Batting for the Other Team
September 15th 2006 23:49
On my trip on the big Overseas Experience it is important to try new things. Initially this was in the form of visiting museums and art galleries in London which are usually not my cup of tea, but things you do because you are in a place like London. So last month I went to a Premiership football match between Fulham and Bolton.
On television I have been watching these documentaries about football hooligans, and the way that there are still heaps of nutters attending these games. I went along on my own, as my number of mates only just outweighs the number of farts you can do in an elevator before it isn't funny anymore.
I decided to go to the Fulham home ground Craven Cottage and see a match, because this ground seldom sells out, and unlike most other premiership sides they have a kiwi in their ranks. The way the crowd gets into the football is something totally foreign to myself, who is a rugby fan from conservative rural New Zealand.
The ticket I purchased was behind the goal and right in the hub of the armies of supporters, The chants were going up. They were singing in rhyme and well rehearsed song from hours at the pub practising before hand. There was no smoking, alcohol or standing up in the crowd allowed, but this almost made it worse. Back home the only loud mouths are fulled to the rim with booze, but these guys were stone cold sober and still mentioning more f words than chins in a chinese phonebook. These guys are absolute obssessed nutters!
Not knowing what to expect I had not packed much stuff so I carried in my pocket my beany as it was bound to get cold. Sure enough just after kickoff it did. Sitting in the middle of these hooligans I knew I was going to have to put the beany on or start getting a head cold.
Some background information, growing up in a predominantly rugby orientated culture, I am more used to wearing the beanie of my local provincial team after all it is a winter sport. My home side in New Zealand are the Southland Stags who wear maroon. Similar colours to the Brisbne Broncos league team. Also similar colours to Bolton the away side!
I was left in a conundrum which was totally awkward. Do I risk life and limb and put on a maroon beany or had all those documentaries on football hooligans made me too cautious? My lack of mates to back me up wouldn't help, but neither would the head cold I would recieve. But would it prove to be less of a hassle having a cold than injuries to my face?
In the end I decided to not risk it, and stretched my collar to kind of cover my ears. But it was cold! It was a real strange situation to find myself in.
On television I have been watching these documentaries about football hooligans, and the way that there are still heaps of nutters attending these games. I went along on my own, as my number of mates only just outweighs the number of farts you can do in an elevator before it isn't funny anymore.
I decided to go to the Fulham home ground Craven Cottage and see a match, because this ground seldom sells out, and unlike most other premiership sides they have a kiwi in their ranks. The way the crowd gets into the football is something totally foreign to myself, who is a rugby fan from conservative rural New Zealand.
The ticket I purchased was behind the goal and right in the hub of the armies of supporters, The chants were going up. They were singing in rhyme and well rehearsed song from hours at the pub practising before hand. There was no smoking, alcohol or standing up in the crowd allowed, but this almost made it worse. Back home the only loud mouths are fulled to the rim with booze, but these guys were stone cold sober and still mentioning more f words than chins in a chinese phonebook. These guys are absolute obssessed nutters!
Not knowing what to expect I had not packed much stuff so I carried in my pocket my beany as it was bound to get cold. Sure enough just after kickoff it did. Sitting in the middle of these hooligans I knew I was going to have to put the beany on or start getting a head cold.
Some background information, growing up in a predominantly rugby orientated culture, I am more used to wearing the beanie of my local provincial team after all it is a winter sport. My home side in New Zealand are the Southland Stags who wear maroon. Similar colours to the Brisbne Broncos league team. Also similar colours to Bolton the away side!
I was left in a conundrum which was totally awkward. Do I risk life and limb and put on a maroon beany or had all those documentaries on football hooligans made me too cautious? My lack of mates to back me up wouldn't help, but neither would the head cold I would recieve. But would it prove to be less of a hassle having a cold than injuries to my face?
In the end I decided to not risk it, and stretched my collar to kind of cover my ears. But it was cold! It was a real strange situation to find myself in.
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