Fans

So which type of fan are you? The rational, fair weather or lunatic? These are some of the basics to how a fan supports their club but what bonds each of them together is their passion for the club. As former Watford manager once said, ‘A football club is almost like a church for fans’. I personally find this an interesting quote and a very true representation when you link in the religious aspects regardless of what type of sport you are watching. It is a place of worship, to come and have their faith tested and prey that today is the day. Once the service is over there is a sense of reprise with others and a new feeling of hope which leads you back making you thirsty for more. To me, I find this a beautiful as well as very English approach to the average supporter but where one may be calm, the other explanation can be very different.

The most common term for any supporter is known as Fandom. But what is it? According to wikipedia, ‘fandom is a subculture composed of fans characterised by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the object of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with their interest’.

But to the fan, there is more to this analogy then just an interest. It is a sense of belonging and identity. It sets us free from our own mortality when it comes to speaking about the team you support. From a personal experience, the whole world melts away when I speak about my beloved Watford whether good or bad but I find my passion is more intense when we are going through difficulties. It is a way to embrace my way of coping through this tough time.

Emotional dedication is as beautiful as it is crazed. This leads me onto what we call the Ultra fans. I have been to sporting events from North America to Southern Spain experiencing as a spectator the differences in support but I have yet to experience the incredible scenes of the South American Ultras.

Ultras are seen as the critical ingredient to sports as they bring the noise, the extremism, the atmosphere, and the joy. They are nothing without football and football is nothing without them. The role of the ultra is to create an atmosphere, loud and intimidating in order to strike fear in the opposition and to spur on their team.

I have had a small taste of the crazy passion of the french. Marseille v Atletico Madrid Europa Cup Final 2017. What an atmosphere! I think I was more fascinated by the supporters sitting behind me than the actual game in front of me. I had only seen scenes like this on the television but to be amongst fans and support like this was probably the most amazingly terrifying experience of my life. These were dye-hard Ultras and they were magnificent!

But what is football or any sport without the fans? Since the Coronavirus of 2020 we have entered into a new age of support for our teams. I write this after the return of the Bundesliga in Germany on the 16th May 2020 where the remaining games are to be played behind closed doors and with no mass gatherings outside of the stadium in order to support their team. It was an eerie silence in the Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund. Fans were banned from the match, whilst police patrolled the area to make sure no crowds gathered at the venue. Only 213 people were allowed into the ground - 98 on and around the pitch (like players, coaches and ball boys) and 115 in the stands (such as security, medics and media). To me whilst watching in anticipation, felt like a training match which I have experienced in both Leuvern and Lyon. The echo of the players communicating on the pitch, the thudding sound of the ball being kicked and the bellowing from the coaching staff. Players are used to training on their own turf. This is how they get to know the softness of the ground, the strength and weakness of the pitch in order to have that home advantage but in order to play a league game against an opposition must have been a surreal experience with no fans to cheer them on. Football like any sports is to entertain to a crowd in order to get a reaction whether good or bad. The noise of the crowd feeds the players with life,