Caaaarefree, wherever
you may be, cause we are the Famous C F C
- and we don’t give a f**k whomever you may be - cause we are the Famous
C F C…
There is a Chelsea supporters club based in Cape Town that I
follow on Facebook. They have had a series of in fighting recently regarding
the local pub. Just reading through those comments made me think about how I (the little barefoot plank from Witbank) got stuck into the largest Chelsea fan
group in the middle east.
I moved into Dubai late 2007 to find myself some work that
wasn’t throwing shovel loads of poo out of a manhole somewhere in Diepsloot. As
a white male without experience and negligible education it is seriously tough
in SA to get a decent job off the bat. I landed some work in Dubai on a construction
site as a Junior Safety Officer which didn’t pay much but it did mean I had an
office and an aircon which, as any Emirate will tell you, are bare minimums to
remain sane.
I didn’t go too well on the making friends front. I was still a
party rocker at heart but with less than 1000 durhams a month in spending money
could never really slot into the crowd there.
You see, the type of drinking and general disorderly conduct that we all
take for granted in the Western style countries is frowned upon there. Not to
say it’s outright illegal but it is controlled and monitored by the humorless
and non-negotiating UAE police force. One step out of line and you’re in a cell
for the weekend. No questions asked. So in this light the venues that did have licenses
obviously charged a premium for their service. I’m talking well over R100 South
African Rand for a pint in most places.
My sister’s husband is the Chelsea Fan Club head honcho for
the Middle East area. He, initially out of pity, invited me to join him and his
band of merry mates to watch a Chelsea game at a pub named Fibbers. Now coming
from SA I understand soccer to be a silly, slow and agonisingly low scoring
game played by skinny buggers that couldn't make the rugby team. So I was not
going there with much enthusiasm for the game.
I walked into the pub and met up with Lee. He introduced me
to Reggie the Beer Monster (whom warrants his own story on the side) and a
bunch of other characters. Different colours, shapes, sizes and all sorts.
Males, females and males with curly hair. After a few introductions Lee leans
over and said those three words that makes my heart flutter: “Want a pint?”.
It all started there. One pint of Stella in and my whole
outlook on Football started to develop. I started to understand the attraction
of the game. The game is one thing but the crowd in the pub is a whole other
story all together. It is massive. It’s crammed, it’s loud and it is full of beer.
There is signing and chanting while hanging onto the person next to you with
the only worry in the world being the Chels and that knob ref with the big
nose.
“There’s only
ooooooone Arsene Wenger…Just ooooooone Arsene Wenger – with a bucket of sweets and
a cheeky smile, Arsene Wenger is a paedophile”. Sammy used to get up on the
table and start the sing songs to which us (as the crowd) had various timed responses.
Some of the songs we sang together from the start:
“ Suuuper, Suuper Frank, Suuper Supper Frank…Super Franki
Lampard” and some songs we sang in certain sections:
“One man
went to Mow – Mow!
– Went to mow a meadow– One man and his dog spot, went to mow
a meadow”
Great times. Great group of people all brought together by
the love of the sport and the love of the Blue flag. I wouldn’t have last half
the time in Dubai if it wasn’t for them. There is a whole series of stories
that branch off from the UAE CFC. Reggie owns a few just on his own. We will
get to those in due time.
You see that is the main thing here. You put people from different
walks of life into a small space together and you are going to have turmoil.
You will never please them all – just forget about it. That’s just the way it
is. From an outsider who became in insider I can tell you this: It’s about the individuals that are willing to sacrifice their little opinions to get stuck in with
a group of people who all sharing the same want in life... to be top of the log
and having a laugh.
Sunday at 18:00 lads – “Come
on Chelsea, come on Chelsea, come on Chelsea”
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