Tipsy French fans shot down
THE FRENCH Ultras love their beer! But they don’t consume it like most of us do – for fun. To them, this is the fuel that ensures they maintain their Pyro Football for regulation time and beyond.
And, thanks to MultiChoice and the Uefa Europa League, I was able to get a glimpse of this live, during my visit to Emirates Stadium, pictured, for Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Stade Rennes in the second leg of the continental football competition.
But for me, what I had envisioned was the nostalgic North African football scenes that I’d witnessed on my TV screen. Now, safe to say, Caf football was brought to me in North London? Ha ha, not quite. I am currently in the UK, accompanying MultiChoice Diski Challenge winners Bloemfontein Celtic for their 10-day tour which is part of their reward for last season’s reserve league triumph.
Upon our arrival on Thursday, we were treated to a live Europa League game at the iconic Emirates for a match between the Gunners and Les Rouges et Noirs.
Getting off our team bus across from the “The Clock End” entrance, I was welcomed by a bunch of supporters who were savouring alcoholic beverages – as if they were midway through the festive period. I thought, “Yerr, bayasela abaxhasi beArsenal”,
which means, “Astonishingly… Arsenal fans can drink’’. But that was due to my then poor discernment.
Only a few seconds later I realising they were the Stade Rennes fans. Many in their none sober-self state passed us with vibrant and exuberant gestures – photo-bombing our pictures or jumping at us as if we were a bunch of celebrities from Africa – as they made their way to the “The Clock End”.
We used the same entrance as they did – but headed straight to our three executive suits. A floor-anda-half below us, in the lower south part of the stadium, is where the hooligans are designated – and there were no better occupants than the French drunkies.
Do not “Yohh” at me for not anticipating what was about to happen next, as I learnt more about continental football in my late teens due to my then shortcomings about “economic privileges”.
After our quick dinner, proceedings did get under way on the field and it was surreal to see half a dozen incandescent flares bursting into life just in front of me and belching out plumes of red smoke like a fiery volcano.
But I wasn’t terrified; instead I loved every moment of it. A few minutes later, this was annihilated by the law enforcers and the skies cleared. But the songs, chants and rumblings in unison from the French fans went on.
The only time they received competition from the home supporters was during the three goals that they got – a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ainsley Maitland-Niles – as Arsenal booked their spot in the quarter-finals.
Reality is, though, I’ve never been close to North African supporters but I have been to Celtic’s.
And the songs, chants and rumblings here reminded me of the Mighty Siwelele’s 12th man that stood by their team through thick and thin. It cuts deeps in me, and likely these youngsters, that their concerns of opposing the club’s sale are still not met by management.
Cry Beloved Siwelele, You Are Not Alone!