English Football

Earlier I believe I commented on how strange it is to move into someone else's house, complete with furnishings and decor essentially selected "by committee," as the collective work of 39 years of previous program directors. Not only does the house come with everything we need, it even comes equipped with that most valuable of features: best friends.

David and Kate Juggins live next door to us, and they have been friends of the program for a couple of decades. Their loyalty to the endless parade of Luther program directors has been recognized with the "Spirit of Luther" Award -- the same award recently given to the King and Queen of Norway. They have been great support and a font of information about England, Nottingham, and how things have been done by directors in the past.

David Juggins is a supporter of the Nottingham Forest Football Club. As has been explained to me by David's and Kate's son Phillip, there are mere "fans" of the game (which we Americans, alone in the world, call "soccer") and then there are team "supporters." Supporters make fans look like they are disinterested. Supporters are the real fanatics. Supporters stick with the team for life, win, lose, or draw.

David, along with some of his best friends (his "mates" in the English vernacular, as in shipmates, teammates, etc.), have had season tickets to Forest home matches -- in the very same seats -- for years. In younger years they traveled to every away match, as well. They know about every player and every play. They are not mere fans, they are supporters.

Last night one of the mates was out of town, so the spare ticket was offered to me. I accepted eagerly. English football is a unique feature of the culture here, and football fandom is a part of the English identity. I wanted to see it first-hand.

The Forest team has been having "a rough patch" so far this year, with only two victories in 11 games going into last night's match against Middleborough, a team ranked third in the league. The Forest manager (coach) just resigned last week, which means they are on their fourth manager in less than a year. Expectations were not high.

In addition, it was a cold, windy October evening. Thus, ONLY(!) 20,000 people showed up. Mere fans didn't come out. Even many of the supporters opted to stay home. But they missed quite a game!

Forest teammates celebrate a goal in last night's match.
News photo from http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02030/forest_2030813c.jpg

Forest outplayed their opponent and won 2-0! It was their first home win of the season. And it was quite a kick (no pun intended) to watch.

Some things one finds at an English football game that one won't find at an American football game:

• A major team sponsor and stadium advertiser is a betting company. Place your bets across from the concession stand in the stadium before the match.
• Home team spectators and visitor spectators are rigidly segregated, before, during, and after the match. "Stewards" in bright yellow coats enforce the boundaries between spectators in the stands. Empty seats in the visitors' stands will not be sold to home team fans under any circumstances. 
• Even the pubs are segregated -- one must show their stadium ticket to the bouncer at the door to go in for a pre-game drink. Visiting fans are not allowed to drink in home team pubs.
• No tailgating. Many people come on city buses and there are no large "car parks" (English for "parking lots"). Hence the need for the segregated pre-game pubs.
• No cheerleaders, no band. The fans sing a lot, but it's mostly spontaneous and not led by music over the PA system.
• No half-time show. All there is to watch are the grounds keepers who come out with their pitchforks to replace the divots in the turf.
• No game clock. Play is continuous without time-outs. Only the referee knows the time left to play, and at his discretion, he may add playing time if he feels players have delayed the game. They play until the referee says they're done.
• No winner or loser, at least not necessarily. Many football matches are played to a draw. There is no overtime, no sudden death finish. Fortunately for the loyal supporters, last night's match was a win. It was a win for me, too.