I have chosen to emerge myself in the fandom of the Middlesbrough Football Club. I chose this particular club upon recommendation from a friend. I aimed to pick a team I was less knowledgeable about, as to increase my knowledge of the sport and understand the differences in the way different clubs are run.
The club was formed in 1876 at a cricket club located in Middlesbrough. Their first official game was played a year later and ended in a draw. The club moved to their current stadium in 1995, at Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough. The team is located about a four hour drive outside of London, towards the top of the United Kingdom. So unfortunately, I will not be able to attend a match while I am studying here in the United Kingdom. More history of the club is available on the Middlesbrough Website and is the source of information for this brief history of the club.
Aitor Karanka is the current coach of the team. He took the position in November of 2013 and was previously the assistant coach of Real Madrid in Madrid, Spain. He previously played for Real Madrid and is believed to be one of the smartest young coaches in Europe. He is the first non-national to take over the team and it seems they have a bright future ahead of themselves.
This past Saturday, the team won their match against Charlton Athletic 3-1. Karaoke was named Manager of the Month and it was rumored that this title tends to cause teams to perform worse. However, the team is still playing strongly and is continuing to win in the beginning of 2015. The team is looking to be promoted and this win this past weekend was crucial to their chances.
More on the system of relegations and promotions in future posts to come. Time to immerse myself into the fandom of this team and see where this season takes them.
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