Personally, I couldn't bring myself to switch teams, however I can understand in situations when people have done it.
There are over 700 professional football clubs in this English league system, spanning over 11 system levels, 480 divisions and 120 leagues, from the highest (The Premier League) to the aboslute very lowest. Theoretically, a team from the very lowest football leagues can win the league and get promoted into the above league until they reach the Premier League and would take over 100 years of consistent winning of leagues.
Theres 8 decent tiers, of which there are 6 main leagues.. The top being the EPL, then the Championship, then League 1, then League 2, then Blue square premier, then a joint league of Blue square north and blue square south. The last two main tiers are pretty large and hold a whole bunch of small regional leagues. Theres like a billion tiny ones after that though as well. It's quite an intricate network.
Obviously levels of "professionalism" get lower and lower the further you go down. I daresay professionalism in its purest sense stops altogether after you go past Blue Square North/South. After that, they are really small clubs that compete in small-time minor competitions for probably no money.
Well how they are classed as professional over here it certainly isnt anywhere near that number. I would say it stops at the Blue Square North and South Conferences. From there down it is lucky to even be Semi Pro.
My old man supported North Sydney so I was just caught up in that, but I always had a soft spot for Easts' because I was a Brad Fittler fan, I hated Manly so I just became a fulltime Roosters supporter in 2000 when Bears merged. I copped a fair bit of flack because Easts were doing well so some called me a bandwagoner but it was originally because I wanted to be Brad Fittler and they have the same tri-colours as myCamden Rams. I sort of follow Waratahs & Western Force, Waratahs because I have pride in the state but Force because I like their jersey and Matt Giteau, if I had to choose though, I'm a tahs supporter. In AFL, I support whoever is playing Swans, I'm a self-confessed West Coast bandwagoner when they're doing good, but I really couldn't care less about AFL. I chose Dallas Cowboys when I started being an NFL supporter back in '04, nothing to it really, I love them and my loyalty has never wavered. In soccer, I chose Man U when I was about 4, I played soccer for a year till I got a bit bigger and I couldn't play League till I was 6 anyway, I chose Man U because they were the only team I had heard of and my uncle bought me one of their jerseys.