Fireworks

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Late Sunday night into early Monday morning there was discussion, arguments and the usual baiting on Twitter relating to the pyro incident at Villa Park. A suggestion that this was somehow 1882 related.

Always difficult to get points across via Twitter in sets of 140 characters.

Read my time-line here. 

Looking back I think I understated a few things. I'm proud and chuffed that the podcast (The Fighting Cock), which started out as an excuse to get drunk is still going strong...

...as an excuse to get drunk.

We don't force anyone to listen to it. We'd still record if we only had 10 people download us per week. Just that, we have thousands. If its not your cup of tea, its someone else's. And yes, I appreciate that because of followers/listeners there is a responsibility re: influence when it comes to certain discussions and debates. But none of us involved are any different or any more or less important than any other given Spurs fan. But sure, if five or six like minded supporters are into the same ideologies and record a pod and you end up having a sizeable audience that agree with you then happy days. It validates what we do (even if what do is talk a load of crap about Spurs for an hour a week). Because tbh, why care about those that don't give a **** about what you do? Cater for those that do give a ****.

Then there's that movement/fan group/ticketing awareness program...1882.

Born in North London indeed.  

1882 is testament to those that want to escape the pressures and stresses of 1st team football and sing for the youth team. It was birthed from an idea to give the youth players a sample of WHL atmosphere. Who would have thought they'd be more atmosphere at a youth game than at WHL after we started organising 'events'.

Think it works better there (like the NextGen or the FA Youth Cup), but it has had an impact in block J too for Euro nights.

Is 1882 a movement? Yes, I guess it is. For want of a better description. At times we've struggled with that realisation and due to its success we appreciate that we do have a responsibility to iron out any ambiguity with expectations. This might have not come across as I wished on Twitter the other night. We facilitate these events in terms of awareness, we make sure the right message is put across (standing, flags, behaviour) but much like any proper 1st team game at Spurs (or anywhere else) the responsibility to abide by the law and the club is up to the individual. We wouldn't want to condone behaviour that makes Spurs fans look bad.

My personal perspective is, we are all still Spurs and the reality is we cant control individuals and we cant control other groups - and what they do and how they behave. But we can use that influence to make sure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet (excuse pun).

We value the fact that there is communication with the club. We hope they value the fact that we're always prepared to listen.

We just want to sing for the shirt and let other like minded fans do the same. Pockets of fans across WHL can't always do so where they sit, so I guess we are a singing section. Just one that makes cameos at the odd game and anyone is free to turn up.  

All of this - the pod and everything that followed was a consequence of saying "yeah, alright then" and agreeing to record for the first time. It's grown into something because of the people that listen to it. We haven't done anything other than amplify a set of values that others enjoy and want to be a part of.

Also, on the subject of making a change or standing up for something you believe in...

I've seen people belittle issues (StubHub protests for example) and the people involved, then mention other 'issues' and why nothing was being done about them.

Begs the question; stop bitching and do something about those other issues. It's easily done.

As I alluded to on my time-line, it's practically a losing battle standing up for what you believe in. In the grand scheme of things, it's always a minority. Biggest issue say with something like StubHub is the fact supporters were not considered for consultation before hand. Club doing the right thing with the Yid debate. Point is, if you don't speak up you won't get heard.

Ironically, most if not all countries that use pyro on the continent do so without too much issue. Our culture of comfort, lack of trust and respect on both sides probably renders that eventuality highly unlikely to grace the English leagues. Might be for the best on account of it being a culture trying to copy another culture with something that isn't really part of our footballing DNA.