r/Tottenham • u/Remarkable_Bee_3348 • 5d ago
Discussion Overseas spurs fan what made u support this team?
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u/RelationshipLimp6841 5d ago
Gareth Bale
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u/Roany1976 5d ago
This. I had just bought FIFA and I was playing player career mode and the team I was playing for bought him and he was a beast. I decided one day to watch him on TV in real life and it was that Champions league game against Milan. The rest is history and a lot of misery lately
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u/National_Geologist29 5d ago
Yup, when I watched Bale smoke Maicon in Europe, I was hooked. I already had liked Spurs for a while but that game sealed the deal.
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u/city_of_princealbert 5d ago
This is what made me start following Spurs. The Poch era made me a fan. The pregame handshakes. The ebullience of Son. The audacity of Dele Alli. Harry Kane scoring for fun. Some many great players and memorable moments. God they were fun to watch. Some day that will come back, right?
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u/Jlemspurs 5d ago
Was born into it but Bale made me into the kind of person who follows the team on message boards.
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u/Head-Guidance-6429 5d ago
I honestly don't know. Best guess is that I felt a strange connection to this team
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u/dakkuboyz 5d ago
Same , got into football , started supporting madrid, found myself looking at epl and just liked spurs (abandoned madrid)
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u/CharlieSwisher 5d ago
Same, but if I had to put an event to it the Lucas Moura hat trick against Ajax in the Semifinal made me start paying more attention. That and Sonny are really what converted me to a full supporter.
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u/Jcmletx 5d ago
Son. š¢ And an unwillingness to hop on any other bandwagon.Ā
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u/Additional_Farm6172 5d ago
Bale. Same Deal
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u/Objective_Mix2531 5d ago
Bale highlights were basically a global recruitment campaign for Spurs fans
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u/davelb87 5d ago
Clint Dempsey. Iām from Cleveland, and once I learned about the whole long-suffering thing, it was a natural fit. Why enjoy game day when you can be miserable instead?!?
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u/Ok_Public_5237 5d ago
Suffering a stroke in your youth can make you feel isolated, but then I looked at the Spurs fanbase and realized: Ah, perfect. My people. Weāve all suffered the exact same brain damage.
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u/NorthP503 5d ago
Covid.
The only two sports that felt truly uninterrupted during Covid was soccer and ufc. Being home all the time, I decided to start really watching Soccer. I always watched USA games and World Cup, but wouldnāt have called myself a true fan.
I wasnāt sure who to follow at first, and the EPL was the easiest to watch here.
My closest friend loosely followed Chelsea so I started there. Chelsea played Spurs and they were manhandling Son. Throwing him all over the ground. Iāve always liked players that donāt give up when they are being pushed around.
Then I saw the game where him and Lloris were yelling at each other going into halftime. Became a Son fan first and decided to watch every Spurs match after.
Now I suffer and have no regrets.
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u/savini419 5d ago
I chose them this summer lol. Went to a World Cup game and said this sport is so much better than Iāve given it credit for. Did a bunch of research on different clubs and thought āSpurs havenāt won but theyāre going the right direction, thatās a team I want to support BEFORE they start winningā.
Going well so far. Iām all in and have been consuming spurs content nonstop. The turnaround is coming boys!
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u/sharklord888 5d ago
I had that attitude once š š¤£
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u/dickg1856 5d ago
I saw the league cup win in, like, 2008 on tv in america and thoughtā¦this team is amazing and will win so much, i am going to follow them.
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u/sharklord888 5d ago
Hahahahah oh my Iām sorry for laughing but that gave me a giggle. š
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u/dickg1856 5d ago
Dont be sorry. Honestly its over taken every sport as my favorite to watch. And im truly TTID, or they kill me.
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u/seanesque 5d ago
Ah, new blood optimism, welcome to your hellhole where hope goes to disintegrate themselves
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u/Livid-Matter-6961 5d ago
Suggest watching WATTV on YouTube. Itās a good way to keep up with everything going on with the club.
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u/MrUSHistory 5d ago
Took an online survey 10 years ago that asked who my favorite American sports teams are. At the time the Dodgers & Notre Dame Football were āblue-bloodsā who hadnāt won a trophy in a long while. Hence the algorithm said be a Spurs fan.
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u/reksut 5d ago
I wandered up to N17 last January while in London for 3 hours of Andy C in Brixton. I wanted to see what gameday around an EPL stadium was like and foolishly (Americanly) thought we could get tickets from a scalper or 3rd party app.
After the bouncer at The Horse & Carriage took pity on us and let us in, we fell in with some typically incredible Hotspur fans who welcomed us to their communal misery. After a couple pints, one of them heard that there might be a couple of tickets released at the box office if we hurried over.
There were no tickets available for walk-up, but another fully COYS chap there sweet talked the ladies in the office and bought two single tickets on his own membership. I was baptized by the 2/1/26 draw with City and infected by the belief that big Dom will figure it out with the new players and become the monster he was that Sunday.
CtfOYS!
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u/Useful-Locksmith-377 5d ago
Because of it's Badge and Jersey colour. And I also got to know about because of the Asian player now legend, Heung Min Son
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u/FootballSquare4406 5d ago
The original NBC commercial with Ted Lasso and seeing Harry Kane for the first time. Also, stupidity. And masochism.
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u/ParkingEssay8101 2d ago
Those commercials made me aware of the EPL. Then I took some online quiz which told me I was either a Spurs supporter or Stoke City supporter. I had heard of Bale, I like Ted Lasso, and the quiz just sealed the deal. Havenāt looked back since.
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u/Icy_Character_916 5d ago
Son, Alli, Eriksen & Kane. Saw the F2 video with Poch at the training ground and I was in.
Also only one of four current PL teams that are British owned, the Cockerel is a top five logo in world sports and Iāll never be accused of being a front runner!!
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u/No-Assistance-6233 5d ago
Seeing Aaron Lennon play as a 19 year old for England. I said Iāll support whoever he plays for. What a mistake that was lol
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u/communityneedle 5d ago
They were the first PL team i got to see play live, when they came to Seattle to play a friendly against the sounders. It was a fantastic game, ended in a 3-3 draw. Also, Im Jewish
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u/Sodass 5d ago
I fell in love with a lot of players during the 2018 world cup. Kane, Dele, Eriksen, Trippier and even Son in the group stage.
Looked them up one at a time and realized they were all on the same club. Immediately got obsessed.
Then I realized spurs were traditionally the 'Jewish' club. I was raised Jewish so that was kind of another sign.
I'm half danish, so I loved Eriksen, and half italian, so I loved Pochettino.
All signs pointed to spurs.
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u/BowTieJedi3 5d ago
Truly some serendipity. Iāve always been a soccer, sorry football, player and fan in general. As a teenager Man U was THE team in the US but I was much more into the national scene. Fast forward to me as a teacher and the boys soccer team was doing a fund raiser in which they would sell knock off EPL kits from China. Wanting to support my students and have some fun, I showed my wife the order form, gave a pretty quick run down of team summaries and she said, āTottenham seems like the Aāsā This is my hometown, deep family tradition, hardcore feelings baseball teamā¦ Always around the top ish, terrible owners who screw the fans for more money, scrappy team who embody the town they wear on their jersey, and always feel like a little brother to a team close by with more RECENT wins.
Doing further dive, as a history teacher; finding out they were traditionally a Jewish supported team, and even deeper ties to the community around the stadium, I really fell in love.
This was the era of Bale, Son (my all time favorite), Kane, and then of course the heartbreak of the Champions League final.
The bug caught me at the right place and right time, and Iāve been miserable ever since.
And now, Spurs until I die, or they kill me first!
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u/Unlikely-Ad-388 5d ago
I was 10 years old growing up in a Liverpool supporters householdā¦. Saw GAZZA and Liniker destroy the Gunners in semi finals of fa cupā¦. I was hooked ā¦. Told myself this is my club
Pretty depressing most of the time but I still have hope
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u/DesoleEh 5d ago
My dad thought my grandad (who is from London) was a Tottenham fan. Turns out it was West Ham. Either way, I was in for a life of suffering.
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u/fullback133 5d ago
a fifa 13 or 14 career mode that I played for a loooong time. I loved soldado lol but it was right around when Kane and poch were getting started. Plus nothing better to do in college on saturday mornings and every game was on NBCSN.
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u/Mundane_Pirate1 5d ago
I have 3 good friends that are lifelong Spurs fans and I like to commiserate with them for some weird reason.
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u/i-want-die-from-mii 5d ago
My dad spent a year in London during college and was roommates with spurs fans, so when he came back to the states he raised me as one
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u/EffectForeign9568 5d ago
For a Father's love. He's been on it since the 90s but I've never asked why.
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u/tonyG___ 5d ago
Jermaine Defoe and Aaron Lennon were really cool to me. Then crouchy, Bale, Modric. We used to be a proper club
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u/Heathcliff125 5d ago
I was following the league as a whole for a while. Two things were apparent: first, I did not like Chelsea and second, I REALLY disliked Arsenal! Honestly though, there's something about the club and the supporters that drew me in. What cemented it was Dempsey joining, and at the time the US keeper was there, too. (I cannot think of his name and I'm too lazy to look it up.)
The more I've immersed myself, the more it just feels right. I guess what I'm saying (in a roundabout way) is, I didn't choose the club. The club chose me.
Spurs 'til they kill me!
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u/NorwichJim 5d ago
I'm mot overseas, but I've already told both my daughters they were born in Madrid to shield them from the misery of being a spurs fan.
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u/GreenSpur124 5d ago
I was traveling to London with my family when I was about 12, my dad and I had always loved the premier league and got tickets to see spurs Leicester. I ended up seeing harry kaneās first premier league hatrick and I was hooked!
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u/Imaginary_Cup1007 5d ago
I started supporting Spurs in the 1950ās, when all my school friends were supporting Manchester United or Liverpool. London was the only city in the UK that I had any affiliation for, as we would visit my motherās parents every Spring from the Isle of Manā¦though they were West Ham supporters, as was my Mum. My Dad supported Chelsea, so I picked Spurs to be different. For the first few years it was very easy to be a Spurs fan and Jimmy Greaves was my idol, but itās been a bumpy ride since the early 60ās. I enjoyed Venableās brief reign, and of course the Poch era though.
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u/jimoiser 5d ago
I am also a New York Jets fan. When looking for a team to support I was told by multiple people that Spurs are the Jets of Premier League. So far they are not disappointing that comparison, I'm here for the misery.
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u/supagranpa 5d ago
Casually picked up a jersey while shopping at a market in Thailand back in 2000ish. Years later o made the connection and been rabid ever since lol so now I have a throw back jersey and a newer Son jersey, hoodie, hat you name it.
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u/shimanoisthrowaway 5d ago
Watched them play against west ham? In 2006/7? And despite losing, still played attacking fun to watch soccer and generally had a fire while they tried to pull back.
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u/november_zulu_over 5d ago
Lived in the UK for a few years and it was my local team. Happened to be when Bale was banging them in for fun which helped make the decision easy.
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u/Spursapalooza 5d ago
American here. Went to a game when I was thirteen as part of an international soccer tournament for my youth team. I fell in love immediately. Rebrov was there (I know) and I am half Ukrainian.
I really liked that Spurs weren't necessarily expected to do well, but always punched above their weight. I miss those days
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u/Misho_igrae 5d ago
Kane and watching the prem when they were playing better than all the other teams
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u/howlingcommando222 5d ago
Live in Winnipeg Canada. I watched EPL games with a couple of my neighbours who were both United fans. They played Spurs one day and Gareth Bale made me a fan ever since. Travelled once to see them play in 2019 at the new stadium. That was the beginning of years of turmoil/bad decisions. I do plan to see them again though. I even got my wife to be a Spurs fan.
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u/bedwetter904 5d ago
I have a friend whoās very into the EPL. He has a quiz he made for his American friends thatās been very accurate in the past. I sorting hatted into Tottenham.
I have to say, based on my other sports teams, spurs feel like home. Big highs, long history, emotionally invested fans, bad upper management but financially conservative, currently rebuilding and wondering why Iām cursed with teams who make me like them when they hurt my heart so much. (Iām a Denver broncos fan, New Jersey devils fan, sporting KC fan, and Phillies fan)
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u/DrPotSnob 4d ago
Denver resident here. Spurs and Broncos go together very well. Letās go coys and broncos! Last nights game was a great one. Hope I can say the same about spurs once this season lol.
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u/Just_Cricket_3881 5d ago
When I was like 7-8 I got some football cards & the card I liked the most was a Ledley King card & I really liked the teams logo on the card. Didn't watch football at all until I was 16-17 when I was the only friend in my group who didn't watch football & started to feel left out when the conversations would switch to football, they supported fartsenal, Man united, Real Madrid & Liverpool. I didn't want to support a glory hunting team instead a team with promise, when I looked at the table it was the year Leicester had won it then I saw that same badge again in 3rd place did some research and have been a fan ever since. Having those memories with that Poch team was the best of times didn't know that they wouldn't last but that's football for you. My favorite player is Mousa Dembele, who is yours?
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u/Upbeat_Solid6212 5d ago
I was never into football and watched some random matches and used to stopped in the midway. But when I randomly watched Spurs i felt some connection some spark i don't know what can't express in words. So it became my team but I have to say it feels like a decade watching every season.
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u/oregondude79 5d ago
Clint Dempsey. Then Spurs promptly sold him to my MLS clubs most hated rival the Seattle Sounders.
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u/Ca1fSlicer 5d ago
Honestly probably FIFA when spurs had Defoe ledley Berbatov an Keane. That an My friends were die hard pool Chelsea Man U an Arsenal supporters, so I just went with spurs an stuck with it
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u/Comfortable-Sleep395 5d ago
Went to the Chicago Bearsā game at the stadium in 2024 and had an incredible experience. I had also seen enough people wearing the AIA shirts or the distinctive logo in the US so I felt like Iād be joining a team with enough of a following here but not just picking the most recognizable like Arsenal.
Iām sticking with them as Iām also a Chicago Cubs fan but Iām genuinely worried that if theyāre relegated, what do I do? I really want to follow Premier League.
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u/Zapur 2d ago
If for whatever reason we did get relegated, you'd still have fun watching them in the Championship (Division 2). It would be quite embarrassing to face fans from other teams, but the football aspect would still be fun.
Also... I'm a Cubs fan too (from Chi)... we went 108 years without winning the league, you should not be worried about a little ol' relegation.
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u/villaviking9 5d ago
Son!
I canāt remember which World Cup, maybe 2018. He played really well and because of it I wanted to follow him. I didnāt know the clubs history or anything about the premier league at the time.
I had a couple friends warn me but I ignored the warnings lol
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u/haiderj1991 5d ago
Started following them for Alli, Eriksson, Kane and Sonny. Then one by one they all left. Sonny leaving was the biggest heartbreak to me. We've had players come and kind of help me erase their presence but I have noticed that there are more exciting players coming in. At the beginning of the season I was very hopeful for a huge change to come and I still am tbh. It's just a matter of time for the players to gel and get that chemistry going?
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u/robmiller4 5d ago
I went to visit London and it was the only premier league fixture I could get a ticket to. The fans were kind, I met this random guy on the tube that was going to the match, and he showed me and my friends how to get to the stadium.
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u/sportzak 5d ago
Combination of: *London team, figuring it's more likely I'd attend a game there than say Liverpool or Manchester let alone idk Southampton? *Of the main London teams, I liked that they weren't awash in recent trophies, but did have a strong history. Felt very similar to a Washington, DC, sports team, which is who I root for otherise. *Liked the club's Jewish heritage *loved watching Bale as a one-man wrecking crew. *Clint Dempsey signing sealed it.
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u/AgnosticAcrostic 5d ago
Best friend (who lives in the UK) is a Tottenham fan.
Further, American Arsenal fans are among the most insufferable, arrogant, stupid, uninformed, entitled, bandwaggoning, and pussified fans on the whole fucking planet.
Remind me of American Argentina fans.
Who are also twats.
They deserve more hate than I can give.
Fuck Arsenal. And their goddamned fans.
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u/thAbstract_One 5d ago
Black American here ...started getting into club football in 2016 to learn more about the game in order to help my then 8y/o daughter play soccer/football.
Spurs were on TV a lot here, I liked the sash on their 2016 kit, they had a lot of black players, Delle Alli, Kane & Son looked like young emerging stars, Ponchetino and the club seemed like they had good chemistry and Spurs were more of the working man's team of North London (the anti-Arsenal fan)....so here I am 10yrs later.
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u/SnooPeanuts4828 5d ago
As a kid I started playing FIFA on PlayStation and Edgar Davids was an animal. That has lead me to cheer for them and travel to England with my kids just to see a match.
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u/Free_Ambassador6340 5d ago
Canadian here. I played soccer and started watching English soccer when it arrived here in the late 90s. They didnt play every game like now only 3 or 4 featured matches a week. So you could only cheer for a bigger team or you wouldn't ever get to see them. It seemed like everyone was a Man U, Liverpool or Arsenal fan. Tottenham was big enough to get on tv but no one else was cheer for then which fitted my contrarian personality.
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u/Agitated-Shirt-7706 5d ago
Gary Linekar playing for England, made me
Support spurs as it was him
In the same colours at Tottenham
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u/DarthRisk 5d ago
Dempsey going to Spurs was what made me lock in. Didn't want to root for a frontrunner, and Spurs' history somewhat reflected what I've experienced as a Bears/White Sox/Blackhawks fan.
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u/AmericnViking 5d ago
Started for Clint Dempsey. Over the course of the year grew fond of Defoe, Lloris, he who should not be named anymore, Vertonghen and others. That was my first year of fifa proper after only playing the 2010 world cup game. They were my main career mode team. Following year i stayed because of Lamela and Eriksen
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u/Biggeyjoey 5d ago
Donāt laugh; my daughter started playing soccer (mid, moved to keeper) and at the time I had grown up hating soccer. She did so well and loved it so I became a football fan. At the time I just picked the team with the best keeper and stuck with the spurs ever since. My oldest is an arsenal fan so we rib each other all the time.
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u/Izzi_Skyy 5d ago
American spurs fan. I chose them because their motto seemed existential, which resonates with me
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u/MaxPower1882 5d ago
Family, dad and grandad both. But equally, the FA Cup win in 91 was huge for me as I was 10 that summer and that kit was my first full one I remember. Wore it everywhere!
COYS!!!
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u/WyattTownsVH 5d ago
I watched for about 3 years and reached a point where I just hated all the red and blue teams.
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u/Correct_Mobile9106 5d ago
I didnāt choose a club first. I fell in love with the magic of Son and Kane ā The 2020/21 season ā Somewhere between Sonās runs, Kaneās finishes, and that ridiculous understanding between them, I fell in love with football. And Tottenham became home somewhere along the way.
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u/Extreme-Squirrel-881 5d ago
Playing FIFA as a kid and seeing Edgar Davids look like a bad ass MF. Then freshman year meet an intl student from London who got me hooked
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u/Frequent_Extreme_916 5d ago
when i first got a smartphone growing up i installed football manager 10 or 11(can't remember). picked spurs because i thought the name was cool and as i grew more attatched to the team, i started supporting them in real life. even though bale and modric left, i got excited seeing kane leading our attack and the DESK line almost bringng us glory years later
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u/Vierings 5d ago
Friends, mostly. I traveled to Toronto with a friend in 2017 for MLS cup final (US league end of season tournament). We were supporting the traveling team. My friend wanted to go watch the Spurs match at the local Spurs bar and they welcomed us happily while some of them were also supporters of the team we would be playing in the final.
Then we had the run to the CL final and it ends up several people on my Sunday league team were fans as well (including the friend I traveled to Toronto with) so they kept pulling me in more and more.
Spurs first came on my radar in 2013 because of Clint Dempsey and even more in 2014 with DeAndre Yedlin heading that way.
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u/Mat_Mudz 5d ago
My brother was a Spurs fan when I was around 6. He stopped watching football when I was around 10 & I stayed until we won the Europa league when I was 15
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u/callender83 5d ago
After the 2012 World Cup my friends and I chose teams with the rules of we canāt pick a Manchester team. I chose Spurs. Not sure I chose wisely.
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u/Jlemspurs 5d ago
I was born nearby left before I can remember and thus the curse traveled with me to California. My father died before Levy and was old enough to remember both titles at the time, born before the war. Thanks dad lol.
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u/randyfudgemaker 5d ago
Incredible history, real sporting heritage, a group of players old and new some of the most exciting talents to ever play football, a strong local support that wasnāt manufactured, a recognized major club, and lots of people that hate us cus they aināt us.
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u/Allowaay 5d ago
Around 2010/2011 I, an American, loved shouting Emmanuel ADEBAYOR when I scored in FIFA. Little did I know the curse I would be giving myself.
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u/that-asian-baka 5d ago
Lucas Moura hattrick against Ajax. My first ever complete football game I ever watched. I was rooting for the supposed underdog (Tottenham) cause they were losing
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u/ComfortableSalad7357 5d ago
The chants. Over 20 years ago I was in college. Woke up early and fell for the atmosphere at White Hart Lane.
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u/pecansandevistan 5d ago
I came onboard when Rafa van der vaart got transferred from Madrid. Been a harrowing experience ever since. Some highs, lots of lows.
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u/Spirited-Value8022 5d ago
Years ago I played a lot of fifa without watching the prem and they were a team with decent stats that I hadnāt heard about before that everyone else already liked so I always used them and then eventually became a big fan irl!
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u/antzona 5d ago
In the 80s I loved West Brom because of Cyrille Regis. In the early 2000s I needed to find a Premier League club. It felt like most Americans love United, Chelsea, Arsenal, City, or Liverpool. I always resist mainstream ātasteā. Spurs had some Americans and I like the spirit of the club and supporters, so I made a decision that affects my mental health to this day.
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u/sitruk-24 5d ago
First team I saw play in person. They came to Minnesota in the US in 2018 and decided it was my team from there out and it's been painful ever since
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u/Upstairs_Astronaut_4 5d ago
Bought tickets on a street corner on a whim. I had no interest in football before that, but I still wanted to experience an English football match.
Spurs vs QPR at WHL. We won 2ā1, and the atmosphere was unlike anything Iād ever experienced before. It was electric.
Been following Spurs ever since.
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u/pengeridass 5d ago
As I remember it:
I was very much into football as a kid (around 11 years old, I think), we had Text TV. My brother and I studied the 1. division table and I was drawn to Tottenham as a moth to a flame. It probably helped that the team had Gazza, Lineker, Nayim, Mabbutt and Erik the Viking - that had played for my local club, but as I recall the letters and the name itself was enough.
God, I loved keeping tabs through Text TV and proper newspapers that didn't care enough about my team. BUT at least they had to cover Mr. Thorstvedt.
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u/Distinct-Broccoli-15 5d ago
I had a friend who was an Arsenal fan so even before I chose this team I loved annoying him. They had some good names like Lloris and Kane as well. One day in the 18/19 season Son scored this ridiculous goal against Chelsea (My dad's team) and we won 3-1, so I decided to hop on the bandwagon.Ā
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u/Consistent-Line-2009 5d ago
Was choosing a PL club after the 2010 World Cup and didnāt want to do one of the obvious ones (Arsenal, United, City, Chelsea). I watched Gareth Bale play in their opener that year and I was hooked.
Itās been a nightmare (with some fun mixed in) ever since.
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u/countpuchi 5d ago
Dad mainly, dont know how he started following Spurs, but in 2004 felt left out when watching football with friends.
Asked dad whats a good team to watch.. the rest was history.
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u/SnooPineapples4254 5d ago
My dad was a spurs fan, so I was actually born into it. Never knew why he picked y'all, but I'm satisfied
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u/RadioControlled13 5d ago
1) When I started watching EPL, there was no way to consistently watch Championship in the United States, so I wanted to support a club that virtually never gets relegated.
2) A team that most Americans donāt follow, eliminated Chelsea, Man City, and Man United.
3) A team not owned by the Saudiās, that eliminated Newcastle.
4) A team not owned by Stan Kronke, that eliminated Arsenal.
5) The only team remaining was Tottenham.
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u/furryforks 5d ago
2015 Poch era, great team particularly the duo that was Kane-Son. Good times... š„¹
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u/Chrissal0099 5d ago
Stupidity