“Ultras” are renowned for being fanatical, diehard fans who follow their club through thick and thin, good times and bad.
How Ultra’s came to be is something of conjecture although Ultra style groups have reportedly been present in Brazil since the 1930s. In Europe, the earliest and most organised groups seem to have formed in Italy with Torino, Lazio and Sampdoria at the forefront. They are often associated with fighting rival fans, flares, drums and songs created to cheer on their heroes and intimidate their opponents.
The UK has never really coined the phrase, although you could argue that Hooliganism covered most of the above. Luckily those days have in the most part disappeared from our shores but in non-league the Ultra movement is alive and well.
Clapton FC have the Scaffold Brigada who have created a huge range of songs for their players. They were set up in 2012 due to the rising cost of following Premier League clubs. Instead of fighting on the terraces (I don’t think their rickety stand made from old bits of scaffold and a corrugated iron roof could take it) they instead band together and raise awareness of causes such as football against homophobia and collect food for local food banks.
Having been to a Clapton FC Vs FC Bari game myself in 2016 I can personally attest to the decibel levels. The atmosphere is the best I have been to in non-league.
Another club with a strong Ultra following is Dulwich Hamlet – “The Hipster Football Club”. Rather than downing Tennent’s Extra and knocking the front teeth out of rival fans heads, they quaff craft beer and munch on specialist pies and sausages. Forget Football, they’re seen as Foot-cool to many in South East London.
This got me thinking, could an Ultra following be created and how would someone go about creating one? If you could create your own Ultra movement, what would it look like?
United London FC has decided to see if we could build a following and create a short film around some fans who want to get it started. Are you a passionate football fan, possibly priced out of Premier League football, who thinks they have the passion to become King of the Ultras?
The club would love to hear from you.
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