42% of young people in the UK don't support just one team - with almost a third of the population supporting three teams

Nearly half of the young population in the UK supports at least two football teams, a new study has found.

Rather than choose to religiously follow one team, 42% of 16-24-year-old’s actively choose to support more than one team.

3 Half and half scarves are now a thing at football grounds

A study, by COPA90, found that an incredible 27% support three or more teams.

It states: “The Modern Football Fan is less inclined than previous generations to settle for enjoying just one team, style or dimension of the football world.

“In today’s mass-saturation football content era, they are more exposed to goals, highlights and players from around the globe than ever before. In addition, video games have conditioned a whole generation of fans to experiment with other teams and players – whether on FIFA or in a Fantasy Football League.

“Many Modern Football Fans compliment fandom of a top division side by following a lower league / non-league club to have a visceral football experience regularly (due to low ticket prices), enjoy a greater sense of supporter community (and proximity), and see the game through a club-first, grassroots lens (rather than that of the powerful player brands in the top leagues).

3 The huge reach of clubs like Manchester United are aided by the growth of social media and computer games as they become a global force.

“Conversely, fans from lower divisions tend to ‘follow’ (rather than support) major teams as a means of participating in the

day-to-day conversation around the Premier League.

“In this way, they enjoy the aspirational style of play currently absent from their own, lower league club. Fans are mixing and matching their football experiences to get their full football fix.”

The impact of social media and video game technology has had a huge impact on the modern football fan, with 41% 16-19 year old’s supporting a team from LaLiga.

With Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann now the top dogs in Spain, it will be interesting to see how many supporters switch allegiance to Juventus after Cristiano Ronaldo’s staggering move.

3 Ronaldo had a huge impact on Juventus and Real Madrid

According to website Tifo, Real Madrid lost one million Twitter followers within 24 hours of the five-time Balon d’Or winner being confirmed as a Juventus player.

Conversely, the Serie A club gained 3.5 million Instagram followers, 1.7 new Facebook followers, 350,000 new Twitter followers and 500,000 new YouTube subscribers.

Eric Cantona once famously remarked: “You can change your wife, your politics, your religion but never, never can you change your favourite football team.”