Readers respond to Luke McLaughlin piece on changing football allegiance
On 7 August 2026 three readers — Michael Opitz, Neil Bage and Ariel J Friedlander — wrote to The Guardian in response to Luke McLaughlin’s 1 August article about switching football allegiances, with Opitz noting he had been at the Millwall v Forest game marred by crowd trouble.
McLaughlin’s article, headlined Have you ever switched allegiance as a football fan? You are not alone, prompted debate over whether supporting more than one club is acceptable; Opitz wrote that he read the piece "with a great deal of empathy, yet still with some uneasiness about the taboo of having more than one club."
Michael Opitz of Kelso, Roxburghshire said Millwall remains his main club but described how other teams have entered his loyalties: the Millwall v Forest match was his first such fixture, Millwall’s decline into the lower divisions and the third tier exposed him to friends who support Tottenham and Arsenal, and a gift of a Freiburg shirt from family in Germany made Freiburg his German team.
Opitz added that a Champions League ticket at Celtic Park brought Celtic into his orbit and that, now living in the Borders, he is "agitating to see Gala Fairydean Rovers this season." He concluded the letter by saying that when asked which team he supports he replies sheepishly, "Millwall but…"
Neil Bage of Bourne, Lincolnshire argued that while a person may change wife, political views or religious persuasion over a lifetime, they "must never, ever, change his football allegiance, particularly for the heinous crime of glory-hunting, else he shall always be known as a plastic fan."
Ariel J Friedlander of Modena, Italy wrote that if Luke McLaughlin wants to change teams "good for him. I often wish that I could." He added, "However, similar to the last words of Queen Mary I, when I am dead and opened you shall find my blue and white hooped heart," recalled QPR as his local club, described going to matches with his father as their unbreached time, and said that despite a rocky record over the last 50 years he has stayed with the club.
Friedlander listed the transient nature of chairmen, managers and players and the cycle of promotions and relegations ("we don't do cups"), saying the fans remain and that supporters carry memories and create new ones, giving the club life and hope; he finished by writing that he will "give him a wave at the Millwall game next week."
Opitz’s intention to follow Gala Fairydean Rovers this season and Friedlander’s plan to attend the Millwall game next week are the concrete next steps mentioned in the letters in response to McLaughlin’s article.