Is it about a mentality or just being mental? A thread about ultras and other active football supporters.

<insert photo of Polish dudes with flares here>

Why a photo when you can have 10 minutes of frightening children?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26Ju8-AzH6I

a Polish friend of mine explained that video by saying that in the offseason the ultras will round up the n00bs and take them to events like this to "rehearse"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrSs453rRr8

This is my favourite recent bout of ultraism - ten minutes' silent protest against the Swedish FA trying to kick this sort of thing out of football

Jonathan Wilson on ultras & politics

Normally I'm sceptical of any football/music/frivolity-of-choice-leading-wider-society analysis, but the Serbian examples he cites, as well as what's afoot in Egypt, suggests there's something in it here.

the jonathon wilson thread should be called 'jonathon wilson otm'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoKq7kSc23Q

no idea what they're singing but

The orchestrator guy down the front, how the hell do you acquire the sort of personality that lets you behave like that? Last time I went to the cricket there was a leader down the front, all bedecked in St George's crosses, who pranced back & forth all afternoon orchestrating the chants. He was terrific. I wouldn't even know how to begin.

Is that what you're like, Dan?!

something about Bellamy I think?

http://pitchinvasion.net/blog/2012/02/27/district-ultras-small-numbers-big-support-in-dc/

^^^good piece

I am certainly not one to lead chants, the guys (capos) that do that in Chicago are basically dudes who seemingly know and/or are friendly towards everyone and have a different level of enthusiasm for the team. they can be infectious.

also I like actually being able to see the game

Celtic's ultras have started a new thing now where instead of the capo leading the ultras, the ultras act as a capo for the rest of the stadium.

http://youtu.be/Iv1SLbi8Ke8

This is my favourite recent bout of ultraism - ten minutes' silent protest against the Swedish FA trying to kick this sort of thing out of football

Green Brigade nicked that one as well :)

Sat in silence for most (all?) of the first half of one game occasionally holding up banners saying "no aggressive flag waving" "no lateral movements" "no swearing" etc - quoting all the things they were told not to do in a letter from Celtic.

This has now given rise to the funniest thing I've seen in ages at CP - they've being doing various "having a party when Rangers die", "jelly and icecream when Rangers die", "pass the parcel when Rangers die" "tail on the donkey when Rangers die" etc for the last few weeks. Last week they started bouncing along sideyways singing "lateral movements when Rangers die". I suspect it was a "you had to be there" thing, but it was brilliant.

Pass the parcel with the little gift box thing being juggled about was a good laugh. there was also something like "passing wee andy" where they crowd surfed a wee guy about the section for a bit which was quite amusing.

it's quite gratifying to me that the nearest thing to a continental-style ultras section - in terms of more or less constant singing, tifo, style and variety of chants - in the uk is at celtic park.

"lateral movements when Rangers die" is excellent

http://youtu.be/j5QBOn251yw

perfect

just when you thought it couldn't get any wilder in Poland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLuMT5m8CP8

This is from longlost ilfer Pete's blog: reportage on London's gangs, 1972. Entertaining stuff, particularly notable for the romanticism that I guess was only possible because things hadn't got really nasty yet.

What happened to Pete? I remember him posting just as the Terry-blind incident was blowing up and then he disappeared. Actually, while we're at it, what ever happend to Blueski?

the month-long outage killed them off I think - it was too long, we lost some good men

http://www.englishstandard.co/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/rip-english-football-2.jpg

Note the reference to Billy Bonds and 'the inevitable Harry Rednapp' pitching up for a scrap at Coventry Station

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%B0stanbul_B%C3%BCy%C3%BCk%C5%9Fehir_Belediyespor_%28football_team%29

However, recently the team has won over some followers and they founded a supporter group called the, ‘Boz Baykuşlar’ (Grey Owls).

They are one of the most unusual supporter groups in Turkey, their numbers are small and they never engage in hooliganism, violence or insulting the opposition. They are renowned for their witty slogans, "Bize her yer deplasman!" (Everywhere is away for us), "Hakem haklı beyler!" (The referee is correct gentleman), ‘Maç Var Dediler Geldik!’ (They said there was a game being played so we thought we’d come along). [1]

Google translates the first one as "Us in the displacement of each!" which does sound rather intellectual for a supporters' chant.

Guardian photospread on spectacular tifos. Then there was Rob Smyth getting all teary on Football Weekly today at how good the atmosphere at OM-PSG was, compared to any epl game.

Is that right? Are the best fans in the world actually just ageing men being vile, while abroad gets on with having spectacular fun?

ESPN report reckons OM fans spent the entirety of the game chanting "Paris, Fuck You" which could of course be fun I guess.

haven't read this yet, looks intersting

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/sports/The-Beautiful-Game.html?page=all&src=longreads

http://www.youtube.com/v/DOe5XCZMCVg

All that for Brondby.

Really interesting monologue by James on Monday's Football Weekly about Serie A. I hadn't known the (considerable) backstory to the Coppa Italia final fiasco last week. Doesn't make you optimistic about the country's prospects of sorting itself out absent some awful disaster to make it happen.

Ahahaha that video ruled.

This display by Basel supporters is next level. It must involve fuse cords or something similar sewn into fire-resistant fabric? Never seen anything like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_PjPYghcCE