Originally Posted by
blackal
I’ve always thought that the large clubs’ fan base starts with children.
Children want to be associated with success, far less likely to get pelters at school if ‘your’ team doesn’t lose much - so start to proclaim allegiance to the likes of ManU, Liverpool etc (and Rangers/Celtic in Scotland). Meanwhile teams like Grimsby get little support by the kids - and that transfers to adulthood.
Used to be in the USA, that NFL teams had local allegiance for life (until the owners moved the teams) and if Green Bay were your local team as a kid- you stuck with them. Part of that, of course - was the possibility of the division title or Super Bowl wins due to the structure of draft picks.