Tony is a friend and colleague. Though he presently resides in Newcastle; he was born and bred in the Trafford suburb of Manchester, England, which according to him, makes him a born Manchester United Football Club supporter. If there is anything he doesn’t get tired of, it’s eulogizing Manchester United, idolizing Sir Alex Ferguson, the club’s first team coach and debating endlessly with people like me, that there is no better club than Man United. Undoubtedly he is a staunch supporter of the club but I never knew he could be forced to ask some questions about his status as a football fan just because of footballers’ flashy and flamboyant ways of life.

It all happened on Friday morning when he was glancing through a daily and ran into a page with pictures of David Beckham’s newly acquired ₤300,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom and a diamond encrusted wrist-watch. Not that he hasn’t heard or seen anything of such before, just that he decided, perhaps involuntarily to whinge over what never mattered to him in the past and it made him wanted to know what football fans actually get in return for their support?

Prior to this time, he had told me that fans are the real owners of football clubs, and that players are their employees. It gives him some sense of belonging and makes him feel proud. But this is a changed and charged man, who now seems to be demanding a different sense of ownership and belonging.

Tony is tired of hearing how much footballers earn in a week and sick of how they spend the “fans money” in flirtatious and extravagant ways while the fans themselves are left with nothing. He owns some shares in Man United but sees it as purely business as non-Man U fans can as well be share holders.

Tony wants another form of compensation. He wants a realistic sense of belonging, he wants to be compensated for the heart-attack he nearly suffered when Chelsea’s Petr Cech saved Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty in 2008 UEFA Champions League finals in Moscow. My friend believes that fans should be compensated for their cheers and support during football matches. He believes that clubs’ season ticket holders like his dad and siblings, who still live in Trafford, truly deserve to be paid dividends. In the past, Tony has had a quarrel with his girl friend who he inadvertently forgot to call as promised while watching a football match. And now he feels justified when he says that loyal fans like him deserve to be compensated.

In doing this, my colleague completely forgot how he used to ride roughshod over me whenever Man United beat Chelsea FC. He has forgotten of something called the bragging right, which he earns whenever his club grind out results. Walking tall on the streets of Newcastle in his Man U jerseys, especially on weekends, no longer means anything to him. He wants something tangible; he wants to share the spoils of soccer stars.

But my friend’s question and worry was not really out of place. I have heard a couple of football fans ask the same question and argue over what really should be the appropriate compensation for footballs fans. However, this is one question that no one cares if it gets answered or not, for football just like religion as stated by Karl Marx is also the opium of the people.

My friend may have been exasperated at the moment but I know he will soon be calmed, for football fans love their game. They hold their teams in high esteem and admire their players. Football matches provide a source of entertainment for them and they feel excited watching it. Winning brings out the ultimate joy in them, and gives them something to remember in time of defeat and loss. And such is the relationship between football clubs and their fans, a relationship of common goal, felt by people poles and continents apart and nurtured by each party’s love and admiration for the beautiful game of football.

Chukwudi Okeke writes from England

Robot  # 1 | 28.06.2008 13:21

Tony is a friend and colleague. Though he presently resides in Newcastle...Read the full article.