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Football friendships?



Dandyman

In London village.
Having read the article below, I was pondering which British clubs have similar friendships. We tend to get on with Charlton and Doncaster, Spurs hoolies are close to Aberdeen casuals, Rangers and Chelski have their Loyalist love-ins, Celtic and Manure seem close at times, any others ?

Which clubs' fans have unlikely friendships with their rivals? | The Knowledge | Football | guardian.co.uk


"I was quite surprised to attend a match at my local club, Wisla Krakow, who were playing PKS Slask (from Wroclaw) in the Polish first division," wrote Roger Mackin last week. "I was a bit worried about dangerous hooligan action but I was told beforehand that the hooligans of these two teams were 'friends'. And it was true. They proceeded to sing each others' songs and included a cute 'Wisla i Wroclaw' number. Do other clubs have such a love affair going on while in the same (top) division? It seems unlikely but there must be a precedent. Having said that, I can't imagine English fans singing 'Stoke and Fulham, la la la la la.'"

It seems that Wisla and PKS are far from the only sides to enjoy such friendly relations. In fact, they're not even the only sides in Poland. "When I used to wander along to support the mighty Polonia Warszawa (Legia Warszawa's older, nobler, smaller rival), they used to sing songs in support of Cracovia (Wisla Krakow's older, nobler, smaller rival) and also had a soft spot for Arka Gdynia," writes Nicholas Walton. "It was normal to have a few Cracovia flags and shirts in attendance. Other clubs had other alliance networks – although I was told by Polonia fans that Legia didn't have any friends as they were arrogant big-time-Charlies.

"The alliances extended to hooligan gangs. Possibly this is because generally small travelling fans were able to build links, especially for a spot of fighting, on away trips – based upon perceived shared identity (as with Polonia and Cracovia) and rivalries."

And it's a phenomenon far from confined to the land that produced Grzegorz Lato, Zbigniew Boniek and, yes, Dariusz Wdowczyk. There are further examples elsewhere in Eastern Europe. "I attended a match this August between Dinamo Kiev and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, who were at the time both in the top five of the Ukrainian top division," writes Adrian Rogstad. "The match was a dreary 0-0 draw attended by just 17,000, so the best entertainment came from the two teams' fan groups, who my local 'guides' told me had a friendly relationship.

"In the second half, they would on occasion join in each others' songs (which I have no idea what were about), and towards the end were united in a chant of 'Metalist is a team of condoms', referring to Metalist Kharkiv, a club both of the groups apparently despise. I have no idea if calling someone a 'condom' is a common insult in Ukraine or whether the choice was merely due to the fact that 'team' (komanda) and 'of condoms' (kondoma) rhymes in Russian."

But not all fans come together to deride their common enemy as a team of prophylactics. "It is quite common in Turkey but the best example is the friendship between Bursaspor and Ankaragucu," writes Dominic Brassington. "The friendship comes from, allegedly, the death of a fan going to watch the game and the fans then agreeing to bury their differences. On the match day the fans will meet before to eat, visit Ataturk's mausoleum if the match is in Ankara and watch the game in a party atmosphere.

"But the support extends far beyond that. While Bursaspor were on their charge to winning the league last year Ankaragucu fans came out en masse to support Bursa against Genclerbirligi, and Bursa sent a large number of fans to support Ankaragucu against Fenerbahce. The province numbers in Turkey run alphabetically with Ankara No6 and Bursa No16, so during Bursa games the fans chant Ankaragucu during the sixth minute and vice versa."

The Bundesliga is also littered with these relationships. Bayern Munich and Bochum, 1860 Munich and Kaiserslautern, and Schalke and Nürnberg are particularly close, but there are plenty of others of varying strength and also a plethora of regional alliances. The reasons behind the phenomena are varied, and not always easy to work out (even our man in the know, Rafa Honigstein, was unsure of the exact origins). The spectre of hooliganism and "my enemy's enemy is my friend" almost certainly lies around some, though by no means all. Cologne's freundschaft with St Pauli, for example, dates back to 1978 and the final day of the Bundesliga season. Borussia Mönchengladbach, facing Dortmund, required victory and a 10-goal swing to win the title on goal difference, while Cologne travelled to already-relegated St Pauli. Gladbach rather conveniently trounced Dortmund 12-0, but Cologne took the title thanks to a 5-0 win. Fans of both sides apparently celebrated together.

Serie A is also a hotbed of inter-club cosying. "In Italy, nearly all clubs are 'twinned' with other clubs (Gemellaggi)," writes Paul Haynes. "For example, the team I support, Napoli, are twinned with Genoa. When Napoli were promoted to Serie A in 2007, the Genoa ultras held up a banner saying "Benvenuto fratello napoletano" – "Welcome, my Neapolitan brother" – when the clubs met in the league."
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
59,198
The Fatherland
Hertha Berlin have a huge friendship with Karlsruhe.
 




Billy the Fish

Technocrat
Oct 18, 2005
17,472
Haywards Heath
Charlton and Fayenoord at one point, not sure if it's still going now they're in the third tier

Rangers and Hamburg. Hamburg with that classic show of support against celtic :lolol:

_46684397_hamburg_banner_poster.jpg
 


Dandyman

In London village.
Charlton and Fayenoord at one point, not sure if it's still going now they're in the third tier

Rangers and Hamburg. Hamburg with that classic show of support against celtic :lolol:

_46684397_hamburg_banner_poster.jpg


They are VERY efficient those Germans.
 






tomysupercup

North Stand Kollective
Sep 17, 2004
405
NORTH STAND
An interesting read, thanks for posting that.

I knew about the Napoli / Genoa friendship from attending a Napoli game a couple of years ago. Defiantly didn't mention to the Napoli fans we were with that we were going to watch Sampdoria next!

A similar thing happened last season when we went to watch Sevilla v Xerez. About 10 minutes into the game the Sevilla Ultras unveiled a huge banner that read "Bienvenidos a casa, Hermanos" (welcome home brothers) -

sevilla.jpg

I know of the following friendships that exist in Spain -

Sevilla / Xerez

Xerez / Deportivo La Coruña

Rayo Vallecano / Cadiz

I'm sure there are many more. It seems much more common in mainland Europe. When our friends from Xerez came to watch the Albion this season they were asking whether Sheffield Wednesday were "friends or our enemies"!

I guess from the Albion's perspective it would be Doncaster or maybe Wrexham? Lose connections built on similar ownership tales and some kind of connection based on experience? There seems to be a fair few Spurs fans on this board too. Maybe Spurs and the Albion are "twinned"? Or not?

:albion1:
 


Was not Was

Loitering with intent
Jul 31, 2003
1,586
I remember Brentford fans singing "Brentford and Kingstonian" at us, when we went out to those two teams in two separate cups in the space of 3-4 days.
 




Dandyman

In London village.
An interesting read, thanks for posting that.

I knew about the Napoli / Genoa friendship from attending a Napoli game a couple of years ago. Defiantly didn't mention to the Napoli fans we were with that we were going to watch Sampdoria next!

A similar thing happened last season when we went to watch Sevilla v Xerez. About 10 minutes into the game the Sevilla Ultras unveiled a huge banner that read "Bienvenidos a casa, Hermanos" (welcome home brothers) -

View attachment 19325

I know of the following friendships that exist in Spain -

Sevilla / Xerez

Xerez / Deportivo La Coruña

Rayo Vallecano / Cadiz

I'm sure there are many more. It seems much more common in mainland Europe. When our friends from Xerez came to watch the Albion this season they were asking whether Sheffield Wednesday were "friends or our enemies"!

I guess from the Albion's perspective it would be Doncaster or maybe Wrexham? Lose connections built on similar ownership tales and some kind of connection based on experience? There seems to be a fair few Spurs fans on this board too. Maybe Spurs and the Albion are "twinned"? Or not?

:albion1:


There are certainly a number of ex-Spurs players that have played for the Albion - Bobby Smith and Guy Butters among them - and a former Spurs skipper - Alan Mullery - who has managed the club as well as many who have Spurs as their other club. There are also however a fair number of very bitter provincal Spurs haters on this board...
 


xenophon

speed of life
Jul 11, 2009
3,260
BR8
Charlton and Fayenoord at one point, not sure if it's still going now they're in the third tier

Rangers and Hamburg. Hamburg with that classic show of support against celtic :lolol:

_46684397_hamburg_banner_poster.jpg

I'm not into all that Kick the Pope/Queen nonsense, but that photo is pretty f***ing impressive
 


Simster

"the man's an arse"
Jul 7, 2003
54,110
Surrey
I'm not into all that Kick the Pope/Queen nonsense, but that photo is pretty f***ing impressive
Agreed. It's so impressive I'm not convinced it's actually real!

(I know that it is - just checked)
 
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After two splendid results last Saturday, there were lots of Albion and Millwall fans in the Kings Head near London Bridge station expressing surprise to each other about how well we seemed to be getting on together.
 


New Carpet?

New member
Aug 23, 2009
797
Take a look at a follow-up in this week's "The Knowledge" :albion2:

FANS WITH UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIPS (2)

Last week we looked at the teams whose fans have formed unlikely allegiances with their rivals. This week we've been pointed towards a few of English sides who get along famously.

"Norwich and Sunderland fans have a long-standing friendship stemming from the 1985 Milk Cup final between the teams where supporters had a mass football match in the car park and swapped scarves," writes Ffion Thomas. "Subsequently the teams have competed for the coveted Friendship Trophy [mentioned previously in our piece on trophies contested by only two teams], contested in each meeting between the two sides (and currently held by Sunderland). Kevin Baldwin's excellent diary of the 1992-93 season, 'Norfolk 'n' Good', also describes a Norwich game away at Everton where Sunderland fans, whose game at Tranmere had been postponed, joined the City fans in the away end, leaving the local stewards unsure as to whether to separate the fans or let them get on with it."
Brighton's final game at the Goldstone Ground Brighton fans protest at the final game at Goldstone Ground against Doncaster Rovers. Photograph: Ross Kinnaird/Allsport/Getty

While that friendship was forged in happy circumstances, adversity thrust together Brighton and Doncaster: "Brighton developed cordial relations with a couple of clubs as a result of our tribulations in the late '90s," writes Leo Eyles. "Most notably, Doncaster Rovers, who were the last opponents at the Goldstone Ground in 1997. Both the players and the fans were incredibly supportive of our predicament at that time. The following season the club branded the match between the sides at Gillingham (where we were exiled) as 'The Heart of Football' although this didn't stop it being a dull 0-0 draw between the two bottom teams in the Football League. The return game at Belle Vue was an altogether more feisty affair that the Donny fans chose for a protest against the dodgy owners: Brighton fans played a full part in the protests. It would be fitting if the first game at Falmer next year was against Donny."
 






seagullsoverlincoln

New member
Jul 14, 2009
521
i don't know how many remember going on the protest march at York City a few years ago, but York havent forgotten our presence and have affection for us
 


Publius Ovidius

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
45,919
at home
they all hate us...we don't care
 



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