How Americans Pick Their European Soccer Teams

I'll start, because I am the worst. I studied abroad in London and one of my classes was held two blocks from the Emirates. That's how I became an Arsenal fan.

Perhaps naively, I assumed every American had a story kind of like this. There's no rational way to choose a team that plays across an ocean. It's all somewhat arbitrary and subjective. Something just catches you, for whatever reason, and you go with it, because there's no reason not to. (Except for the "digital brand strategist" in that nauseating New York Times style piece who said he supported Liverpool because of their "hardworking blue-collar values." He was wrong.)

This is one of the small joys of rooting for a team so far away. The distance can be liberating. Your city's NFL team is shared with millions of others in your immediate vicinity. It's a birthright, either by geography or blood line. But that team 3,600 miles away you get up at 7:30 AM to watch lose on a rainy day at Stoke? You chose that for the most terrible of reasons, but it was your reason. (No one in America roots for Stoke.)

I wanted to see if I was the only one who felt this way, so, via the magic of Twitter, VICE Sports put out a call for Americans (and some Canadians) to chime in on how they picked their favorite European team. Here are some of the responses. The band Oasis came up far more often than I expected.

@VICESports arsenal since ~ '98. loved bergkamp and watched a Man U review where giggs scored that stupid goal over seaman and hated him.
— skylar bergl (@skylarbergl) August 20, 2015

@VICESports came for dinho stayed for the magical little argentine #ViscaBarca
— Rawan (@rawan) August 21, 2015

@VICESports #LFC, because my friends got me into FIFA and Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel were wicked fast. Also, red is my favorite color.
— Justin Block (@JBlock49) August 20, 2015

.@VICESports Ipswich Town. Reminded me of my hometown in the US and now also because I have friends there after I visited.
— Matt Goshert (@mattgoshert) August 21, 2015

@VICESports Aston Villa, because I met two British bros with an AVFC/Browns scarf at TNF in 2008. (Randy Lerner owned both.) Fuck those bros
— D.J. Byrnes (@marion_ohio) August 21, 2015

@VICESports Norwich city because I liked their jerseys while playing Fifa when they were in league 1. It's been quite the ride
— Scott Thomsen (@set0312) August 21, 2015

@VICESports Arsenal. Family's from London. Visited in HS and fell in love with Thierry Henry.
— Bhavin Bavalia (@bhbavalia) August 21, 2015

@VICESports Arsenal. Hated the Man U fans I knew, wanted the team that could beat them, which in 2001 was Arsenal.
— Dan Wade (@Dwade) August 21, 2015

@VICESports Arsenal, because their style and story remind me of the mid-90's Detroit Red Wings, my all-time favorite sports team.
— Dirk Hoag (@Forechecker) August 20, 2015

@VICESports I support The Arsenal because when I chose my team, they had Sega Dreamcast as their sponsor. Silly, but that was 15 years ago..
— Nik Cameron, B.S. (@13blog) August 20, 2015

@VICESports Canadian here and I chose Man City because I was a huge Oasis fan and they were big fans. Been a supporter since the 90s
— James Harris (@modsuperstar) August 20, 2015

@VICESports Massive @MCFC supporter in Chicago. Chose City solely based on Noel Gallagher, Manchester band @oasis. Also, Ian Curtis' club.
— Ken III (@TheRealTheThird) August 20, 2015

@VICESports Bayern Munich. Family is from Munich. I'm far removed but researched heritage in mid-90s, found family heirlooms (1 FCB-related)
— Doug (@DFresh39) August 20, 2015

@VICESports studied Italian at school, watched games in class, had a crazy prof from Rome, fell in love with the way @OfficialASRoma played
— Treble Nikki (@Treble_Nikki) August 21, 2015

@VICESports Manchester United. Bought a cool looking t-shirt in the England store at Epcot in Orlando, started watching them that year
— charlie st. pierre (@charliestpierre) August 21, 2015

@VICESports @atotalmonet picked a random jersey at a store in Rome in 2005. Knew nothing about soccer. Happened to be Manchester United.
— Alex (@OneFuttAtATime) August 20, 2015

@VICESports Chelsea, because I started playing FIFA 11 (and subsequently following soccer),and Drogba was God made flesh in that game
— Nick Fallon (@the_real_fallon) August 20, 2015

@VICESports I support Newcastle United, got started simply because I love Newcastle Brown Ale and that was their shirt sponsor at the time.
— Scott Martinson (@Scott1fy) August 20, 2015

@VICESports Arsenal. The Nike Ian Wright commercial, the Dutch at the 94 WC and Bergkamp's move to Arsenal in 95. Been a fan for 20 years
— codywhitman (@codywhitman) August 20, 2015

@VICESports Hull City! Got tired of "fan's" of the big 4 claiming to be fans and knowing nothing about their team. Plus Jozy loan
— Gabe Ramirez (@Gabe202) August 20, 2015

@VICESports ManCity. Big #cf97 & @DaMarcusBeasley fan. He was on loan at City the year I started watching ELP.
— brent (@skawars1) August 20, 2015

@VICESports Liverpool. Originally because the Beatles are from there.
— Jim McCann (@JMac9398) August 20, 2015

You're not wrong, Jim. You're not wrong.