Soccer
has long been the most popular sport on the planet, but more than ever before,
it is now truly the world’s game. The traditional nerve-centers of the soccer
world in Europe and Latin America have now been joined by increasing growth in
the rest of the world, notably in Asia, and here in North America. Here in
Seattle, our average attendance will be over 40,000 this year; on the other
side of the world, in Japan, the Urawa Red Dragons of the J-League are
consistently attracting crowds of a similar size, including an average of over
47,000 in 2008. With the the likes of Raul (Qatar) and Didier Drogba (China)
now moving to ply their trade in countries not traditionally considered soccer
hotbeds, the incredible spread of the game is highly likely to continue.
The human race has conjured up so many different sporting endeavors to
entertain itself. Why is it that soccer has come to dominate over all the
others?
The answer to this question is huge, and could probably fill a book quite
comfortably. I think some of the answer lies is the nature of the game itself,
but possibly the biggest answers lie in the culture that has come to surround
the game.
This piece is not intended to be an exhaustive exploration of this
question. Mainly, I wanted to put a Seattle perspective on this, so I
asked some of my brethren from the Emerald City Supporters for their views ,
and I have interspersed these with my own views on the topic. I hope it will
provide an interesting trigger to discussion.
The game itself
“One
thing that makes soccer great is a story that a friend at work told me. My
friend is into basketball. He’s tall, lanky, and you can guess he’s a
basketball player just looking at him. He’s got an outdoor court at his house,
coaches the junior varsity team at the high school just up the street, and has
raised his kids to be basketball nuts just like him. His oldest son went to a
Sounders game and he asked the boy what he thought. His son said “Dad, you know
how at the end of a basketball game, when a team is down by a point or the
score is tied, and they come down the court and right before the buzzer they
shoot and for a little bit you hold your breath and are super excited and
waiting to see if it’ll go in?” And he says “sure”. “Well, in soccer, it feels
like that ALL THE TIME. They have fast breaks all the time and the play builds
up and for just a few seconds you’re holding your breath and going crazy to see
what happens!”
To me,
that’s a terrific explanation of why soccer can seem so exciting and
enthralling, even though it’s not a high-scoring game.”
-Paul Cox
“That moment, when all the build-up of the overlapping run on the outside,
the perfect cross into the box, the target forward getting airborne and
snapping the ball toward the ground, explodes into complete pandemonium as the
ball slips past the keeper…all I can say is it’s a good thing soccer is a low
scoring game. I don’t think my heart could take it otherwise. In no other
environment am I so stressed out and nervous, while loving every minute of it.”
-Michael
Sure, there usually aren’t more than a few actual goals (or sometimes none
at all), but at any given moment, there’s always the POSSIBILITY of a
goal. And when those goals come, they are great, memorable moments that stick
in your mind forever. That is what keeps you gripped.
For me, this is the biggest difference between soccer and other sports; the
sheer passion and involvement of the people in the stands. In truth, what
happens in the stands is often just as much of a spectacle as what happens on
the field. I count myself as a supporter, and there’s two reasons why I choose
to support that way. Firstly, I just flat-out enjoy doing it. Soccer, like all sports,
is a form of escapism, getting away from the mundanity of your daily life, and
supporting is even more so. Watching the game is great, but ‘doing’ always
feels better than ‘watching’. Be it singing, pogoing, joining the march, or
contributing to a tifo display, it feels good to contribute, to do more than
just sit and watch. It feels more satisfying.
Secondly, soccer is the one game, I think, where the fans can really
influence what happens on the field. Not in a negative way, like in football
when you shout and scream when the opposition is on third down. (not
disrespecting this pursuit in any way – it makes perfect sense in the context
of the game – but wouldn’t it feel better, emotionally, to shout and scream
when YOUR team is on offense?). But in a positive way. Driving your team on to
greater heights, while intimidating the opposition, making them doubt their
abilities. That comes, I think, from the natural fluidity of the action; Soccer
is such a game of RHYTHM and CONFIDENCE. There are so many things you can do on
the soccer field, so many different ways to play the game, so many different
options in practically any situation. When you are confident, you play
instinctively, without hesitation. But as soon as doubt creeps in, you
second-guess yourself, over-think things, play conservatively. Great players
become ordinary. When the crowd gets behind the team, it gives the players
extra energy, extra belief, extra drive. When the crowd is nervous, however, it
can have the opposite effect. Those jitters transfer themselves to the players.
And nerves reduce those confidence levels.
Oh, and the noise of the crowd maybe, possibly (whisper it quietly),
influences the odd refereeing call too.
Why has a supporters culture emerged in soccer, but not in other American
sports? In the American context, I think there’s a few different answers, all
of which are probably interconnected. One is geographical. I think one thing
that gets you really passionate about your team is having people around you who
support other teams. If you live in Seattle and you like football, you’re
pretty much going to follow the Seahawks; with the nearest other team being
over 800 miles away, it doesn’t make sense to support anyone else. Compare that
to soccer in England, where there are six London clubs in the Premier League
alone. When the opposition is always around you, it makes you more likely to
want to express your passion for you club. Secondly, the main American sports
just don’t really lend themselves to supporting. In football, as mentioned
earlier, the importance of timing and communication mean it makes sense to make
noise when on defense, not on offense. Basketball also has that set-play
element, but possibly also has the constant interruption of scoring (damn those
players, breaking up our supporting). Thirdly, I think people have a more
casual attitude towards sports over here, generally. People go to baseball
games to chat to family or friends; people don’t bat an eyelid about turning up
halfway through a basketball game, just so long as they’re in time for the
‘money quarter’. It’s just a more laid-back, social experience when compared to
the obsessive fans that soccer attracts worldwide.
One thing that has become clear is that people in
North America ARE embracing the supporters’ culture. We have seen that clearly
in Seattle, where the Emerald City Supporters has experienced great growth
since the Sounders entered MLS. I think it still seems alien to a lot of
people, but it will keep growing. This is a very healthy phenomenon for the
American game, as the supporters are the ones who will support the team through
thick and thin. I remember a quote from Adrian Hanauer where he said that you
don’t need to market soccer to young kids; if they watch the games on TV and
see the passion, the noise and the color, they will want to come to the games,
regardless. I think he’s absolutely right.
The energy from the stands is really one of the great parts of the game.
It’s great watching the opposing fans competing with each other, trying to
bring more energy than their opponents. I love watching the Bundesliga, for
example, not just because of the quality of the play on the field, but also
because of the big crowds that they get, the cool tifo displays, the color and
the passion. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. By being in the supporters
section at your team’s stadium, you are part of a great global tradition, a
community almost, where even though you are rivals with other clubs, you will
grudgingly respect each other for the passion that you bring, and your
embracing of the great traditions of the game.
So I go to the game to support. To sing and shout and pogo. When I do those
things, I know I am giving positive energy to the players, and I never feel
jittery. To me, I have been privileged to receive a seat in the supporters
section. If I don’t support to my absolute fullest, then I have let the team
down, because there could potentially have been someone in that seat who
supported the team harder than I did. If the team wins, then I feel like I
contributed to the victory; if they don’t win, then I can at least come away
from the stadium knowing that I gave my best effort, did everything I could to
help the cause.
For all these reasons, soccer has developed an amazing tribal culture,
where you feel an amazing camaraderie with your fellow supporters.
What Sounders FC means to me….an opportunity to both find solidarity
with people in a city that I have lived in for 6 short years and embrace
the multiculturalism which is Sounders FC.
-Luis Escamilla, La Barra Fuerza Verde
Being a supporter is a very tribal endeavor. To be with your fellow
supporters is a beautiful thing. You get a sense of camaraderie out there that
is difficult to find elsewhere in life. It’s easy to go to games when the team is
playing well and winning. But when the team is bad, it is the camaraderie with
your fellow fans that will keep you coming back. Sure, you will still support
just as hard, and it will be about the loyalty to your team too. But really,
the thing that will make you still love it is the affinity you feel for your
brother, the chance to meet up with them and spend some time away from the
mundanity of the everyday world, and perhaps, the humiliation they will pour
upon you if you quit showing up.
In conclusion, there are so many things that make the game so great. The
action on the field is great, of course, and that is a huge part of the story.
But to look at that alone, is to miss an enormous amount of what makes soccer
so special. It is a global community, a religion, a shared obsession which, in
these more enlightened times, is a source of unity, rather than conflict.
Excitingly, we, here in Seattle, are at the epicenter of the game’s current
wave of expansion. Great times, indeed.
Taken from:
https://blog.seattlepi.com/soundersfan/2012/08/29/what-makes-soccer-so-special/
