Liverpool legend Bill Shankly has an iconic quote that defines the importance of football in his own point of view, as he famously once said ‘Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.’
Well, it turns out that some football fans live by the meaning of this quote. The sport of football is mostly a leisurely recreational event for the majority of watchers. But there is a section of fans who can literally die for their club if need be. These fans are those who will be willing to fight for their team’s pride and defend them in the most embarrassing of defeats.
Some of the rare obsessed fans can also get extremely emotional and often engage in fights or dirty banter with the opponent if need be. For many, these fans are described as ‘hooligans’ – the kind of supporters who are obsessed with defending the pride of their club.
There are some hooligans who tend to get violent and almost look to seek out moments to start fighting with the opposition fights. Some others are not exactly so ‘hands-on’, but are fearless in going toe-to-toe with just about anyone when it comes to defending their club’s honour.
Now, in most cases, the football ‘hooligans’ are male supporters. These would be individuals who believe that their team’s colours or spirit runs in their veins and have this obsessive need to defend them all the time. However, there are also a few rare female hooligan supporters – one of which was recently spotted at Southampton’s St.Mary’s Stadium.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, one female supporter can be seen getting especially worked up in the stands of the Saints’ stadium. This probably happened in Southampton’s recent game against Cardiff City in the Championship on December 2.
The Saints ended up winning the game 2-0, but it appears that the loss didn’t stop some of the visiting supporters from giving it back to the home fans. One female ‘hooligan’ can be seen climbing onto the middle section of the area where the away supporters are separated from the Southampton faithful at the St. Mary’s stadium.
She is joined by a number of fellow supporters who are trying to incite a fight with the home fans, giving them the middle finger and hurling some abuses at their way. The female fan can be seen being held back by a fellow Cardiff supporter and refuses to back down from the fight with the Southampton fans.
Football Twitter has found this to be hilarious and impressive to see how female football fans can be equally as passionate and obsessed with their clubs as their male counterparts.
Some stated that the famous movie ‘Green Street Hooligans’ – which showcases the hooligan fans’ culture in the UK – might have inspired her to get this aggressive at matches.
Some have found this to be extremely cringe-worthy and forced, but female fans on Twitter have struck back by claiming that it’s probably just as embarrassing as it would be seeing a male fan do this. It appears that the hooligan fans culture is showing no signs of dimming down around Europe.
Fans of all genders and ages are clearly being inspired to join in the obsession of fandom and we can probably expect to see similar examples like this more frequently going forward.
