So you know how on ESPN or on Yahoo! News they show clips from a European soccer game where the fans look completely insane, lighting fires in the crowd, starting fights, getting arrested, etc? Believe it or not, that stuff actually happens at European soccer matches. Back on September 26, I witnessed a match between AC Sparta Praha and SK Slavia Praha. Some friends and I decided to go to the game an hour or so before the first whistle, little did we know that we were about to walk into an incredibly hostile yet vivacious environment. AC Sparta is Prague's best soccer club, its most recognized club, and its most followed club. The team has bred soccer stars such as Petr Čech and Tomáš Rosický, who play for Chelsea and Arsenal respectively. I am sure there are more stars to come from the team but I do not know enough about the sport to say definitively. SK Slavia, on the other hand, was apparently competitive five or so years back but now just cannot keep up with Sparta.
We arrive at the stadium a little late, hearing an incredible roar indicating a scored goal as we approached. Then the reality of our surroundings set in. As we stood at a security gate and were asking directions to the ticket booth, we were yelled at to move away from the fence. Three or four different men were then dragged out of the stadium by five police officers each, dressed in riot control gear. It felt like one of those Yahoo! videos: the men screaming the names of their team while the authorities did what they could to muffle their screams. It was at that point that we realized we were in for an experience. Eventually, we found the ticket booth, bought tickets for 130 kc each ($6.72... yeah, the exchange rate is awesome!), and made our way into the stadium. At that point, there were only a few minutes left in the first half so we did not try to push our way through the crowd to our assigned seats. We down to the lower section to find a huge section of empty seats right behind the goal. The upper deck was packed, how could it be that there were so many places to sit in such a great location? That we found out a little later.
After halftime, the group I came with split up in the crowd so my friend Dylan and I found ourselves sitting on the lower level on one of the sidelines. We had a great view of the fans on both sides and the field itself. When the second half started, thirty seconds did not go by without at least one cheer from each set of fans. And when I say cheer, I do not mean like a cute cheerleaders' “ra ra ra” cheer, I mean there were huge drums, megaphones, and a mob of angry fans screaming the team songs that they had grown up singing. Every now and then, the referee would make a call upsetting the Slavia fans, amongst whom Dylan and I were sitting, which would make them spit, throw beer, and throw fire cracker-type things, into the section directly below them. I guess that is why people do not sit in those seats, ya know, unless they like being burned by torched towels. At one point, I saw a girl holding her t-shirt over the railing in the balcony and thought, “that's strange... Oh wait, the t-shirt is on fire, that's why.” Every goal that Sparta scored (Sparta won 3-0) sparked a Sparta colored bon fire in the middle of their cheering section. I'm telling you, these people are fanatics in every sense of the word. When I realized the level of psycho in the crowd, I was a little freaked out. I obviously routed for Slavia for fear of being jumped and even tried to yell along with their chants, not too loudly that anyone would notice my wordless mumbles but loud enough to keep people from looking in my direction and wondering why I wasn't participating in the religious prayers.
While sports in the Czech Republic are not the best in the world, besides their national hockey team, I think they are the soul and spirit of an otherwise apathetic nation. Well over 50% of the nation is either agnostic or atheistic, which is one of the highest percentages in the world. Most people strongly dislike current president Václav Klaus and his government. The only institutions that really draw a consistent following are the soccer and hockey clubs. There are a lot of die-hard Sparta, Slavia, Liberec, Brno, or Plzen fans, to name a few teams, who solely believe in their soccer clubs and nothing else. Sports are constants that cannot start wars or be overthrown by other governments. A sports team will always be there to play and the fan always there to watch. They only affect an individual's life as much as he/she lets it, as opposed to a governmentally imposed tax hike. And there are no promises like those made by religion that something may or may not happen in the afterlife. Everything in sports can be explained almost exclusively pragmatically, with no grand statements about humanity's existence found anywhere near. Czech's like straightforward ideas, sports being one of them.
Leaving the game early was an excellent decision. Sparta was up 3-0 in the 80th minute so we figured it was best to leave the stadium before anything crazy happened. It took me a long time to realize the significance of the hundreds and hundreds of riot police lining the stadium as we left. Police literally lined the entire stadium. There were police on horses, even a helicopter circling in the air above. It was unbelievable. Looking back, I realize that almost everything that happens in the confines of the stadium is anarchy. It seems as though anything that happens that does not affect those of the field or sideline is legal. It makes sense now. The police were there to make sure that the anarchy of the 90 minute soccer game was left in the stadium. The police were there to restore law and order to those leaving the match so that they do not disturb the surrounding communities.
This was an incredible experience, seeing the passion of the fans literally burning in the stands. I just did a little research and found one more soccer match happening while I am in town, SK Slavia vs. Liberec. I am not thrilled about seeing Slavia play again but Liberec is second in the Gambrinus Liga, the name of the league and coincidentally my favorite beer. The stadium is not too far away so I will try to rally the troops and go. Should be another hell of an adventure.
Anywho, thanks for reading. I'll be posting again soon.
All the best,
Than
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