merits of Premier league football
teams, or for that matter their urban hinterlands, with respect to racism.
And I not sure that there is any correlation between football and being heavily left wing.

I very passively support Norwich, but they are not in the Premier league this year.

 

[caketastydelish]

'heavily left wing' by American standards is effectively a lib dem by British standards. At least, that is my interpretation. I apologize for not clarifying.

 

[W|M]

And I not sure that there is any correlation between football and being heavily left wing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_St._Pauli

 

[caketastydelish]

In fairness, that team appears to be in a different country. This was only for British clubs.

 

[Catharsis]

No chai-sipping luvvie can resist the allure of the

EUROPEAN CITY OF CULTURE 2017

When you rock up to that grunge retrospective exhibition in a HULL CITY SUPER TIGERS 100% official jersey with Tom 'Social Consciousness' Huddlestone's name emblazoned on the back, I promise Kurt Cobain himself will rise from the grave and give you a listless, ironic high-five.

• Manager is an urbane Portuguese man
• Bernie Sanders supports Hull City Uber Tigers
• City of Hull forecast to produce 100% of all European culture in 2017, all other cities are BARREN WASTELANDS compared to Hull
• 2018 Premier League table tipped to be 'too mainstream' for Hull City Awesome Tigerz

SO MAJESTIC TIGER

 

[caketastydelish]

You might have won the thread. I don't think anything could top that, although I'd love to be proven wrong.

edit: That is easily one of the most enjoyable posts I've read on CFC in a long time. I had a neutral opinion of you before this, but it is much higher now.