British Expatriate Network

For those of us who have moved, do you follow your local teams, I mean this isn't a solely US / Canadian thing either, if you moved to Sweden are you now an IFK Gothenburg fanatic?
If so who now grips your attention when scouring the sports pages?

Never really been able to get into the US Sports which appears to be the only thing that anyone plays around here (baseball, US football, basketball).

I was a big basketball fan before I moved here. I was always a fan of the Lakers and the Bulls, but when I started travelling to Dallas in '97 (2 years before I moved here) I started to become interested in the Mavs. I remember my first day at work back in '97 - I went to CompUSA to get some supplies and bought a Mavs mousemat. The guy at the store said, "You must not be from around here", because the Mavs sucked back then. I wonder what he thinks of them now that they have the best record in the NBA?

I'm a great believer in following local teams. I played for a local rugby side when I first moved here and am always interested to find out how the Stars, Cowboys and Rangers fare in their respective leagues.

If you are a true sports fan, I believe you will find something to like about any sport - even those that you are unfamiliar with. For me, following a local team has always been a way of life.

Yes mancbloke.
Follow the Broncos , the Avalanche and the local footy team is the Rapids.
Best thing about the Rapids is watching old boy Carlos Valderama running up and down the pitch with curly blonde locks bobbing around.
I have developed a taste for the Ice hockey and always look for the Avalanche scores on TV and in the paper.
But when all's said and done thank god for Fox sport world. I'll watch any Premiership game thats on , in fact I've seen more premiership football in the US than at home.
Can't wait for next season as the chances of seeing a few Pompey games looks ever more likley.

Avalanche man, they suck. Red Wings baby.
But alas, I also follow Marty Moronwegs old team the formidable Detroit Lions. You know during the Anthrax scares last year they found some suspicious white powder on the field. Luckily the FBI confirmed it was the goal line.

Mmm what else has wings?
Ohh yeah.

My local team to where I was born were Liverpool (nearer than Wrexham!) I followed Reading when I moved to Berkshire and then Plymouth after we moved there.

Wasn't much of a basketball fan until I came here and have really got into it the past couple of seasons, following the Portland Trailblazers. Didn't have the finances to get to any games, apart from an exhibition match but that has changed now so I will get up to the Rose Garden before the play-offs and maybe see about a season ticket for next year.

I follow the Oregon State Beavers in football but only on TV. I think staff should get better than just 25% of season tickets so I don't buy one on principle.

I refer you to this post
http//www.british-expats.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=3733&forum=6&10

Funny thing is, if I ever moved back to England I would probably have to follow a local team to match the same level of enthusiasm as I have for the Kickers. However, I cannot betray my beloved Reds so I would probably follow womens football or something.

I was introduced to my local team by a couple of people. The first was someone from this board (bet you can't guess who grin ), who wanted me to join himself and some friends for a few games. Unfortunately I was driving tour buses and basically was never in town when the team was playing.
Then, last spring, I was talking to another English guy who just happened to work part time at the same place as me. He was saying he was the main driver for the Richmond Kickers, so I asked him if he ever needed help to remember me. The next week he started me driving their youth teams and their PDL (a college age league) team before introducing me to the professional team.
I only drove them a few times before they bought their own sleeper bus, and for insurance reasons the company I worked for wouldn't let me drive that. I had a few problems there and eventually parted company with them, whereupon I contacted the Kickers and a week later I was helping drive them to their playoff games along with my former colleague.
Going back to the very first time I picked up the professional team, I introduced myself over the bus PA system as we pulled away from their offices. The next time I picked them up the players were all getting on the bus saying "hi Graham, good to see you again". My point is they'd only met me once before, I'd only introduced myself once, but 3 weeks later they all remembered my name.
If the Kickers are any guide to the rest of their league then these clubs are a lot more accessable to their fans than the large clubs in the UK. The players know a lot of their supporters by name and will always take time to talk to them and sign autographs. In return many of the clubs have some die-hard supporters, like the ones from Richmond who drove something close to 2000 miles round trip to watch one game at the end of September last year.
Whenever I've been on trips with the Kickers I've always been made to feel extremely welcome and 'one of the team' by everyone involved in their organisation and that's why I say that although Liverpool FC will always be my number one sports team, the Richmond Kickers are a very very close second.

I moved to Buffalo NY and they are sports mad. Luckily for me they are footy mad and i play in a very competitive local league. All the guys watch the Premier league on tv religiously, so its not like I miss anythign at all. Also, Buffalo Bills fans everywhere, whom I am being forced to adopt despite being a Dolphins fan since I was 7. Dont go to the Sabres hockey, too awful im afraid. Have been to Baseball, wont in future, unbelievably boring spectacle.

Starting to get into ice-hockey. Redwings, of course, if there needs to be a team, although the only "live" hockey we watch is the grandads' league who play after Hebe's ice-skating class finishes. Good on the old guys for keeping going, but boy do those guys stink -imagine sweaty locker room mixed with old folks home eek The leagues are so desperate for goalies that they get to join half price, and one of them must be 90 if he's a day. He leans on his stick by the goal, and just drops to the ice if the game comes anywhere near him.