The Making of an American Stoke City F.C. Fan

By Stew Magnuson

On September 14, 2019, if all goes as planned, I should be sitting in bet365 Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent watching the Stoke City Football Club, for the first time since I became a fan in 1985.

So how did an American, now living in Arlington, Virginia, and originally from the Nebraska, end up a Potters fan? For when you do come across an American who follows English football, they are almost always a Manchester, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelsea supporter. Over the years during my overseas travels, whenever the subject of football has come up and I’m asked who I support: the answer “Stoke City” always elicits a “Huh? What? Why?”

It all began, not in England, but Bordeaux, France, when I was doing what we Americans call a “junior year abroad.”

I quickly fell into a group of British students who were there “doing their languages” for their universities. These students were not required to do much. They didn’t have to attend classes. They were in the university dormitories, but that was as close as they got to academia.

Since they had little to do, life there was a series of parties we organized in our dorm rooms with beer and cheap boxed wine. Since the French students were so diligent and preferred to study, each party — with about 15 of us crammed in a shoebox-sized room — would inevitably result in complaints and letter of reprimand from the dorm supervisors stating that if there was one more party, the host would get kicked out. So someone else in a different room would have to volunteer for the next party. (Falling into this crowd is pretty much why I can’t speak French worth a damn today.)

One of these Brits was a huge Stoke City fan. He would go on endlessly about his team, while everyone else would take the piss out of him for being a Stoke supporter. But he was quite funny about it. Keep in mind, Stoke was in the middle of its worst-ever season: fewest wins, fewest points. He had to suffer a lot of slings and arrows.

I was a big Chicago Cubs baseball fan. For those who don’t know, the Cubs at the time hadn’t won a World Series since 1909. They were America’s lovable losers and the way this fellow described Stoke, the Potters sounded like the Chicago Cubs of English football. He had a lot of self-deprecating jokes, similar to the American comedian Bob Newhart, who said about Chicago, “Being a Cubs fan prepares you for life’s disappointments.”

So I declared myself a Stoke fan, which, to be honest didn’t mean much for the next 30 or so years. I spent many years living in countries that showed English football, but Stoke was never on. I would take note in the International Herald Tribune as to whether they had won or lost and watched the tables, but pre-Internet, there wasn’t a lot of information out there.

But that all changed a few years ago when NBC sports began broadcasting the Premier League here in the United States. Lo and behold, I could watch live games and Stoke was no longer loveable losers, but on my TV live many Saturday and Sunday mornings playing in the top division.

That truly solidified my love of Stoke as I could follow players, the storylines that unfold over a season, cheer when they scored or feel down when they lost. And unfortunately, watch in despair as they sunk into the relegation zone. When you experience all these emotions watching a team, it means you’ve become a true fan.

Since relegation, that’s all over. Last season, I searched for a substitute. A English friend from my year in Bordeaux tried to get me to root for his team: Burnley. I like Harry Kane as a player and enjoy watching the Spurs. This year, we Americans football fans are intensely watching Christian Pulisic, and I’m rooting for him as long as he’s in the game. Last Sunday, as soon as he was pulled from the Leicester City match, I didn’t give a damn whether Chelsea won or lost.

None of these have turned out to be a substitute for Stoke. It just isn’t the same. If there is a way to stream Stoke games, I haven’t figured it out. I’m back to reading articles in the Internet and following the comments of fans on Facebook and Reddit pages.

But the good news is that I’m returning to England for the first time since 1990. I have a conference in London the week of Sept. 9-12 and the morning of Sept. 13, I’m getting on a train to Stoke to the see the city for the first time.

The problem is: I’ve forgotten the name of the fellow who started this all way back in 1985. I have many pictures of nights of drunken debauchery in those Bordeaux dorm rooms, but he isn’t in any of them. I’m writing this essay in hopes that he recognizes himself, or someone reading this knows of a Stoke fan who studied in Bordeaux in 1985 and passes it on to him. And he contacts me at stewmag@yahoo.com. 

It’s a longshot, but maybe we can meet up for the Sept. 13 game.
For anyone else, I'm the guy in the photo. I've gotten a few recommendations for pubs to visit prior to the game. I'll be wearing a black DC United t-shirt (at least until I make it to the team store go on a spending spree). If you see me Sept. 13-14, say "hi."

NOTE: Since posting this, I've had several tips on how to stream Stoke games. Thanks. I plan to try some of them out this weekend.