Sipwell: football in Belgium, a question

[ImperialWhite]

I'm watching KV Mechelen v Standard (on BetFair) and I swear I just heard the crowd chant we love you Mechelen, we do. I.e. Do people in Belgium chant in English!?

[HatterDon]

I'm watching KV Mechelen v Standard (on BetFair) and I swear I just heard the crowd chant we love you Mechelen, we do. I.e. Do people in Belgium chant in English!?

Which raises the obvious question, do people in England chant in English? Based on some chants heard at matches played in Bolton, Sunderland, etc. etc., I sometimes wonder.

[ImperialWhite]

Heard the Leeds fans? They could do with a few lessons from Les Belges in parlent en anglais.

Leeds fans chant: "ITV is f*cking sh*t"

p,s, Sipwell, noticed that at the end of the match (after a cracking last minute winning goal from a header by Boris Pandža), the team arranged themselves in a line and made a bow (as if after a play) and the whole crowd bowed back! Impressive. Wouldn't mind that as a tradition at The Cottage.

[sipwell]

To answer your question (it took me 5 hours to come up with a good one):

yes, we do chant a lot in English. The fans of Club Brugge even have the appaling traditions of singing "You'll never walk alone" every game. All Flemings - Walloons unfortunately a bit less - master English fairly well (my American friend always is surprised that the bus driver is talking to him in English when he asks for a ticket in something-vaguely-resembling Dutch) and hence use it.

And yes, in Mechelen it is a tradition to bow after a game. They even have a band which enters the pitch before the players do and do a tour of the pitch (with the club song, evidently). Mechelen is one of those team where the fans are not so much interested in the result but in the fact that their players gave a full 300 % on the pitch. Chanting normally will measure the appreciation of the fans. In this case, they beat Standard (which is still considered to be a favourite for the title) and thanked the public for their wonderful performance on the pitch. In return, the fans thanked them for the spectacular show. Favours are returned ;-)

[ImperialWhite]

Cheers for that Sipwell.

Belgian football: bloody hell (to paraphrase Fergie). Seeing Royale Unioniste St-Gilloise in spring. Their Stade Joseph Marien reminds of Craven Cottage in many ways (sans actual cottage, obviously).

[sipwell]

Cheers for that Sipwell.

Belgian football: bloody hell (to paraphrase Fergie). Seeing Royale Unioniste St-Gilloise in spring. Their Stade Joseph Marien reminds of Craven Cottage in many ways (sans actual cottage, obviously).

You bring tears to my eyes now. That is MY TEAM here in Belgium. I don't go to see them often enough (shame on me) but I consider myself a true Unioniste. Hmmmmmmmmmmm, Union.

[ImperialWhite]

Ah, fantastique! Small, er, monde eh?

I'll PM you nearer the time if you like, should you feel like watching Les Unionistes. Is it true that in the club bar visiters are encouraged to leave a token of their own club (e.g. scarf)? I was planning on bring a Fulham scarf, but perhaps you've beaten me to it!

Another picture - beautiful ground.

[sipwell]

Ah, fantastique! Small, er, monde eh?

I'll PM you nearer the time if you like, should you feel like watching Les Unionistes. Is it true that in the club bar visiters are encouraged to leave a token of their own club (e.g. scarf)? I was planning on bring a Fulham scarf, but perhaps you've beaten me to it!

Another picture - beautiful ground.

There is no Fulham scarf yet. I don't even have my own yet (next week!). And let me know when you are in Brussels. Obviously I want to go watch them as often as I can. By the way, they won again this weekend. Leading their board now!

[Airfix]

Would you two like a room?

[sipwell]

Would you two like a room?

@ ImperialWhite. Don't mind Airfix. He is the jealous type.

@ all: see you on saturday!