Now, if you’re able to support a local team, I think you should do so. That doesn’t mean you cannot also support a big team, but I personally think cultivating local talent and a local league is obviously extremely important.

however, in some places- like the US, Australia, Russia, or any other large country, supporting your local isn’t just a given.

for example, i have a family member who lives in some backwoods ass town in the American midwest. The closest team to them is over 6 hours away for a home game, and they play teams even further away than that. and in addition to that, the team was established in 2020- years after they began supporting a European team (dortmund)

so, what would you say to this person? that they have to stop supporting the team they’ve supported since they were 9 and support a team that they rarely can get tickets to, let alone make the long commute for a home game?

telling people who are not European to ‘support your local’ is showcasing european football culture’s entitlement. that is simply not a possibility for some, and often local teams are created long after they had a favorite European team.

i don’t think it’s intentional— of course not. English people are always shocked to hear of a 6 hour commute to the home stadium, because their football infrastructure is so much better than in the US and many other countries.

i understand why people say it, and i agree with the fundamental idea: without those small teams, there would be no football. but criticizing foreigners for supporting a european team is not how you achieve that.