Why are Brits so parasocial about footballers? Over other famous players
Posted by Then-Fortune-3122@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 14 comments
What makes people weirdly parasocial with players?
Like people genuinely get upset if someone slags off their favourite footballer or even someone on their team, defending them like it’s their close mate when in reality the footballer doesn’t know you exist.
Also why do we see some players as “one of us” or working class heroes, even though most are millionaire celebrities completely detached from normal life now. Also fans insult them and boo them for just making career choices.
Anyone else think this is especially bad in the UK?
Dry-Letterhead-2902@reddit
Men are just emotional like that
Fromasha@reddit
But most footballers still come from relatively modest backgrounds. It's still a working class sport at its heart, despite the large posh fanbase now.
Football is one of the few things that still brings the country together and a large majority of men will say they support a particular team, even if they don't really.
dj2ball@reddit
Because fans are massively tribal about the teams the my support. It’s heavily ingrained in the football culture. Your questions suggest you don’t quite understand the cultural nuance of how UK or European fans support their football clubs.
WishfulStinking2@reddit
This is hardly a British centric thing or even a problem at all
MyphiWP@reddit
People grow up supporting their teams and support them all their life. They’ve seen their clubs at their lowest and highest yet. If you grow up with anything from a young age that you become attached to then you will defend them
Intelligent-Ant-5770@reddit
Indians do to Virat Kolhi for cricket as an example, I think everyone has some sort of parasocial relationship at one point
Exact-Character313@reddit
Because a lot of them are from the area where we live. I grew up with 2 lads who went on to be professional players, and there's been 3 more that I know of from the local area who play now
blopp_boop@reddit
it's the most popular sport here i believe, in america this culture applies more to basketball or american football!
pioneeringsystems@reddit
You sound like you have no idea about football if you think this is a UK thing or especially bad here.
Drewski811@reddit
99.9% are from a working class background and, through a bit of natural talent and a lot of incredibly hard work, have managed to get themselves in a position where they can earn millions. Not exactly the worst role model to have.
And why? Football is the national religion. Far moreso than actual religion. So the people who represent your club, are from your background, are from your town will always resonant.
Due-Foot1032@reddit
People are just freaks in general. Fan boys are the cringiest of the lot. I remember a story in India where two guys fought over who was better Ronaldo vs messi and one of them died.
markusparkus75@reddit
The only people I’ve ever really seen doing this are weird African and Asian social media accounts entirely dedicated to Ronaldo or Messi.
Slight-Brush@reddit
Just because it's the most popular sport.
Other countries do it with other types of celebrity.
qualityvote2@reddit
Hello u/Then-Fortune-3122! Welcome to r/AskABrit!
For other users, does this post fit the subreddit?
If so, upvote this comment!
Otherwise, downvote this comment!
And if it does break the rules, downvote this comment and report this post!