Well, I've got access to a vast UK pool of information. You lot!  I've been a World Cup and Olympic soccer fan for years now, but the US' MLS doesn't "do it" for me. However, I've caught a few EPL matches on TV and they were exciting. What I'd like from you is help in:

#1) Choosing the best Football printed magazine to get my info from. EPL's version of Sports Illustrated, say. Hopefully I can find a US bookstore that will carry it.

#2) Help me pick my team(s)! A buddy at work who also likes Soccer wants to join me in this venture. We're going to hang our hats with a team each, and I'd like to know about all of the teams, even the ones that aren't currently in the top 20. **I can't go for Manchester United, simply because that would be like jumping in feet-first with the New York Yankees as a new baseball fan. Can't do that. So Man U is out, but everyone else is in. SELL ME on your team. Why is your team worthy (and for that matter the other teams not worthy). Sell me on location, fan loyalty, team colors, team history, team songs, team fans, connections to trains, food, beer...whatever.

Have fun with it. 

BBC online is where I get all my info from.

I will get in early with Aston Villa, owned at the moment by an American, colours Claret and Blue, from Birmingham.

Plenty of history  , but not done so well in the last few years .

Not sure about magazines nowadays to be honest but I used to read shoot or match as a child. I think 'four four two' is a more 'grown up' football magazine though so maybe try that first if its on sale in America.

Most clubs have their own magazines or fanzines too I think.

I support Leicester City. Kasey Keller used to play for us if you remember him.
We just got promoted back to the premier league.

Tim

As you are in the Southern US, approximately in the middle, why not go for a similarly based English team e.g. Southampton.  There is a certain penguin-like member on here who will wax lyrical about them for hours 

As for news, you are just as well with the BBC Sport website or Sky Sports News or you can try http://www.fourfourtwo-magazine.com/

Sorry, Scott. You don't sell a team. You love a team, without needing explanation or reason. For most it's because they grew up near that club, or a family member already supported that club themselves (usually your dad).

The best way to pick your team is to look at your personal links. Do you have family in Britain, or family history? Or any kind of link or past affinity with any town or city? Or maybe a best friend has a link that you'd feel comfortable using. It's worth a try.

Sorry to be a spoilsport 

I'd suggest not Aston Villa lol

Southampton play good football from what I saw on match of the day

Just put names in a hat and pull one out... but don't include Chelsea. man city, man u, liverpool. Spurs, QPR or Villa! lol


Tim

 :claphappy:Villa

You have the right colours, but the wrong team. Up the claret s. Burnley are back

Richard, shut up!! Who in their right mind would support Aston Villa 

I'm with Tim, Leicester City's the team, perenniel under achievers, never won the FA, cup in fact we hold the record for the team going to the most FA cup finals.........and losing 

In all seriousness, if you want to support a team but don't want to be labelled as a glory hunter, then avoid the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal or Liverpool. Southampton is a good shout actually and if you fancy an underdog, then Leicester City, Burnley & QPR are the teams who got promoted last season.

The middle teams are the likes of Everton, Newcastle Utd, Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton, Swansea, Hull. Then theres the rest who'll more than likely be scrapping around the relegation zone, not including the promoted teams, these will be West Ham, Sunderland, Aston Villa,  Crystal Palace, Stoke & West Bromwich Albion.

I do agree with the statement your football team is mainly chosen because of family ties, as you've probably guessed my team is Leicester, purely because thats where I was born and bought up, and my dad instilled my love for them, as I have done to my son.

As you're not from these shores then you have the whole football league to choose from,remember there is more to English football than the Premier League, the level of football in the Championship is as exciting as tne Premiership.

At the end of this drivel, the choice is ultimately yours and you'll get scoffed at and ridiculed no matter which team you choose, just pick your teamand go along for tne ride, it'll have massive highs, suffering lows and bouts of frustration but we football fans love it and wouldn't have it any other way........

Regards

Neal

UTF

By the way I LOVE the idea of relegation and wish US sports leagues would do it. We have this awful tradition of "tanking" when the season seems lost so as to get a better draft pick in the upcoming draft. I hate tanking! The idea of teams facing relegation would keep things interesting until the last minute of the last game.

Quote from: scottmitchell74 on July 15, 2014, 11:32:40 PM
By the way I LOVE the idea of relegation and wish US sports leagues would do it. We have this awful tradition of "tanking" when the season seems lost so as to get a better draft pick in the upcoming draft. I hate tanking! The idea of teams facing relegation would keep things interesting until the last minute of the last game.

Actually, you could do us a favour and explain the draft as I think it's something unique to American sports. It's something I've heard and read about over the years and from what I understand, the general concept is that any new players coming from college don't get to choose or work out deals as to what teams they get signed to, they get randomly picked between the teams for the next season?

Quote from: Zwilnik on July 15, 2014, 11:40:23 PM

Quote from: scottmitchell74 on July 15, 2014, 11:32:40 PM
By the way I LOVE the idea of relegation and wish US sports leagues would do it. We have this awful tradition of "tanking" when the season seems lost so as to get a better draft pick in the upcoming draft. I hate tanking! The idea of teams facing relegation would keep things interesting until the last minute of the last game.

Actually, you could do us a favour and explain the draft as I think it's something unique to American sports. It's something I've heard and read about over the years and from what I understand, the general concept is that any new players coming from college don't get to choose or work out deals as to what teams they get signed to, they get randomly picked between the teams for the next season?

That's correct. For North American sports the draft is a huge deal. Teams pick inversely to their standing from the previous season (unless they trade away their draft position) and then the team owns the "rights" to that player for a predetermined amount of time (each league has different rules). Players can hold out and not sign if they don't like the team that chose them, but it's a big, messy situation and they usually start their career with the teams that draft them.

The draft isn't such a big deal to fans in baseball because the maturation process of baseball players is so unpredictable and varied and because college baseball isn't followed nearly as rabidly as college football and basketball is.

Careful, here, folks... remember what's currently beneath my avatar...   

We have the same draft and tanking issues with  Aussie rules as well.
Re the team you pick, well, when I moved to Melbourne, I lived in the SE suburbs. there was only one team still operating in those burbs, so I selected them. More fool me, a few goes at the cup, but no wins since '66.
Anyway, Scott, as someone above suggested, look at your ancestry and maybe select a team based on where a great grandad came from or something like that. Maybe choose based on the colour of the jersey closest to the colours of your favourite railway? Cheers, Bill.

As Neal says, there are five teams that are ahead of the rest as they are global brands, have large fan base and money to spend. There were four, Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, Man City, through having a fantastically rich owner, have broken into this five. My view is that the gap between these teams and the rest is growing. Man Utd are the biggest of these five clubs (e.g. they have just signed a £750m kit deal). Arsenal maybe the most exciting of these five to follow this season though. Newcastle United have a huge fan base and really ought to be in this group.

All the rest are fighting relegation or trying to win a cup. That may sound harsh on Everton, who finished fifth, but a run of injuries/poor form can see a team sucked into the relegation fight. Plus the media will be on their backs, with headlines like 'doomed' from early in the season.

Winning a cup or finishing fifth in the league enables the team to qualify for the Europa league. This is not as glamourous as it sounds because, in order to cope with the volume of matches etc, it needs a big squad of quality players - which you are unlikely to have unless you are a top five team. Teams playing in the Europa league can see their Premier league performance fall.

My team is Southampton, the Saints. We have an excellent, rich owner, that rescued us from going under. The owner pumps money in but the aim is for the club to stand on its feet and not fall foul of the Financial Fair Play rules. Our philosophy is the 'Southampton Way' with a strong emphasis on developing young players through the academy and all of our teams play in the same way. We have just opened our new training centre which is arguably the best in the Premier league and have also upgraded our manager. We also have a large scouting network that identifies players, coaches and managers from around the globe.

There is a downside to this. The moment a team outside of the top five looks like becoming successful, they get raided by the top five (and European teams) for players and this forces teams to look abroad for cheap talent as the top foreign players are unlikely to come to a non-top five club unless it is for silly wages. The other issue is if the owners decide to sell up.

For me the most exciting times for Southampton were when we started our journey out of Division One - so maybe also have a look at the lower leagues and pick a team that has the potential to get to the Premier League.

It would be great it you would become another Saint though!