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.
dasilva
Roar Guru
No I love the atmosphere the crowds create I just don't understand why someone would actually do it (although some of the comments have given me a better understanding) It seems to me that active support is more fun to watch and soak in then to actually do it yourself. I made it clear that I love the effort that active crowds bring to the game but I also explain why I probably won't participate in it. I would probably sing along to "you'll never walk alone" if I was watching Liverpool but that's more due to the fact that I love the song more than any loyalty to the club the song Fearless from meddle (I'm a floyd fan. "Animal" rocks). Let just say that I love "You'll Never Walk Alone" and I love "Fearless" but I thought Pink Floyd mixing those two songs together was a bit duff and seems out of place. It didn't seem to mix with the song very well and I thought it was a pretty gratuitous sampling rather then the sampling actually improving the song at all. I may be wrong but I don't even think the two songs were in the same key.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Australian soccer fans are far too cosmopolitan and sophisticated to do anything that might draw inspiration from the English.
Phil Osopher
Guest
hhhmmm. You kind of sum up what is so boring about Australian crowds. The best thing about crowds is the atmosphere it creates. I guess you'd not be too interested in attending a match at Anfield to watch Man U play Liverpool and hear 'you'll never walk alone' then. If you think singing is for musicians on CD's then you should listen to Pink Floyd's Meddle, where they use the Anfield crowd singing. It is art, it is human. You don't have to join in, I understand the more emtionally reclusive, I am one of them, but we're as boring as. I attended the Olympic final in 2000, packed house, quiet as a church, you would have like it I guess.
collin
Guest
each to their own. i prefer the latin style of support, far more passionate and exciting
Titus
Guest
I like flares but the problem is you can't just have anyone ripping them off at any time, amongst a group of supporters who are holding all sorts of flags and Tifo's. I would support certain representatives from the home end being able to stand in the aisle holding a flare at the start of the match and maybe after goals, then placing the flare in a sandbucket. Watching the AC Milan/Parma match you can clearly see this has been done.
victoryblog
Guest
Exactly why I prefer the English style of support over the "Ultras" style. Stand, sing and chant - great! But watch the game ffs.
collin
Guest
mate you just dont get active support. you live in australia of course you wouldnt understand. whilst i dont endorse throwing objects at opposing fans or throwing flares (although i do like the atmosphere flares create) its a part of sport to taunt oppositon fans. sit with the north end next time, smack bang in the middle, try it out and you shall see. its awesome fun! despite the fact you dont have the best view, the noise, fun, passion and adrenalin more than make up for it. the experience of being an active supporter is just not like anything you experience in everyday life, thats why people love it so much. i just wish we would get rid of the 1% of idiots which do throw flares at our home games
dasilva
Roar Guru
I saw the good and bad of active support in last match The good, when the entire stadium were chanting "united" was chilling. The bad, the group of Adelaide and Melbourne supporters throwing beer cups and actual flares at each other causing the police to create a barricade between the two supporters group. Pretty much the there were two groups of fans pretty much facing each other and taunting each other for the rest of the match. Which brings me back to the original point. Even avoiding the safety debates of throwing flares at the opposition supporting group. Why would you taunt and chant at the opposition group when in the process you actually miss watching the match (they were pretty much facing each other rather than at the game). You rather look at the opposition fan rather than face the game and chant at your own team trying to lift them? It seems that the active support is more important that the game tiself for a minority of supporters.
con
Guest
you have to go sit with these fans (like mvfc's north end in season 2) to understand how exhilerating it is. its at the very heart of football all around the world. no other sport has this but then again no other sport comes close to footballs popularity
con
Guest
mate its because you feel a part of the game. your vocals, chanting and coordination have an effect on the outcome. its the reason why mid range clubs like besiktas, olympiacos, zrvena zvezda etc are so hard to beat at home. plus its heaps of fun, the passion and adrenaline of being an active fan is amazing. it beats just sitting and appreciating. that sums it up: passion and adrenaline vs appreciation
Axelv
Guest
"Do you chant and sing when you are watching the game at home?" Some times, yes. Why do the active fans sing? Because they are extremely passionate and love their club, they love to show and display their passion by singing to the players. When you look at discussion on why people go to games and what's the most important thing about match day experience, it's about the atmosphere, if you want a good view of the game with slow motion replays than it is best to stay at home and watch on TV. No lounge room gets even close to replicating the atmosphere that real life acoustics give. Jason Culina recently wrote: "I’ve seen first hand how important fans are to a club and vice versa from my time at PSV.", "Football is about passion and excitement and that’s what fans create when they come to the game. The fans are very, very important to the club and the whole league. We as the players know and respect this." " When you have singing and chanting it spurs on the players. It’s not as though you’re listening out for it, but when the crowd gets behind you it drives you on and motivates you to want to achieve something and reward them for their support." "Les Murray wrote a blog earlier in the week and used the saying that fans are like the 12th man. I can certainly vouch for this. Fans are very important and a huge part in the club’s success. " "I won’t mince words here: no fans, no club. "
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
While not the be all and end all I would say they certainly add to and are an important ingredient in the matchday experience, give a sense of theatre to it all. It is also an important factor in people watching on TV or going to the game. EPL is in serious trouble, because an entire generation have not grown up with the "live fix" and re used to watching in the pub with mates given the ticket prices are out of their range, so the EPL with all seater stadia are set for an attendance crisis in the future
NUFCMVFC
Roar Guru
In England/Norhtern Europe, where the emphasis is on the vocals, the measure is usually along the lines of consistency/lenght of chanting, eg how long youcan continually sing for, in Australia it is not very long. There is also a comparison between intensity, not just half heartedly mumbling the wrods out but a real sense of intensity behind it. One issue with Japanese fans is that while excellent in length etc, it is considered to sometimes lack intensity or appears "laboured", perhaps because they are all encouraged to be reserved people so real extrovert displays of emotion or expression feel awkward In terms of European continent and South America, it is a bit more complex, as they add colour displays to the noise. In this sense, measure are length of chants, but there are also issues of co-ordination and synchronicity, eg bay to bay chanting, scarf waving etc and there are certain times in certain chants where they wave the flags and others whre they do not, it is not just mindless and directionless. There is also a sense of competition to see who can produce the best artwork in standards and banners etc. So a real sense of theatrics about it, people do get passionate, and sometimes silly, for example sometimes they try to take opposition fans banners, just as players like to do silly things things on the park, so in truth it is better to understand this an pranksterism rather than hooliganism, and just as there are sometimes melees on the park some people get a bit over-excited in the stands, which is why it is a good idea to keep charged up actives away from eachother, to the educated eye the probs at A League games in recent years have arisen not because fans were LOOKING for trouble, but the police have escorted away fans right past pubs of home fans, which is an elementary miistake but understandable given football was a minority sport until recently and so there is simply not the know-how within police/security institutions, but the clown at FFA HQ see this as hooliganism, and react as such, tightening security instead of pushing for more intelligent security - and wht is the result, the situation we find ourselves in now This is very much distinct from deliberate pre-meditated hooliganism which has its own code and people meet up in parks etc,
Roarchild
Roar Guru
I don't partake in active support but I definitely appretiate their presence and the emergence of a second fan group so there is one at each end has added a lot to the Roar's atmosphere this year. I would still go without them but I think the presence of active support plays a part in winning over casual fans. They may just watch the EPL on TV but active support is one of the components that make live football better than TV football.
Fauntleroy
Guest
Fair enough, for mine, I really hate the term "active support". If I sit on the east wing and sing a song or two (which I am want to do on occasion) am I an active supporter? This dilenation between "active" and "passive" support needs to end. All football support should to some extent be active, because that is the nature of football support. It is reciprocal. In football, there are no spectators. It is a shared experience like no other. A collective outpouring like no other. There's something utterly satisfying in engaging in communion with your team, your city and your fellow supporters, and manifesting this is song, in collective unison of whatever sort. Song has bound people together throughout the ages, across all cultures. It is visceral. Football is simply one of the canvases, perhaps the greatest canvas, the world has given us to ensure this necessary communion continues. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmqoaIDkt34 This would have to be my favourite football clip of all time. Its not Milan or Barca or Man U, its not mass orchestration, but there is something of the purity of football in this. FC United of Manchester, the rebel start-up, Against Modern Football, sticking it to the man, a new thing in its very beginning. A groundswell movement. When you think about it in this context, how could song NOT be a part of it? It seems a folly to even question it.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
It's a sad state of affairs when someone can be ridiculed simply because he is interested in watching the match above all else.
dasilva
Roar Guru
I'm just trying to understand the different expectations of football and hopefully people can understand my expectations. That's all
dasilva
Roar Guru
The idea that active fans want to outperform the other active fan in some sort of competition alongst with the players on the park seems interesting Although how do you determine who is the victor in the supporting face off? The players can always point to the scoreboard, how does the fan resolve this issue I know that the barmy army always declare themselves victor by default.
dasilva
Roar Guru
The point of the article is trying to elicit a response from people so I can better understand why people choose to active support. In the process I hope people have a better understanding why people choose not to participate in active support and just choose to watch the match passively. As a personal diary approach of writing. There's nothing particularly wrong with that and I have seem columnist in newspaper uses that approach in getting their point across.
Nelson
Guest
It does indeed seem that you don't "get it". Different people have different experiences of the football, and different expectations of their experience of football.