On Friday, in an Indian Super League ( ISL ) football match between Bengaluru FC and Pune City, a few fans of Chennaiyin FC turned up to support the latter. The fans of Pune took offense at a rival club supporting them and this led to clashes, with one Chennaiyin supporter getting injured. A few months ago, the Bengaluru FC fans had verbally abused Kerala Blasters and their fans, leading to a heated atmosphere at the Bengaluru stadium and consequent clashes online. This also had the supporters of both teams on tenterhooks as Bengaluru FC faced Kerala Blasters in Kochi on New Year’s Eve.While the added security blanket prevented any untoward incident in Kochi, it had the football players of the teams talking about how the Indian fans are squandering a huge opportunity to shape up the football fan culture in the country. With the Yellow Army boasting the highest number of fans, Kerala Blasters players such as Wes Brown and Iain Hume believe that Kerala can lead from the front. But is it possible? We find out:Hume is of the opinion that since the ISL is in its nascent stages, fans should usher in a “healthier environment” when it comes to promoting the sport. “Our fans are second to none in the ISL and we enjoy playing in front of 50,000 people. But it doesn’t makes sense pitting one fan club against another especially when you are trying to increase the reach of the game,” he says.However, fans like Unni Paravanoor, who runs a football portal, say that it is “impossible to develop a fan culture inherent to India when the youth today are highly influenced by European football”.“Fans are trawling the Internet for more information about extreme elements of football such as Ultras,” he says. Ultras are fans known for expressing their support using flares, banners and creating an atmosphere that intimidates the rival teams and supporters. “I have seen people post in social media groups asking why they can’t bring pyros like in Eastern Europe. So, building up a fan-base which is alien to the European ways is next to impossible as fans aspire to be what they see on TV.”Manu Pratap, a member of Kerala Blasters fan club Manjappada , says that they have only taken whatever is good from the other fan cultures of the world. “We have borrowed the Mexican waves, Viking claps, chants and have also localised them with our instruments such as chenda. However, there has never been an attempt from our side to ape the hooliganism that is prevalent in English fan clubs,” he says.While physical confrontations have been few and far between, Malayali fans have been at the forefront waging wars online against their counterparts. Manu says, “Other fan clubs call us keyboard warriors because we are hyperactive when it comes to abusing or heckling online.”Manu says that “the Sachin factor” has got a role to play in these sentiments too. “In places like Kochi where there aren’t many football fans, Sachin’s presence have been able to bring people in. We call them plastic fans because they want to win all the matches and if the team loses even one, they start hurling abuses online.This negativity soon spreads within the social media groups,” he says. “Most of the members of Manjappada though are content if we watch a good football game, irrespective of the result. But that’s not how others view the game.”Social media heckling sometimes goes out of hand like a few years ago when a Mumbai-based journalist had to deactivate his account because of Kerala Blasters fans, says Unni. “There was an article about someone filing a case against the Yellow Army as they sang the National Anthem with their hands on their chests. A journalist did a follow-up story and as soon as it hit online, the fans branded him ‘anti-Kerala’, targeted his social media page and unloaded an unending stream of abuse; forcing him to deactivate the page for a few weeks,” he recalls.Such activities have become a norm and it’s nothing less than harassing a person, Unni says, adding that it’s time Malayali fans reined in such behaviour and set an example.On how much fan’s opinions and judgements count while forming a team, Hume says, “Fans are welcome to air their views and suggestions. However, we cannot take their opinions when we form the final team. In that case, you would have Ronaldo and Messi playing for Barcelona all the time. It’s naïve to think fans have that much power.”As far as Wes Brown, who has played for Manchester United and is a true-blue fan of the team, is concerned, the first step of being a good fan is attending matches regularly and enjoying the games.“When you go to the games more often and enjoy the atmosphere, you get to know the team well and can have healthy discussions. There would be people who disagree but ultimately you all want the team to win. But even if they don’t, you stick together and enjoy the day out. You support the team no matter what,” he says. “But it doesn’t mean you have to put down the other team,” he concludes.

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