I was born into the English leagues. I grew up in Britain so the only leagues I could see on television and see in person when I was a child in the late 70s and early 80s were the British leagues. And one of the factors that attracted me most to those leagues, not that I had much of a choice, was the noise and passion shown by the supporters. The scarves being unfurled. The songs being sung. The sheer lunacy after a goal was scored when the crowd would go mental.

As a man, I now have choices and can pick and choose which leagues to watch (thanks to advances in television and the ability to freely travel).

So it was with much delight when I watched two games on ESPN360.com this past Saturday. The first was Borussia Dortmund against Borussia Monchengladbach. The second was Cologne against Bayern Munich.

I must say that the supporters in both matches were incredible, which reminded me of football from the 1970s. For many of you readers, this is nothing new. You already know that the Bundesliga is the most passionate league in the world in terms of fans. But since I don’t watch the Bundesliga as much as you do, it was a joy to see packed stadiums and passionate supporters (of all ages) which is such a massive difference between the Premier League.