A supporter of a football team can be defined as a person who regularly attends football matches when their team is playing and thus provides financial support and support in terms of encouragement. A fan however, is a person who expresses allegiance to a team but does not actually attend any matches. A fan may follow a team remotely the most obvious method being television.
It could be argued that a supporter shows more commitment to their team than a fan. Teams with more fans than supporters could then become hated as a consequence, based on the idea that the opinion of fans is less credible than that of supporters. Fuelled by face to face and online discussions of matches between fans and supporters.
Lets consider geography and selected teams by way of example. Manchester United and Manchester City have large numbers of fans (people who do not attend matches but claim allegiance to these teams), such fans may live locally or anywhere in the world. Other teams local to Manchester who attract a higher ratio of supporters than fans, for example Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, Stockport County, Bolton Wanderers, Salford City, Wigan Athletic, FC United of Manchester, Altrincham and Blackburn Rovers may resent the opinion of fans of Manchester United and City, which leads to a source of hatred.
