When does your local club stop being 'local'?

Your club's owners are foreign, the majority of its players are foreign, the manager is foreign, and, in some cases, the minority of supporters who aren't from the local area are slowly becoming a majority.

If there is a measly total of two or three actual local players out of over twenty that play for your club, where does your sense of local pride come from, other than the fact that the stadium is located where you live?

Where is the cut-off point? In other words, what would the club have to do or what would have to happen for you to not call your local club your local club anymore, or for you to completely revoke your support because there's simply not enough/nothing connecting you to it and it might as well just be any other club? Assuming that hasn't happened already.

That old chestnut. When fans of inferior clubs realise they have nothing on Manchester United, because they are the best, so they resort to the glory hunting arguments. Goodness, supporting a club like Newcastle United must be a boring life.

That old chestnut. When fans of inferior clubs realise they have nothing on Manchester United, because they are the best, so they resort to the glory hunting arguments. Goodness, supporting a club like Newcastle United must be a boring life.

He's got a point though. Support your local club or dont even bother if you ask me

He's got a point though. Support your local club or dont even bother if you ask me

I agree, but it's not just Manchester United fans who are guilty of this, and Arsenal certainly aren't a club who should be trying to take any form of moral high ground on the issue.

Define local club.

Also, do you just eat food grown and made in London? Do you just date girls born and raised in London? If not, why not? Same principal with supporting a football club.

I'd be willing to bet my life on if I told somebody that I support Accrington Stanley because my Dad does, despite neither of us having any real ties there, he just met one of their footballers and played passies with him when he was an infant. Nobody would bat an eyelid and it would be fair enough. Change the team to Manchester United however and suddenly me and my family are glory supporters...

Define local club.

Also, do you just eat food grown and made in London? Do you just date girls born and raised in London? If not, why not? Same principal with supporting a football club.

I'd be willing to bet my life on if I told somebody that I support Accrington Stanley because my Dad does, despite neither of us having any real ties there, he just met one of their footballers and played passies with him when he was an infant. Nobody would bat an eyelid and it would be fair enough. Change the team to Manchester United however and suddenly me and my family are glory supporters...

Well Arsenal certainly qualify as my local team, and I can't control who decides to glory hunt. It genuinely annoys me when someone from Shepherd's Bush supports Arsenal or when someone from Kentish Town supports Chelsea. The world would be a better place if everyone stopped glory hunting, even though it would hurt clubs like Utd/Arsenal hugely.

Because there is no glory to hunt with Accrington, isn't that, like, obvious?

If it wasn't for success in the early 90's and the marketing from Sky the vast majority of non-local Man U 'fans' would not support Man U. That is a fact.

Manchester lads despise fans like you.

Well, that was the point. 'Glory hunting' is the only time whenever the whole 'support your local club' argument seems to arise.

I'm not disputing that as a fact, however seems as I never even remember making a conscious decision in choosing my team, I think it would be fair to say I would still be supporting United regardless of what had happened to them in my life time because I've followed my father into football. I also couldn't give a monkeys what other people think of me to be honest.

Well Arsenal certainly qualify as my local team, and I can't control who decides to glory hunt. It genuinely annoys me when someone from Shepherd's Bush supports Arsenal or when someone from Kentish Town supports Chelsea for no good reason. The world would be a better place if everyone stopped glory hunting, even though it would hurt clubs like Utd/Arsenal hugely.

Doesn't really prove anything. Where's your dad from? If he's from Manchester then fine (although I've heard loads of Man U fans use this excuse) but if the answer isn't Manchester then why does he support Man U. Is it cos they were the most successful team in the 60's when he was growing up?

I agree, most Londoners are ***** though no offense, you can't claim to support your local team if you're from London and support Arsenal. It's 22 miles across one side of London to the other. You wouldn't say you support your local team if your club is based 22 miles away. Manchester is 22 miles away from where I live (Halifax) for example. If you're from a 1-2 miles away from the Arsenal ground then fair enough, otherwise no, because there is a plethora of football clubs in London.

Grow up and go away, thanks. The latter will suffice, as you're probably incapable of the first part.

Grew up within 20 minutes walk of Highbury. Currently live around 2 miles away.

Agree that London is a strange case. But in general, if you live close enough to go to the game every week then its local enough.