Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FOOTBALL FANS
In 1995, 12-year-old Becky Gamesternewton went to her first football match with her dad, John. Her team, Nottingham Forest, lost seven-nil to Blackburn Rovers but she walked away a life-long fan of the beautiful game.
On the other side of the world in Brazil, Thays Kloss’ football allegiance was decided from birth. Dad Paulo is a super-fan of Athletico Paranaense, a club in the southern city of Curitiba.
Says Thays: “My dad used to bring me to the stadium to see the games and I started to really enjoy it.
“I’m really grateful for all the things football gives me. Travelling and enjoying the games – and I even met my fiance Guilherme through football.”
Thays and Becky are one of the first pairs to meet via video call for the Mirror’s new project The World Talks.
An offshoot of our ground-breaking Britain Talks series, this time readers will have the chance to sign up and meet people from all over the globe.
Newspapers led by the German website Zeit Online are partnering across countries including Ghana, Ukraine, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, India, Germany, Italy and Mexico.
If there’s something Britain and Brazil share, it’s a passion for football. Nottinghamshire -born Becky, 39, a mum to two daughters, is a writer and digital editor who used to work for BBC Sport. Thays, 29, is a digital journalist covering football in Brazil.
“Does your fiance support the same club?” Becky, from Mansfield, asks.
I’m glad I took part and would encourage others to sign up BECKY ON JOINING MIRROR’S ONLINE CHAT
No,” Thays says. “Does that cause problems?” Thays laughs. “No, because his team’s not very good.” It’s Becky’s turn to laugh. “My husband is an Arsenal supporter,” she says. “So, we’re concerned about opposite ends of the table.”
Until now Becky’s daughters support “the red team” which conveniently covers both Forest and Arsenal.
“But now my daughter says she wants to support ‘Mummy’s red team’, which is probably not a good decision from her to be honest,” Becky says.
Thays tells Becky that in February last year a judge banned men from the stadiums of Athletico Paranaense and rivals Coritiba as punishment for a brawl.
“They decided to let just women and children into the stadium and it was a different experience – really magical,” she says.
“I felt I had the freedom to be myself in the stadium. I think you and the children would enjoy it, too.”
The ban extended to three games and applied to all males over 12. On the third and final one, 37,000 women and children cheered their teams on.
Becky says: “That’s never happened here. I think it would be a really nice atmos
phere.” Thays says she fell in love with her national team, Brazil, from birth but especially in 2002, the year they won the World Cup. Becky says her love affair with England began two years later in Portugal when she went to watch the men’s team in the Euros.
“Then I really started to watch England and travel the world, including to Brazil, for the World Cup,” she says. “I spent a number of years travelling to watch as many friendlies, qualifiers and tournaments as I could. “I’ve scaled back a little in recent times as I have young children but I continue to go to some Forest games and I am planning on travelling