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Can you ever stop supporting your football team?

BBC Sport

"Watching a football game can sometimes be a reflection or window into other people's lives of their hopes and desires," explains Dr Richard Simpson a psychologist at Leeds Trinity University. "I think there's multiple levels of attachments people develop, they form a love for their team, for their community. It's not a romantic love but we build emotional bonds, we create memories and experiences.

If we look at social media for example people sometimes have their club as part of their name, so they lead with that. It becomes who they are. " It also makes perfect sense that fans often see their club as an extension of themselves.

The money they spend on matchday tickets or replica shirts contributes in part to the stadium rebuild or transfer fee for a new player. A natural by-product is when their chosen club is performing well they feel an element of success in their own lives. However, the same can be said in reverse.

"You've got to stick through the thick and thin. That's what makes football, football," Wolves fan Reco tells BBC Sport. "I'm sure we all know a glory hunter here and there, but it's not what being a football fan is about.

It's about the highs and the lows. I've seen us play down in League One. I've seen us play in the Europa League and at Wembley.