Le Mouvement en Amérique du Nord

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la Timbers Army c'est le plus gros groupe de notre ligue (environ 1000 supporters dans leur bloc).

Maintenant, c'est pas des ultras, loin de là. C'est surtout anglo-saxon, on y voit même des types porter des kilts. (voir la photo ci-dessous à droite)

je sais pas si ce groupe a sa place sur le forum, il y a quand même beaucoup de monde sur les photos...

Meme avis que Barman . C'est un trop gros groupe pour qu'il soit sur ce forum .

Dans ce cas GN et IRD n'ont rien a faire ici vu que leurs tailles sont comparables.

y a beaucoup de monde, mais les gens dans "l'esprit" ultra dans cette tribune eux ne sont pas nombreux. Je récupererai des photos pour illustrer mes propos et je les posterai ici.

déplacement à vancouver:

Donc popeye, t'illustres quoi au juste avec tes photos?

juste pour info, sur la photo ci dessous on voit la bache de la URBAN CREW petit groupe a tendance hool-casual que je salue

Ouais, assez sympa l'UC, ils ont même piqué une bâche aux Emerald City Supporters de Seattle (qui soit dit en passant a fait un virage résolument plus axé vers le mouv' ultra depuis 2006).

Perso, Portland me fait chier avec son complexe de supériorité (voir la bannière du déplacement à Vancouver, qui n'en est qu'un exemple).

ptit interview d'un type de portland sur le mouv outre atlantique donné dans un zine allemand aparement. Assez interessant, c'est en anglais par contre:

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Families out on picnics are what one thinks about sports in the USA. Many say the mentality is the opposite of the “Ultra Culture.” Urban Crew, a group in Portland gives us an interview on the combined fan scene in USA.

EF: Please tell us something about football in North America, the fan scene and groups.

Urban Crew: Professional football in America is divided into two groups, Major League Soccer (MLS) and United Soccer Leagues (USL). USL is a more grassroots group, there are youth (Super-Y) and developmental (PDL) leagues, leagues for college players to play at a higher (4th Div) level but retain their "amateur" status that is needed in order to play at Uni. There is a Women's league (W-League) as well as 2 divisions of "pro" football, USL Div-2 (3rd Div) and USL Div-1 (2nd Div). MLS is our 1st Div, but there is no promotion/relegation. MLS expansion is based on who has the most money. There was also WUSA a 1st Div women’s league, but they did 99% of their marketing towards little girls and went bankrupt.

Right there is one of the main problems with football in America, too many clubs put too much emphasis on families and "soccer moms" that they often chase off the hardcore supporters, aka the ones who spend $75 a game on beer, travel to away games, and buy almost everything from the fan shop. Americans also view the USL as "minor league," It is often so that many people are interested only in the European football, while the American football arouses hardly interest.

Because of the lack of respect that is given many of the lower level clubs, and in honesty most
MLS clubs too, there is a lacking fan culture here in the states, but where it does exist, it runs deep.

In the USL Div-1 there are a few groups that range from Montreal's "Impact Ultras" who are just
normal supporters to Portland's Urban Crew who are ultras in designer labels known to get into
trouble from time-to-time. I'll breakdown some of the groups for you.

Montreal Impact has the "Impact Ultras" who are just normal fans who sing. There is also the Ultras Skinhead Krew (SHARPS) who have caused mischief at the only rival they are close to, Rochester. (Keep in mind the size of the USA and Canada; every match is like playing in UEFA, thousands of km between clubs.) Montreal is in French-speaking Canada where football is part of the culture, the team has a very large fan base in the city and is spoken of with pride amongst their citizens. Tifosi is usually in form of flares/smoke bombs and flags.

A few years ago it looked as if Montreal was going to face Portland in the cup final, if that were to happen most of USK had made travel plans to come to Portland for a pre-arranged punch up with Urban Crew, both teams lost in the semi-finals though, so nothing came of it. Rivals, Portland and Rochester.

Rochester, New York "Raging Rhinos." Almost always a powerhouse in the league, their fans are not much more than families, there is a small group of dedicated fans, but the club does not respect them and this year there was a lot of drama between the two groups.

North Carolina "RailHawks" - a perfect example of dumb ass sports team names. (WTF is a RailHawk?) A new team this year, their supporters group Playstation 13/Section 13 are welcomed by the management. Lots of flags and smoke bombs. The group itself is maybe 100 strong, but they are full of passion and have earned respect as a new group. Rivals are Atlanta "Silverbacks" and Charleston "Battery." Neither team has more than a 6-person samba band as support.

Puerto Rico has a team that is in the USL Div-1, the "Islanders," with another one scheduled to begin next season. The new team is owned by River Plate and right now is competing in the PR regional league. PR teams get money from FIFA as part of the "National Development" program, as long as a certain number of players are local. A group of ultras was formed this year in their new stadium, while small they make up for it with flares and flags. Rivals, Miami FC

Minnesota Thunder FC has a group called "Dark Clouds." They are too far from anyone to have a regional rival. Portland is the nearest and we are 1740.47 miles away. Dark Clouds are viewed upon as Portland's little brother. Their fans often travel to Portland and vice-versa. Although there is 90 minutes of hate, you can usually find the away fans at the home teams pub sharing drinks.

California "Victory" owned by Spanish club Deportivo Alavés, the "Victory" finished dead last this year. Their supporters "1906 Supporters" are a small ultras style group using crepe paper, flares and flags to show support. At the moment they are trying to purchase the club. There is a fans cup (a beer pitcher) that is awarded after every match to the winners supporters, closest rival is Portland, but we are a 15 hour drive away, again, pints are shared pre and post match, but distance kept for 90.

That brings us to the Cascade Region of the continent. Portland, Oregon - Seattle, Washington -and Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). These three clubs have a football rivalry that dates back to the NASL days of Pele and Beckenbauer. And city rivalries that date to the old logging and shipping communities that founded all three cities. There is a regional Cup called the "Cascadia Cup" that is awarded to the winners’ supporters by their teams’ captain.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC - has "Blue and White Army" and the "Southsiders." BWA sits in the main
grandstand and is general "scafers." The Southsiders are "lager lads" who stand behind the south goal (although lately they have been following the opposing keeper at half) this group has cause some crowd trouble, almost exclusively when Portland was in town. Flares have been thrown on the pitch and at each other with little intervention from security. (I guess it's the ice hockey culture that is in them, they seem to view it as a part of the experience.)

Seattle Sounders Soccer Club. "Pod" (as in a group of whales) is by far the lamest group in all of North America. While their team is very good (they won the league cup this year, in front of 2.000 fans) they cannot attract any sort of following. Seattle (Shittle) is a metropolitan city that thinks itself bigger than it really is. It is fully of yuppies and soccer moms who will pay $60 to see Celtic vs. Chelsea, but not $10 to see their local club. The "Pod" has roughly 50 hardcore supporters, none who travel, and a smoke machine (think Spinal Tap). Seattle is one of the cities that is being discussed for MLS expansion, the proposal is for a club called "Athletico Seattle" and put an end to over 30 years of tradition as the Sounders. The "hardcore" supporters are okay with this as they see "being MLS" more important than history.

Portland Timbers FC - "Timbers Army." Portland is where Pele played his last professional match, it's nickname is "Soccer City, USA" due to the popularity of the Timbers in the 70's. When the NASL went bankrupt, the team folded, it was revived in the old American Professional Soccer League for a few years and then re-founded again in 2001 in the old A-League (now USL Div-1). The "Timbers Army" started before the team was even in operation in 2000 during the World Cup as a group of people to gather and support the USA. They called themselves "Cascade Rangers" until 2002ish when they took the name "Timbers Army" which started out on their scarves. Not as the name of the group, rather a throwback to the terrace culture that the British ex-pats had growing up. From the beginning the "Timbers Army" had more flair to it due to Portland's international community. Amongst the first group were Brits, Bosnians, Polish, and South Americans.

Portland has always traveled well, even when their numbers were small. In the Past three years you cannot go to a Timbers match in any of the three countries they play and not see Green and White in the crowd. For the most part there is no trouble with away fans outside of Cascadia. When Portland travels North to Shittle, trouble is almost guaranteed. Shittle plays in a huge American Football stadium that holds 65.000. This often looks ridiculous since the Sounders can't break the 5.000 fans mark (imagine Herthajunge playing at Olympiastadion.) The security there is the same security for the NFL (American Football) games, this group hates soccer and especially Portland fans. Crowd violence is usually Portland fans and Shittle Cops.

After the last Shittle away match of 2004 a group of people who came from a more "edgier" background got together and formed "Urban Crew" as a way of protection. This group was made of Anarchists who were used to fighting cops (Portland was named "Little Beirut" in the 80's due to the riots that would happen whenever Vice-Pres. Bush came to town), former casuals from Europe, SHARP skinheads, and Latin Americans. This group adopted an attitude of "an injury to one is an injury to all" and would protect fellow Portlanders. The following season Shittle away was met with flares thrown towards security, pitch invasions and arrests. Now whenever Portland plays in Shittle we parade around town and occupy their "hardcore's" pub as if it were our own.

Following UC's lead, other splinter groups popped up as people who had more in common realized how much more can get done in smaller groups. With the help of Ultras - Green Side (punk rock ultras) Urban Crew began to create choreographic tifosi displays. Flags and crepe paper soon became the norm, as well as smoke bombs following every Timbers goal. A "capo" system was set in place and has now grown to three capos working hand-in-hand while standing in different sections. This year has seen the "Woodshed" (where the Timbers Army stand in the north end of the park) almost double. A group called North End Ultras was set up to be in charge of tifosi and banner making. All flags and banners are made by the supporters with no help from the club.

This year the Timbers were bought by the son of the US Treasurer (think head of Deutsche Bundesbank) who at the time of purchase knew nothing of the Timbers and was more interested in the baseball team that we share the ground with. Now it is common to see him in the North End/Woodshed dancing amongst the smoke bombs after each goal. As I write this, the team is preparing to play a home-and-home play-off with Atlanta this weekend in the semi-finals of the leagues post-season cup. We have already raised the bar for American tifosi standards and are in the top-class of supporters in the country.

MLS

Invité a écrit:

Micki_IG a écrit:

Et pas mal de personnes doivent vous prendre pour des cons!
Lachez Rien!

Tu sait meme pas a quel point!

c'est sa qui est beaux !

trouver ca sur le 20 Minutes du jour:

Interessant cette interview Popeye, ça a le mérite d'éclairer un peu la lanterne sur cette zone d'ombre qu'est le Soccer aux USA, et la minorité de fans actifs...