Detroit Footballer

Soccer chanting and singing has always been a source of entertainment and fascination for me. How they come to being, why fans use them, when they use them, and lyrical content are all quite varied. Part of the fascination comes from being an American observing far-off cultures enjoying something they’re passionate about. Part is also from being a musician/history nerd.

So, we’ll start as far back as possible. The Canaries of Norwich City FC have been singing “On The Ball, City” since the club’s inception in 1902. The song originated in the 1890s, and in all honesty, is amazing. For Michiganders, this is very similar to “The Victors” in heritage. The chant is obviously abbreviated from the original, but still just as enjoyable.

In Germany, the other country who’s soccering culture I follow, there are many traditional songs still used and Fangesaenger (crowd songs) like the “Beer Barrel Polka” for instance. My personal favorite is FC Schalke 04’s use of Das Steigerlied, the foreman’s song. This was a sung by miners wishing each other good luck during a hard days work. “Glueck auf,” equivalent to “good luck” in America, was an acknowledgement of the danger of their work. Schalke adopted this song to honor is coal mining heritage along with their nickname, Die Knappen. The club offical anthem, “Blau und Weiss, wie lieb ich dich” was adopted 1934 and originates from a song written in 1797!

next time, we’ll discuss pop culture favorites and chart toppers like “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Blue Moon,” and this beauty from FC United of Manchester.

i have a playing style that has developed in the past two summers that i kind of fell in to. as a younger player, high school and when i re-entered the game in my late twenties, i was an out and out winger. to coin a British term, i kept chalk on my boots. i relied on my speed and workrate to compete. too often i would just try to burn people and cross the ball in. my passing would be suspect at times, and heaven forbid i ever take a shot on goal.

as i’m now beginning to age (i turn 31 this May) i’ve began to use my other skill sets and my brain. while playing pickup soccer games when i moved back to the Detroit area, i noticed that the sidelines were crowded with people trying to use their individual skills against a singular opponent. no shade on any of those players, but i found that this made these games not very fun towards the end of sessions. slowly, and at first begrudgingly, i started to shift inside.

for the indoor season that’s about to start with my new team, Stark, our first few practices have shown me that i’ve made the full conversion mentally to an inside midfielder. i don’t have the ball skills to be a “number 10” player and never have. what i do have is a very defensive mindset, decent tackling technique, much improved one-touch passing, and an accurate left foot, while still retaining most of my speed.

what i find most important to play as a holding midfielder, the vogue position it seems these days, is a tough mentality and good sportsmanship.

i’m going to get stepped on. i’m going to get elbowed. i’m going to get tackled in the middle of the pitch. i’m going to get kicked.

but, regardless of my temper, i never play dirty.

i’ll help the opposing player off the ground if they’re not trying to hurt people. if i get beat on a play, i compliment them so long as they didn’t score. i’ll put my shoulder onto your’s, but never raise my elbows to jockey.

this upcoming season and for the rest of my playing decade i want to be the toughest, cleanest, most sportsman like ball-winner you’ll play against. the test starts on March 18

John Brown II

in my early years of really playing soccer, but still having no idea what i was doing, i was a wide player.  after converting from goalkeeper after my coach realized i had speed to burn (this is junior year in high school), i was usually stationed on the wing to out pace the other team.

parenthetically, i was an all-league sprinter in high school, and almost broke the school record in the 200m.

after an extended semi-retirement between the ages on nineteen and twenty-seven, i returned to the chalk lines in once danced around.  i had some new feints to use, cultivated on the basketball court in the intervening years.  it was fun to know what i was doing for once and have to some muscles to use too.

but here we are, four years later.  like any true footballer, i have to evolve my game with what my body is doing.  after two years of wing play, my hips began to wear out a little.  i’ve since began strength training to build some muscle.  enough to be stable and strong, but not bulky.  i pace out my speed instead of running willy nilly around the pitch.  i have managed to keep up my work rate, remain in position.

oh, and about position.  i’m not a winger any more.  i’ve found that i’m better served as a defender or defensive midfielder.  breaking up the other teams moves, passing and moving, and generally shutting down the best opponent on attack is the most fun.  

and the next essay will describe how i’m going to go about it.

John Brown II