Lovebitesandeveryfing
Well-Known Member
Good to see that Wimbledon supporters didn't take it lying down. AFC Wimbledon is alive and very much kicking. MK Dons are now a clearly separate entity. Although apparently matches between the two are a pretty tasty affair.
Thing about clubs moving in the States that's pretty obvious: the distances are absolutely huge. When the Lakers moved out to L.A. it just must have left Lakers fans in Minneapolis high and dry. Although the Lakers were apparently in pretty dire straits financially and in danger of going under before the move. The one thing that I hear over and over again from Americans travelling round in Europe is how tiny they find it, and how small the distances are. I suppose seen from New York, or Chicago, or Los Angeles, the idea of a Wimbledon fan travelling to Milton Keynes to continue to follow his/her team must seem like nothing at all. A brief train ride.
What they don't get, by and large, is how extremely local sport is in Europe. A club, especially a football club, is not simply rooted in a city, but often in a specific district of that city. Look at City, and the way some people mourn that we're no longer in M14! (Although it could be argued that if you go back to the Hyde Rd years, moving to Eastlands was a kind of homecoming, it being actually closer).
Saint-Etienne is a mere 40 kms from Lyon (I know, because I often did it by car on winter evenings, on one of the most dangerous motorways in Europe, I would imagine). Believe me, no Saint-Etienne supporter would be seen dead going to Lyon to follow their club. It just couldn't happen. The only time a stéphanois will agree to set foot in Lyon is when there's a derby. And vice versa.
