I picked West Ham United as my team in the Premier League almost a decade ago. They had a golden age in the Sixties with English legends like Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst, but in the era of the Premier League, they have been at best a mid-table team. It was a bit random as to why I picked them — my daughter’s youth team was also nicknamed the Hammers and West Ham was in the middle of a Dimitri Payet inspired couple of fantastic seasons.
Any sporting team you root for — honestly it’s a weird dynamic as you place some portion of your psychic well-being in the hands (and feet!) of people you don’t know. Hopefully since you have no control over it — only a tiny bit of your well-being! But if you grow up with a team or you live in a city then there are logical reasons for an affection for a team. And I’ve followed teams because players I’ve followed have moved on to another city’s team. But picking a team across the ocean is a bit different and yet I’m still fond of the Irons and every season hope this is the one we pull off a Leicester City.
