WSC DAILY
December 2009
Fan friendships are possible | Fan friendships are possible |
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Thanks to an inevitable combination of delays, disruptions and line closures, this one train was ferrying home large groups of Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest fans (returning from draws at Ipswich and Middlesbrough respectively). Presumably so as to cause minimal disruption to other passengers on the train the police decided to round up both sets of fans into the one carriage – my carriage. Blocked off at either end by a large yet nervous police presence, the two sets of shaven-headed, tattooed, hooded and, by this point, well-lubricated young men were crammed together inside the carriage. A scenario that would make even the toughest constable wake up in a cold sweat. Thankfully such fears proved to be ungrounded.
As the train set off, the chanting started. Yet there was something different about the songs. Instead of trying to antagonise their rivals, the fans seemed to be using them to reach out to one another. One wise-head piped up with a well-received rendition of "We hate Warnock, we hate Warnock" (in reference, of course, to the always popular Neil Warnock – a particular bête noire for both sets of fans). Further revulsion was directed towards fellow Championship rivals (Sheffield United, Derby County and Leicester City in particular), along with Leeds. Yet the fans were not just bonding over shared enemies. "There's only one Des Walker…" the chant began; a song dedicated to the centre-back who distinguished himself at both clubs during the 1990s and early 2000s. More chants followed, honouring other shared heroes such as Chris Bart-Williams, Brian Laws and Mark Crossley. On the subject...
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