PSP action replays at Arsenal FC in 2010

Cool!

I often watch the IndyCar racing on the telly and have their live timing & scoring data to hand on my PSP. )

Give the ref one, and he might even semm competent! Not that I know anything at all about football, but in the few games I have watched the refs lack of god-like omnipotence leads to the occasional bad call.

As long as he doesn't just crack out Fifa and start playing that instead.

Refs with PSP's with insta replays... my god you may be onto something.

Wicked - reason to buy for me! That and the 5 games I actually want.

I'm actually getting back into Mr PSP. I hope more cheapie games like Stardust appear on the store. Decided to grab Killzone and GOW in the shopto sale. Keep the games at a tenner and its impulse buy time!

I'm seeing the news stories already "Ref killed by flying PSPs following dodgy offside decision".

How many PSP's are going to be ruined when all hands rise after a goal is scored? Not that Arsenal seem to be capable of scoring much these days....

"You have joined #Ultras!"

Wat?

Wow, I'd love this sort of thing when I'm at the football, there's nothing worse than getting all vocal and indignant at a ref's decision, then watching MOTD later on, only to find the ref was right after all.
Of course if I could confirm that the ref definitely got it wrong, then I could hurl guilt-free vitriol safe in the knowledge that he thoroughly deserves it!!

I'd buy a PSP if they were to introduce this at Stamford Bridge, no two ways about it.

At the risk of getting flamed.... Who thinks PSP will still be around by 2010?
This idea may be implemented in PSP2

Ultras (Latin word deriving from beyond in English, with the implication that their enthusiasm is 'beyond' the normal) are a sanctioned form of sports team supporters renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European and South American followers of football teams. The behavioural tendency of ultras groups includes the use of flares—primarily in tifo choreography—, vocal support in large groups, defiance of the authorities and the display of banners at football stadiums, which are used to create an atmosphere which intimidates opposing players and supporters, as well as encouraging their own team. Consistently rivals with opposing supporters, ultras groups are often identified with their respective team. The actions of ultra fan groups can occasionally be overly extreme and are sometimes influenced by racial violence, cross-town derbies between clubs from the same city, and even from poor performances by the teams.

This particular fan subgroup appeared strongly in Italy during the late 1960s when football teams reduced ticket prices in certain areas of the stadiums.[1] Since the early 1990s, the ultras subculture has increasingly become similar in style to the hooligan firm and casual cultures.[2] Violent acts of hooliganism by groups of ultras have led to some deaths,[3] as have police reprisals.[4]

The existence of ultras groups originates from the initial firm formed in the former state of Yugoslavia in 1950. During the tensional period of the Yugoslav wars, patriotic supporters of Hajduk Split—now playing football in Croatia—formed a group known as Torcida Split; this name still recognises the same firm.[5] The second longest standing ultra group is said to be Milan's Fossa dei Leoni (the Lion's Den) which was founded in 1968, which takes the name of the black-and-red's old ground and finds home in the stadium's cheaper sectors at ramp 17.[6] The "Fedelissimi Granata" were founded in Turin in 1951, and still present in the ultra line-up on the Maratona curve.[6] The Sampdoria Ultras appeared in 1969 (the first to call themselves "Ultras", followed by "The Boys" from Inter."[1]

Ultra groups are usually based around a core group (who tend to have executive control over the whole group), with smaller subgroups organized by location, friendship or political stance. Ultras tend to use various styles and sizes of banners and flags with the name and symbols of the group. Some ultra groups sell their own merchandise such as scarves, hats and jackets. The ultra culture is a mix of several supporting styles, such as scarf-waving and chanting. An ultra group can number from a handful of fans to hundreds, and often claim entire sections of a stadium for themselves.

The four core points of the ultra mentality are:

never stop singing or chanting during a match, no matter what the result
never sit down during a match
attend as many games as possible (home and away), regardless of cost or distance
loyalty to the stand in which the group is located (also known as the Curva or Kop).
Ultra groups usually have a representative who liaises with the club owners on a regular basis, mostly regarding tickets, seat allocations and storage facilities. Some clubs provide the groups cheaper tickets, storage rooms for flags and banners, and early access to the stadium before matches in order to prepare the displays. Some non-ultras have criticized these types of favoured relationship. Some spectators criticize ultras for never sitting during matches and for displaying banners and flags, which hinder the view of those sitting behind. Others criticize ultras for physical assaults or intimidation of non-ultra fans.



[edit] Match Day

Varvari tifo at a Montenegrin First League home matchBefore big matches, most ultra groups choreograph a large display, (sometimes known as Tifo) for when the teams enter. Ranging in size, based on financial capabilities of the group, the tifo has been displayed just in the section of the stadium where the group is located or the entire stadium. Sometimes small sheets of plastic or paper are held aloft to form a pattern or to colour the stadium. Other materials used include balloons, streamers, huge banners, flares, smoke bombs, and more recently, giant dolls (as used by Sampdoria's ultras in 2002). Pop culture icons are often used on banners, such as Alex DeLarge (from the movie A Clockwork Orange), bulldogs, or Che Guevara. Galatasaray SK's ultrAslan use large lion figures around the stadium in reference to them considering the club to be the king of Turkish football teams with the team name coming from the word saray, meaning the palace of Galata. Corporate brand logos and catchphrases are also often used. The displays, which can be expensive to make, often take months to prepare.

Some ultra groups, particularly in Italy, have animosity toward so-called modern football, which refers to all-seater stadiums, more expensive tickets, matches being played at non-traditional times (particularly evening matches), players being bought and sold like merchandise, and the excessive commercialization of football in general. Banners stating "Contro Il Calcio Moderno" (Against modern football) or simply "No Al Calcio Moderno" (No to modern football) are commonly seen in Italian stadiums, and have also appeared in other parts of Europe. A common English language equivalent, seen on banners and flags in stadiums across the United Kingdom, is the phrase "Love Football, Hate Business".

Ultra groups tend to be highly vocal at matches, with each group having several football chants. The melodies are mostly taken from popular songs, such as "Guantanamera" and "7 Nation Army". Other popular songs, sung in their entirety include "Bella Ciao", "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards)." In most cases, a group leader, often using a megaphone, coordinates the various activities of the entire group, including chants, songs, and banner drops. Fanzines and websites play a big part in the ultra movement. As printing costs decrease and publishing software improves, fanzines have become increasingly more professional-looking.


[edit] Hooliganism
Although ultra groups can become violent, the vast majority of matches go ahead with no violent incidents. Unlike hooligan firms, whose main aim is to fight fans of other clubs, the main focus of ultras is to support their own team. Hooligans usually try to be inconspicuous when they travel; usually not wearing team colours, in order to avoid detection by the police. Ultras tend to be more conspicuous when they travel and like to arrive en masse, which allows the police to keep a close eye on their movements. When trouble involving ultras does break out, it usually takes the form of a political riot similar to the ones in Italy in the 1970s when the Carabinieri used the same tactics with the ultras as they did with the political activists.

However, there does appear to be a crossover in some countries between ultras and hooligans. In Italy, when English club Middlesbrough F.C. played a match against AS Roma in March 2006, three Middlesbrough fans were stabbed in an attack that was blamed on Roma-supporting ultras.[7] Roma-supporting ultras were also blamed for an incident related to the club's match against English club Manchester United in Rome in April 2007, which resulted in 11 Manchester fans and two Italian fans being taken to hospital.[8] Spanish authorities have been concerned about ultra-related violence against supporters of other clubs, such as the murder of a Real Sociedad fan.


[edit] Politics

Napoli ultras holding banners aloft protesting about the authorities reaction to the death of a fan from a rival club.Ultra groups are sometimes associated with politics, such as racism, anti-racism, nationalism or anti-capitalism, resulting in rivalries and alliances based on these allegiances. Antifa Ultra is a term used to describe leftist, radical supporters clubs who take a millitant stance against discrimination (particularly racism), inside and outside soccer stadiums, which they see as being deliberately ignored by club management, the police and the state.

One growing political movement within Ultra groups that transcends traditional left-right politics is the resistance to the commercialization of football. In Italy this movement is called No al Calcio Moderno, which roughly translates as Against Modern Football.[9] In some cases, fans have split from the original team and formed their own teams, such as Manchester United F.C to F.C. United of Manchester, Wimbledon F.C.(now Milton Keynes Dons F.C.) to AFC Wimbledon, Hapoel Jerusalem to Hapoel Katamon and FC Red Bull Salzburg to SV Austria Salzburg.

Ultra groups such as Livorno's Brigate Autonome Livornesi, AC Omonia's GATE9 , A.C. Arezzo's Fossa, Pisa Calcio's Ultras, Olympique de Marseilles Curva-Massilia, St.Pauli's Ultrà Sankt Pauli , Hapoel Tel-Aviv's Ultras Hapoel, AEK Athens's Original 21, Celtic F.C.'s Green Brigade and Sevilla FC's Biris Norte are known for displaying flags with red stars, hammer and sickles, the anarchy symbol or images of Che Guevara. In Turkey, Beşiktaş JK's ultra group Çarşı has an A in its logo that is similar to the anarchy symbol, and have taken up a political left wing view. Fans of Ajax Amsterdam often display the Star of David and Israeli flags, and regularly chant "Joden! Joden!" (Dutch for "Jews! Jews!" in reference to the club's Jewish roots. The annual Mondiali Antirazzisti (Anti-Racist World Cup) attracts more than 6000 people, and is the largest gathering of Antifa Ultras in the world.[10]

Lazio's Irriducibili, APOEL F.C.'s PAN.SY.FI, Inter's Boys San, Real Madrids Ultras Sur, Hellas Verona's Brigate Gialloblu Espanyol's Brigadas Blanquiazules, Hajduk Split's Torcida, Dinamo Zagreb's Bad Blue Boys, FC Dinamo Bucureşti's Nuova Guardia, FC Steaua Bucureşti's and Atlético Madrid's ultra groups are known for displaying Celtic crosses and Swastikas.


[edit] Rivalries
Fierce rivalries between ultra groups can be found all over the world, although most of the larger rivalries are found in Europe and South America. The rivalries are often based around a basic animosity toward the rival team, mostly in derbies (e.g. Porto vs. Benfica, Anorthosis Famagusta FC vs APOEL FC, Dinamo Bucharest vs. Steaua Bucharest, CFR 1907 Cluj vs. "U" Cluj, UTA Arad vs. Poli Timisoara ,Sampdoria vs. Genoa, Roma vs. Lazio, Torino vs. Juventus, Inter vs. Milan, Wisła Kraków vs. Cracovia,Górnik Zabrze vs. Ruch Chorzów,Widzew Łódź vs. ŁKS Łódź, Fenerbahçe vs. Galatasaray,Újpest FC vs. Ferencvárosi TC, SK Brann vs. Valerenga, Ajax Amsterdam vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam, Vitesse Arnhem vs. NEC Nijmegen, Palmeiras vs. Corinthians, Grêmio vs. Internacional, Independiente vs. Racing, Boca Juniors vs. River Plate,Ahly vs. Zamalek, Espérance Sportive de Tunis vs. Club Africain , AEK Athens vs. Olympiacos, and some rivalries are based on politics in addition to team difference (e.g. Livorno vs. Lazio). There have also been rivalries between ultra groups that support the same team; based on personal and/or leadership disputes. Sometimes ultra groups try to capture banners and flags of a rival groups; losing a banner or flag to a rival group is considered a big humiliation and the faction losing the banner is required to disband.

In his book, How Soccer Explains the World, Franklin Foer describes the rivalry between Serb and Croat teams as,"The new, or rather old, enmity could be seen visibly at the soccer stadium... fans sang about their respective slaughters."[11] The ultras of FC Red Star Belgrade, the Delije (Heroes), and the ultras from FK Partizan Belgrade, Grobari (Gravediggers), formed the base of Arkan's Tigers, a Serbian paramilitary force who were later implicated in multiple acts of terror during the Wars in Yugoslavia. The Tigers made a dramatic appearance during the Belgrade derby game of 22 March 1992, played between Red Star and Partizan, where they held up road signs saying: '20 miles to Vukovar'; '10 miles to Vukovar'; 'Welcome to Vukovar'. More signs followed, each named for a Croatian town that had fallen to the Serbian army. Arkan was then director of the Red Star supporters' association. [2] When Bosnia-Herzegovina played a friendly game against Croatia in August of 2007, "Croatian fans formed a human U symbol representing the fascist Ustase movement responsible for mass killings of Serbs, Jews and the Roma during World War II, and now more recent, Bosnian war". Although in this instance, the Croats used the fascist symbol U as a sign of nationalism, amid new rising of ethnic tensions in Bosnia between the Croats and the Bosnian Muslims. [12]

Ooookaaay.

A) GAMES.

B) What about the other 91 league clubs?!

More people would carry an iPhone to a match

@ryohazuki1983

Couldnt you just have posted the Wikipedia link instead!?

@crazyhorse174

Yes.

I think you may have plagiarised that. Do you think maybe you should post a reference?

Sony developed app???

This wont happen, or wont work well.

/hopes to be proved wrong

Chelsea and Man Utd would be better suited to watching PSPs during the game, Considering how dire their atmospheres sound on TV.