Can you ever stop supporting your football team?
But as sport continues to grow and reach new audiences, we’re seeing different takes on what it means to be a fan.
There are many people in the lower reaches of the football pyramid who support a top team and also a local team.
Many fans also closely follow a team selected from another major European league. There are also those who prefer certain players to clubs and can change who they support depending on the transfer. This can be compared to people who follow a Formula 1 driver and therefore focus on which team they are currently racing for.
However, those who consider themselves football purists can only have room in their hearts for one team.
But ironically, for Manchester United fan Steve, it is all heart that makes him turn his back on Manchester United, the club he has supported for decades.
“I played my first game at home against Spurs in 1978. Most of my family [Manchester] “They’re City fans but all my friends were supporting United, so I had to choose between being popular at home or at school,” he says.
“I ended up choosing school because I didn’t want to be bullied.”
Steve eventually became a season ticket holder and says he hasn’t missed a game in 47 years. Everything changed on May 24, 2017, when Manchester United beat Ajax 2-0 in Stockholm.
“We were very lucky as United fans. [Sir Alex] “The Ferguson era is chasing titles, then building on that and trying to get to the next level of winning European trophies,” says Steve.
“I saw them win every trophy – the FA Cups in the 70s and 80s, the Cup Winners’ Cup in ’91, the Premier League titles and of course the Champions League in 1999.
“I always said that if United won the Europa League, which is the only trophy I’ve never seen them win, I’d put it together. “When they did it that night in Sweden it felt like the final piece of the jigsaw had been completed.
“When you finish a puzzle, you can either look at it and enjoy it, or you can tear it apart and start again. I didn’t want to start over.”
