Not the person you replied to but yes I do. I used to think it’s weird but there’s a few things that made me change that feeling.

One, I’ve been at games decided by fans. Players said they couldn’t hear anything on the pitch. Home sides shat their pants during warm up. I wasn’t on the pitch and didn’t touch a ball but I was part of one of the reasons we went home happy.

Two, and more importantly: when I think of the club I don’t think of the players and the managers. I think of my friends, I think of the crowd in the stands. My team has a crazy successful time right now (Football fans will surely be able to guess by now) but it wasn’t much different when we were playing 2nd division. Players leave all the time—currently my team has like one player who was part of the team for the whole successful run—but the club isn’t defined by the players, but by the people in that stands. They don’t change. And while football is certainly an enjoyable sport to watch, I wouldn’t care about it half as much without the fan culture surrounding it. Over the years I’ve become part of that as well, so fuck yes I say “we”.