Love it! Love Nick Hornby, too, but now I have to rewatch the (original) movie, which I saw years ago but don’t remember well. Don’t tell Pete, but I blow hot and cold with English football; my real love is for AFC Ajax, the Amsterdam club which was the best in the world fifty years ago, with the young genius Johann Cruijff (check him out on YouTube) running the show on the pitch. Ajax is generally credited with inventing the fluid version of the game known as “total football,” and was also famous for developing a seemingly endless stream of brilliant young players, whom they then sold off for vast piles of money to bigger, richer clubs in Spain, England, Italy, etc. Ajax is by far the most successful Dutch club ever, having dominated the domestic league for decades, though the current season has been an uncharacteristically poor one.
The hereditary nature of fandom seems not to run in my family. My late father, who was Brazilian, was a boyhood fan of Flamengo, in Rio de Janeiro. And my son Tito has been obsessed with the Italian club Fiorentina, based in Florence, since a family trip to Tuscany when he was twelve. In fact, he runs a website and podcast dedicated to “La Viola” (as the club is known due to its purple kit). Three generations, three different clubs in three different countries….
I’ll shut up now, except to recommend a wonderful and thoroughly eccentric book by David Winner called Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, originally published in 2000. It uses art history, architecture, the political radicalism of the 1960s, children’s literature, and more to explain the characteristics of Dutch football, and Dutch culture in general, and it’s one of my all-time favorite nonfiction books.
I love this whole comment, Martin! Thank you! It really sums up football fan culture exactly, in it's best form. We've bookmarked Brilliant Orange for our next book purchase (obviously Pete has already suggested he should read it first!). It's hard to find the original movie in the US, so you just might have to come visit to watch our copy...
Wow! I didn't realise that! You look like such a natural in all your photos! Thanks so much for reading and commenting. And how fun to say now, I'll see you next week!
Here's another factor to add to your list of how people choose teams: by the color of the uniform. Fabio says by principle he doesn't like teams with blue uniforms. The competition to his team, Los Millonarios, wore blue while his team, Sante Fe, wears red. That's one of the reasons why he immediately took to Arsenal. Go figure.
He also confessed he's a passive fan although you'd never know that by the volume of his shouts during a game. When he remembers to watch them. Today he forgot the Premier League game with Arsenal.
I like picking a team by colours! Makes as much sense as anything, really. In case you were wondering, today's games were the end of the season, and determined the places for the Premier League Championship. All the teams played at the same time. Even though Arsenal won their match they came in second overall after Manchester City. Now 'we' are already thinking about NEXT year.....
I like soccer (Australia) far better than I like Australian Rules football. Aussie Rules players are often portrayed as bogan yobs who get far too much money for what they do. I mean for heavens' sake, it's not even an international sport! Don't get me started - I'm so not a supporter!
When I'm in the city, husband and self often walk Terrier past one of the local soccer fields where the lights are on and either training or friendlies (pre-match matches) are being played prior to the rostered games in the weekends. We always stop and watch - there's such an innate skill in the footwork and the way most players seem to hold their positions and the teams work as teams. Because I don't know the rules, I superimpose hockey rules over the top and that helps a bit.
But I do need the rules explained.
I must see Fever Pitch. It sounds like another worthwhile English movie. But we've seen The Beautiful Game, Bend it Like Beckham, The English Game and of course the Netflix Beckham doco. All great viewing. And I've just finished Jilly Cooper's Tackle about British football - tongue in cheek, but then again, based on truths that she claims to have researched. It was fun in the glib Jilly Cooper way.
I think we like soccer like we like cricket. Just fun to watch without being partisan. We especially like watching our Indian and Pakistani migrants playing cricket. They're FANTASTIC to watch. It's in their DNA!
We have no club, so there's no partisan view - we watch for the fun. Better for the blood pressure perhaps.
I like your approach to watching sports a lot. Being a spectator watching for the sheer enjoyment of skill and competition but not too fussed about who wins is the best! In some competitions I have a preferred winner, but always the skills are what win me over, no matter which side. I love watching Wimbledon each year. I used to be glued to the US Baseball world series.
Thanks for the recommendation for Jilly Cooper's Tackle; I've not heard of her or the book.
I also would like to learn more about cricket as it seems like something I would like; just haven't had the opportunity to watch any live games with someone explaining it.
Sabrina, I don't know the rules of cricket either. But it's a prompt to memories of Dad. He would lie on a reclining deck chair in the sun with the radio on when the Ashes were played and the sounds of the brilliant commentators and the crack of ball on willow were a beautiful background to life. In those days it was so civilised.
Boy, I got off easy. Fortunately, Colombian futbol doesn't show up much on Spanish TV but when it does that's it for the day. And Fabio does enjoy watching the European teams and matches; he and Pete share the love of Arsenal. I wish Fabio had more friends here even if they did sit around and talk about futbol all day and night. I'd like to share his love for the game but, alas, it's not me.
My favorite team is supposedly Atletico Madrid even though I don't know a darn thing about it, except it isn't Real Madrid. I'm hoping I'll just soak up enough of the air here to turn me into a fan but that hasn't happened yet.
I would watch a young Colin Firth though. That just might do the trick.
"Having" to watch Colin Firth in the movie was a sacrifice I was willing to make. He also makes a sly reference in Love Actually to his character in Fever Pitch if you pay attention.
I sometimes think back to our days playing field hockey and imagine that the football matches are just a slightly more skilled version of our fun times in those games. Well, these games now are a LOT more skilled. But still.
Next week I'll talk about baseball. At least some of us have a longer history with baseball.
In the '90s the term "soccer mom" was a pejorative I hated because I was one. I didn't drive an SUV or any of the cliches associated with it (they started playing when we lived in Oakland, not the 'burbs), but I loved that my daughters could play a team sport that wasn't even offered for my generation of women. It truly is a beautiful game and I still enjoy watching it from time to time, but reading this I realize what I really love is how it's depicted in entertainment -- "Ted Lasso" and "Bend it Like Beckham" are two faves. I appreciated learning more about the culture behind European football. It doesn't sound all that different than Americans' tribal love of their various teams ... and yet it is.
Thanks for your comments! You are right Lisa, it doesn't seem different, and yet it feels different. I had trouble putting my finger on it, and didn't quite capture it in the above essay. Maybe I'll be able to tease it out more for next week. And I agree with you about the lovely and positive way it has been portrayed in the movies and TV, particularly the ones you mention. I recently watched The Beautiful Game and it is also wonderful. I highly recommend it, but keep tissues handy!
Actually, you did capture it and it boils down the myriad differences between US and European life. Also, in the US we have a number of professional teams to follow so it gets diluted. Thanks for the movie recommendation. I will add it to my list!
We started following Chelsea when they acquired Christian Pulisic in 2019 and watched all of the games/highlights. It had been years since we followed any professional soccer (Landon Donovan).
I love the game, the incredible athleticism of the players and enjoyed getting to know Chelsea’s team. It was also something to look forward to during the pandemic, as the Premier League continued to play.
I’m still a Dodgers fan, from growing up in Southern California, and I embraced the 49ers when we located here in the Bay Area, though I confess I never watch baseball nor much football here. I am a soccer/football fan at heart.
Love it! Love Nick Hornby, too, but now I have to rewatch the (original) movie, which I saw years ago but don’t remember well. Don’t tell Pete, but I blow hot and cold with English football; my real love is for AFC Ajax, the Amsterdam club which was the best in the world fifty years ago, with the young genius Johann Cruijff (check him out on YouTube) running the show on the pitch. Ajax is generally credited with inventing the fluid version of the game known as “total football,” and was also famous for developing a seemingly endless stream of brilliant young players, whom they then sold off for vast piles of money to bigger, richer clubs in Spain, England, Italy, etc. Ajax is by far the most successful Dutch club ever, having dominated the domestic league for decades, though the current season has been an uncharacteristically poor one.
The hereditary nature of fandom seems not to run in my family. My late father, who was Brazilian, was a boyhood fan of Flamengo, in Rio de Janeiro. And my son Tito has been obsessed with the Italian club Fiorentina, based in Florence, since a family trip to Tuscany when he was twelve. In fact, he runs a website and podcast dedicated to “La Viola” (as the club is known due to its purple kit). Three generations, three different clubs in three different countries….
I’ll shut up now, except to recommend a wonderful and thoroughly eccentric book by David Winner called Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football, originally published in 2000. It uses art history, architecture, the political radicalism of the 1960s, children’s literature, and more to explain the characteristics of Dutch football, and Dutch culture in general, and it’s one of my all-time favorite nonfiction books.
I love this whole comment, Martin! Thank you! It really sums up football fan culture exactly, in it's best form. We've bookmarked Brilliant Orange for our next book purchase (obviously Pete has already suggested he should read it first!). It's hard to find the original movie in the US, so you just might have to come visit to watch our copy...
Fun to read! Similar experience with Nick and sailing. Though I didn’t know what I was signing up for until two full decades after we married 😎❤️
Wow! I didn't realise that! You look like such a natural in all your photos! Thanks so much for reading and commenting. And how fun to say now, I'll see you next week!
Here's another factor to add to your list of how people choose teams: by the color of the uniform. Fabio says by principle he doesn't like teams with blue uniforms. The competition to his team, Los Millonarios, wore blue while his team, Sante Fe, wears red. That's one of the reasons why he immediately took to Arsenal. Go figure.
He also confessed he's a passive fan although you'd never know that by the volume of his shouts during a game. When he remembers to watch them. Today he forgot the Premier League game with Arsenal.
I like picking a team by colours! Makes as much sense as anything, really. In case you were wondering, today's games were the end of the season, and determined the places for the Premier League Championship. All the teams played at the same time. Even though Arsenal won their match they came in second overall after Manchester City. Now 'we' are already thinking about NEXT year.....
You sound like a pro! Thanks for the clarification. My knowledge level is obvious. Start the rain dances for NEXT year.
OMGosh! Love this.
I like soccer (Australia) far better than I like Australian Rules football. Aussie Rules players are often portrayed as bogan yobs who get far too much money for what they do. I mean for heavens' sake, it's not even an international sport! Don't get me started - I'm so not a supporter!
When I'm in the city, husband and self often walk Terrier past one of the local soccer fields where the lights are on and either training or friendlies (pre-match matches) are being played prior to the rostered games in the weekends. We always stop and watch - there's such an innate skill in the footwork and the way most players seem to hold their positions and the teams work as teams. Because I don't know the rules, I superimpose hockey rules over the top and that helps a bit.
But I do need the rules explained.
I must see Fever Pitch. It sounds like another worthwhile English movie. But we've seen The Beautiful Game, Bend it Like Beckham, The English Game and of course the Netflix Beckham doco. All great viewing. And I've just finished Jilly Cooper's Tackle about British football - tongue in cheek, but then again, based on truths that she claims to have researched. It was fun in the glib Jilly Cooper way.
I think we like soccer like we like cricket. Just fun to watch without being partisan. We especially like watching our Indian and Pakistani migrants playing cricket. They're FANTASTIC to watch. It's in their DNA!
We have no club, so there's no partisan view - we watch for the fun. Better for the blood pressure perhaps.
I like your approach to watching sports a lot. Being a spectator watching for the sheer enjoyment of skill and competition but not too fussed about who wins is the best! In some competitions I have a preferred winner, but always the skills are what win me over, no matter which side. I love watching Wimbledon each year. I used to be glued to the US Baseball world series.
Thanks for the recommendation for Jilly Cooper's Tackle; I've not heard of her or the book.
I also would like to learn more about cricket as it seems like something I would like; just haven't had the opportunity to watch any live games with someone explaining it.
Sabrina, I don't know the rules of cricket either. But it's a prompt to memories of Dad. He would lie on a reclining deck chair in the sun with the radio on when the Ashes were played and the sounds of the brilliant commentators and the crack of ball on willow were a beautiful background to life. In those days it was so civilised.
Boy, I got off easy. Fortunately, Colombian futbol doesn't show up much on Spanish TV but when it does that's it for the day. And Fabio does enjoy watching the European teams and matches; he and Pete share the love of Arsenal. I wish Fabio had more friends here even if they did sit around and talk about futbol all day and night. I'd like to share his love for the game but, alas, it's not me.
My favorite team is supposedly Atletico Madrid even though I don't know a darn thing about it, except it isn't Real Madrid. I'm hoping I'll just soak up enough of the air here to turn me into a fan but that hasn't happened yet.
I would watch a young Colin Firth though. That just might do the trick.
"Having" to watch Colin Firth in the movie was a sacrifice I was willing to make. He also makes a sly reference in Love Actually to his character in Fever Pitch if you pay attention.
I sometimes think back to our days playing field hockey and imagine that the football matches are just a slightly more skilled version of our fun times in those games. Well, these games now are a LOT more skilled. But still.
Next week I'll talk about baseball. At least some of us have a longer history with baseball.
Yeah, sometimes one just have to sacrifice for the cause.
Can't wait to read about baseball! I might just have something to say.
In the '90s the term "soccer mom" was a pejorative I hated because I was one. I didn't drive an SUV or any of the cliches associated with it (they started playing when we lived in Oakland, not the 'burbs), but I loved that my daughters could play a team sport that wasn't even offered for my generation of women. It truly is a beautiful game and I still enjoy watching it from time to time, but reading this I realize what I really love is how it's depicted in entertainment -- "Ted Lasso" and "Bend it Like Beckham" are two faves. I appreciated learning more about the culture behind European football. It doesn't sound all that different than Americans' tribal love of their various teams ... and yet it is.
Thanks for your comments! You are right Lisa, it doesn't seem different, and yet it feels different. I had trouble putting my finger on it, and didn't quite capture it in the above essay. Maybe I'll be able to tease it out more for next week. And I agree with you about the lovely and positive way it has been portrayed in the movies and TV, particularly the ones you mention. I recently watched The Beautiful Game and it is also wonderful. I highly recommend it, but keep tissues handy!
Actually, you did capture it and it boils down the myriad differences between US and European life. Also, in the US we have a number of professional teams to follow so it gets diluted. Thanks for the movie recommendation. I will add it to my list!
Absolutely loved this, Sabrina! I've added several films to my 'watch' list! 🤣⚽️
We started following Chelsea when they acquired Christian Pulisic in 2019 and watched all of the games/highlights. It had been years since we followed any professional soccer (Landon Donovan).
I love the game, the incredible athleticism of the players and enjoyed getting to know Chelsea’s team. It was also something to look forward to during the pandemic, as the Premier League continued to play.
I’m still a Dodgers fan, from growing up in Southern California, and I embraced the 49ers when we located here in the Bay Area, though I confess I never watch baseball nor much football here. I am a soccer/football fan at heart.