I’ve never in my life heard more wonderfully rowdy cheers than when I watched a Wellington Phoenix soccer game. You think hockey back home is under-appreciated? Wellington’s multipurpose stadium, affectionately called the Cake Tin, can hold about 40,000 people. 6,000 show up to soccer games. Most of the stadium is empty, whole sections are closed off. The crowd sits with the setting sun shining in their eyes, and if you wander over to the other side, you can sit in the shade pretty much wherever you want. There is one section, though, that is packed with screaming yellow-faced fans who put all New York sports fans to shame with their enthusiasm. Consider just a few of their chants…
When the referee makes a poor call, the Yellow Fever section responds:
The referee’s a wanker!
The referee’s a wanker!
If it’s the linesman, not the ref, then they ask:
Who’s the wanker?
Who’s the wanker?
Who’s the wanker with the flag?
Who’s the wanker with the flag?
Which itself is a variant of:
You can shove your F’in whistle/flag up your ass *clap, clap*
You can shove your F’in whistle/flag up your ass *clap, clap*
You can shove your F’in whistle/flag, shove your f’in whistle/flag, you can shove your f’in whistle/flag up your ass
Sometimes, they just glorify Wellington:
“Oh Wellington…Is Wonderful…Oh Wellington Is Wonderful With The Wind The Rain And The Phoenix, Oh Wellington Is Wonderful”
Or:
Oh wellington (Oh wellington)
Is wonderful (Is wonderful)
Let’s go phoenix!
Oh Wellington is wonderful
Go phoenix!
If the team is winning, the crowd cheers:
Oh we like you.
Oh we like you.
Can we play you every week?
Since the Phoenix play in an Australian league, the best chants, by far, are directed at Oz:
Same old Aussies..always cheating!
We hate you cause you’re Australian! clap clap, clap-clap-clap, clap-clap-clap-clap, clap clap.
Are you Sydney?
Are you Sydney?
Are you Sydney?
Are you Sydney in disguise?
And sometimes the crowd is just plain old direct:
You dirty Aussie bastards!
