ANCIENT SPECTATORS

Fans have watched football for as long as it’s been around – and ancient forms of it were played more than 2,000 years ago. One of history’s earliest-known fans of the beautiful game is a boy depicted on an Ancient Greek vase – dating from the fourth century BC – which is now in the Acropolis Museum in Athens. The lad, in his birthday suit rather than a replica kit, is shown gazing in wonder at a man playing a primitive form of keepie-uppies.

The Romans watched a version of the game called harpastum and, as far as popular entertainment of the era was concerned, it was certainly less brutal than seeing Christians chucked to the lions (this was still a fair while before Lee Cattermole, don’t forget).

One historical report talks of a crowd of toga-wearing harpastum fans yelling a series of familiar-sounding criticisms: “On the ground!”, “Too short!”, “Pass it back!” A skilful player by the name of Piso even had his own fan song, which would begin: “To watch such play the populace remains stock still...”

Well, it beats yet another half-arsed reworking of Achy Breaky Heart, right?