As a 51-year old, American soccer fanatic, there has been nothing more heartwarming than to watch the growth of supporters groups, who add so much to the atmosphere at matches. The sound of voices singing, rather than the sound of “Jock Jams,” which you hear blaring during breaks in the action at most American professional sporting events, is music to my ears.
But as I’ve watched these groups evolve, witnessed the growth of the American Outlaws, who travel in huge numbers to cheer for our national team, and witnessed things like the supporters of the Seattle Sounders marching as one through the streets of Seattle, I’ve also said a silent prayer to myself. “Please, let the members of these groups never lose perspective. Even as they grow in number, which leads to power and strength, let them remember, it’s just sports.”
Because when stories break from overseas like the one on Tuesday, where a group of Chelsea supporters who’d traveled to France for their team’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain were caught on tape taunting a black commuter with disgusting chants, it scares me. I’m sure most Chelsea supporters were as horrified as I was that things like this occur in 2015, but it still shows what’s possible when the ill-intentioned find power in numbers.
Horrific, sad stories like this have long given soccer fans a bad name in the States. Even before we hosted the 1994 World Cup or launched Major League Soccer, before we could ever dream of seeing European soccer highlights on ESPN, American sports fans were treated regularly to images of fans stampeding, starting fires and fighting riot police.
Does it affect the image of European soccer here in the States? Absolutely. Does it tarnish the brand? Big time. For every soccer fan who chooses to focus on the game, there are probably twice as many Americans who still equate the term “soccer fan” with “hooligan”. Fair or not.
I always chose to defend soccer fans as a whole with the following logic, which I believe to be true: hooligans are not soccer fans, they are hooligans. It just so happens that they are able to wield their power most effectively at games, where they use the crowds as a sort of shield. It’s much harder for police to take care of several hundred bad guys in a crowd of 30,000-plus.
With that said, I have my own stories. In 1985, I lived in West Germany and became a regular at the matches of VfL Bochum. As much as I loved the excitement of standing on the terraces behind the goal, I often found myself fearing for my life when the heaviest-drinking supporters would find more excitement in pushing the fans in front of them, literally, down a row, than they could find in actually watching the game and cheering on their team.
Years later, as an ESPN writer, I found myself alone on the trains following matches, like the Champions League semi-final between Manchester United and Juventus, and tried to not make eye contact with drunken fans who tried to engage me in some type of vulgar song or chant. Following the Germany v Poland World Cup match in Dortmund in 2006, I weaved my way through fistfights, dodging projectiles, all in an effort to get to a train station and some safety.
These were – pardon the expression – foreign experiences to me. For as much as I loved the amazing atmosphere in places like Old Trafford and Westfalenstadion, there was also fear I’d never felt in places like Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park or Soldier Field. Sure, you’d confront drunks in our American stadiums, but not organized groups of drunks.
Again, I see it simply as power in numbers. Power, with most of the participants, to push the team. But power, with others, to do horrible things. Or just to invoke fear in them, for laughs.
In the United States, we are far from perfect. Nearly 70 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in American professional sports – basically ordered to never respond to epithets – we still have African-American athletes who deal with racist fans on a regular basis. We also have a problem with fans who drink themselves blind and try to take on the law.
We are far from perfect.
But as for the type of incident we saw in Paris? I don’t recall seeing anything like that. I will stick to my old defense. Those aren’t soccer fans, they’re hooligans.
However, as I watch soccer supporters groups grow here in the United States, to the point where I hear officials from Major League Soccer promoting a “Supporters Culture,” I will continue to say the same silent prayer I wrote in the beginning of this column. I’m not foolish to think our soccer fans won’t chant obscenities or attempt to taunt the opposition. As the game has grown in popularity, there is no doubt the intensity in the stands has been multiplied.
But let there always be the understanding among the members of these groups, that you have assembled to cheer for a soccer team. Nothing more, nothing less.
Power in numbers is not to be abused.