OT: EPL open thread

Submitted by MGoPietrowski on
It's super slow on the blog

What say we sound off about our favorite classy sports league, the Premier League!

What say you, football fans?

bacon1431

February 15th, 2013 at 2:44 PM ^

Don't have any ties to the area, but about 5 years ago I was looking to get into following soccer. I figured a team in England would be a good place to start b/c I wouldn't have to deal w/ language barriers or a lack of coverage. I started reading a little bit about each club. I had a few friends that were Chelsea fans and I'm about as anti-bandwagon as you get so I didn't want to support the big clubs. Wolves history was very intriguing to me, particularly the Stan Cullis era. Team was considered so dominant in England that some papers claimed they were the best in the world. Clubs around Europe started to challenge them and Wolves became one of the forerunners to European competition as we know it today. 80s were also an interesting time as the club almost went belly up, but were bailed out by some business groups and a former player. Fell all the way to the 4th tier and climbed back up to 2nd under the guidance of Graham Taylor. Steve Bull could have been a quality top flight striker but he stuck w/ Wolves in the 90s and became the club's leading scorer of all time. Still a tradition rich club, and I like that they are financially sound (read an article a couple years ago that Wolves were one of two EPL clubs not to lose money on a season). They were promoted the first year I followed them so that definitely fueled my fandom. The city also reminds me alot of Detroit. Found a Wolves message board I love and many on there have proposed an open door policy for their homes if I'm ever able to visit (which I plan on sometime in the next 5 years). It's been alot of fun and we've had our ups and downs since I've been following, but I can't imagine following another English club now. 

Blue in Yarmouth

February 15th, 2013 at 3:27 PM ^

Thanks for the explanations. I am always interested to hear how a persons particular fandom was born. As to the trip overseas, good luck and enjoy. Honestly the UK is my favorite place in the world. 

Oh, and props to you for not jumping on the bandwagon and sticking with your team. I am a Man U fan because of some of my Mother's family living in Manchester and they were the first EPL team I ever got to watch live at the age 4...ever since I was a fan.