"Die Macht der Massen" / "The power of the masses"...

 

(from Kicker magazine's Premier League supplement, September 18 2023)

Fan culture in England was once considered mythical, but commerce has changed it too. For some clubs it's now about the atmosphere again.

Tottenham Hotspur sent their thousands of season ticket-holders and members an important email this summer.

It wasn’t asking for advice on who to appoint as manager after going through three last season – Antonio Conte, Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason – as the club failed to qualify for Europe for the first time in 14 years.

Nor was it about the England captain who still hit 30 goals during the campaign, taking him past Jimmy Greaves as Tottenham’s all-time leading scorer.

Harry Kane’s “one of our own” spell at Spurs would end of course with a £100million move to Bayern Munich, although a painted mural in his honour remains on a brick building around the corner.

What club chiefs wanted to hear from fans instead was how to improve the atmosphere at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which opened in 2019 on the footprint of their old and now-demolished White Hart Lane ground.

Suggestions included changing the songs played as the teams take to the field, encouraging more “tifo” flags especially in the single-tier Borussia Dortmund-style South Stand and bringing back an in-crowd drummer.

The North London club’s new 62,000-capacity stadium might regularly be hailed as one of the best in the world.

Yet for all its pristine sheen, continental cuisine at food market-style stalls along the concourses and Instagram-friendly photos, some supporters will still say something special is being lost as English fan culture faces modern-day developments.

Down the road in north London, fans of arch rivals Arsenal say the feel of the place has seldom been better under than in recent years.

They credit manager Mikel Arteta’s improving influence, though no club has failed to win the Premier League despite leading it for as long as Arsenal did last season.

This was a fanbase who used to be mocked for their silence during matches, meaning their old ground Highbury was commonly referred to as “The Library”.

But newly-vocal enthusiasm seems to come from young players such as Bukayo Saka and captain Martin Odegaard but also younger, committed supporter groups.

Arteta has praised the club’s adoption of “North London Forever”, a would-be anthem written by singer-songwriter fan Louis Dunford, son of sitcom actress Linda Robson.

On the other side of London, Crystal Palace have become the closest associated with the continental “Ultras” term.

A section of season ticket-holders at their Selhurst Park ground came together in the mid-2000s as the club which was regularly oscillating between the first and second divisions again plunged into administration.

They made a conscious effort to improve the atmosphere in their block, with self-consciously loud singing as well as artfully-designed “tifo” flags.

Clubs should encourage such fervor, many might say – especially since Arsenal’s top season ticket prices are the third most expensive in the country at £1,784, though still cheaper than Spurs’ £2,025 and west London Fulham’s £3,000.

Cheapest in the Premier League are £310 to the east of the capital, at West Ham United, then Burnley’s £335 and just £385 to see Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering Manchester City.

Spurs too have recently made an effort to have fans brandishing large and differently-themed flags before matches, a collaboration between the club and fan organisers.

New manager Ange Postecoglou was the target, in his first home match in charge against Manchester United last month, of a “tifo” display saying “Welcome to N17” – the Tottenham postcode – as fans behind the goal held up carefully-arranged white and blue placards.

Far further north, Manchester United supporters have made colourful statements against rather than in support of their club’s ownership at least.

Green and gold scarves have been produced, bought and worn as gestures against the unpopular Glazer family ownership – a nod to United’s original traditional colours before they shifted to red and white.

Other supporters keenly lean into their own unpopularity, such as south London side Millwall in the Championship who have long been notorious for their hooligans – despite the club pointing to their eager community initiatives and anti-racism campaigns.

Fans of the “Lions” defiantly chant: “No one likes us – no one likes us – no one likes us, we don’t care.”

Similar sentiments can be heard from fans of Cardiff City in Wales and Stoke City in Staffordshire, whose Premier League stint in the 2010s under pragmatic manager Tony Pulis depended heavily on long balls and hard tackling and comparisons to rugby.

Stoke fans would pre-empt their opponents by crooning along to a song more associated with the England rugby union team, “Swing Low Sweet Chariot”.

Arsenal’s introduction of “North London Forever” as a pre-match soundtrack has been compared to Liverpool’s famously anthemic use of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, a Rodgers and Hammerstein ballad from the 1940s but which caught on when covered by Merseybeat band Gerry and the Pacemakers in the 1960s.

The Kop stand at Liverpool’s Anfield is often mythologised for its inspirational atmosphere, similar to how fellow northern club Newcastle United’s supporters are renowned as among the most passionate in England.

That might have something to do with certain city status – that is, Newcastle are the only top team around beside the River Tyne, even if regional neighbours Sunderland and Middlesbrough are keenly-contested rivals.

London, in contrast, currently has six Premier League sides plus new arrivals Luton Town not far north, with plenty more in the divisions below.

Early table-toppers in non-league, England's fifth tier, are North London's Barnet whose ground has hosted internationals involving Nigeria, Senegal and Serbia.

There were 1,676 people there to see them beat Altrincham 3-0 on September 9.

But last season’s top average attendances for National League clubs were far higher, with Hollywood-backed Wrexham recording 9,973 and fellow promotion-winners Notts County scoring 8,024 while the figures were 6,912 for Chesterfield, 6,827 for Oldham Athletic and 6,040 for Southend United.

Even the two divisions below saw average crowds of 3,777 at National League North’s Scunthorpe United and 3,031 at Yeovil Town of National League South.

Such strong numbers down the English football pyramid provide insights into the country’s fan culture, according to supporter network organiser Kevin Rye.

He highlighted how strong the turnouts and engagement will be whether cheering on treble-winners Manchester City and newly-Saudi-rich Newcastle or campaigning to bring lower-league Bury back to life after collapsing into administration in 2020.

Rye runs football supporter consultancy Think Fan Engagement, teaches football business at UCFB Wembley and has worked with fans, clubs and governing bodies over the past two decades.

He is also a director of the Dons Trust, a football supporters’ group which has helped the progress of AFC Wimbledon – now in League Two, after being set up by Wimbledon fans horrified when their former club moved from south London to Milton Keynes and rebranded as MK Dons.

He said: “Loyalty and passion express themselves in different ways among different fanbases - clubs are still such a fundamental part of identity and belonging in England.

“It’s not that they aren’t in other countries, but we have such a depth of football in England that means even clubs at level nine can attract thousands of fans for every match.”

But he warned owners across the country can take unwavering devotion for granted.

Rye added: “It can make clubs unappreciative and sometimes a bit ignorant of this extraordinary commitment which is a shame because, harnessed properly, fanbases can be a tremendously powerful resource at the fingertips of a club.

“Fans will very often do anything to help their club if they can.

“I don’t know if it’s something unique in the psyche of the English but, whatever it is, it’s something I’ve seen over and over again in over 20 years in the game.”

Social media is something clubs are understandably attuned to, even if their online admins might find themselves facing resentful complaints from people going to matches but seeing lavish attention paid towards supporters’ clubs abroad – such is the Premier League’s TV-fuelled dominance.

This can be double-edged – among the most influential of online platforms is AFTV.

This much-shared internet channel stars a regular cast of Arsenal fans filmed watching matches and giving post-match interviews, often histrionic and which seemed especially negative during Arsene Wenger’s last years – prompting “Wenger Out” marches through the streets of Islington.

Fan fervour can be happily shared online too, with elegantly-written blogs, fundraising campaigns and mickey-taking “banter” accounts entertaining and engaging many.

Even antagonisms can sometimes somehow be set aside when poring over fantasy football league stats and tables, amid friends or at work.

But clubs and owners could risk losing sight of homebase appeal, in favour of focusing on foreign fan communities in order to open up new markets.

In the end that doesn't help the atmosphere in the stadium.

At least Spurs appear to have started recognising the problem. Mood does matter.