If you want to pick an EPL team, think first you want a London based team because realistically London is the city you are most likely to visit so that you can actually see your team play in their home stadium. So your choices are Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Crystal Palace and WestHam in premiership, then Fulham, QPR, Millwall and a few others in the Championship.

All the main teams have great history but certain aspects seem to characterise each team. Arsenal have avid fans and the team is always good and have played in two amazing stadiums. Their fans are notoriously quiet at the games themselves though. They play in a funky part of north London with amazing pubs in walking distance. Chelsea has only become good in the last 25 years since Abromovich bought them. Their fans are notoriously aggressive with a Long entertaining history of hooliganism, although they have a lot of wealthier fans as well who tend to sit in a stand of their own to avoid the insanity. The stadium is quite nice and in a great part of London. Their supporters tend not to come from the local area, but from across the river in south London. Spurs are very good now and have a Long history and the Spurs/Arsenal rivalry is one of the most intense in Football. Fans are pretty rough as is the stadium and that area of London is grim (sorry Tottenham). Finally WestHam has a Long history and avid fans. They were on the more extreme side of hooliganism in their day. They are in a roughish part of east London although they took over the Olympic stadium so it’s improved a bit. Palace have a Long history but have yo-yo-Ed up and down a lot, only just returning to TOP division Football. Their stadium is historic and relatively small and quite cozy. While that part of south London is a bit scruffy, it’s really a suburban club. Games sort of feel like a family affair with fandom mostly Super local.

I lived in London for 10 years and had season tickets at one time or another to both Arsenal and Fulham, and was/am a huge Fulham fan. Fulham is owned by Shahid Khan, who owns the Jaguars in the NFL, and they play in a beautiful little historic stadium right on the Thames. They also have a long history with American players. But I wouldn’t recommend Fulham unless you are an American living in London. They are one of the better teams in the championship but look like they are stuck. A day at Craven Cottage followed by Many beers at any (or all) of the pubs along the river is a spectacular day, especially in spring.

Really the obvious choice is Arsenal. Great club. Great history. Great stadium. Great part of London. A home game at Chelsea is a great day out (sit in the “Chelsea Club” stands for the wealthy supporters), but for long term support embrace the Gooners.