The Definitive Fan: British Fans Part 1/3
Since this is a UK based website, we would like to welcome you to this three part special of The Definitive Fan – The online guide from PowerPlayGoal.com to British fans who you’re likely to meet (or not meet) at a hockey game.
Some of these fans clearly have a true passion for the game, others, well, they are just there for something to do.
British Fan Type #1 – The Football (Soccer) Fan
Some Football Fans CLEARLY showing support for their favourite Hockey te – wait…
Bio:
Sometimes also known as the Chav, the Football Fan has a tendency to live, breath, eat and sleep the UK’s national sport, as well as the current “gangsta” fad. The majority of them are overly violent teens, drive white vans and read a popular tabloid ‘The Sun’. Due to their hooliganism, they are often seen as the scum of British society.
When it comes to hockey, chances are they will be found at local Saturday or Sunday night “semi-pro” hockey games when their supported football team isn’t playing. With them they will bring their stupid football chants, for example the infamous “Referee’s a wanker!” as well as terminology such as “shirt” instead of jersey, “keeper” instead of goaltender, “match” instead of game, and even “half” instead of period… don’t be surprised if they leave the game after the second period has finished.
These hockey games have everything to satisfy the Football Fan, especially the cheap ass ones: tickets are usually priced at £10, or rather “Ten paaand”, and food is mostly cheap and greasy as well. Also, since this fan type’s favourite genre of music is “gangsta” hip-hop, the music played in the rink is always catered to their tastes, much to the annoyance of certain other fans present. To settle these other fans’ needs, they will play Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’, which happens to be one of the only metal songs that the Football Fan likes to hear, again, much to the annoyance of the aforementioned other fans.
Of course, in most cases the primary reason they go to a hockey game in the first place is to see a fight break out, and that’s it. No fights leads to boredom and then complete lack of interest, and chances are they may leave the game early. And with recent “Zero Tolerance” policies being placed on fighting, reducing the amount of fights to almost zero, some of these fans have stopped going to hockey games altogether.
With this type of fan, there is usually a very, very slim chance of them being an NHL fan. Sometimes if they spot you in an NHL jersey, they will instantly recognise what you are wearing, especially if it’s an old Anaheim Mighty Ducks jersey… although to them, unless they really know much about the NHL, the Anaheim part of the team’s name is nothing more than gibberish. When asked what their favourite team is, their response is more than likely to be “New York”.
And speaking of ‘The Mighty Ducks’, apparently those films are their primary source for any hockey knowledge, as after one of the films has been shown on BBC or something for the 15th year in a row, they will claim to know everything there is about hockey, before getting bored and going back to Football yet again.
Characteristics:
Notably male – aged 13 through to their mid 20s. Sometimes they will be in their 30s or 40s as well.
Favourite Team:
They may follow their local club, but usually tend to support one of the “Big Four” Premier League teams; Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United – oh, you mean what hockey team? Again, just a local team. Or NHL teams in more well known cities like New York and Detroit. They probably won’t like them enough to actually care about them.
Other:
They occasionally see people in NHL jerseys and think that they are part of the popular “gangsta” fad, much like merchandise of certain NBA teams and the MLB’s New York Yankees have become in the UK. They may call you a “bad man”, or say “brup” – if you ever encounter one making an idiotic comment like that, proceed to kick them in the face.
I’m Wildwing64, hoping you enjoyed Part 1 of this three part special of The Definitive Fan.