The Roar » dasilva

What’s the appeal of active support?

dasilva — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:40:36 +0000

Whenever I go to Hindmarsh and watch Adelaide United play, I’m always appreciative at the effort that the active fans put in improving the atmosphere of the game by their chants and their singing.

I can certainly understand why the A-league needs to cultivate the active supports as it certainly adds to the spectacle of attending the game and adds to the spectacle of watching the game on TV.

However, no matter how wonderful the active support is in improving my entertainment when watching the match, I have to admit that I just don’t get why someone would actually do it.

I’m a person who just attends and sits at the sides and just watch the match. I celebrate when a goal is scored, I swear when we concede and I let out a groan when we miss a chance.

I guess I have a purely reactive approach in watching a football match and I pretty much consider attending the game to be simply a more immersive experience of watching the game at home.

However, you’ll never see me chant and you’ll never see me sing in a football match. Now don’t get me wrong, I love singing and I love the idea of singing along a group of people as a social occasion. In fact one of my ambitions is to make a career of myself as a musician.

However, if I wanted to sing, I put on a CD in my room and sing along with it. If I wanted to sing along with a group of people, I go to a gig of my favourite band and do it there and not at a football match.

However, when I watch a game of football, the only thing I want to do is just watch the game. I feel that doing all the chants and singing is a distraction of concentrating on the game itself (maybe I’m just hopeless in multitasking).

I also see football and sport itself as an entertainment and that I pay money to see the players trying to entertain me by trying to win the match. The idea that I’m expected to try and lift the players seems strange. After all is the game about the players entertaining the crowds or the crowds entertaining the players?

I know a lot of people have used some of the fantastic crowd supports in Japan as a role model in terms of active support.

The Urawa Red supporters received a lot of praise from Sydney FC supporters in the way they support their clubs and are considered the benchmark in active support throughout Asia. Now I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Urawa Red supporters in action but I have seen Kashima Antlers during the Asian Champions League.

Now my first impression was amazement in how a small batch of Kashima Antlers supporters (must be only a hundred odd) was able to be louder than the rest of the stadium. Considering that this match was a sell out, that was an impressive achievement. I pretty much hear them chanting and singing and banging the drums repeatedly for the entire match.

However when Adelaide scored a goal and the stadium erupted in cheering the goal, I notice that the Kashima Antlers fan were continuing on the chant, singing and drumming like nothing has happen. When your team concede a goal in football, it is a painfully dramatic moment especially in a game where there are so few goals scored compared to other moment and therefore that goal may well be the death of the team.

The euphoria of a team scoring a goal and the pain of conceding is an essential part of why football is a great game and to see the fans so unaffected by the goal made me question whether these fans are watching the match or even like the game of Football and are just attending the match due to the pleasures of active support itself rather than the game.

At the very least, I expected a pause and a cry of anguish before resuming the chanting. I also saw that there was an active support leader with a megaphone who was directing the fans in their chanting. Now this leader was facing the crowd with the back turned to the game. Now I understand how this could improve the quality of the support from the fans. However, why on earth would someone attend a football match and then willing to not watch the match even if it’s for a short moment?

So even though I do admire their dedication in trying to lift the club, I hope that Australia never emulates their fanaticism in terms of active support as if that becomes the standard expectation of supporters here then I would rather just stay home and watch on TV.

What’s even more baffling is hearing about the reaction to the controversy about the excess security hampering active support. Now I understand why fans would want to complain about draconian security measure and would like to be able to support the team without being hassle by security.

However I’m baffled when I hear comments that people claiming that they get bored if they aren’t involved with the active support and that people would simply stop going to matches out of protest because of this.

First, how can anyone who loves the game of football say they will be bored without active support?

Do you chant and sing when you are watching the game at home? If it is entertaining watching the match on TV at home and I’m assuming that hardcore fans watch a lot of football on TV then why would it be boring watching the game live?

It seems to me that there are elements that the chanting and singing is more important than the game itself where in mind they are simply secondary enjoyment to the game itself. If the match was boring then no crowd singing could salvage the match and if the game was an attacking spectacle then the absence of active support would never impact the entertainment of the match.

I have to admit that it is possible that I just simply “don’t get it” and maybe I will never be able to “get it”.

Nevertheless I appreciate the effort that the fans give to improving the atmosphere and I hope that they will be able to resolve this standoff with their clubs and FFA.

However even though I enjoy the product of active support, the reason why people actually do it will remain a mystery but it is a beautiful mystery to me.

Roaring Hot

Yesterday’s most commented articles

The real story of how John O’Neill turned Manchester City down [67 comments]
Australian teams at Super disadvantage [58 comments]
Does the A-League need an injection of humour? [43 comments]

Most read articles last 3 days

Article link: What’s the appeal of active support?. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Evidence there’s no media conspiracy against football

dasilva — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:48:12 +0000

The mainstream media’s treatment of football has consistently been a problem amongst supporters. It always seems like the media is out there looking for, and sometimes creating, negative stories. This serves to bring down the game, as it is a competitor to the AFL and NRL. People are probably sick of the whole Ljubo Milicevic [...]

Article link: Evidence there’s no media conspiracy against football. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Ljubo Milicevic leaves Australia

dasilva — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:47:04 +0000

Article removed at the request of the subject.

Article link: Ljubo Milicevic leaves Australia. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

How we could have made our 2022 bid video a winner

dasilva — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:22:59 +0000

Obviously there was more to winning the 2022 World Cup bid than the bid video, but Australia surely didn’t leave a good final impression with their presentation and were rightly criticised for it. Here are some of my suggestions on how Australia could improve the final presentation. 1. More Australianisms Okay, so they got the [...]

Article link: How we could have made our 2022 bid video a winner. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

No hard feelings for Ersan Gülüm

dasilva — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:40:38 +0000

It has been reported that Guus Hiddink has picked Ersan Gülüm for Turkey in the friendly against the Netherlands, locking him out of a potential Socceroos berth. Inevitably this will bring out outrage fans about how he is betraying the country of his birth and there will be comparisons with him and Josip Šimunić. However, [...]

Article link: No hard feelings for Ersan Gülüm. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Will Osieck’s divide and conquer method work?

dasilva — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:07:42 +0000

Holger Osieck was selected as the head coach of the Socceroos with little fanfare. This is a look at the background of the man that has chosen to lead the team to the 2014 World Cup. One of the greatest trump cards about the Holger Osieck selection was his role in developing players. He was [...]

Article link: Will Osieck’s divide and conquer method work?. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Ex-NSL clubs should be able to join A-League

dasilva — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:14:18 +0000

First I’ll state that there should be no monocultural clubs allowed in the A-League. In the professional era of Australian football, having a supporter base limited to a particular minority group is not really acceptable for its growth. However, that doesn’t mean that no previous ethnic clubs shouldn’t be allowed in the A-League. Some will [...]

Article link: Ex-NSL clubs should be able to join A-League. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

The FFA has enough football people running the game

dasilva — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:18:55 +0000

The decision to select a new manager of the Socceroos has brought out suggestion from the likes of Craig Foster and Davidde Corran to have a “technical committee” to help select the new manager. However, is this idea feasible? The main issue with this technical committee is that by having numerous people on a board [...]

Article link: The FFA has enough football people running the game. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Was Iniesta offside? The answer is no!

dasilva — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:06:58 +0000

It has been commonly reported that Iniesta was offside for his goal against the Netherlands at the World Cup final. Now this controversy was brought about due to Torres’ attempted to pass to Iniesta, who was allegedly in an offside position. But the pass was blocked by Rafael van der Vaart, which fell to the feet of Fabregas. who ended up assisting Iniesta goal.

Picking a World Cup 2010 Infamous Eleven

dasilva — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:56:07 +0000

While most pundits are picking the best XI of the World Cup, I’m choosing the XI that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Coach: Raymond Domenech – France The eccentric manager of France will be remembered in this World Cup for losing the respect of the entire dressing room, which led to a [...]

Article link: Picking a World Cup 2010 Infamous Eleven. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Some cultures consider cheating an artform

dasilva — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:30:25 +0000

Cheating and unsportsmanlike behaviour has been a scourge of sport since time immemorial. Professional sports are a highly competitive environment, with a lot of money and prestige on the line and where athletes are generally judged solely on results. Therefore, it isn’t surprising to see sportsmen who push the limits of the law or even [...]

Article link: Some cultures consider cheating an artform. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Why football needs a penalty goal

dasilva — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:23:47 +0000

One of the basic premises I take when evaluating the laws of the game is that if a player benefits by breaking the rule, then there is something wrong with the laws and punishments. I’m not going to get all moralistic over Luis Suárez’s handball. He probably did what virtually every professional football player would [...]

Article link: Why football needs a penalty goal. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Which countries cheat the most at the Cup?

dasilva — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:58:21 +0000

So which countries cheat the most? A lot of countries in football have various stereotypes and reputations in how they play the game. One of the stereotypes that has been commented on recently at The Roar is that the Italians are divers. Also South Americans and continental Europe also have dubious reputations in terms of [...]

Article link: Which countries cheat the most at the Cup?. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Brett Holman answers the critics

dasilva — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:04:54 +0000

Brett Holman was one of the most derided players in the Socceroos squad. He has polarised fans as he doesn’t have the greatest touch in the world and his passing needed improvement. His constant misses throughout the qualifiers has also earned the ire of the fan. The much silkier Nicky Carle’s omission from the squad [...]

Article link: Brett Holman answers the critics. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

No conspiracy against the Socceroos

dasilva — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:21:10 +0000

For all the controversy of referees that dogged the Socceroos in the last two World Cup and claims of conspiracy against smaller football nations like Australia, people forget the one decision that came our way. Four years ago against Japan, Cahill was sent in and promptly got yellow carded in the 69th minute for a [...]

Article link: No conspiracy against the Socceroos. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Football needs some rule changes

dasilva — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 14:10:56 +0000

When Harry Kewell got sent off for the now infamous handball, it showed that the rules of the game need some changing. I’m not one of the many people shouting out that the decision was wrong as it was a shade of grey decision that could have gone either way. When the ball hit Kewell’s [...]

Article link: Football needs some rule changes. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

On edge of elimination, Socceroos restore pride

dasilva — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 18:07:13 +0000

Our team was the worst performing nation at this World Cup before this match. We were the laughing stock of world football after our heavy defeat. The team was crucified by the media. There was calls for the immediate sacking of Pim Verbeek. There were questions about whether our team was too old and whether [...]

Article link: On edge of elimination, Socceroos restore pride. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Can the Socceroos really rely on Kewell?

dasilva — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:04:52 +0000

Mike Cockerill created some controversy with his article criticising our golden boy Harry Kewell. Kewell understandably reacted quite negatively to that article and the media in general. I do understand the frustration that Harry has with the media, especially with rumours that he is behind the rift between the players and the coach because he [...]

Article link: Can the Socceroos really rely on Kewell?. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Craig Foster has reached a new low

dasilva — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:57:01 +0000

Four years ago, I watched The World Game with bemusement as Craig Foster unprofessionally ranted at Ange Postecoglou, treating the guest with utter disrespect. I thought I saw the worst of Foster, but now he has reached a new nadir. The funny thing is that only a day before Craig Foster was the one with [...]

Article link: Craig Foster has reached a new low. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Why football should use video referees

dasilva — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:25:09 +0000

Melbourne Victory players protest to referee Strebe Delovski. AAP Image/Joe Castro

In a game where there are only few goals scored, I believe it’s important that every goal should be a correct one, without controversy. This article will be responding to some of the arguments against video referees.

FIFA changes seeding system based on feeling

dasilva — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:52:04 +0000

For a long time, FIFA determined seeding for the World Cup by calculating seeding tables that used the combination of performances from previous World Cups, as well as FIFA World Rankings. This was done because there was a belief that FIFA World Ranking is quite imperfect and that performance in the previous World Cups is [...]

Article link: FIFA changes seeding system based on feeling. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

How to stop diving in football

dasilva — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:29:18 +0000

When people think of diving, they automatically cringe at the thought. Usually the word cheat starts getting branded and the people who are divers are automatically crucified. However, looking at diving in a cold dispassionate way will reveal that diving is only considered a yellow card offense. This puts diving on par with time wasting, [...]

Article link: How to stop diving in football. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Why Oceania merging with Asia isn’t that simple

dasilva — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:25:26 +0000

One of the most common beliefs is that Oceania is an anachronistic organisation and it should join Asia to form the Asian Pacific region. This will allow New Zealand and other Oceania countries to have regular, competitive matches. However, this isn’t that simple, and there’s simply not enough incentives for both sides to make this [...]

Article link: Why Oceania merging with Asia isn’t that simple. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

A better system to determine the World Cup Qualifiers

dasilva — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:26:49 +0000

Portugal's Christiano Ronaldo reacts after the drawn World Cup group 1 qualifying soccer match against Denmark at Parken in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday Sept. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Tariq Mikkel Khan/POLFOTO)

New Zealand’s qualification to the World Cup has brought up questions about whether they actually deserved a spot. This isn’t the first time where seemingly weak sides are questioned for their value to the World Cup.

Craig Johnston: A great Australian success story but not a great Australian footballer

dasilva — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:55:13 +0000

Imagine 20 years in the future; 2029 at the PFA awards. Josip Simunic steps up on the stage and accepts the Alex Tobin award for service to Australian Football. I imagine that whole idea will disgust many Socceroos supporters. However, we now have a similar situation of having Craig Johnston, who represented the England B [...]

Article link: Craig Johnston: A great Australian success story but not a great Australian footballer. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Viduka: an Australian great or underachiever?

dasilva — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:32:24 +0000

Mark Viduka’s Socceroos career is essentially over. Surprisingly, there haven’t been many articles, tributes or analysis of his career as a whole. This is probably because we haven’t heard it from Mark Viduka’s mouth himself that it is all over. Nevertheless considering he is holidaying away in Australia without a club as the football seasons [...]

Article link: Viduka: an Australian great or underachiever?. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

Do other countries cheat more than us, or just differently?

dasilva — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:11:34 +0000

Australia’s entry to Asia has been a godsend in terms of its positive impact on Australian football. However, one of the problems is that we are facing gamesmanship from oppositions of different culture that we do not regularly see in Australia. The recent match between Oman and Australia brought up a major diplomatic incidence. We [...]

Article link: Do other countries cheat more than us, or just differently?. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

FIFA eligibility laws need some changes

dasilva — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:40:59 +0000

Australia is now facing various recent issues associated with FIFA eligibility laws. On one hand we have players like Bradden Inman and Rhys Williams who are set to represent Scotland and Wales respectively due to nationality of their parents. On the other hand we have players like Kofi Danning who has lived in this country [...]

Article link: FIFA eligibility laws need some changes. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

SOS to the Euroroos: come home and play!

dasilva — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:58:45 +0000

I wrote about this after the Indonesian game, but I believe this question has to be re-asked after last night’s horrific performance against Kuwait, where we were totally outplayed. Not only did we play poorly, the Kuwait team were toying with the Socceroos, doing fancy tricks and making a mockery of our team. When Cornthwaite [...]

Article link: SOS to the Euroroos: come home and play!. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion

The return of the forgotten player: Jonas Salley

dasilva — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:27:00 +0000

Somehow things went all wrong for Jonas Salley. He was in excellent form in the beginning of the season and had a stranglehold on the defensive midfielder position. He then took the Australian citizenship test and passed it with flying colours and was free to represent Adelaide United as a local player for the Asian [...]

Article link: The return of the forgotten player: Jonas Salley. Written by dasilva, on The Roar - Your Sports Opinion