In Sweden there was a show called Tipsextra which ran on Swedish National Television on Saturdays which used to show one game of British football per week. Back in those days satellite/cable wasn't a thing yet for most people so most (interested) people watched and started following a team. I remember watching Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley around '94 somewhere thinking they were great and started following NUFC. Most friends/family supported Manchester United/Liverpool/Arsenal.
I also remember later on watching Sunderland and Niall Quinn, hating Quinn for his appearance and started disliking Sunderland. Had no idea back then about the local rivalry between the clubs but it fell to me naturally