Soccer or Football, is also known as the beautiful game for many reasons. One of which is that soccer has a feel of fan attachment like no other sport.
In England, where football originated from and in many other European and South American countries, the fans follow their football clubs religiously. These clubs originated from small communities and now have grown so much that at times drive the mood of their respective cities where tens of thousands of fans fill stadiums week in and week out.
Football has been growing in North America and right here in London there is a diverse community who support the local club FC London. Lith Dhbour who has been supporting FC London since their first game says, “We have been around since 2008, one of the best supported team in the league, I love having a team here … there are people here from east London, I live in south London, there are people from the north, I see people of all backgrounds, of all classes, of all persuasions here watching the game supporting the team.”
It’s a beautiful experience to go watch F.C London in the Hellenic community Centre where fans of all ages come together to sing songs and show their support for the club.
Omar Aliosman, another long term FC London London supporter, when asked about his feelings on coming to watch his team said, “You have some kind of attachment to the city that you are from or that you have lived there for a long time so, when you come here you see people who live in the same community as you, people who have regular lives just as you and you all just come together for 90 minutes and nothing else matters in the world except what’s on the field, the 22 players on the pitch, that’s all that matters.”
Football is more than just a sport for the supporters. For many fans, it’s a very important part of their life and they drive their identity from the game. Frank Glaese, who supports London FC and their parent club Toronto FC represent being an ultra.
“We are always constant out here, we always have people to join in with us, we do our pyros, we do our singing and we just try to get people involved, get people involved with the culture … the culture of being an ultra and that’s what I am, ultra means to go above and beyond for my team, not just today because it’s game-day but everyday, everyday,” said Glaese.
FC London fans lighting pyros after their team scored
It’s a special game. The fans, the supporters, the football communities and the meaning they get from from supporting their team is what makes it special.
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