Alistair Johnston

[InglewoodJack]

5 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Funny how you don't find vast numbers of people latching onto Crystal Palace or Brentford as their English Premiership team. It's always the clubs that win titles and cups a lot. That isn't real support but gloryhunting pure and simple and it doesn't do Canada's domestic pro soccer scene any favours. As for the bilge about me being a diehard Rangers fan. Definitely prefer them to Celtic but the last Rangers game I watched in its entirety was the Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt. Haven't even watched highlights this season because I focus primarily on what's happening in the country I plan to live in for the rest of my life rather than the one I left when Maggie Thatcher (may she rust in peace) was still the prime minister.

It's funny how popular clubs have more fans than clubs that aren't popular. Funny how that works. 

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

4 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

Ignoring the fact that Celtic have something like 10 million fans outside of Scotland and are one of the best supported clubs in the entire world, picking on people following teams from places they aren't from, especially about *soccer* is just completely insane. It's a very American attitude that people seem to bring from being fans of Hockey or American football or whatever. I would assume most Liverpool or Madrid fans have likely never stepped foot in those cities, and a large number of them have likely never even stepped foot in Europe. 

Again biased against, partially for reasons I won't get into but there are specific to them, non-football, reasons that amplify Celtic's fanbase outside of Glasgow.  If we are honest. 

 

And being grumpy to actually upset about "plastics" in your fanbase is certainly not a purely American attitude. I have experienced a fair bit in England, if people didn't know why I supported my club and even if they did.

On the other side, I have matured (we can debate that 😉) but having people  tell me as kid they were Man U fans when they picked them because they were winning everything at the time was certainly frusterating.  But you grow and learn - I picked the New Orleans Saints because I got to see them on a jazz band trip.

[ahmedou]

My favorite teams in Europe are the European teams of the Canadians players.

My favorite team in Scotland is Celtic. Because of Alistair Johnston (Canadian and Ex CFMTL'er). And because of the Green Brigade (Palestine).

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

27 minutes ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Funny how you don't find vast numbers of people latching onto Crystal Palace or Brentford as their English Premiership team. It's always the clubs that win titles and cups a lot. That isn't real support but gloryhunting pure and simple and it doesn't do Canada's domestic pro soccer scene any favours. As for the bilge about me being a diehard Rangers fan. Definitely prefer them to Celtic but the last Rangers game I watched in its entirety was the Europa League final against Eintracht Frankfurt. Haven't even watched highlights this season because I focus primarily on what's happening in the country I plan to live in for the rest of my life rather than the one I left when Maggie Thatcher (may she rust in peace) was still the prime minister.

Palace actually had an influx of hipster fans from America recently.

They had (have?) cheerleaders and everything. 

Edited Thursday at 03:03 PM by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[InglewoodJack]

3 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Again biased against, partially for reasons I won't get into but there are specific to them, non-football, reasons that amplify Celtic's fanbase outside of Glasgow.  If we are honest. 

 

And being grumpy to actually upset about "plastics" in your fanbase is certainly not a purely American attitude. I have experienced a fair bit in England, if people didn't know why I supported my club and even if they did.

On the other side, I have matured (we can debate that 😉) but having people  tell me as kid they were Man U fans when they picked them because they were winning everything at the time was certainly frusterating.  But you grow and learn - I picked the New Orleans Saints because I got to see them on a jazz band trip.

Well yeah, I didn't want to get into that aspect, but the old red faced geezers that wake up at 7AM every weekend to go watch Celtic at the fan club in Montreal aren't going so they can follow the captivating SPFL title race or whatever, it's this *other* thing. Just like Rangers fans too. Some Red Star and Partizan fan clubs outside of Serbia too, I assume those guys aren't necessarily plugged into the super league title race either. 

As for quibbling about plastic fans, that's certainly something that's present in all sports, but I've seen it more often in American sports- players here stick with their teams much longer and club performance is a lot more up and down than in most top soccer leagues, so you get this mentality that if you weren't around when the team wasn't good, before we lucked out and drafted this superstar, you're fake. If you decide to follow Manchester United or Chelsea or Liverpool as a child, you can more or less expect their players to leave after a few seasons and you also have a general idea of what to expect from them every year- top 6 finish, battle for trophies, maybe a champions league run every so often, etc. 

 

Even more offensive than being a Celtic fan (And a part of that is because we have a player there), I also support the Golden State Warriors. Why? Because Steph Curry is one of the most entertaining athletes in the world and I like(d) watching him make video game cheat code shots every night. I was not a fan living on the streets of Oakland back when they would lose 60 games a year and had 5 plumbers averaging 4 points a night in their starting lineup. 

Just now, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Palace actually had a influx of hipster fans from America recently.

They had (have?) cheerleaders and everything. 

Funny he mentioned both those clubs- one of my best friends is a Palace diehard, and his reason is more or less, in the year he spent living in London on a line cook's wages, their tickets were slightly cheaper than the other london clubs, so he went to a game and loved them ever since. Brentford's American fans have become something of a running joke on social media- a few posts of American fans have gone viral- a picture of someone in a Brentford shirt in like, Kanas City, and all the replies are from British people going like "you know you could choose like... any of our clubs right"

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

7 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Again biased against, partially for reasons I won't get into but there are specific to them, non-football, reasons that amplify Celtic's fanbase outside of Glasgow.  If we are honest...

Hibs were the original Irish immigrant club in Scotland rather than Celtic but how many Hibs tops are you likely to ever see outside of the Edinburgh area? There's more than just the I drank a pint of Guinness in Dublin once and my great great grandad was a leprauchan from Co Offaly thing going on before people from nth generation Irish diaspora circles will decide to latch onto them.

They have to be in the limelight globally and viewed as something worth boasting about otherwise who outside Scotland and to some extent Northern Ireland is going to see them as any more important than Shamrock Rovers? Not many people outside Scotland pay much attention to the SPFL and the Europa and Conference Leagues aren't much of a focus of interest beyond the fans of the clubs directly involved. They need to be in the Champions League.

It's not a given that Celtic are always going to be in that limelight because the way UEFA structures its competitions has changed in a way that doesn't favour countries with no strength in depth beyond a big two. If that messes up the Old Firm in the years ahead it's karma basically. If you go back to the 1950s there was a time when there were lots of clubs that could conceivably win the Scottish League at the outset of any season. Then came television with one channel showing the team in blue in their highlights and the other showing the team in green and white hoops...

[shermanator]

The same poster who complains about people supporting clubs not in their city also wants to kill the ability for many people in this country to watch professional soccer in their city. Quelle surprise.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

24 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

As for quibbling about plastic fans, that's certainly something that's present in all sports, but I've seen it more often in American sports- players here stick with their teams much longer and club performance is a lot more up and down than in most top soccer leagues, so you get this mentality that if you weren't around when the team wasn't good, before we lucked out and drafted this superstar, you're fake. If you decide to follow Manchester United or Chelsea or Liverpool as a child, you can more or less expect their players to leave after a few seasons and you also have a general idea of what to expect from them every year- top 6 finish, battle for trophies, maybe a champions league run every so often, etc. 

Different perspectives I guess but I feel the exact opposite.

Everything in North American sport seems a bit more transitory to me. 

The Oilers have been in Edmonton my entire life.  But I remember being given "old" (for a very little kid) hockey cards for the Atlanta Flames and California Golden Seals that weren't that much older than I was.  I was really busy in England for a few years and when I come back there are NHL teams in Vegas and something called the Kraken in Seattle. 

It was huge (and still bitter) deal when Wimbledon got plucked from London and plopped down in Milton Keynes.  

I was poked fun at a lot that Nottingham Forest the club was older than my country.

 

Things like waivers and practice squads and the minors - in different cities - and such make it seem to me at least that rosters are not nearly as firm and I have an easier time get to know my football team's players. 

 

Again my perspective, but football support was more multi-generational.  The backlash against some "plastic" that "threatened" that was stronger.   Again modernity and probably age mellows that. 

Edited Thursday at 03:42 PM by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

15 minutes ago, shermanator said:

The same poster who complains about people supporting clubs not in their city also wants to kill the ability for many people in this country to watch professional soccer in their city. Quelle surprise.

^^^a complete lie as usual from this guy but at least he managed to refrain from using swear words this time. Assuming this refers to me what I have actually argued for on here is a lower budget professional soccer league in Canada revolving around bus travel and regional conferences that would provide professional soccer in many more Canadian cities.

[InglewoodJack]

21 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Different perspectives I guess but I feel the exact opposite.

Everything in North American sport seems a bit more transitory to me. 

The Oilers have been in Edmonton my entire life.  But I remember being given "old" (for a very little kid) hockey cards for the Atlanta Flames and California Golden Seals that weren't that much older than I was.  I was really busy in England for a few years and when I come back there are NHL teams in Vegas and something called the Kraken in Seattle. 

It was huge (and still bitter) deal when Wimbledon got plucked from London and plopped down in Milton Keynes.  

I was poked fun at a lot that Nottingham Forest the club was older than my country.

 

Things like waivers and practice squads and the minors - in different cities - and such make it seem to me at least that rosters are not nearly as firm and I have an easier time get to know my football team's players. 

 

Again my perspective, but football support was more multi-generational.  The backlash against some "plastic" that "threatened" that was stronger.   Again modernity and probably age mellows that. 

It's probably different perspective. I had a Leafs hat when I was an infant that we got at some thrift store or community centre of sorts and I was bullied pretty hard about it before I even understood the Habs/Leafs thing. Other factors at play there, but it's very much, if you're from here, you support the Habs, if you're from there, you support the Leafs. For soccer, I guess I'm thinking more of the "super league" sized clubs- most of their fans are now completely international, and it would shock me if clubs like Manchester United or Liverpool had more fans in England than outside. I believe most of their larger fan pages/social media fanclubs are run by Americans, people in India, Africa, so on. Different story for smaller clubs, of course. 

Re: firm rosters- I think teams here keep the same core a lot longer than in soccer. There are more hockey players on a team than soccer players (At least players who regularly play), but it's not very uncommon for players to spend a decade with the team. Even my Montreal Canadiens, a team who has shredded their roster since 2021 and have pivoted towards a pure youth movement have multiple players who are going on 5+ years with the club, and one (Two if you count Price) who have 15-20 years of tenure with the team. And this is a team that is going through a rebuild. A team like the Penguins have 3 guys who have 20 years of tenure, 5 who have a decade+ and a handful who have over 5 seasons. I haven't followed baseball much as of late, but I know players stay with the same team quite often. Different for the NFL because of the short career/salary cap flexibility, but even a relatively transient league like the NBA, their stars typically stick with the same club a lot longer than soccer stars. Exceptions with guys like Messi, Harry Kane, so on, obviously. 

Edited Thursday at 04:06 PM by InglewoodJack

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

33 minutes ago, InglewoodJack said:

It's probably different perspective. I had a Leafs hat when I was an infant that we got at some thrift store or community centre of sorts and I was bullied pretty hard about it before I even understood the Habs/Leafs thing. Other factors at play there, but it's very much, if you're from here, you support the Habs, if you're from there, you support the Leafs. For soccer, I guess I'm thinking more of the "super league" sized clubs- most of their fans are now completely international, and it would shock me if clubs like Manchester United or Liverpool had more fans in England than outside. I believe most of their larger fan pages/social media fanclubs are run by Americans, people in India, Africa, so on. Different story for smaller clubs, of course. 

Re: firm rosters- I think teams here keep the same core a lot longer than in soccer. There are more hockey players on a team than soccer players (At least players who regularly play), but it's not very uncommon for players to spend a decade with the team. 

Appreciate that.

I had no one in my life (until a youth leader at church that was a rabid Habs fan) that was really passionate about an original six hockey team .  Some (Edmonton) Eskimo people I guess. 

I still think it is baffling to football fans ( and to me even) that so many North American teams are new or have jumped from a number of cities in their existence.

 

There are also cores at City, Liverpool and Man U and especially Chelsea that in the very least roll their eyes when club makes an effort to say attract fans from the country of a new signing.  I give you an example from us, but I know those clubs have done similar.  We set up our first Spanish social media when Chicharito signed for us. 

I would still not see a negative reaction to "casuals" as more North American. 

Edited Thursday at 04:33 PM by WestHamCanadianinOxford

[InglewoodJack]

1 hour ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Appreciate that.

I had no one in my life (until a youth leader at church that was a rabid Habs fan) that was really passionate about an original six hockey team .  Some (Edmonton) Eskimo people I guess. 

I still think it is baffling to football fans ( and to me even) that so many North American teams are new or have jumped from a number of cities in their existence.

 

There are also cores at City, Liverpool and Man U and especially Chelsea that in the very least roll their eyes when club makes an effort to say attract fans from the country of a new signing.  I give you an example from us, but I know those clubs have done similar.  We set up our first Spanish social media when Chicharito signed for us. 

I would still not see a negative reaction to "casuals" as more North American. 

Fair, maybe that’s just from my perspective. I will say that my British colleagues at work are supremely more excited when I tell them I’ve been following such and such club because of whichever Canadian we have there versus my American colleagues who are perplexed that Canada has Super Bowl parties even though we have no team, or someone from California finding out I have opinions on Draymond Green or whatever. 
 

I did get myself into a funny situation recently- met someone at a conference recently who told me that he is a Bristol supporter, so I told them I somewhat follow them because they have a promising young CB who is a Canadian. He was so excited about finding this out he promised me a shirt the next time I saw him, and insists that I come to a game the next time I’m abroad. Found out about a half hour into the convo that he’s Bristol Rovers, not FC. Didn’t have the heart to correct him, but they were so excited to see someone from North America know about their relatively obscure club. Maybe all of this is British people still finding the novelty in North Americans following or even knowing about these types of clubs.

 

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

The other club in Bristol is City not "FC".

Edited Thursday at 06:54 PM by Ozzie_the_parrot

[SpursFlu]

No no disrespect because I love the clubs, I love the history but truthfully Rangers and Celtic are slowly becoming irrelevant. All these fans abroad are dying off and not being replaced. Glasgow is a city of 500k people. Some on here might argue theyre not eligible for a CPL expansion club. Inter Miami is probably a bigger team internationally than Celtic Rangers. Don't shoot the messenger 

Edited Thursday at 07:22 PM by SpursFlu

[InglewoodJack]

1 hour ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

The other club in Bristol is City not "FC".

I wouldn’t know, I don’t follow them because I’m not from Bristol, I’m not allowed

[kacbru]

5 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

Ignoring the fact that Celtic have something like 10 million fans outside of Scotland and are one of the best supported clubs in the entire world, picking on people following teams from places they aren't from, especially about *soccer* is just completely insane. It's a very American attitude that people seem to bring from being fans of Hockey or American football or whatever. I would assume most Liverpool or Madrid fans have likely never stepped foot in those cities, and a large number of them have likely never even stepped foot in Europe. 

And to have absolute disdain for the CPL at the same time!

[kacbru]

4 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

^^^a complete lie as usual from this guy but at least he managed to refrain from using swear words this time. Assuming this refers to me what I have actually argued for on here is a lower budget professional soccer league in Canada revolving around bus travel and regional conferences that would provide professional soccer in many more Canadian cities.

Bus league to complete my bingo card!

[Macksam]

On 10/1/2024 at 5:45 PM, Unnamed Trialist said:

I saw Celtic lose 2-1 to Barça at Camp Nou 12 years ago, so it can be done. Samaras scored first and two guys now at Inter Miami got the tie and winner. This Celtic is just ill prepared. That Celtic beat Barça at home that group stage too.. We're not talking about any conditions back then that were any easier. 

Agreed, I also remember their game at home. 

https://youtu.be/JqgABqp8Y38?si=EQsRmLRaOwHKTuqM

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

11 hours ago, InglewoodJack said:

I wouldn’t know, I don’t follow them because I’m not from Bristol, I’m not allowed

Referring to Bristol City as "FC" would lead to plenty of ridicule if you were in the SW of England. Trust me on that. More fundamentally though why are CF Montreal and the CMNT representing the country you are actually from not enough for you? What do people actually get out of gloryhunting a club like Celtic from thousands of miles away that they have no real tangible connection to? 

Edited yesterday at 06:54 AM by Ozzie_the_parrot

[sebdeserio]

7 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Referring to Bristol City as "FC" would lead to plenty of ridicule if you were in the SW of England. Trust me on that. More fundamentally though why are CF Montreal and the CMNT representing the country you are actually from not enough for you? What do people actually get out of gloryhunting a club like Celtic from thousands of miles away that they have no real tangible connection to? 

How many CPL games have you made it out to this year? Or if Hamilton and Toronto are too far to support local what about FC London?

[InglewoodJack]

7 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

Referring to Bristol City as "FC" would lead to plenty of ridicule if you were in the SW of England. Trust me on that. More fundamentally though why are CF Montreal and the CMNT representing the country you are actually from not enough for you? What do people actually get out of gloryhunting a club like Celtic from thousands of miles away that they have no real tangible connection to? 

Good thing I don’t have any trips planned to SW England recently, so I should be good. Why do I support multiple teams? Because I like watching soccer? I like watching Celtic in the morning, flipping to Lille at noon, Inter in the afternoon and Montreal in the evening. It’s not nearly as deep as you’re making it out to seem.

[narduch]

The only good thing about Bristol is the music.

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

4 minutes ago, narduch said:

The only good thing about Bristol is the music.

Depends whether you know cockney rhyming slang or not.

 

[narduch]

6 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

Depends whether you know cockney rhyming slang or not.

 

Does listening to The Streets a lot in the aughts count?

[ahmedou]

1 hour ago, InglewoodJack said:

I like watching Celtic in the morning, flipping to Lille at noon, Inter in the afternoon and Montreal in the evening. It’s not nearly as deep as you’re making it out to seem.

Canucks Abroad and Montreal ❤️🇨🇦⚜️