So myself and StevieM were out on Saturday night in the city.
Been a while since I caught up with the big man, so we were having a decent catch-up over a few beers when we happened to bump into some huge Scottish guy who initiated conversation with us after overhearing Stevie's bizarre accent and enquiring if he the big man was Scottish (he's not, he's just a dirty prod from Norn Iron with a fucking shit accent). Anyway, I digress.
So this guy, Ian I think his name was, introduces himself to us and say's he's here on buiness in Melbourne for a week. He works for Siemens Wind Turbines if I remember correctly. So, he's in Melb on his own, and asked if he could join in with us. No probs. We spent a while chatting about work, travelling, etc etc, and moved around a few bars.
Eventually, after requisite beers, I decided to ask him why his nose was the shape it was. This thing was fucked, like worse than Steve Bruce fucked. The bottom of it pointed towards the top of his right ear.
His reply was "Well, I didn't get it from reading the newspaper."
He carried on to explain that he was 'An Aberdeen Casual' and had got it, amongst other injuries, from years of following the mighty Aberdeen FC around Scotland, Britain & Europe and getting into all manner of scrapes.
As the story goes, he was 12 years old when his Uncle took him and his cousin to Liverpool for the return leg of a European Cup tie. They'd got a draw in the home leg (please feel free to correct me here btw) and fancied their chances at Anfield. They got humped 4-0, and on the way out of the ground a fight erupted. There was fuck all police presence and most of their supporters ended up getting the shit kicked out of them by the Liverpool element. He say's he was knocked to the ground, and didn't manage to get up for about 5 minutes, during which time he got the shit kicked out of him. Broken nose #1. He was 12 years old.
What came out of it all though was a massive respect for the Liverpool fans. He say's they were all in awe at how cool we were. Decked out in the best gear, with the best songs, the coolest support, we were, according to him "everything they wanted to be". So they started acting like us. Copied everything we did, right down to the way we walked.
They took to the streets of Scotland mimicking the Liverpool fans, fighting everywhere, and gaining the reputation around the country of being the most feared, yet respected group of 'Casuals' in the land.
He told us a million stories, the majority of which I forgot due to being pretty smashed, the most vivid of which being an away trip to Hibs (whom they absolutely hate). As per usual, a pre-arranged riot broke out after the game. They were wildly outnumbered by the Hibs fans, and were chased down some street. One of them was caught, and was lifted up onto some telegraph pole where he was tied up. Apparently, every single chasing Hibs fan that ran past that pole swung a punch at the Aberdeen lad. He was killed after receiving too many blows to the head, and was left to hang there.
From that, a bitter rivalry has ensued between the two clubs, and it's now the most heavily policed game in Scotland, after the Old Firm match. A massive upgrade in CCTV, police presence, and security has put a halt to most of their charades since. Ian claimed that, for years, rival supporters regularly met up everywhere - side streets, trains, city centres, training grounds - and knocked the shit out of each other. From which he has had his nose broken 16 times.
The latest of which came in Madrid a few years back. Aberdeen had been drawn in the same group as Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup group stage thing. Not willing to miss something of such significance to such a dwindling club, Ian flew in from Canada (where he was living at the time) to attend the game in Madrid along with the rest of the Aberdeen support. Upon hearing that the 'Aberdeen Casuals' were going to be in Madrid, their rival 'Spurs Casuals' deceided to fly in from London to 'meet' for no other reason than to kick the fuck out of them in a relatively unpoliced area.
The result is below, hundreds of Aberdeen fans got the shit kicked out of them by a mixture of Atletico Madrid fans, Spurs Casuals, and local police. Ian claimed he was chasing some rival fan around a corner when he got confronted by a chasing mob of hundreds. When they eventually caught up with him, he received the beating of his life. Broken ribs, bottles to the head, broken nose from boots to the face, broken fingers, I can't even remember everything he told me. He claimed it was all on youtube somewhere under 'Aberdeen Madrid riots'. I just checked it, and our man Ian is the one 1 mins 10 seconds in stumbling about in an Aberdeen shirt with bloud pissing all over his head and face.
[flash=400,400]http://www.youtube.com/v/iakuyblqKGk&hl=en&fs=1&[/flash]
So that's my story. As the night wore on, he had more and more to drink, and he became increasingly scary. Stevie had by this stage fucked off and left me with this increasingly manic Scot.
Still, a fascinating evening, and interesting to see the impact our club and support has had on the rest of the World.
Been a while since I caught up with the big man, so we were having a decent catch-up over a few beers when we happened to bump into some huge Scottish guy who initiated conversation with us after overhearing Stevie's bizarre accent and enquiring if he the big man was Scottish (he's not, he's just a dirty prod from Norn Iron with a fucking shit accent). Anyway, I digress.
So this guy, Ian I think his name was, introduces himself to us and say's he's here on buiness in Melbourne for a week. He works for Siemens Wind Turbines if I remember correctly. So, he's in Melb on his own, and asked if he could join in with us. No probs. We spent a while chatting about work, travelling, etc etc, and moved around a few bars.
Eventually, after requisite beers, I decided to ask him why his nose was the shape it was. This thing was fucked, like worse than Steve Bruce fucked. The bottom of it pointed towards the top of his right ear.
His reply was "Well, I didn't get it from reading the newspaper."
He carried on to explain that he was 'An Aberdeen Casual' and had got it, amongst other injuries, from years of following the mighty Aberdeen FC around Scotland, Britain & Europe and getting into all manner of scrapes.
As the story goes, he was 12 years old when his Uncle took him and his cousin to Liverpool for the return leg of a European Cup tie. They'd got a draw in the home leg (please feel free to correct me here btw) and fancied their chances at Anfield. They got humped 4-0, and on the way out of the ground a fight erupted. There was fuck all police presence and most of their supporters ended up getting the shit kicked out of them by the Liverpool element. He say's he was knocked to the ground, and didn't manage to get up for about 5 minutes, during which time he got the shit kicked out of him. Broken nose #1. He was 12 years old.
What came out of it all though was a massive respect for the Liverpool fans. He say's they were all in awe at how cool we were. Decked out in the best gear, with the best songs, the coolest support, we were, according to him "everything they wanted to be". So they started acting like us. Copied everything we did, right down to the way we walked.
They took to the streets of Scotland mimicking the Liverpool fans, fighting everywhere, and gaining the reputation around the country of being the most feared, yet respected group of 'Casuals' in the land.
He told us a million stories, the majority of which I forgot due to being pretty smashed, the most vivid of which being an away trip to Hibs (whom they absolutely hate). As per usual, a pre-arranged riot broke out after the game. They were wildly outnumbered by the Hibs fans, and were chased down some street. One of them was caught, and was lifted up onto some telegraph pole where he was tied up. Apparently, every single chasing Hibs fan that ran past that pole swung a punch at the Aberdeen lad. He was killed after receiving too many blows to the head, and was left to hang there.
From that, a bitter rivalry has ensued between the two clubs, and it's now the most heavily policed game in Scotland, after the Old Firm match. A massive upgrade in CCTV, police presence, and security has put a halt to most of their charades since. Ian claimed that, for years, rival supporters regularly met up everywhere - side streets, trains, city centres, training grounds - and knocked the shit out of each other. From which he has had his nose broken 16 times.
The latest of which came in Madrid a few years back. Aberdeen had been drawn in the same group as Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Cup group stage thing. Not willing to miss something of such significance to such a dwindling club, Ian flew in from Canada (where he was living at the time) to attend the game in Madrid along with the rest of the Aberdeen support. Upon hearing that the 'Aberdeen Casuals' were going to be in Madrid, their rival 'Spurs Casuals' deceided to fly in from London to 'meet' for no other reason than to kick the fuck out of them in a relatively unpoliced area.
The result is below, hundreds of Aberdeen fans got the shit kicked out of them by a mixture of Atletico Madrid fans, Spurs Casuals, and local police. Ian claimed he was chasing some rival fan around a corner when he got confronted by a chasing mob of hundreds. When they eventually caught up with him, he received the beating of his life. Broken ribs, bottles to the head, broken nose from boots to the face, broken fingers, I can't even remember everything he told me. He claimed it was all on youtube somewhere under 'Aberdeen Madrid riots'. I just checked it, and our man Ian is the one 1 mins 10 seconds in stumbling about in an Aberdeen shirt with bloud pissing all over his head and face.
[flash=400,400]http://www.youtube.com/v/iakuyblqKGk&hl=en&fs=1&[/flash]
So that's my story. As the night wore on, he had more and more to drink, and he became increasingly scary. Stevie had by this stage fucked off and left me with this increasingly manic Scot.
Still, a fascinating evening, and interesting to see the impact our club and support has had on the rest of the World.
