... in the psyche of the average American sports fan, although it still mainly enjoys a sort of cult following. The debate over football gives insight into a deeper, more political, national feeling; is America an equal among the rest of the world when it comes to sport, or is the nation so strong, powerful, and special that we have no need of this ‘silly European’ game?
   
With the Premier League televised live every weekend, many fans have fallen in love with football at its highest level. Unfortunately, many simply choose Manchester United or Chelsea without having the slightest idea of the history or location of these clubs, but simply because they are winners, and merchandise is easy to come by. For example, the most popular football merchandise site is probably. WorldSoccerShop.com. Here a fan can find a wide variety of products, and there are pages and pages of Man Utd, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan gear, as well as a host of other successful clubs and national teams. However, what is there to be found under the Wolverhampton Wanderers category? Just one item, a football coloured black and gold. The same is also true for the Burnleys, Real Mallorcas, Hibernians, and Dinamo Zagrebs of the world; in America, if you’re going to support a team, why not a winner?
   
Then, we have the other side, which is the domestic league fan. The MLS (Major League Soccer) has grown up a lot in recent years, with crowds on the rise, new stadiums being built, and an influx of known international players like David Beckham and Juan Pablo Angel. No longer can I derisorily proclaim that the average Championship outfit could compete in the MLS; back in the hey day of the League of Ireland, before ‘administration’, I even claimed my own club Cork City FC was up to MLS standard, alas not any more.
 

The MLS is often featured on sports highlights shows like ‘Sportscenter’, and is often on ESPN as well as local media outlets. For someone like myself, living about 45 minutes away from New York City, it’s easy enough to get to a game or buy a kit or t-shirt.

However, it is clearly behind a host of sports in America, and many see it as a sort of oddity. Also, to many fans like myself, it seems that the MLS has tried to ‘Americanise’ the game, removing so many of the traditions beloved by supporters all over the world. Chest bumps as celebrations, names like ‘Sounders’ and ‘Fire’, the continual misuse of cliches. Worst of all is the arrogance that American football exudes. In what can probably be considered the second easiest region in the world, aside from Oceania, the Americans love to brag about romps over teams like Barbados and Bermuda - true giants of the game. As a fan of Ireland, I’m often told to ‘look at the rankings’ to see who is better- the USA is 14, Ireland is 41. Arguing over those rankings doesn’t seem to strike a chord, but the biggest problem with American fans is the ‘better than you’ attitude many have, which has not endeared them to football supporters the world over.
  
It must be said that football has progressed a pretty good deal in the United States. Recently, ESPN showed a few matches from the 1998 World Cup, with American commentators. Back then, being assigned to soccer was considered a failure, like having to cover skateboarding or women’s professional basketball. Now there is a very successful station dedicated solely to football, and ESPN count Martin Tyler, Derek Rae, and Tommy Smyth as some of their regular pundits. With the success of the past 15 or so years, who knows what the next 15 will bring, especially if America is awarded the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. For now, though, it still has a long way to go.

Andrew McCarten