Sport and Globalization in London & Seville

Game day: Sevilla FC vs Real Sociedad. How can you say you have lived in Seville for 3 weeks without watching Sevilla Football Club playing? Our group luckily had the chance to watch Sevilla FC play on its ground, Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium last Sunday, March 2. As the most successful club in Andalucia, the club was greatly supported by the fans even before the game around the local bars near the stadium, and the fans started to go wild as they began to sing their club songs. Although I have seen fans (usually the away fans) singing their club songs in London before the game, the fans weren't as crazy as the home fans here at Seville. At the same time, I realized they were very few away fans around the stadium singing as it is very difficult for serious club supporters to travel across Spain, as it is much great in size than England, where one could often see away supporters. Like our group saw back at the Real Betis game, a lot of peanuts and sunflower seeds were being sold around the stadium as a cultural thing so I bought myself some peanuts instead of the sunflower seeds, which were really hard to eat. As I made myself comfortable at the back seats, I was a bit disappointed by the attendance at the stadium. I was expecting a greater attendance, at least more than that of the Betis game, but my disappointment quickly changed to excitement. Seviila supporters were crazy. Not just the supporters section but the general supporters around the stadium were all crazy supporters and such atmosphere directly came from the songs that the supporters sang. “Y Sevilla, Sevilla, Sevilla, aquí estamos contigo, Sevilla, compartiendo la gloria en tu escudo, orgullo del fútbol de nuestra ciudad…” Which is translated into: “And Sevilla, Seville, Seville, Here we are with you Sevilla, Sharing the glory in your shield, Soccer pride of our city...” Although I did not know what the song’s lyrics meant at first since “Yo no hablo español”, the song itself was so good that it made me want to look up the song again and to understand the meanings behind the lyrics. During our stay in London, we usually heard club supporters singing or chanting songs with lyrics that represent their working class background, or their particular towns (as just in London, they are more than football clubs). However, here at Spain, as each city has its own football club, they tend to represent the city itself, so many of the lyrics represent the region and the city’s culture, clearly different from the songs’ lyrics we heard back at London. Just through the game between Sevilla FC and Real Sociedad, we noticed that political and cultural ideas were closely tied into each football club in a special way. The game itself was very intense and boring at the same time as we did not a single goal during the first half. However, the goal from Sevilla at the second half clearly became the highlight of the game, especially when the stadium played an exciting song that made all the crowds, including myself, dance with the music. Thanks to the goal, our group has finally seen a home team win for the first time during our excursions to all the games we have seen. With the winning goal, Sevilla FC, 7th place, is now right below Real Sociedad, 6th place. If Sevilla FC successfully manages to stay within 7th place, the club will again be able to participate in the Europa League and will have another successful season!