International Support: A Student Experience

As you would expect at University, particularly in countries such as England, you meet students from many different nations. I have made friends who are Portuguese, Italian, Ghanaian and Nigerian for example, who naturally support their respective nation, not England like me. Of course there are more International Students, or those who live in England but come from elsewhere, than that at UOB. These are just people whose paths have crossed mine. What is apparent from big competitions such as the World Cup, is that you learn that every nation has their own way of supporting.

English fans are often associated with being drinkers when it comes to football, and a rowdy bunch too. 'The Barmy Army'  as we apparently are. I think that comes from being a very passionate set of fans. I'm no different when I watch England, I like to go to the pub to watch and support, and those I have met at UOB have been the same. In other words we get to have 'one or two' and shout at a TV screen in Bedford High Street together, before letting everyone else know of our pride if we do well.

However, you do notice that other countries do things slightly differently. I have found out for instance that the Italians are very family orientated and so, although it's not strictly what all Italians do, will have gatherings that coincide with the game. Someone I know from UOB doesn't even like football yet still did this!  The African nations tend to be big into their music and dance when they support their team, something that was emphasised to me when I came to UOB and meeting new people. This is similar to those of countries like Brazil, who again are a very passionate group and like to make it into a party atmosphere, which seems to make them smile all game!

Obviously being English means I am more aware of England's team than others, but the biggest thing I have picked up on at university about other teams is the attitude that their fans have. Although English fans are very passionate, we are also a bit negative towards ourselves through the expectation that our players should perform better than they do. I personally don't get too excited about watching us play in some games because we aren't always as positive as we can be in our style of football. Other people can't get enough of seeing their team play, they just love it! It really means a lot to them and events like the World Cup really highlight this to us all. I think this comes from having lower expectations than those of English fans and it allows them to enjoy the experience more.