On being a football fan

Whether you like football or not, you'd have to have a heart of stone not to appreciate the unquestioning dedication of the hard-core, season-ticket-owning home fans. I was at White Hart Lane at the weekend and watched with admiration the small band of ringleaders who would begin the chants that the rest of the home fans would then join in with. There were four or five that I could identify, probably in their early twenties at most, some not even in this season's home kit, as a lot of people were, and they would let barely three or four minutes of time go by before starting another exhortation to the masses to urge on their team, try and get the manager to indicate the score, send welcoming vibes to new signings and, of course, mock the opposition's numerically inferior supporters. They will be doing this week in, week out, in all competitions, in all weathers, win or lose, and the same can be said of all 92 Football League clubs and many much smaller concerns beyond.

Whilst we're at it, let's consider for a moment the dedication required from the visiting supporters to take the time, trouble and, in all likelihood, not inconsiderable expense to come all the way over from Greece to north London, numbering maybe 200 to 250 souls, watch their team lose 0-3, keep up an enthusiatic cheering and chanting all the while being barracked by around ten times as many foreigners and still have to face the return journey afterwards. Let's hear it for the away fans too, especially when they're from overseas!