On Scarves and Fan Loyalty
Here's a nice article from an American's point of view on this topic.
My early days: While I was watching the 98 World Cup, i saw this player names Michael Owen. He was just about the same age as me and was great. I took interest and found he played for Liverpool. I though, kool, i'll follow them so i can watch this kid develop. Before that my favorite players were Baggio and Maldini. I was more of an AC Milan fan. So come 2005's Champions League Final i was in a bit of a dilemma. I took it as one of the best, if not THE best match i had ever seen and left it at that.
Before all this i was just a fan of Italy.
The attraction of Manchester United: I don't remember when it was but all i know is that it grew and grew. All i can, say is it must be their reach. Much like the "39th" game would do for many smaller clubs, Man U is a market. It stretches to all corners of the world. Smaller clubs stay small because they don't.
When i look in the summer for soccer tickets i would see teams like Man U vs Bayern Munich, Bayern vs Milan, Real Madrid, Chelsea. Hell, i almost drove 2 states away to see Aston Villa. I don't see teams from lower divisions coming here. I don't see teams like Pompy or even Newcastle.
So when you see or hear of someone who has no business, no rhyme or reason to like a team like Man U just understand that those teams are the first we hear about.
So we could have a debate on weather a "bandwagon" is about winning or about money. One comes with the other.