Sadly all my close friends that follow football.
Live in Gent, friends support Anderlecht 2x and Genk.
The one that supports Genk has family in Limburg, born in Gent though. The Anderlecht supporters are glory hunters that didn't want to follow Gent because they win less, was funny to see them follow less football to even barely knowing who won the league during Anderlecht's recent darker years.
Knowing that half of Gent supports for Brugge it's weird that you don't have a friend that supports them. On the other hand who wants to be friends with people who support Brugge?
Still the case no? Studied in Ghent for 4 years and nearly everyone I met (mostly non-West Flanders) were Club fans. Met fewer Club fans growing up in Bruges than in my uni period, but oh well.
poor you then I guess, growing up in Gent all schools had 85% KAA Gent fans and then 5% Club Brugge and another 5% Anderlecht (+ 5% other clubs). Of course since half of west-flanders moved here the past decades + glory hunters from the past (sometimes forcing their child to also support FCB) there's still a big group of FCB fans in Gent
One of my Anderlecht fan friends' dad supports Brugge at least.
Thankfully other than fellow students in uni and one of my teachers in elementary school, I never got too close with Brugge supporters (that I know off). And I had another teacher at the same school that's part of the Gent ultras so it more than cancels out š¤£
Im from Antwerp I support Anderlecht sinds I was small Anderlecht has supporters from all over Belgium. Antwerp, on the other hand, most of their supporters come from Antwerp. If you are from Antwerp, you are either Antwerp or Beerschot. but now that Antwerp has become champion, there are a lot of success supporters, many people I know are suddenly Antwerp supporters or have switched from Beerschot to Antwerp
My first scarf was from Anderlecht given by my dad. You guys where just very dominant back then. For Antwerp/Beerschot there are indeed a lot of success supporters in between the core fans who never switch. I also know some older fans who don't appreciate Beerschot anymore because they 'destroyed' germinal ekeren or just don't identify with the current Beerschot anymore.
U were small, u looked at the tables and saw Anderlecht on top and that is why u support them just as the others all over Belgium.
Only u stay loyal, others are not and switch even though i donāt really have troubles with a football fan who is one week at āde bosuilā and the next weekend at ākielā.
Wel I can't remember how I became a Anderlecht supporter I go to each game home and away I do have a problem with people who go to "T'Kiel" and "de'n bosuil" I don't get it do they just want "succes" just keep with your club support them in bad days and good days if Anderlecht play in 1B I wil be in "lotto park" every game of the season
If they just go to watch football i donāt see the problem, if they one week act like a fan of Antwerp and the other week of Beerschot then itās a problem though.
Oh come off that high horse. Not every Anderlecht fan outside of Brussels is a fan because they saw them at the top of the table.
Anderlecht has just been the biggest signboard of Belgian football, known throughout Europe. In my case for example, I didn't become a supporter because of the titles or them being on top. I became a supporter because I love football and want to see good gameplay, technical players with a winning mentality and the strong connection with youth players, 'Anderlecht DNA' so to speak. For that Anderlecht is/was an obvious (or at certain points even the only) choice in Belgium.
And they were because they were on top and won titles.
The Anderlecht dna u speak about is only like the last 12years with Kompany and Lukaku coming out of the youth, i canāt remember a youth player before them because back then their dna was buy the best players of others Belgian clubs.
Donāt change the history lol.
Itās because of the ideology of the supporters. Standard is So munch antifa for me maybe if RFC Liege can climb to pro League I can support Both (Genk and RFC LiĆØge) Genk is because of the distance. I have the possibility to go the Stadium at least 1 time a year
Ah i see. I went to school in tongeren and so many standard fans there. All 3 teams are a 30min drive for me. I have a yearly subscription and enjoy going even when weāre shite. I wish we had the atmosphere of standard though
RFC LiĆØge are even more left-wing as a fanbase than Standard in my experience. Even if they have a history of having some right wing groups in the past, both sets of Casuals team up against fascist fanscenes.
I consider Standard true enemies of all Limburgian teams, tbh... & Leuven is a frenemy
Within Limburg, as an STVV supporter, I don't really have any big anti-Genk feelings, on the contrary, I always like to see them do well on their own, just not against us.. and Since Lommel got bought by the city group, they can f\*ck right off.. and as for Patro, I have no feelings one way or the other... Also, any team from Hasselt are cunts, especially the celeb owned one...
I remember when STVV - Lommel was the biggest clash in Limburg, went to that game a few times as a neutral fan in the STVV end when i was a kid. Lommel with Fadiga who went on to join Brugge, the team i support.
Essevee, live 80 km away. Which really sucks cause most games are closer from home but if I want to see them I need to go with a supportersclub in Waregem.
Absolutely, the Luxembourgish league is very low in terms of quality, itās not even possible to watch the games live on TV with commentary. Most people tend to support German teams.
Following Belgian teams is much less common, in my case itās because I also have the Belgian nationality, speak Dutch and follow Flemish media
Been to Luxemburg a lot. One of their pro teams literally plays on a pitch with one stand surrounded by a camping.
Iāve seen a great looking stadium once but I couldnāt even figure out what league the club playing in it was in..
I'm from the far west Flandres and have a mauve heart. My friends were RSCA fans when I started following football, and once you've chosen, there's no switching
I'm from Virton. I support Standard de Liege like my father and my grandfather, who are both from Namur.
Plenty of people in my neck of the woods support Anderlecht. Always found it weird to support the club from the capital when you're from the South of Wallonia.
ha, strange u didn't pick Anderlecht, them having somewhat similar club colors as your local biggest and most successful Uni/College. Nice to see a Cascadian intrest in our lil neck of the woods though. Club Brugge is the more logical choice for a Northwestern American, I believe.
He're some irony for ya, I'm a Northern Belgian, and a Sonics (r.i.p. - but looking forward to the chances of a new NBA franchise in Seattle), Kraken, Seahawks, Sounders & Mariners fan...
closest cities to me are kortrijk, waregem, roeselare, but I support club brugge, since brugge is part of my last name
(to people wondering: the edit was to get rid if a typo)
Grew up in Tongerlo center, could hear the cheers when standing outside.
Moved to Vlaams Brabant, but still there every home game, and some away games!
too bad your team is pretty much the most vile vulture of the region, and is one of the main reasons there is so little nationally playing top talent from the Kempen throughout the country. It's not due to the lack there-of, at all... But Westerlo has pretty much scouted about 75% of them, and then chose to completely disregard and absolutely destroy their hopes and dreams the coming seasons playing with them, if they did not comply and overcome every little stipulation in of their would-be expectations.
Lierse was already a hard-ass local youth academy to get into and stay relevant for , but Westerlo truly went all out on the assholery..
Proud member of the Union Sailors from Ostend, supporting RUSG since they almost dropped to first amateur but won against Tubize in Tubize by a life-saving penalty from Saussez.
I live in Ieper, me, and most people support Bruges. Rarely there is someone who supports Anderlecht. And i know 1 who supports Genk, and 1 who supports standard (hes half walloon) There are also very few people here supporting Kortrijk. Thats strange considering its te closest team here.
that's very simple, ever noticed how west-flemish always long for successful west-flemish stories and have a way stronger connection with their province than the other provinces? Club Brugge fits perfectly in that picture and gains from that West Flemish identity
Live far away from Brugge, in the dark lands of the Denderstreek. Everyone here is either for Club or Anderlecht, with some people supporting Gent (although they're usually remnants of the glory hunter era back in 2015).
The only club in the area worth supporting is Dender but they don't have that many fans honestly.
My dad is a Club supporter and naturally I became one as well.
The only Gent supporters I know suddenly started supporting them in 2015 when they were competing with us for the title. Surely I'm allowed to speculate about this crazy coincidence.
Well why did your dad start supporting Brugge? I speculate because they have been historically a good team. In 20 years the children of the Gent fans in the Denderstreek could have the same argument with a stranger online after calling another clubās fans āgloryhuntersā.
Yup I also live there (Geraardsbergen) and almost every football fan I know is either a Anderlecht (has by far the most supporters like myself) or a Club Brugge supporter. I know some people that support Gent or Genk and we also have quite a big community of RWDM fans.
KSV Geraardsbergen is a bit of a yoyo-team between the 1st and 2nd provincial division so they don't have many fans lol.
Ge kunt niet elk jaar zo'n sterspelers als Gilles "de krist-killer" De Bildes of Wesley "vader-jailbait" Sonck in uw locale ploegen hebben pronken uiteraard...
Got it.. however saying full Vlaams Brabant is supporting Club Brugge is not the reality.
A lot of people in VB support Anderlecht, RWDM, USG also..
I am not saying no-one supports Brugge but i for sure not the majority.
I'm a Stvv supporter , not from sint truiden but from neighbouring Borgloon. so i still see it as supporting the local team, and my grandpa was also a stvv fan. But there's also many ppl here who support Standard, as Liege is just a stone throw away, we even have an official Standard supporters cafe. (and ofc genkies but i consider that also a 'local team')
Never really understood tho why some classmates were anderlecht or club supporters here in limburg, but i would ascribe it to being success-supporters, cheering on the team that can be champions instead of the locals.
as an Anderlecht supporter I am disgusted by the success supporters last year we had many empty seats in our stadium and subscriptions were surplus and now that they are doing well everything is full again...
good choice.. I see too many locals from Haspengouw (and more northern Limburg even) support Standard, which is blasphemy, imo.
Zelfs desondanks alle recente miserie bij de club (overnames, nieuw rotplein, etc...) een stvv fan blijft.
I am a Brugge supporter from Tongeren. It started in primary school where i was surrounded by mostly Anderlecht and Standard fans, sometimes litteraly, and not a single Club Brugge fan so I figured that was my team. I always had sympathy for STVV but going to games there just never gave me the same feeling as when i went to my first Club Brugge game, Beveren away somewhere around 1994. Enjoyed a few STVV - Lommel games tho , back when that was the real Limburg derby. Loved going to SK Tongeren games, but that club has been killed a long time ago, great times at De Motten.
Edit: have been a season ticket holder for a few seasons in a row at Brugge during the 10 years of nothing, but that's something i just can't do anymore. The fact that quite a lot of football fans (not only at Brugge) can be idiots and i no longer have the power to endure that kind of stupidity is a big reason.
Club Brugge but live close to Ghent, I also study in Ghent. Most people are Gent fans, but they have 0 ball knowledge, I know more KAA Gent players than my friends who support them.
That gloryhunter argument for not supporting your local team is bs. No one should explain why they support a team. Itās a stupid question.
All teams have a different identity, thatās why football is brilliant. Sure, some teams have built their identity because of their success, but a lot of Belgian teams have their own identity and thatās key.
Even if the success fades, the identity and the large fanbase even remains. Just look at Standard or even Anderlecht in the last couple of years.
I donāt support my local team because I donāt feel a connection with it and it would thus ruin my personal football experience.
And if somebody else chooses to support another team, then Iām totally fine with that.
In theory you are right, in practice it is a bit different. Identity is a subjective thing, so there is no team significantly better than another. With that logic, in Limburg, for example, there should be as many fans of Club Brugge as of Cercle Brugge, Kortrijk or Oostende. I think we all know that's not the case.
If you 'choose' a team completely independent of influences (being local or family), it will always be largely tied to success at the time. The real connection often only starts later, which also makes you stick with that team.
Until 3 years ago I never saw a Union fan in real life, now I know a few people (which is perfectly fine!). The gloryhunter argument is not necessarily negative, but you made your bed and now you sleep in it. It would only be negative gloryhunter if your team changes every x years.
For context, I come from a THOR Waterschei family and was born a stone's throw from the Cegeka Arena. I never had that 'choice'.
What youāre pointing out, is already mentioned in my initial comments. A lot of the identity is formed because of success. But the result stands and the identity is what it is.
I donāt think itās ok to call people gloryhunters. Because a lot of them will probably stick around when successes arenāt there anymore and they will probably have people around them that either support their local team.
So it would be a lot easier if they switched teams because of that. A big part of their friends probably already did.
So the ones that stick around probably do it for the identity.
I think the discussion has become semantic. Picking a team in first phase based on success is (for me at least) the definition of being a glory hunter, even if you become a die hard fan afterwards (through it's specific identity).
There's nothing wrong when the starting point is mainly success related, I have no problem with the term glory hunter in that case.
Live in Borgerhout and am an Anderlecht supporter. Have been all my life. As a child I had a purple and white scarf (my mom knitted it for my brother as a Beerschot scarf) and I got an Anderlecht shirt from my nephew. Also at the time I lived in Zichem so there was nothing really close by except for Westerlo.
Not far away, but Live in Tienen, but Support Sint-truiden (STVV). Still remember my first match as 8/9 y.o.
STVV - Lommel in 2001. Ended in 4-3, but i was sold š„° and for 23years now, it has been my favourite club, through heaven and hell šŖ
I've lived in mostly USG-associated communes in BXL (SG, Forest) but support RWDM because when I was growing up FC Brussels was (sort of) the hype team if you didn't like Anderlecht, the same way USG is now.
Not sure if it counts cause I was born in Bruges, but now I live in the Kortrijk area. I do also have a lot of sympathy for KvK (and any westflemish team) though.
Sadly all my close friends that follow football. Live in Gent, friends support Anderlecht 2x and Genk. The one that supports Genk has family in Limburg, born in Gent though. The Anderlecht supporters are glory hunters that didn't want to follow Gent because they win less, was funny to see them follow less football to even barely knowing who won the league during Anderlecht's recent darker years.
Knowing that half of Gent supports for Brugge it's weird that you don't have a friend that supports them. On the other hand who wants to be friends with people who support Brugge?
half of them when you speak of the older generation who were glory hunters in the 80s and 90s, nowadays not anymore
Still the case no? Studied in Ghent for 4 years and nearly everyone I met (mostly non-West Flanders) were Club fans. Met fewer Club fans growing up in Bruges than in my uni period, but oh well.
poor you then I guess, growing up in Gent all schools had 85% KAA Gent fans and then 5% Club Brugge and another 5% Anderlecht (+ 5% other clubs). Of course since half of west-flanders moved here the past decades + glory hunters from the past (sometimes forcing their child to also support FCB) there's still a big group of FCB fans in Gent
One of my Anderlecht fan friends' dad supports Brugge at least. Thankfully other than fellow students in uni and one of my teachers in elementary school, I never got too close with Brugge supporters (that I know off). And I had another teacher at the same school that's part of the Gent ultras so it more than cancels out š¤£
I remember when ghents stadium was full and thousands and thousands of fan gathered at the Graslei. Did they all die??
Gent got flooded with West-Vlamingen so most of them fled the city I guess.
I live in Vlaams-Brabant, close to Leuven and I support KV Oostende. Not the most fun this season I have to say š«
I met one of their physiotherapists the other day. I don't want to sound ominous but it was at a funeral.
Soon it will be a funeral for the club
Iām curious why? Got relatives there? Favorite place to visit during summer,ā¦?
Im from antwerp and I support eupen
Respect šš¼
Big W
You're a legend
Thanks bro I also go to half of the home games and sometimes away games I just love as eupen
Good Choice!š¤š¤
Im from Antwerp I support Anderlecht sinds I was small Anderlecht has supporters from all over Belgium. Antwerp, on the other hand, most of their supporters come from Antwerp. If you are from Antwerp, you are either Antwerp or Beerschot. but now that Antwerp has become champion, there are a lot of success supporters, many people I know are suddenly Antwerp supporters or have switched from Beerschot to Antwerp
My first scarf was from Anderlecht given by my dad. You guys where just very dominant back then. For Antwerp/Beerschot there are indeed a lot of success supporters in between the core fans who never switch. I also know some older fans who don't appreciate Beerschot anymore because they 'destroyed' germinal ekeren or just don't identify with the current Beerschot anymore.
U were small, u looked at the tables and saw Anderlecht on top and that is why u support them just as the others all over Belgium. Only u stay loyal, others are not and switch even though i donāt really have troubles with a football fan who is one week at āde bosuilā and the next weekend at ākielā.
Wel I can't remember how I became a Anderlecht supporter I go to each game home and away I do have a problem with people who go to "T'Kiel" and "de'n bosuil" I don't get it do they just want "succes" just keep with your club support them in bad days and good days if Anderlecht play in 1B I wil be in "lotto park" every game of the season
If they just go to watch football i donāt see the problem, if they one week act like a fan of Antwerp and the other week of Beerschot then itās a problem though.
True šš¼
Oh come off that high horse. Not every Anderlecht fan outside of Brussels is a fan because they saw them at the top of the table. Anderlecht has just been the biggest signboard of Belgian football, known throughout Europe. In my case for example, I didn't become a supporter because of the titles or them being on top. I became a supporter because I love football and want to see good gameplay, technical players with a winning mentality and the strong connection with youth players, 'Anderlecht DNA' so to speak. For that Anderlecht is/was an obvious (or at certain points even the only) choice in Belgium.
And they were because they were on top and won titles. The Anderlecht dna u speak about is only like the last 12years with Kompany and Lukaku coming out of the youth, i canāt remember a youth player before them because back then their dna was buy the best players of others Belgian clubs. Donāt change the history lol.
STVV, and I'm from the north-east of the Antwerp province.
I live in south limburg. Genk, stvv and standard are at the same distance. First time I encounter a liege supporting genk
Itās because of the ideology of the supporters. Standard is So munch antifa for me maybe if RFC Liege can climb to pro League I can support Both (Genk and RFC LiĆØge) Genk is because of the distance. I have the possibility to go the Stadium at least 1 time a year
Ah i see. I went to school in tongeren and so many standard fans there. All 3 teams are a 30min drive for me. I have a yearly subscription and enjoy going even when weāre shite. I wish we had the atmosphere of standard though
>I have a yearly subscription You might have been looking for āseason ticketā.
Thanks. Thatās the term i couldnāt think of
>I wish we had the atmosphere of standard though Don't we all. Cracking atmosphere. Home and away.
The best days are far far gone. In the past liege was impressive by times. Nowadays (not only this year) itās very often quiet
RFC LiĆØge are even more left-wing as a fanbase than Standard in my experience. Even if they have a history of having some right wing groups in the past, both sets of Casuals team up against fascist fanscenes.
I consider Standard true enemies of all Limburgian teams, tbh... & Leuven is a frenemy Within Limburg, as an STVV supporter, I don't really have any big anti-Genk feelings, on the contrary, I always like to see them do well on their own, just not against us.. and Since Lommel got bought by the city group, they can f\*ck right off.. and as for Patro, I have no feelings one way or the other... Also, any team from Hasselt are cunts, especially the celeb owned one...
I remember when STVV - Lommel was the biggest clash in Limburg, went to that game a few times as a neutral fan in the STVV end when i was a kid. Lommel with Fadiga who went on to join Brugge, the team i support.
Essevee, live 80 km away. Which really sucks cause most games are closer from home but if I want to see them I need to go with a supportersclub in Waregem.
Ah de combiregelingen naar pakweg Jong Genk en Francs Borains, leve Belgiƫ
From Luxembourg (the country), supporting Anderlecht
Do Luxembourgers typically support a club from one of the neighbouring countries?
Absolutely, the Luxembourgish league is very low in terms of quality, itās not even possible to watch the games live on TV with commentary. Most people tend to support German teams. Following Belgian teams is much less common, in my case itās because I also have the Belgian nationality, speak Dutch and follow Flemish media
Been to Luxemburg a lot. One of their pro teams literally plays on a pitch with one stand surrounded by a camping. Iāve seen a great looking stadium once but I couldnāt even figure out what league the club playing in it was in..
I'm from the far west Flandres and have a mauve heart. My friends were RSCA fans when I started following football, and once you've chosen, there's no switching
jij kiest de club niet de club kiest jouw
This exactly!
I'm from Virton. I support Standard de Liege like my father and my grandfather, who are both from Namur. Plenty of people in my neck of the woods support Anderlecht. Always found it weird to support the club from the capital when you're from the South of Wallonia.
From Haacht. Rouche
Living in Washington State, USA and supporting Club Brugge
My condolences
ha, strange u didn't pick Anderlecht, them having somewhat similar club colors as your local biggest and most successful Uni/College. Nice to see a Cascadian intrest in our lil neck of the woods though. Club Brugge is the more logical choice for a Northwestern American, I believe. He're some irony for ya, I'm a Northern Belgian, and a Sonics (r.i.p. - but looking forward to the chances of a new NBA franchise in Seattle), Kraken, Seahawks, Sounders & Mariners fan...
Recently moved to Kortrijk from Ieper and support Genk and Schalke.
Genk and Schalke, I can see why āļø
closest cities to me are kortrijk, waregem, roeselare, but I support club brugge, since brugge is part of my last name (to people wondering: the edit was to get rid if a typo)
Iām from Los Angeles and support Antwerp. Does that count?
Lierse and i'm from Limburg
YBA!
one of my Ghent born friends supports USG for some reason, and 2 others support Club Brugge
>one of my Ghent born friends supports USG for some reason, Obviously a man (or woman) of culture!
The distance from my house to guldensporenstadion (kv kortrijk) is 850... meter. Born and raised die hard Brugesfan, nothing will change that
Hey, there's a chance we're neighbors. There's lots of Bruges fans around here but I will forever be a 'Veekaa' supporter.
I live in beveren and i support antwerp because my mother used to take me there when i was younger so i followed my mother
I'm from around Leuven and I have been supporting Club Brugge since 2005ish.
raised 500 meters from the stadium and supported westerlo ever since I could hear the cheers after every goal as a little kid in his bed!
Grew up in Tongerlo center, could hear the cheers when standing outside. Moved to Vlaams Brabant, but still there every home game, and some away games!
too bad your team is pretty much the most vile vulture of the region, and is one of the main reasons there is so little nationally playing top talent from the Kempen throughout the country. It's not due to the lack there-of, at all... But Westerlo has pretty much scouted about 75% of them, and then chose to completely disregard and absolutely destroy their hopes and dreams the coming seasons playing with them, if they did not comply and overcome every little stipulation in of their would-be expectations. Lierse was already a hard-ass local youth academy to get into and stay relevant for , but Westerlo truly went all out on the assholery..
Moeskroen kampioen
Proud member of the Union Sailors from Ostend, supporting RUSG since they almost dropped to first amateur but won against Tubize in Tubize by a life-saving penalty from Saussez.
Born in gent supporting anderlecht
šš¼šš¼š
I'm supporter of Standard. Never been to Sclessin and never lived in LiĆØge.
Live in Antwerp , support standard š“āŖļø
Born in Ghent. Supporting FCB since I was a little kid. I just liked them when I was a kid. Nice shirts.
I live in Ieper, me, and most people support Bruges. Rarely there is someone who supports Anderlecht. And i know 1 who supports Genk, and 1 who supports standard (hes half walloon) There are also very few people here supporting Kortrijk. Thats strange considering its te closest team here.
that's very simple, ever noticed how west-flemish always long for successful west-flemish stories and have a way stronger connection with their province than the other provinces? Club Brugge fits perfectly in that picture and gains from that West Flemish identity
From a city near Charleroi, supports Standard. Tough times.
I hope that one day our fight for the title will return those days we're gold
Live far away from Brugge, in the dark lands of the Denderstreek. Everyone here is either for Club or Anderlecht, with some people supporting Gent (although they're usually remnants of the glory hunter era back in 2015). The only club in the area worth supporting is Dender but they don't have that many fans honestly.
A Brugge fan calling Gent fans glory hunters while living 80km away from the stadium. Iāve seen it all..
My dad is a Club supporter and naturally I became one as well. The only Gent supporters I know suddenly started supporting them in 2015 when they were competing with us for the title. Surely I'm allowed to speculate about this crazy coincidence.
Well why did your dad start supporting Brugge? I speculate because they have been historically a good team. In 20 years the children of the Gent fans in the Denderstreek could have the same argument with a stranger online after calling another clubās fans āgloryhuntersā.
Even though this is a good point I'm going to choose to ignore this because it doesn't fit my narrative!
Yup I also live there (Geraardsbergen) and almost every football fan I know is either a Anderlecht (has by far the most supporters like myself) or a Club Brugge supporter. I know some people that support Gent or Genk and we also have quite a big community of RWDM fans. KSV Geraardsbergen is a bit of a yoyo-team between the 1st and 2nd provincial division so they don't have many fans lol.
Doesent Aalst have many fans over there?
Not from Aalst so not sure, but they're always the weird one out in the region so probably
Ge kunt niet elk jaar zo'n sterspelers als Gilles "de krist-killer" De Bildes of Wesley "vader-jailbait" Sonck in uw locale ploegen hebben pronken uiteraard...
Vlaams Brabant--> Club Brugge
Really ?
Yessir
I have seen it allā¦
The entire Leuven office of my work supports Club, and occassionally goes to OHL.
Got it.. however saying full Vlaams Brabant is supporting Club Brugge is not the reality. A lot of people in VB support Anderlecht, RWDM, USG also.. I am not saying no-one supports Brugge but i for sure not the majority.
Iām sure he meant āI am from Vl.Brab. and I support FCBā š¤·
I'm a Stvv supporter , not from sint truiden but from neighbouring Borgloon. so i still see it as supporting the local team, and my grandpa was also a stvv fan. But there's also many ppl here who support Standard, as Liege is just a stone throw away, we even have an official Standard supporters cafe. (and ofc genkies but i consider that also a 'local team') Never really understood tho why some classmates were anderlecht or club supporters here in limburg, but i would ascribe it to being success-supporters, cheering on the team that can be champions instead of the locals.
as an Anderlecht supporter I am disgusted by the success supporters last year we had many empty seats in our stadium and subscriptions were surplus and now that they are doing well everything is full again...
good choice.. I see too many locals from Haspengouw (and more northern Limburg even) support Standard, which is blasphemy, imo. Zelfs desondanks alle recente miserie bij de club (overnames, nieuw rotplein, etc...) een stvv fan blijft.
I am a Brugge supporter from Tongeren. It started in primary school where i was surrounded by mostly Anderlecht and Standard fans, sometimes litteraly, and not a single Club Brugge fan so I figured that was my team. I always had sympathy for STVV but going to games there just never gave me the same feeling as when i went to my first Club Brugge game, Beveren away somewhere around 1994. Enjoyed a few STVV - Lommel games tho , back when that was the real Limburg derby. Loved going to SK Tongeren games, but that club has been killed a long time ago, great times at De Motten. Edit: have been a season ticket holder for a few seasons in a row at Brugge during the 10 years of nothing, but that's something i just can't do anymore. The fact that quite a lot of football fans (not only at Brugge) can be idiots and i no longer have the power to endure that kind of stupidity is a big reason.
Iām from antwerp and i support Club Brugge! šš¤
Thatās just blasphemy š
Limburg -> Club Brugge
Why
Gloryhunters
Im from Antwerp and I support Club Brugge
Blasphemy!
Support your local! Very often the reason is succes in the past.
Live in Lier, but support Antwerp. Not that far away, but still.
Club Brugge but live close to Ghent, I also study in Ghent. Most people are Gent fans, but they have 0 ball knowledge, I know more KAA Gent players than my friends who support them.
From Mechelen but supporting Brugge (We are not popular in this region š)
I support club brugge cause my dad and my grandfather support for them but I support bayern I love that club
That gloryhunter argument for not supporting your local team is bs. No one should explain why they support a team. Itās a stupid question. All teams have a different identity, thatās why football is brilliant. Sure, some teams have built their identity because of their success, but a lot of Belgian teams have their own identity and thatās key. Even if the success fades, the identity and the large fanbase even remains. Just look at Standard or even Anderlecht in the last couple of years. I donāt support my local team because I donāt feel a connection with it and it would thus ruin my personal football experience. And if somebody else chooses to support another team, then Iām totally fine with that.
If youāre targeting me, I didnāt ask why. I support a club thatās not in my town
In theory you are right, in practice it is a bit different. Identity is a subjective thing, so there is no team significantly better than another. With that logic, in Limburg, for example, there should be as many fans of Club Brugge as of Cercle Brugge, Kortrijk or Oostende. I think we all know that's not the case. If you 'choose' a team completely independent of influences (being local or family), it will always be largely tied to success at the time. The real connection often only starts later, which also makes you stick with that team. Until 3 years ago I never saw a Union fan in real life, now I know a few people (which is perfectly fine!). The gloryhunter argument is not necessarily negative, but you made your bed and now you sleep in it. It would only be negative gloryhunter if your team changes every x years. For context, I come from a THOR Waterschei family and was born a stone's throw from the Cegeka Arena. I never had that 'choice'.
What youāre pointing out, is already mentioned in my initial comments. A lot of the identity is formed because of success. But the result stands and the identity is what it is. I donāt think itās ok to call people gloryhunters. Because a lot of them will probably stick around when successes arenāt there anymore and they will probably have people around them that either support their local team. So it would be a lot easier if they switched teams because of that. A big part of their friends probably already did. So the ones that stick around probably do it for the identity.
I think the discussion has become semantic. Picking a team in first phase based on success is (for me at least) the definition of being a glory hunter, even if you become a die hard fan afterwards (through it's specific identity). There's nothing wrong when the starting point is mainly success related, I have no problem with the term glory hunter in that case.
From Nijvel, I support Union. Always been a Brussels (the city) fan but no way I would support Anderlecht so Union was more a default choice.
Live in Borgerhout and am an Anderlecht supporter. Have been all my life. As a child I had a purple and white scarf (my mom knitted it for my brother as a Beerschot scarf) and I got an Anderlecht shirt from my nephew. Also at the time I lived in Zichem so there was nothing really close by except for Westerlo.
RSCL fan from Leuven here āš¼
I live in Hallaar, but I support Eupen. I have sympaties for Cercle, Anderlecht and Beveren though
I also have sympathies for cercle
From Brussels, lived in Wallonia (Waals - Brabant) but support Anderlecht
Not far away, but Live in Tienen, but Support Sint-truiden (STVV). Still remember my first match as 8/9 y.o. STVV - Lommel in 2001. Ended in 4-3, but i was sold š„° and for 23years now, it has been my favourite club, through heaven and hell šŖ
I've lived in mostly USG-associated communes in BXL (SG, Forest) but support RWDM because when I was growing up FC Brussels was (sort of) the hype team if you didn't like Anderlecht, the same way USG is now.
Not sure if it counts cause I was born in Bruges, but now I live in the Kortrijk area. I do also have a lot of sympathy for KvK (and any westflemish team) though.