Dandyman
In London village.
Having read the article below, I was pondering which British clubs have similar friendships. We tend to get on with Charlton and Doncaster, Spurs hoolies are close to Aberdeen casuals, Rangers and Chelski have their Loyalist love-ins, Celtic and Manure seem close at times, any others ?
Which clubs' fans have unlikely friendships with their rivals? | The Knowledge | Football | guardian.co.uk
"I was quite surprised to attend a match at my local club, Wisla Krakow, who were playing PKS Slask (from Wroclaw) in the Polish first division," wrote Roger Mackin last week. "I was a bit worried about dangerous hooligan action but I was told beforehand that the hooligans of these two teams were 'friends'. And it was true. They proceeded to sing each others' songs and included a cute 'Wisla i Wroclaw' number. Do other clubs have such a love affair going on while in the same (top) division? It seems unlikely but there must be a precedent. Having said that, I can't imagine English fans singing 'Stoke and Fulham, la la la la la.'"
It seems that Wisla and PKS are far from the only sides to enjoy such friendly relations. In fact, they're not even the only sides in Poland. "When I used to wander along to support the mighty Polonia Warszawa (Legia Warszawa's older, nobler, smaller rival), they used to sing songs in support of Cracovia (Wisla Krakow's older, nobler, smaller rival) and also had a soft spot for Arka Gdynia," writes Nicholas Walton. "It was normal to have a few Cracovia flags and shirts in attendance. Other clubs had other alliance networks – although I was told by Polonia fans that Legia didn't have any friends as they were arrogant big-time-Charlies.
"The alliances extended to hooligan gangs. Possibly this is because generally small travelling fans were able to build links, especially for a spot of fighting, on away trips – based upon perceived shared identity (as with Polonia and Cracovia) and rivalries."
And it's a phenomenon far from confined to the land that produced Grzegorz Lato, Zbigniew Boniek and, yes, Dariusz Wdowczyk. There are further examples elsewhere in Eastern Europe. "I attended a match this August between Dinamo Kiev and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, who were at the time both in the top five of the Ukrainian top division," writes Adrian Rogstad. "The match was a dreary 0-0 draw attended by just 17,000, so the best entertainment came from the two teams' fan groups, who my local 'guides' told me had a friendly relationship.
"In the second half, they would on occasion join in each others' songs (which I have no idea what were about), and towards the end were united in a chant of 'Metalist is a team of condoms', referring to Metalist Kharkiv, a club both of the groups apparently despise. I have no idea if calling someone a 'condom' is a common insult in Ukraine or whether the choice was merely due to the fact that 'team' (komanda) and 'of condoms' (kondoma) rhymes in Russian."
But not all fans come together to deride their common enemy as a team of prophylactics. "It is quite common in Turkey but the best example is the friendship between Bursaspor and Ankaragucu," writes Dominic Brassington. "The friendship comes from, allegedly, the death of a fan going to watch the game and the fans then agreeing to bury their differences. On the match day the fans will meet before to eat, visit Ataturk's mausoleum if the match is in Ankara and watch the game in a party atmosphere.
"But the support extends far beyond that. While Bursaspor were on their charge to winning the league last year Ankaragucu fans came out en masse to support Bursa against Genclerbirligi, and Bursa sent a large number of fans to support Ankaragucu against Fenerbahce. The province numbers in Turkey run alphabetically with Ankara No6 and Bursa No16, so during Bursa games the fans chant Ankaragucu during the sixth minute and vice versa."
The Bundesliga is also littered with these relationships. Bayern Munich and Bochum, 1860 Munich and Kaiserslautern, and Schalke and Nürnberg are particularly close, but there are plenty of others of varying strength and also a plethora of regional alliances. The reasons behind the phenomena are varied, and not always easy to work out (even our man in the know, Rafa Honigstein, was unsure of the exact origins). The spectre of hooliganism and "my enemy's enemy is my friend" almost certainly lies around some, though by no means all. Cologne's freundschaft with St Pauli, for example, dates back to 1978 and the final day of the Bundesliga season. Borussia Mönchengladbach, facing Dortmund, required victory and a 10-goal swing to win the title on goal difference, while Cologne travelled to already-relegated St Pauli. Gladbach rather conveniently trounced Dortmund 12-0, but Cologne took the title thanks to a 5-0 win. Fans of both sides apparently celebrated together.
Serie A is also a hotbed of inter-club cosying. "In Italy, nearly all clubs are 'twinned' with other clubs (Gemellaggi)," writes Paul Haynes. "For example, the team I support, Napoli, are twinned with Genoa. When Napoli were promoted to Serie A in 2007, the Genoa ultras held up a banner saying "Benvenuto fratello napoletano" – "Welcome, my Neapolitan brother" – when the clubs met in the league."
Which clubs' fans have unlikely friendships with their rivals? | The Knowledge | Football | guardian.co.uk
"I was quite surprised to attend a match at my local club, Wisla Krakow, who were playing PKS Slask (from Wroclaw) in the Polish first division," wrote Roger Mackin last week. "I was a bit worried about dangerous hooligan action but I was told beforehand that the hooligans of these two teams were 'friends'. And it was true. They proceeded to sing each others' songs and included a cute 'Wisla i Wroclaw' number. Do other clubs have such a love affair going on while in the same (top) division? It seems unlikely but there must be a precedent. Having said that, I can't imagine English fans singing 'Stoke and Fulham, la la la la la.'"
It seems that Wisla and PKS are far from the only sides to enjoy such friendly relations. In fact, they're not even the only sides in Poland. "When I used to wander along to support the mighty Polonia Warszawa (Legia Warszawa's older, nobler, smaller rival), they used to sing songs in support of Cracovia (Wisla Krakow's older, nobler, smaller rival) and also had a soft spot for Arka Gdynia," writes Nicholas Walton. "It was normal to have a few Cracovia flags and shirts in attendance. Other clubs had other alliance networks – although I was told by Polonia fans that Legia didn't have any friends as they were arrogant big-time-Charlies.
"The alliances extended to hooligan gangs. Possibly this is because generally small travelling fans were able to build links, especially for a spot of fighting, on away trips – based upon perceived shared identity (as with Polonia and Cracovia) and rivalries."
And it's a phenomenon far from confined to the land that produced Grzegorz Lato, Zbigniew Boniek and, yes, Dariusz Wdowczyk. There are further examples elsewhere in Eastern Europe. "I attended a match this August between Dinamo Kiev and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, who were at the time both in the top five of the Ukrainian top division," writes Adrian Rogstad. "The match was a dreary 0-0 draw attended by just 17,000, so the best entertainment came from the two teams' fan groups, who my local 'guides' told me had a friendly relationship.
"In the second half, they would on occasion join in each others' songs (which I have no idea what were about), and towards the end were united in a chant of 'Metalist is a team of condoms', referring to Metalist Kharkiv, a club both of the groups apparently despise. I have no idea if calling someone a 'condom' is a common insult in Ukraine or whether the choice was merely due to the fact that 'team' (komanda) and 'of condoms' (kondoma) rhymes in Russian."
But not all fans come together to deride their common enemy as a team of prophylactics. "It is quite common in Turkey but the best example is the friendship between Bursaspor and Ankaragucu," writes Dominic Brassington. "The friendship comes from, allegedly, the death of a fan going to watch the game and the fans then agreeing to bury their differences. On the match day the fans will meet before to eat, visit Ataturk's mausoleum if the match is in Ankara and watch the game in a party atmosphere.
"But the support extends far beyond that. While Bursaspor were on their charge to winning the league last year Ankaragucu fans came out en masse to support Bursa against Genclerbirligi, and Bursa sent a large number of fans to support Ankaragucu against Fenerbahce. The province numbers in Turkey run alphabetically with Ankara No6 and Bursa No16, so during Bursa games the fans chant Ankaragucu during the sixth minute and vice versa."
The Bundesliga is also littered with these relationships. Bayern Munich and Bochum, 1860 Munich and Kaiserslautern, and Schalke and Nürnberg are particularly close, but there are plenty of others of varying strength and also a plethora of regional alliances. The reasons behind the phenomena are varied, and not always easy to work out (even our man in the know, Rafa Honigstein, was unsure of the exact origins). The spectre of hooliganism and "my enemy's enemy is my friend" almost certainly lies around some, though by no means all. Cologne's freundschaft with St Pauli, for example, dates back to 1978 and the final day of the Bundesliga season. Borussia Mönchengladbach, facing Dortmund, required victory and a 10-goal swing to win the title on goal difference, while Cologne travelled to already-relegated St Pauli. Gladbach rather conveniently trounced Dortmund 12-0, but Cologne took the title thanks to a 5-0 win. Fans of both sides apparently celebrated together.
Serie A is also a hotbed of inter-club cosying. "In Italy, nearly all clubs are 'twinned' with other clubs (Gemellaggi)," writes Paul Haynes. "For example, the team I support, Napoli, are twinned with Genoa. When Napoli were promoted to Serie A in 2007, the Genoa ultras held up a banner saying "Benvenuto fratello napoletano" – "Welcome, my Neapolitan brother" – when the clubs met in the league."
