Fans

The prevailing wisdom is to never look too far into preseason matches, but when those matches are repeatedly beating you over the head with the obvious, you should probably take notice.

Last year, under the guidance of Steve McClaren, Newcastle recorded just two victories in seven matches. They were defeated by Club Atlas, the Portland Timbers reserve squad and League Two side York City F.C. 

That disastrous preseason form led to an opening run of eight Premier League games without a victory. In hindsight, the club was doomed for relegation as early as October 3rd. 

We here at The18 love a good conspiracy theory. We especially love it when conspiracy theories turn out to be grounded in truth, as is apparently the case with a Chesterfield FC fan promotion that went awry.

Note: please read the below thread while listening to this song. It will set the mood.

It should come as no surprise that a city characterized by passionate support, the Portland Timbers have sold out every home match since joining MLS, and fabled urban planning dating back as far as 1903 should boast some of the finest tifo displays in the world.

Thousands of fans showed up to show to see the national team of Iceland return home to Reykjavik, and to show their appreciation.

If there was one story that everyone got behind at this year's European Championships, it was this unbelievable tale of a small island nation of 325,000 people that threatened to upset everybody. 

Iceland's story proved that hard work and an emphasis on grassroots-development can be successful, no matter how limited the resources nor how small the talent pool.

This past Monday marked another disappointing loss for the England National Football Team as they fell to Iceland in the round of 16 in UEFA Euro 2016.  For fans of England soccer, this is going to be a hard pill to swallow for years to come. However, when you look at the recent history of the club, it may be time to lower expectations a bit. Perhaps England's so-called "early exits" aren't as disappointing or unexpected as fans make them seem. 

We’re well into the summer of soccer, and it’s been an all-consuming affair that leaves little time for anything else. The Euros kickoff early; the Copa America keeps us up late. With all due respect to our friends, family and significant others, we wouldn’t have made a single different lifestyle choice over the past three weeks. Here are 8 signs that you’ve spent all of June doing nothing but watching international soccer.

Russian, English, Slovakian and Croatian fans (and other fan groups) have been the talk of Euro 2016.

Like something out of a cheesy coming of age flick, a 19-year-old Wales fan has been reduced to wearing a onesie for the remainder of his Euro 2016 experience after forgetting his luggage on a train.

Owen Midha, from Swansea, is the unfortunate soul you see pictured above, and here’s how he described his unfortunate situation: 

"I managed to lose my bags on the train here and my good friend Luke lent me this.”

First, our becoming-standard and too-often-used disclaimer for negative stories about fans at Euro 2016: not all Croatians. But, some Croatians. Croatia were playing really well and up 2-1 against the Czech Republic Friday when a group of Croatian fans thought it would be cool to bombard the field with flares.

It was not cool.

Sometimes, when two countries with such rich, intertwined histories as England and Wales compete on the biggest stages in sports, feels are felt. One sad Wales fan was caught on camera during Wales's crushing loss to England and he was feeling some serious feels.

He was feeling all the feels.