Lingering Feud Between Two Groups of Football Fans

Fans of the two football clubs, Suwon Blue Wings and FC Seoul, are preparing another large-scale rally in anticipation for their April 13 match in Seoul. Fans of the two teams had clashed violently in recent days.

Phoenix, a group that cheers for FC Seoul, boasts 15,000 members, while rival Grand Blue commands 30,000 loyal members (a figure estimated by Grand Blue) for its Suwon Blue Wings. Relations between the two groups have soured ever since some Phoenix members beat up Blue members on April 2.

Phoenix blames Grand Blue’s chants for provoking the violence. Grand Blue sing songs whose words contain numerous profanities. Phoenix chairman Lee Won-jae, 40, noted, “Provocative songs make emotions run high. When emotions run high, things easily get volatile.”

In response, Grand Blue chairman Park Jang-hyeok, 33, explained, “Our Song is to warn and restrain the opposing team, which plays dirty...it’s better than just swearing.” Park added, “We sing the song much less these days. But we do use the song when we feel we have to.”

Another of Grand Blue’s songs dwells on the theme of betrayal. Park said, “Anyang LG moved to Seoul and changed its name. During that process, the team completely ignored its fans. As fans of the game, we are using the song to demand an apology from the team.”

However, Phoenix says Grand Blue’s criticism is groundless. The group argues that it is too much to depict FC Seoul fans as betrayers just because they like the team. The fans don’t care where the team came from.”

Grand Blue chairman Park also lashed out at a series of violent acts by Phoenix members. Unlike Phoenix’s oath of clean sportsmanship, its members disparage other groups and employ dirty tricks, according to Park.

Phoenix chairman Lee countered, “We are sincerely pursuing the goal of clean and fair sportsmanship. The misdeeds of a few members seem to have cast aspersions on our entire community. We are urging self-restraint on our members. We even banned some of them from entering the stadium.”

Despite their differences, the two groups share a goal of non-violence, especially outside of the stadium. What matters most is whether they can really put this into practice.

“We need to talk more. We have to understand each other,” said Lee. Park added, “Once we understand the other side, we can iron out everything through dialog.”

bluesky@donga.com