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Football Side Choices: Part 1 of 3

Bundesliga

The second oldest league I've chosen, the Bundesliga, founded in 1963. Of the 2006/2007 members of the Bundesliga, Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart, Hertha BSC Berlin, Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen, and Hamburger SV were founding members. As an aside, the most famous club in the Bundesliga might be Bayern Munich, but they weren't a founding member. Now, I have to choose a club from those I've just listed. I thought an additional criteria I might apply is geography, and decided to try to find the city where my last name originates. I was surprised to learn that it originates in Bohemia, which is currently in the Czech Republic. So, based on the (completely arbitrary) proximity of the cities to Bohemia, the remaining candidates are Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart, and Hertha BSC Berlin. Let's examine each team in more detail.

Hertha Berlin BSC: This side was Berlin's reigning champion in 1963 and so became an inaugural member of the Bundesliga. But after the first in a series of scandals (attempted bribery of players), they were demoted. After returning to the top division in 1968, they were involved in a match fixing scandal in 1971 and were found to be 6 million DM in debt, forcing the sale of their home ground. They spent most of the 80's in the second division, even dropping to the third division at one point. Of late they have enjoyed more success, but the history of scandal and mediocre play means I cannot choose them.

Eintracht Frankfurt: This sided maintained membership in the Bundesliga from founding until 1996, so they have enjoyed a history of success, even if success just means avoiding relegation for the most part. The only hint of scandal that has it this club were financial misdeeds that resulted in a penalty of 2 points in 1999 and financial difficulties in 2004. They managed to play back into the top league, but the overall lack of real success leaves me hesitant to choose them.

Stuttgart: Stuttgart has only been relegated once to the second division, before quickly achieving promotion back to the Bundesliga. They have enjoyed a fair amount of success, as German Champions for the 1983/84, and 1991/92 seasons. They were runners in 1978/79 and 2003/04 and have finished in the top 5 on 13 other occasions (meaning in total they have finished in the top 5 17 times). They were German Cup winners in 1997, finalists in 1986, UEFA Cup finalists in 1989, Finalists in Cup Winner's Cup in 1998, and UEFA Intertoto Cup winners in 2000 and 2002. They play in an older stadium, built in 1933 (which I see as a plus), and the stadium played host to several 2006 FIFA World Cup matches, including the third place match. Given all of this, plus a pretty cool logo and uniforms, my choice from the Bundesliga is VfB Stuttgart.

Stuttgart finished in 9th place last season with 43 points. Let's hope for a better result this season, although they did drop their opener (home opener at that) to 1. FC Nurnberg, 0-3.

English Premiere League

The EPL did not officially form until 1992, but its founding members were from the First Division of the Football League. Thus, the league can claim origins back to 1888. The members of the current EPL who were founding members of the Football League are Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanders, Everton, and Aston Villa. With a little help from the Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, article "Choosing my EPL team", I can try to eliminate a few of these from contention. The Blackburn Rovers are apparently the dirtiest team in the EPL, and I can't cheer for a team that prides itself in dirty play. In addition to worry about unsportsmanlike players, I also want to avoid teams with a large number of hooligans. So, how can I determine which team has the fewest hooligans? I happened upon a 2002 BBC program that offered news on past hooligan activity. By going through the activity for the remaining three teams, I can surmise which team has the fewest.

I'll start with Aston Villa. Bill Simmons reported that Aston Villa fans are "the most miserable" and "self-loathing" in the EPL. Not a good sign. In addition, there were two reports of hooligan activity for them, but one of the incidents seems to have been incited more by Manchester United fans that Aston Villa. However, there is no excuse for the other incident in which Aston Villa fans attacked Chelsea fans at a train station. Hooligan Score: 1

Next, let's examine the Bolton Wanders. Again, two incidents, but the first appears to have been incited by Everton fans and the second once again involved Manchester United. However, the fact remains that Bolton fans did not discourage the standoff that occurred with MU fans, so a completely clean slate cannot be given. Hooligan Score: 0.5

Finally, Everton. Everton fans seem to cause the most trouble of the three sides in contention. They've attacked fans from other teams even when their team wasn't playing, they are the ones that incited violence at Bolton, and also looked for trouble in a match against Stoke City. This activity was unfortunate because I believe the team itself could be quite fun to follow, drawing comparisons to the Oakland A's of the last decade. Hooligan Score: 3

So, based on Hooligan activity, I must eliminate Everton. That leaves Aston Villa and Bolton. Despite having a slightly higher Hooligan Score and unflattering portrayal of their fans in the Bill Simmons article, I am choosing Aston Villa as my team. Bolton's history just seems too mired in mediocrity, while Aston's is richer. Their honors are too long for me to list here, but suffice to say it's impressive, even if not overwhelming.

Aston Villa finished finished in 16th place last season with 42 points. They open the season Aug. 19 at Arsenal, sure to be a tough match but I'm hoping at full time they are victorious.