F-side
The F-side is a Dutch football hooligan firm associated with AFC Ajax. The name came from the stand in Ajax' former stadium De Meer Vak F.[1][2]
Background
The F-side was founded in 1976 when the English introduced hooliganism in the Netherlands. The biggest rivalry was between the F-side and Vak S of Feyenoord. The F-side has also many clashes with the North Side of ADO Den Haag and the Bunnikside of FC Utrecht. After the famous Staafincident ( Iron bar incident ) in 1989 Ajax took measures. There came a very high fence in front of the F-side. The F-side decides to move to Vak M, next to the stand for away supporters. On the old F-side stand their become other supporters who came from other cities in the Netherlands. In the F-side their were now two groups: the old and the new generation.[1][2][3]
Amsterdam Arena
In 1996 Ajax move to a new stadium: the Amsterdam Arena. The Ajax board decided to spread the members of the F-side in the stadium. In 1997 the F-side and the Feyenoord hooligans clash near a motorway (Batlle of Beverwijk). In this clash F-sider Carlo Picornie is beaten to death. The F-side make an agreement with the Ajax board to give the F-side a stand in the south side of the stadium (old and new generations on the same stand). In 2009 a other Ajax firm called (Ultras) VAK410 was move from the north side of the Arena to the south side above the F-side. VAK410 and the F-side care for an enormous environment on the south side of the stadium.[3]
Because the hooligan problem in the Netherlands was a big problem, the government decided to make a combi arrangement. The away supporters can only come to the game by train ( or by bus ) from their city to the other stadium. Their is also a chopper above the train the whole rail track. Nearby the other stadium the away supporters go from the (separate) rail station in a tube to the away stand. In spite of this the games AFC Ajax - Feyenoord, Feyenoord - Ajax, Ajax - ADO Den Haag and ADO Den Haag - Ajax are played without away supporters because their is always trouble and there is an enormous police force power needed. In the season 2009/2010 their were also troubles by the matches FC Utrecht - Ajax and Ajax - FC Utrecht. The government and the clubs are thinking now to allow no away supporters in these games.
Judaism
Ajax is popularly seen as having "Jewish roots" and in the 1970s supporters of rival teams began taunting Ajax fans by calling them Jews. Ajax fans (few of whom are actually Jewish)responded by embracing Ajax's "Jewish" identity: calling themselves "super Jews," chanting "Jews, Jews" ("Joden, Joden") at games, and adopting Jewish symbols such as the Star of David and the Israeli flag. This Jewish imagery eventually became a central part of Ajax fans' culture. At one point ringtones of "Hava Nagila", a Hebrew folk song, could be downloaded from the club's official website. Beginning in the 1980s, fans of Ajax's rivals escalated their antisemitic rhetoric, chanting slogans like "Hamas, Hamas/Jews to the gas" ("Hamas, hamas, joden aan het gas"), hissing to imitate the flow of gas, giving Nazi salutes, etc. The eventual result was that many (genuinely) Jewish Ajax fans stopped going to games. In the 2000s the club began trying to persuade fans to drop their Jewish image (no success). Tottenham Hotspurs Yid Army use similar simbols.[4][5][6]
See also
- Barra Brava
- Casuals
- Curva
- Hooliganism
- List of hooligan firms
- Major football rivalries
- Torcida
- Ultras
References
- ^ a b http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUtZieCU2_g
- ^ a b http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XKZuLqnxK0
- ^ a b http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-Side
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E7DB153FF93BA15750C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=i21W_KN_iUMC&lpg=PA197&dq=ajax%20jews&client=safari&pg=PA196#v=onepage&q=ajax%20jews&f=false
- ^ http://www.ajax-usa.com/desk/ajax-and-the-jewish-issue.html