MY DEAR CLUB
Football is local patriotism in action. Anyone who doesn't know the feeling of standing in the stadium and cheering on their team doesn't know the extent of the enthusiasm for this sport. Between victory and defeat, sometimes only a few moments decide whether you fall into a deep valley of tears or are almost soaring with excitement and euphoria. Every week you look forward to your team's game and are firmly convinced that everything will be better this time.
By Serdar Somuncu
By Serdar Somuncu
You dream of championships and cups, European guest appearances and top scorers. You admire your team's heroes, as well as your club's colors. In these moments you are a child again. Because enthusiasm for a football club also has a lot to do with childhood influences. Everyone in our family was a football fanatic. My brothers and I played in the club. And my father stood on the sidelines every Saturday. When I scored a goal, I could see the endless joy in his eyes and I was as proud as punch. But when I was substituted because I didn't play well, I was ashamed to the core. Identifying with your origins is just as important as the bond with your family. The club I'm passionate about also represents the region I come from. This local color is not only a point of connection, but above all it is a lightning rod for many things. Because the joy that your own club is better than others has little to do with the arrogance that your own origins are more valuable. It is more about being recognized than about fighting for recognition. It is the similarities that we share, not the differences that we pay attention to. Football connects all of these elements. Of course, there are also clubs that are always successful. But I find that boring. Only when you have experienced what it feels like to lose do you appreciate victory. It takes a defeat to know how to celebrate. In the years that I have been enthusiastic, I have become closer and closer to my club. It has become a kind of companion for me throughout my life. From my childhood experiences to the present day, football has been a common thread in my life. Sometimes when I go to away games, I feel like I am accompanying a piece of home. And when I meet fans of my team there, it is as if we are all a family. We suffer together and we live together.
Even though football has become very commercial these days and you can hardly recognize the original joy of simplicity anymore, much has remained as it always was. Because football is also a tradition. Identifying with your team, wearing their colors and singing their anthem means more than just being part of a spectacle that is about sales strategies and revenue. It is a symbol of people's longing for a higher level of commitment, which is expressed in pursuing an ideal together with like-minded people. The fact that this ideal can be measured in points and championships makes it unique and special. Because while in real life you often strive for things that seem unattainable, such as wealth or eternal life, in football it is quite realistic to believe in the impossible. And even in defeat there is sometimes something passionate and pleasurable. Because seeing your own team pull themselves together and fight again and perhaps not win in the end is a symbol of life, in which we are constantly faced with challenges that we have to overcome. In real life, too, we are not always winners, but often losers. And it is only through the defeats that we experience that we learn to enjoy the victories.
When I was at my club's annual general meeting in the stadium a few days ago, I was sobered to discover that many of the people in charge at my club have lost their sense of these elementary feelings. For them, it is the management of a company whose success depends on generating the highest possible turnover. Their actions are determined by balance sheets and strategies, not by goals and hopes. What you sometimes hear at such events sounds like an imitation of a commitment to something that is not really taken seriously. It has something of prostitution and selling out about it, and for me as a fan it is very sobering and frustrating. In these moments, you wish for the simplicity back. No artificial slogans and empty phrases, but a shared ethos of camaraderie and solidarity, of enthusiasm and perseverance and, above all, of truthfulness. If all of this were at the forefront, then it would no longer be about the big picture, but about the elementary on the surface. Concentrating on it and making it your goal should actually be a maxim even for those who see football as just an opportunity. But unfortunately many have not understood that this is actually the core of the matter, namely that you can only be successful if you believe in yourself and what you do and are credible.
10.06.24
©Serdar Somuncu
Current program "Seelenheil" now downloadable in Shop
*Serdar Somuncu is an actor and director
Even though football has become very commercial these days and you can hardly recognize the original joy of simplicity anymore, much has remained as it always was. Because football is also a tradition. Identifying with your team, wearing their colors and singing their anthem means more than just being part of a spectacle that is about sales strategies and revenue. It is a symbol of people's longing for a higher level of commitment, which is expressed in pursuing an ideal together with like-minded people. The fact that this ideal can be measured in points and championships makes it unique and special. Because while in real life you often strive for things that seem unattainable, such as wealth or eternal life, in football it is quite realistic to believe in the impossible. And even in defeat there is sometimes something passionate and pleasurable. Because seeing your own team pull themselves together and fight again and perhaps not win in the end is a symbol of life, in which we are constantly faced with challenges that we have to overcome. In real life, too, we are not always winners, but often losers. And it is only through the defeats that we experience that we learn to enjoy the victories.
When I was at my club's annual general meeting in the stadium a few days ago, I was sobered to discover that many of the people in charge at my club have lost their sense of these elementary feelings. For them, it is the management of a company whose success depends on generating the highest possible turnover. Their actions are determined by balance sheets and strategies, not by goals and hopes. What you sometimes hear at such events sounds like an imitation of a commitment to something that is not really taken seriously. It has something of prostitution and selling out about it, and for me as a fan it is very sobering and frustrating. In these moments, you wish for the simplicity back. No artificial slogans and empty phrases, but a shared ethos of camaraderie and solidarity, of enthusiasm and perseverance and, above all, of truthfulness. If all of this were at the forefront, then it would no longer be about the big picture, but about the elementary on the surface. Concentrating on it and making it your goal should actually be a maxim even for those who see football as just an opportunity. But unfortunately many have not understood that this is actually the core of the matter, namely that you can only be successful if you believe in yourself and what you do and are credible.
10.06.24
©Serdar Somuncu
Current program "Seelenheil" now downloadable in Shop
*Serdar Somuncu is an actor and director
Write a comment