F-side

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F-side is a Dutch hooligan group affiliated with the AFC Ajax . She dominated the Ajax Amsterdam fan scene for three decades.

history

The hooligan group was founded on October 3, 1976. The name is derived from their old regular seat Vak F ("Block F") in the De Meer Stadium . The group was founded on the British model and still operates according to the motto "Singing and fighting".

In the 1980s and 1990s in particular, the group made a name for itself through violent clashes with hooligan groups from Feyenoord Rotterdam and ADO Den Haag .

On March 23, 1997, the group got into the media when F-side member Carlo Picornie died at the age of 36 in a pre-arranged brawl with hooligans from the hated club Feyenoord Rotterdam. These were the bloodiest clashes in Dutch football, later known as the “Battle of Beverwijk ” (Dutch “Slag bij Beverwijk”). 150 members of the F-side fought with about twice as many supporters of the SCF hooligans. Weapons such as knives, iron rods and electric batons were also used. However, that was not the end of the violence: the rivalry intensified to such an extent that matches between the two clubs could only take place in the presence of a strong police presence. In the 1997/1998 Eredivisie season , no guest fans were allowed in the games between Ajax Amsterdam and Feyenoord Rotterdam. This regulation applied again in 2009 and has been in effect since then. It was later expanded to include games against ADO Den Haag.

At the beginning of the 2010s, the F-side got serious competition from the founding of the hooligan group Vak410, which mainly consists of younger fans and tries to establish itself as a counterpoint to the F-side. In contrast to the F-side, it dominates the north side of the stadium.

Jewish symbolism

Hat with the F-side logo in the Joods Historisch Museum

A special feature is the positive reference to Judaism , which is derived from the football club's allegedly Jewish past. Although this background is more folklore than reality, a pronounced philosemitism spread in the fan scene of Ajax Amsterdam, which the F-side also helped shape. Among other things, the Israeli flag is displayed in the stadiums, the group's logo includes the Star of David and some of the fans refer to themselves as “Super Jews”. It is unclear whether this game with a Jewish identity was derived from anti-Semitic mockery by fans of other clubs for which Ajax Amsterdam was a “Jewish club”, or from the alleged history of the club.

The Jewish symbolism is partly also a problem for the football club, especially as opposing fans tend to anti-Semitic chants and hissing sounds that at the gas flowing in the extermination camps of the Nazis to take action to remind against the opposing fan groups. The association has therefore been trying to get rid of the Jewish image since 2000.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Brian Boedker: The Legendary Ten: From Humble Beginnings to Big Business . BookBaby, 2016, ISBN 978-1-68222-888-3 ( google.de [accessed April 21, 2018]).
  2. ↑ a b c Maik Thesing: Two curves, two generations, two mentalities . In: Stadium World . tape 09/2005 , p. 78–83 ( faszination-fankurve.de [PDF]).
  3. ↑ a b Can you hear the F-Side sing? December 6, 2006, accessed April 21, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c Football in Amsterdam: "Super Jews", hooligans and a modern arena | Belltower News. Retrieved April 21, 2018 .
  5. ^ Riots at the cup final: Ajax three more years without fans in Rotterdam . In: Spiegel Online . April 24, 2014 ( spiegel.de [accessed April 21, 2018]).
  6. ↑ Timothy V. Dugan: The Many Lives of Ajax: The Trojan War Hero from Antiquity to Modern Times . McFarland, 2018, ISBN 978-1-4766-6396-8 , pp. 264 ( google.de [accessed on April 21, 2018]).
  7. ^ Ajax and the Jewish Issue. January 13, 2007, accessed April 21, 2018 .
  8. ↑ David Winner: Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football . A&C Black, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4088-3577-7 ( google.de [accessed April 21, 2018]).
  9. ↑ Craig S. Smith: A Dutch Soccer Riddle: Jewish Regalia Without Jews . In: The New York Times . March 28, 2005, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed April 21, 2018]).
  10. ↑ On Jewish symbolism at Ajax Amsterdam: Anti-Semitism on the beer counter | Football against Nazis. Retrieved April 21, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Ajax "Super Juden" and Tottenham's "Yid Army" - successful against anti-Semitism? | Football against Nazis. Retrieved April 21, 2018 .