Live screenings, official jerseys, club rivalry: EPL season is serious business for city’s football fans

It’s a new season, but the same ol’ Liverpool?” bewailed 25-year-old Ronack Shanmugham after the first half of a clash between his favourite Liverpool FC (LFC) and Crystal Palace ended in a draw on August 19.
“Come down, mate. We still have the second half and you know how lethal our forwards can be,” consoled Tarun Aritakula, his friend, as they sat huddled amid an army of red-jersey-
wearing fans (known as the Reds) cheering for Liverpool in front of a giant screen in one of the city’s hotspots about 7,899 km away from the stadium hosting the tie.
Twenty six minutes into the second half and suddenly the joint erupted with cheers and chants of the club’s anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone. “I always knew Sadio Mane will draw the first blood,” said an elated Tarun as LFC went up 1-0 turning the Reds’ vexation into jubilance. Soon, fans heaved a sigh of relief as the final score line remained 1-0 in favour of the Reds. And chants and cheers continued for the rest of the evening.
This was at one of the screenings organised by the Liverpool’s supporters’ club in Hyderabad. Like the Reds, all the other EPL elites — be it Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United — have their respective fan clubs in the city that boast of die-hard fans of English club football.
With official affiliation from respective clubs in England, dedicated social media pages, WhatsApp groups and roughly 200 fans in each club, these fan clubs organise meetings, screening and occasional football playing sessions in various venues around the city. And with the new EPL season kicking off this month, they are back with a bang to make this season memorable for both the club and its fans.
Rivalry? Yes, but a healthy one
Almost all the fan clubs in Hyderabad unanimously agreed that they neither encourage nor practice any Green Street Hooligans-style rivalry. Though it sounds unlikely, as followers of English football are infamous for hooliganism, the city’s Barmy army preaches camaraderie among the various supporters club. “Many a time in the past we have organised joint screening and invited Liverpool and Chelsea fan clubs for matches when we are up against any of them. There is no hostility among us and we follow the true spirit of football, which is peace,” says Prabhakar. Ronack, however, says that supporters of every club other than Manchester United are welcome to their screenings.
“Arsenal fans are nice and we have a very healthy rivalry with Chelsea too, but with Man-U fans, the scene becomes a little precarious. We refrain from having joint screening with them as going by the history of rivalry between the clubs, we don’t want to risk a good screening session,” he says. Chelsea fans, too, agree that it’s all friendly and cordial among the fan clubs in the city. “Except a few unfortunate incidents in the past, every joint screening between the Blues and other fan clubs have been enjoyable outings,” he assured.
Getting the ‘official’ card
What does being an official supporters’ club signify? “An accreditation from its respective club’s management in England makes one an official supporters’ club,” says Prabhakar, adding that Arsenal FC’s fan club here was registered with the EPL club in London in 2016. It’s not difficult to get an official tag — the first step is to have a loyal fan base that participates in activities organised by the supporters’ club and get themselves registered with the official website. “A fan club needs to have at least 100 to 150 registered members to qualify for accreditation. You need to register with your respective English club for, say, around `2500 for a year. We have been trying to get the official tag for two years. Hopefully, we will get it this year,” informs Ronack, who represents the Reds in Hyderabad.
Each club needs to regularly send in photos and details of supporter clubs’ activities to their respective English clubs, which, at times, send reps to check on the progress and expand their fan base. “When representatives of Chelsea FC came to Hyderabad a couple of years ago, they were impressed with our club’s increasing fan base,” avers Yashwant. Do these clubs enjoy any perks being officially recognised by their respective English clubs? “Every season, Manchester United organises screening of big clashes in major cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. If you’re a member of an official fan club, you get free passes. If any of our members plans to visit Old Trafford for a match, we inform officials in England two weeks prior in advance and they ensure heavy discounts on tickets,” says Hemant. Discounts can also be availed when buying official merchandise from the club’s stores.
History of fan clubs in Hyderabad
For Chelsea fans in Hyderabad, the inception of a supporters’ club happened six years before the Reds. “It was during the Football World Cup 2006 in Germany. Two of my friends and I were die-hard Michael Ballack fans and the star German midfielder was playing for Chelsea. So, we too became Chelsea fans and founded the supporters’ club in Hyderabad,” says 24-year-old city boy Yashwant Kumar, who is pursuing his master’s degree in Australia and is now on vacation.
The advent of social media helped Hyderabad’s Arsenal FC fans in a big way. It all began by making a page dedicated to the local Gunners (as Arsenal fans are called) in a popular social media website sometime around 2011. Says 29-year-old Prabhakar Madella, an associate consultant in an IT farm, “Initially, we used to have screenings only for the big ties within the EPL giants. But with a steady increase in the number of members on our social media page, we became the fan club for Arsenal FC in Hyderabad.”
The Red Devils (Manchester United fans), however, weren’t that lucky.
“I remember Manchester United fans in Hyderabad holding placards and standing on pavements of Jublilee Hills on match days to let fans know that there is a screening happening. It was some time in 2009 and ‘cool tools’ of promotion such as social media and WhatsApp hadn’t taken off. We grew small but fast and today, it is the third officially recognised supporters club of Manchester United in India after Mumbai and Bangalore,” says 24-year-old Manchester United fan Hemanth De, a sales account manager for an IT company. “The idea struck me when I went to Bangalore in 2012 and was amazed to see the club’s fans going all out to support LFC on every match day. I came back and tried to do the same in my city,” says Ronack, who initially floated a WhatsApp group and as the number of members slowly grew, the supporters’ club came into being.
Merchandise, A must
Hyderabad’s EPL fan clubs also design their own merchandise and every season upgrade it to suit any alteration in their respective clubs’ products. “We have an in-house designer who designs our fan club’s exclusive merchandise,” says Ronack. The local Gunners club too boasts of its own merchandise kit, which they offer at discount prices to new entrants. “From tees to posters, we make a range of products exclusively for our club members,” says Prabhakar.
Yashwant says that the Hyderabadi Blues don’t manufacture exclusive merchandise per se, but have posters to give out to new members. “During big clashes, for instance Championship League matches, if we win, we organise rallies around the city. They are real fun as we also get new members through these activities,” he says.
So, if you are in Hyderabad and follow any of these English football clubs but have been cheering for them in the confinement of your home every match day, now you know where to go to meet your fellow Red, Blue, Gunner or the Red Devil.