Chapter 100 Feel the fan culture

Entering the St. James Park Stadium, an unconcealed pressure came to his face, which made Degan's mind move. He had also played in England with the team before, but he did not have such a feeling at that time. This feeling can only be felt by being truly immersive.

As the birthplace of modern football, after more than 100 years of development, football has been permeated in all corners of British society. Football is not so much a sport as a sports culture in the UK.

In Britain, any football club can have a history of more than 100 years. Therefore, many stadiums look like vicissitudes after years of erosion. It is really not easy for many stadiums to say the exact age. Even the age of St. James Park where Degan is now, even if The most loyal and oldest Newcastle fans can't tell. They only remember that the first formal football match on this stadium was held in 1880, and more than 130 years have passed now.

Although it is ancient, the various facilities of St. James Park are relatively complete, and the surrounding stands are covered, which is weatherproof for the audience to watch the ball.

There are many venues like St. James Park Stadium in the UK, which have experienced countless ups and downs and gone through three centuries. It can basically be said to be a living fossil that has witnessed the step by step of British football.

However, with the popularity of the English Premier League in recent years, the number of domestic spectators has soared, while the average number of stadiums in the UK is only more than 30,000, so many clubs, including Arsenal, have built new stadiums, but this is also a great risk, because if you move to a new location, the consequences will be very It may be the loss of fans and atmosphere around the century-old club.

A topic that can't be avoided is the British fan culture. In the United Kingdom, every weekend, London's subways are full of fans watching football. In London alone, there are five Premier League teams, four or five first-tier teams, and more teams at other levels.

Fans are often relatively fixed. Despite the high level of the Premier League, some fans may like a second division team, so they will always follow their favorite team.

There are many reasons for this phenomenon, one of which is the long history of British clubs. Although some clubs are relatively depressed now, they may be the league champions.

Many fans are "hereditary". The reason why a fan likes the current club team may be that his grandfather or grandfather liked this club more at that time. He just inherited the "family tradition". This inheritance can be called loyal.

At the beginning, Arsenal Club encountered a problem when raising funds to build a new stadium, because many old fans were buried around the club after their death and vowed to live with the club. Arsenal Club also wanted to move the ashes of these fans to the new stadium, but it may be troublesome because there were too many people. So the club issued a notice hoping to build a monument in the new venue and engrave the names of the fans who can't move their ashes to the new site, which shows the fans' obsession.

In Britain, whether football is a culture or an industry, the relationship between football clubs and fans is quite complicated.

Although many clubs currently regard their market development as the top priority of their own club operation, it is too superficial to only regard the relationship between fans and themselves as the relationship between buyers and sellers.

Because these fans usually devote a lot of their time, energy and love for the team to the team they like.

If it is a simple relationship between buyers and sellers, these fans will only support those teams with good league results. However, in the United Kingdom, the vast majority of fans have their own teams when they are very young, and they tend to consistently support them. Even if their results are not good, they will never leave. Don't give up, these fans have a complex and the fate of the team, which is firmly linked.

The loyalty of English fans to their team can also be seen from their team songs, such as "You will never walk alone". These songs remind fans of their consistent support for players and clubs, which help the club to overcome difficulties. These songs express the fans' love for the team.

In order to win the hearts of the fans, the club will also try their best. Some will even set aside a place for fan representatives in the management, so that fans can really participate in the team building decisions. Everton is a good example. This is the first club to reserve a place for fans in their upper management. Department.

Of course, these fan representatives are elected through true democracy, with broad representation and appeal. It has proved that Everton is very wise to do so, which not only reflects the club's respect and humanistic care for the fans, but also gives the club a broad mass base and strong backing.

Walking on the court, Degan also felt this strong cultural scope for the first time. On the surrounding stands, the singing of Newcastle fans never stopped. They kept singing Newcastle's team songs. The deafening singing made Degan feel the pressure and made Degan in Italy. In addition to football culture, I experienced a different cultural atmosphere.

Before the introduction of foreign investment by the Premier League, almost all teams outside Manchester United and Arsenal played in a watery British style. The gap in tactical ability made the strong Serie A strong team dominate the Premier League giants.

With the entry of Mourinho, Benitez and other famous coaches, this advantage has been gradually weakened. The Premier League team has introduced more excellent players through strong purchasing power. On the basis of the original fast pace, it has formed a style of play that emphasizes both overall, speed and tactics. When the player's ability and tactical literacy are getting closer and closer, English football The inherent strength and speed have become a sharp weapon to overwhelm the Italian team.

Before, Digan was in Serie A, and it can continue the remaining glory of the Little World Cup. But since Degan left, in the past two seasons, the achievements of Serie A teams on the European battlefield can be described as a thousand miles away. Last season, the Champions League champion was finally won by Manchester United. Last season, Chelsea also They reached the finals, however, for two consecutive seasons, Serie A teams failed to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League, which is a proof that English football overwhelms Italian football

Compared with two completely different football cultures. In fact, both Italy and England, fans will not easily change their faith. Many fans have supported a team since childhood, even three generations of grandparents.

However, the attitude towards football is very different between the fans of Britain and Italy. Italian fans are very picky about the team they support and are ready to send boos at any time. In England, on the contrary, fans support the team unconditionally, even if they play in a mess.

For example, in the 2002 Rome derby, Roman defender Zebina saved the ball that was almost out of the bottom line, but the benefited Lazio midfielder Fiore easily scored, and the game ended at 2:2.

As a result, Zebina was attacked by the team's fans on his way home and the window was smashed. After transferring to Juventus, Zebina was always in pain when talking about the past: "My memory in Rome is only gray, and the fans are unfriendly to me. Every time I go to train, someone always laugh at me when I leave the parking lot."

But this will never happen in England. In the 2003/2004 season, Leeds, who was on the verge of bankruptcy, played the last Premier League game at Elland Road.

From beginning to end, fans are encouraging players and singing "We are together". Italian coach Viali, who once coached in England, can't help sighing: "If this is in Italy, hundreds of police officers will definitely be dispatched to maintain order, because there will be riots."

In England, fans have unconditional tolerance for players, and most of them vent their dissatisfaction to the club management.

The completely different football culture makes Degan's heart full of freshness at this moment. Everything around him is strange to him. Those singing fans, hostile opponents, and the ancient football field.

Of course, there is also an unknown English football style!

"Much!"

There is no doubt that this is greeting Degan, which may also be an aspect of English football culture. Racial discrimination. Britain used to be a typical colonial occupying country with long-standing discrimination and rejection of aliens. Black players in the opponent's lineup, or non- Caucasians, can easily become The first target of attack by fans, these black players are often harassed by bananas thrown by fans.

And stand fans often make some insulting slogans. Team songs personally attack black players. A typical example is that they shout "monkey" together and make monkey postures and movements.

Degan is not white, or Brazilian blood is very complicated. As the most threatening player in Tottenham Hotspur, it is reasonable to be specially "cared" by Newcastle fans.

"Relax! Rod! It's no big deal!" Friedl, the old goalkeeper walking behind Degan, whispered.

Degan has a hot temper, which has had many rumors in the past. When he was in Florence, he was even called a tyrant by the media. Friedall was really afraid that Degan would be impulsive and have some trouble.

In England, conflicts between players and fans can also be said to be a culture, such as Cantona's big flying legs.

Digan looked back at Frieder and suddenly smiled: "Don't worry! I'm not that fragile!"

The further forward you go, the louder the voice of Newcastle fans. This horrible home atmosphere, such as Turkish hell home, is simply weak.