Football: 'FAN'ning the 'Game'

It is every sport lover’s dream to one day play alongside the team they support. Some wish to visit their stadium,the dressing rooms, see them play live or even do all they can just to get an autograph from their star performer. Well if you haven’t been able to do any of these things yet and feel dejected about it, it’d come to you as a revelation that YOU ARE as important to the team as the players are. Regardless of the sport, it is the fans who drive the game, filling the stadiums week in and week out ,coming in troops with banners, drums, painted faces, each one showing equal amount of excitement as well as nervousness, pumping up their team. Support may have different meaning for different fans even if their commitment remains the same. Having complete knowledge about your club, getting inked or buying official merchandise does not make one a die-hard fan, but its true love for it that makes you a “true supporter”. And there is no question that football die-hards comprise of the maximum number of fans amongst all sports and are considered to be the most passionate, supportive and enthusiastic.

Fans: As important as the players?

As many may think, players don’t play the game just for weekly wages or for a living, their main achievement is to gain the affection of their fans and do something to repay their invaluable support. The cheering through the game, the ovations on departures, the never-ending trust are small things that build up their love for the club and make them want to give the fans what they deserve.But there are always a few players who crack under the pressure and are immediately targeted by a particular section of the fans. The criticism and ridicule they receive begins to show in every game they play and things start falling out of place. Can the players be blamed completely for this? In the end it is the belief of the supporters that inspire them to do better and help them gain back their form and perform to their highest potential.

Everyone would agree that being a football fan is not an easy job at all. Saying you support your team through highs and lows is a promise you make at the start but at times, it’s very hard to keep. North London rivalries, the Manchester derby, the El Clasico, are a few matches which aren’t just big fixtures, but have an immense effect on the supporters. There are funny incidents where people call in sick for work the next day to avoid humiliation by rival fans after a loss.There are a few who gracefully accept defeat, respect the opposition’s game-play and their love for their team only increases game by game. And then you have the people who in the heat of the moment, would start taking digs at their own players and may even switch loyalties.

When a player plays for the youth squad, nobody really recognizes him and couldn’t care less. As he moves on to the fringes of the first team squad, he gets noticed. Expectations keep rising up and pressure on him builds up, not only to try and cement his place in the squad but to also satisfy the needs of the crowd. A little dry patch, a few rough games played, and there, his career is in danger. And however legendary a player is at his club, a transfer always gets him criticism irrespective of the amount he did for them.

Like in the case of Fernando Torres, we all know what a lethal striker he is, but after his switch from Anfield to Stamford Bridge, the pressure on him started to show. Tried as he might, he wasn’t able to perform until recently when he started showing his touch of class again.

After all, FORM IS TEMPORARY, CLASS IS PERMANENT.And its not only the players, but the manager who takes a lot of the “limelight” in this regard too. The best example being Le Proffesor – Arsene Wenger. Managing Arsenal Football club for a magnificent 15 years, he has achieved what very few could have , even taking the club through the 2003/04 season unbeaten which saw them being given the title “The Invincibles”. With all the injury problems and departures early into the season, he had been ridiculed and people even questioned his commitment,but the trust that fans had in him helped him answer every critic by bringing the club up from a relegation spot to a Champions League one and also making them one of the two English clubs to qualify this season for the biggest European competition. Another example being the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford which saw the away fans stay back for 20 minutes after the final whistle and sing “We love you Arsenal” – that raised the spirits of the team so high that they went on to lose just a couple of their next 17 fixtures.

Manchester United fans are sure to have noticed group of Sikhs, now known as ‘Singh United’ who sit in the gallery just behind Sir Alex Ferguson for every single game, being the first ones to reach the stadium and the last ones to leave.

It is this kind of support that is being called for.

At the end of the day, its the crowd that drives the team and plays an important part in their run of form.

Every single club, every player, every manager goes through a bad phase and every fan needs to step up, back the team and at the end, that little piece of silverware in your captain’s hands, high above his shoulders would surely make up for all the hardships you’ve gone through as a fan and make it a moment you would treasure for a lifetime.