Don’t know if I have a second team, but here’s my thoughts on the present day A-League:
CCM- Back in the old NSL days, I didn't follow the comp quite simply because there wasn't a Central Coast team to get behind (regardless of how much of a shit show the old national comp was). So, despite living in SEQ when the A-League kicked off in 2005 I was a CCM supporter from day 1. Glad to see our support (especially over the last 3-4 years) is better than ever for a club with smaller support numbers, and this has coincided with success on the pitch and more certainty about the club's future.
SFC- have friends who’ve followed SFC/ been members since Season 1. Have been to plenty of SFC games as a neutral over the years and they’ve consistently had amongst the best active support in the country. SFCU (despite the Reddit-tier cringe sensibilities of some of its posters) is usually good entertainment. I feel a familiarity with SFC similar to the kind Evertonians/ Reds on Merseyside have with each other, but without the feeling that it's a real rivalry like they have with Melbourne/ WSW or we do with the Jest.
Brisbane- also have friends who support the Roar and lived in Brisbane during Ange's reign + enjoyed watching the entertaining, open attacking football they played, which raised the standard of the A-League as a whole (even if they were a thorn in the side of CCM for a while there). These days I view them as the A-League's version of the Canberra Raiders: had a brief dynasty period where they were the standout team in the comp, won a bunch of Grand Finals and then faded into relative obscurity ever since. These days I see them as just another capital city team that plays in the A-League.
Adelaide- feel like they represent the old guard from the A-League's formative years, along with SFC and Melbourne. Beyond that and a notable dislike for Stefan Mauk, they just feel like Capital City A-League team: Red version.
Perth- their successful days were during the NSL era, so before my time. I have little feeling towards them (enjoyed the away trip to see them play CCM back in 2010 though). Otherwise they are Capital City A-League team: Purple version.
Wellington- arguably the least offensive team in the league? There's always been a likeable underdog quality to them. Getting destroyed 8-2 at home was actually kind of hilarious, NGL.
Macarthur- don't know anybody who supports them, shit crowds, annoying cowbell, seem to benefit from bad officiating calls at our expense whenever they play up here. I somehow find them both soulless and annoying at the same time.
Jest- the original hated enemy, from the days when they were regular finals contenders, had Sack Whack as their leading man and The Squadron was a bogan sausage fest of Football Factory wannabees. They were so easy to despise. In more recent times the rivalry feels more like it's based simply on geography than anything else, The Squadron is no more and has morphed into Terrace Novacastria and the old guard have apparently walked away because it's like U/18's daycare now. The club itself is too pitiful to really despise these days- closer to morbid entertainment for neutral observers than anything else. Still love the away trips but.
WSW- probably dislike them more than the Jest. Any number of players (and a current manager) who are just complete wankers, and that's not saying anything about the try-hard fully sick ultras that constitutes a hefty number of their support base. There's passion for your club, and then there's carrying on like the most cringeworthy and obnoxious caricature of a football diehard that you can think of- and it's them. The two images that epitomise WSW and their fanbase for me are:
a) That photo from 2013 GF day of a bunch of their fans all standing there with their fresh jerseys, faces painted, proudly holding a banner saying 'AGAINST MODERN FOOTBALL'. Excuse me while I look this photo up again for a laugh (because you'd better believe I saved it).....oh yeah- when it posted to Twitter, they included the hashtags #gettingreadytosmashthemariners and (wait for it) #westiehools. Ha. Haha. Hahaha. Hahahahahahahahahaha.
b) That tifo that read 'FIGHT LIKE YOUR FANS'. They really are the A-League equivalent of Canterbury Bulldogs fans in the early 2000's.
Seeing the internal strife that lingers around that joint off the pitch, and seeing them fail on it, is schadenfreude at its' finest, schadenfreude that it feels like the rest of the A-League fanbases all laugh at collectively.
Western United- I sometimes have these moments where I remember they actually won the Grand Final recently, and I have a minor moment of shock every time. Like WTF- they've been Champions before? I find them that bland and forgettable. Along with Macarthur, their admission was dodgy and (silverware aside) everything since their admission suggests the powers-that-be got it wrong with expansion. We really should've just admitted South Melbourne instead.
Melbourne City- while (like PSG, Newcastle United and their parent club) I despise the ownership of Melbourne City and everything they represent to the modern game, I find the actual team and the fanbase quite...indifferent? They're just the other team in Melbourne, but plastic and with a smaller (less offensive) supporter base. They fall into the Western United/ Macarthur I-don't-really-give-a-shit bracket.
Who have I forgotten?
Oh. Excuse me while I go take a crap, feels appropriate...
Melbourne Victory- What can I say about this lot that's positive? Well...they've always drawn great crowd numbers, and that super cute brunette I chatted with on the tram in the Arsenal jacket back in 2009 was also a match-going Victory supporter.
That's about it.
Besides that?
Pretty much everything I already said about WSW, except the vast majority of their fanbase prefers AFL to NRL, and the media has (virtually since Day 1) circle-jerked over them endlessly, which makes them even more obnoxious. They're like that no-good kid from your highschool who constantly got into fights and bullied other students but was considered the golden boy/ girl because their parents were well-connected and got on great with the school principal.
