Over the course of my life I have lived in quite a number of different parts of the country. Being a lifelong football fan (i.e. Association Football, or 'soccer' as it is called in some parts), I have usually found in each church with which I have been connected a fair smattering of football fans. Since coming to live in Leicester, I have been a little surprised to discover that in my churches here there are more rugby fans (or Rugby Football to give it its proper term) than football fans. Although I was brought up in the Hull area, which is a strong rugby City, I have only ever been to one rugby match in my life, until yesterday that is. (I should point out that there are two forms of Rugby, Rugby League and Rugby Union, but it would take far too long to explain the difference between the two!)
I was given the opportunity yesterday to attend a Rugby Union match between Leicester Tigers and Exeter Chiefs. Being open to new life experiences, I was keen to take up the opportunity. Leicester have long had the reputation of being one of the country's top teams. Although the game of rugby is different in many ways from the game of football, I imagined that the experience of being a rugby spectator would be very similar to that if being a football spectator. How wrong I was!
One aspect of the game which did confuse me a little came when the crowd started chanting their support of "The Tigers" (the name by which the Leicester team are known). I fancied for a moment that I was back watching my home-town football team, Hull City, whose nickname is the Tigers (the real Tigers, of course!)
The ground was fairly full when the time came for kick-off. The p.a. announcer informed us that the visiting team, Exeter Chiefs, were coming onto the pitch. I was surprised to hear a generous round of applause from the home fans; if the same had happened at a football match, there would have been a chorus of very loud boos for the opposition! The game commenced, and Exeter were awarded a penalty kick (don't ask me why, the laws of the game are a bit beyond me!) When their kicker slotted the kick between the posts, registering 3 points for Exeter, again there was applause from the home fans! I noted, also, that whenever a penalty kick is taken the stadium falls reverently quiet, allowing the kicker to concentrate. When a penalty kick is awarded in football, the opposing fans make as much noise as they can in an attempt to put the kicker off.
One aspect of the experience which I very much appreciated was the fact that not once during the whole match did I hear any bad language or see any loutish behaviour. On many occasions as a football supporter my enjoyment of the game has been spoilt by a constant stream of foul language from supporters, even if there are children nearby. Some of the chants heard at football grounds can make one's stomach churn. I noticed also that there is no segregation between home and away fans; they seem to happily co-exists together with no animosity. Again, this contrasts sharply with the football experience, where the hatred and antagonism between opposing fans can be horrific. In football there has to be clear segregation between the two sets of fans or people could get hurt.
Although I have always been a football fan, and I am probably unlikely to convert to rugby, I must say that the actual experience of being a rugby supporter was so much more enjoyable in many ways. Rugby fans have a lot to teach the followers of football [and the behaviour of the rugby players, who never argued with the referee - even if they believed that he had made a mistake - put to shame the petulant, spoilt-brat behaviour of many footballers]. Certainly if my grandchildren asked me which game to follow I would encourage them to get along to their local rugby ground rather than be subjected to the behaviour of football fans!
I have been doing a lot of thinking about why it is that rugby fans behave so much better than their football counterparts. However much I ponder the question, I can't come up with a good answer! Sometimes alcohol is blamed for football violence, and that's why the sale of alcohol is usually strictly controlled (or even banned) within football grounds. Yet at yesterday's rugby match, supporters were able to freely purchase alcohol in the stadium and even take it to consume in their seats!
Ultimately, I suppose, it boils down to the choices people make. Far too many football fans (even is it is a smallish minority) make the choice to behave in a manner that falls well below acceptable standards, and can end up spoiling the enjoyment of others. Rugby fans, on the other hand, clearly make the choice to concentrate on enjoying the game, and playing it in the right spirit. It's always easy to blame others for our own behaviour, but at the end of the day we all have to face up to the consequences of our own choices. We would all do well to heed the words of St Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, 'Sooner or later
we’ll all have to face God, regardless of our conditions. We will appear
before Christ and take what’s coming to us as a result of our actions,
either good or bad.'
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