ok i have a problem. Long ago, football was quite rare in my scene of friends...After years of preaching and showing of the supporters culture, matches, etc. I have many friends who have gotten REALLY into football...which is just amazing, even now hockey obsessed guys are getting really into the sport...and if you knew anything about hockey players in Canada, you'll understand that is quite an accomplishment. The problem is...well i have shown some movies like the football factory (my favourite movie) and of course...Green Street Hooligans (which was the biggest hit) one thing i like more about that is you get to see some chants and such... But about 3 of my friends kind of indentify themselves as West Ham fans because of this movie....Which to me, being a fanatical supporter of a club...Being called crazy by your clubs craziest fans, etc....I find this VERY pathetic and an insult to a great team like the Irons. Now if you're a West Ham fan...please tell me how something like this makes you feel? or any fan, is this pathetic? is it embaressing? how would you react to this? since if the movie was about Charlton hooligans, they'd be Charlton "fans" most likely.
Yes you have done well to convert (even if partially) ice hockey fans. Lived on Saltspring island for a time way back. Every Canadian i met loved ice hockey. Green Street hooligans is just a film nothing else. I'm now in Australia and my kids and their mates loved it. I had to explain a few things to them. Most clubs around England have their firm. As was the case on occasions one clubs firm would take on another prior to games or after. West Hams firm was known as the ICF. Generally all clubs firms are made up of a relatively small number of mindless thugs. In some cases these could be men to late 30's early 40's. I guess something maybe lacking in their lives. Say West Ham get a gate of 35,000 maybe 200 are trouble makers. Then you will get a few more dragged into any trouble if only to protect themselves and families. Me i love football, outside of my football loving family West Ham would rank very highly in my life. To see my clubs name dragged through the mud for violence is a crying shame. My grandfather supported them from their first days, Norwaytips grandfather played for them in the beginning. I have given two people a slap after away games. Both were supposed to be West Ham fans both were causing trouble. One instance where i can defend the thugs, way back in the early 70's we were segregated from the home fans at Stoke. Prior to the start of the match some 3,000 Stoke fans ran over to our enclosure. They only wanted to fight and there were only about 5 police on duty. Probably about 3-400 of us. I'm over 6'4" and an elderly man approached me about another man with his grandson. He was afraid his friend was going to have an angina attack. He asked me if i could stand in between the opposition fans and his friend which i did. The police couldn't cope and there were coins and darts flying around. The group of about 50 hammers that i would class as thugs formed a wall between the opposition fans and this poor old fella. Well they saw it as looking after their own which i guess was correct. You will find the major will probably come on and give you his views on the subject.
oh yes i've given them some lecteurs about the current english scene. they find the hooligan stuff to be interesting, but you know...they'll never in their life be anything like that. for myself, it's the ultra scene that i'm more a part of...I support my team more than just about anything in my life and have gotten recognition all over Freiburg for what i've done. So for me to see my friends just pick this team because they love this unrealistic movie...i feel insulted because like i said...If the movie was about Charlton or Cardiff, Newcastle, Millwall, Sunderland, etc....they'd consider themselves to support one of those teams and i think it's just a pathetic reason to support a team and an insult to the passionate hammers fans. in the German forum, often people have came in there and asked which team to support...one guy wanted a team he could follow that would help him speak German...We all said Bremen is good, they're succesful, speak proper German over there, you won't get the glory hunter tag, etc....i thought it was ok until a Bremen fan actually came with a lot of anger and i totally understood everything he was saying...i was ashamed of myself for agreeing to such a suggestion. by the way, great story! thanks a lot mate
Twas my great grandfather. Worked and played for Thames Iron Works. Hence the hammers. He'd turn in his grave, I'm sure, at the thought of his club being known for it's 'idiot' fringe. Embarrassed? Nah, I only get embarrassed by stupid things that I do, not others.
sport- we see a lot of this in the States...primarily because soccer...er...football (sorry) is not a major sport here (yet). We have the MLS which has teams all over the country, and I'd say that most football fans have a local club they support. However, I think all of us football fans recognize how big the sport is in other parts of the world - and how well it's supported - and we aspire to have that here. I think it's that desire to have football be a major sport here that drives us to support teams overseas. Some people will arbitrarily pick a side that they have no connection to (usually in the EPL), or they'll pick a big club (glory-seekers), or like your friends, they'll see a movie and start supporting a club that way. All of it, I believe, is wanting to be a part of something bigger. IMO, As long as people who choose to support clubs in this manner (myself included) don't go around pretending to be born in the city of their overseas club - I don't think it's a slap in the face to die-hard fans. I'd like to think that fans of the Irons would want their club to have a bigger presence globally - heck, there's this UK football show now where one of the guys is a Kansas City fan (no ties to Kansas) and I love it! I don't go around thinking he's spitting on my colors because he's chosen to support "my" club. Anyways, just the two cents from a State-side supporter who sees that kind of thing often.
yeah but teams "colours" here don't really mean like they do over there. over here, teams can change their colours to whatever the ******** they want and nobody gives a damn....Your team for example, is called the wizards...don't think theres any significance with wizards to the Kansas City area. would you wanna be the man behind changing Dinamo Zagreb's colours to red? you are right about waht you say, and i agree...we all want something bigger, but overall...they don't exactly care...I don't care too much myself, i've decided to support the Canadian team a lot more...and if my city had a USL team that'd be awesome...i hate the MLS, NHL, NBA, MLB and all the commercialized SUPER LEAGUES i must say i'm a little surprized by the kindness in the answers...i asked my friend who's an ultra of a German team Stuttgarter Kickers...i asked him what he'd think if there was a movie called Degerloch Hooligans, and people became Kickers fans because of that...his response would be "i'd tell them they're ********ing stupid and to never speak to me again" i was hoping for a bit more of that here their response is more...we don't really care, they think west ham is cool and they can't really watch much else... for me it's not enough, i supported my team for the first 2 years sitting on my ass following live tickers every match-day....and it's the best choice i made in my life
Here is a new film for your mates to check out! About an ICF member you becomes a real gangster. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fe1pc3NDKjs