I know him ! He's the only one in Mönchengladbach that can spell ! ( To clarify, Cologne v Mönchengladbach is another version of Watford v Luton or Sunderland v Newcastle ! Somehow I think there must be intelligent life in Luton somewhere (Most certainly amongst the Asian population there) - if they can find traces of it on Mars then it must be possible ! Seriously though I find it sad when rival groups of supporters refer to each other as scum and vermin - we see the same between West Ham and Millwall, Newcastle and Sunderland and countless others. The Merseyside derby is perhaps the only one which does not have this element.
Don't you believe it - the impression that the blue and red halves of Liverpool live in constant harmony comes from the same stable as the "fact" that West Ham is the "Academy of Football" and always plays wonderful flowing football. This for a team that has contained Razor Ruddock, Julian Dicks, Stuart Pearce and Billy Bonds amongst other would-be thugs...... I would suggest that there is no other rational reason to watch football other than the tribal and emotional aspect. As such it is perfectly in order and not sad at all to "hate" other clubs - provided, of course, that hatred does not translate into violence as has so often and regularly happened with our dear rivals.
Spot on again Vic - I have seen 2 local pub teams beating 7 shades of ****e out of each other on the touchline on a Sunday morning. Tidy little airport at Mönchengladbach Cologne. I used to visit Cologne fairly regulary and could get a cheap flight from bandit central to Mönchengladbach and get my service manager to pick me up - nice little bar as well if I remember well
I did actually say perhaps, to cover the fact that I have not lived in the U.K. since 1989. During a large part of the 80's I lived in the North West and was often in Liverpool - my impression was then that a fierce rivalry existed which did not however overflow into the sort of gang warfare which we have seen in other derbies - in fact most Liverpool fans that I new then would have wanted Everton to beat any non merseyside team. This is not to say that Merseyside is any better in this respect than other areas simply because the 2 halves of the City will join together to chase Man. UTD fans from their City - this is for me just as vile because it smacks of an intense local patriotism. The tribal and emotional aspect might explain my love for my club or town, but what does it have to do with hate ? I presume that people cannot help being born in Luton - and I would rather they support their local club than Arsenal, Chelsea or Man. UTD. Having said that, there are some grounds where you can go to as an away fan without living in fear of your life, can have a few beers and banter with the locals and generally have a good day out - Luton is not one of those.
Manchester is another place where the two teams are fierce rivals but will band together against outsiders
Leo, from my (limited) knowledge of Welsh from when I was at Uni, should it be pronounced Clan-claw-thog?
Watford born and bred Leo, English Welsh and looking way back Irish blood but not a hint of heathen in my blood..... OTT moi? Never, now where did I put my HK USP and Barrett 50cal.....
I still stand and sing the songs so i'm not going to be a hippocrite. I would much rather the Luton v Millwall affair was a peaceful event, but would hope Millwall came out victorious (on the pitch that is). I never wish to see them come back up the leagues as many of their "fans" are the worst of the worst. Admittedly they are likely to be the fringe fans who only pop out of the woodwork when there is a tasty little match, which is likely to have a bit of niggle and some good old violence outside the ground. If they want to have an organised fight between scumbags on a neutral venue, then let the neanderthals do it. So long as no innocent fans get caught up in it, the d**kheads can do what they want. But when the seriously damaged individuals start violence immediately outside or even inside the ground with elderly people, women and children present, thats when it starts to get sick. They have always thrown coins in to the away support in my experience at their dump of a ground. The home fans are higher up than the away fans and i stood there and watched them hurl coins all game and the stewards & police did nothing. That match ended 0-0 and it happened to a worse extent during the match where we won 4-0. They were even trying to lynch their own manager which says it all. Bottles and bricks were thrown at the coaches at the lights on the way to the ground as well which was quite nerve wracking for a 15 year old. Then you have the match we played in 2002 when they invaded the pitch and tried to attack our fans - lunacy. One of my friends was with his girlfriend and had bottles thrown at them. She stopped going after that. When you start to feel unsafe at a football match then something is wrong. Therefore sorry to all the real football supporters who just want to see a good football match with a good atmosphere, but i hope our local rivals stay in non league football for a good many more years to come.
