This year's FIFA World Cup was a beacon of excitement and athleticism for an entire month this summer. There were countless exciting moments as the tournament progressed to find Spain winning their first-ever World Cup title, after more than 120 minutes of play, a record 14 yellow cards, and some 612 passes.

With the arrival of the tournament every four years comes the bandwagon fans, the soccer aficionados that cheer on their country or favourites with every ounce of their breath until elimination, and then? Wait four more years to do the same. If there is any one thing that annoys true sports fans out there, it is the state of bandwagon fans that refuse to bleed for their team.

Okay, bandwagon fans spend the money, wear the colours, and support the squads, but it doesn't do much to help the teams and players out through the four years it takes to train and qualify for the tournament. Soccer is officially the most popular sport in the world, and it is really only here in North America that it's so difficult to find true fans, partially because it's so hard to find soccer coverage.

Want to follow soccer through the year? There are loads of ways to follow all the same stars as they make their careers around the world.

The Canadian Soccer Association (canadasoccer.com) governs and features all the Canadian national soccer squads, both senior men's and women's national teams and junior teams (under 17 and 20 years of age). On the website you can get updates on the teams and the matches they play, which are all beginning now in September. Click on “Fixtures” (scheduled matches) on the top bar to view the schedule.

For world-class soccer, you could also check out Premier League soccer from England (premierleague.com), whose season began back in August. Premier League is unique soccer in that it's always a competition of the top 20 teams in England; the bottom three teams in the League after any given season are relegated to the championship division of The Football League, whose top three teams are promoted into their place.

Also unique with Premier League soccer is there are no championships at the end of the season; the overall ranking is based on each team's performance as they play the other 19 teams (twice), so the intensity carries through every game, as any one could lead to eventual relegation.

We have plenty of soccer closer to home, too. Though FC London (fclondon.ca) finished their season through the summer, Toronto FC (torontofc.ca) are going strong into autumn. The MLS regular season has them playing until late in October.

But saving the best for last, there's our own Fanshawe Falcons — if you want to support a good team and see some quality soccer, be sure to check out our own men's and women's soccer teams as they vie for an OCAA championship in the coming season.

You can see Falcons soccer at any of these home games here at Fanshawe: September 14 vs. Lambton (W); September 15 vs. Lambton (M); September 17 vs. Humber (M & W); September 25 vs. Conestoga (M & W); October 5 vs. Sheridan (W); October 6 vs. Sheridan (M).

For full scheduling information, including match times, check Fanshawe Athletics on the college website at www.fanshawec.ca/athletics.