The irony isn’t lost on me…

By: Luka | September 11th, 2009

So there I was, for the past week, lapping it up and watching every other Euro club blogger express their distaste of the international break. Some were plain and simply bored, others rued the cruelties served up, while some just went all random and tedious like. Finally, some enterprising individuals decided to take the challenge of daring to respond to (and perhaps rationalise) the crazy media ramblings and stories unsurprisingly emanating from a club supposedly in “crisis” (had there been a game on, would anyone really care about all that clap-trap? I doubt it).

So, like I said, here I was in a chirpy mood, for once having the upper hand over these these glamour clubs (I had a game to review, which we won too, so ner ner) and preparing to write a nice little (big) preview for a big, big, gigantically big game. Then fate (or irony) dealt me a cruel (and to those I just spent defaming, hilarious) blow – Assyriska doesn’t play until Wednesday (Thursday Down Under). Crap. So, away goes my preview hat and those lovely pictures I had prepared to accompany it with, in place of a deeply pensive Mexican sombrero. What to do what to do….

It’s the 11th of September here in Aussieland, meaning it’s just 17 days until THE DERBY. The SODERTALJE DERBY. Or, as they have so fittingly dubbed – the MESOPOTALJE DERBY. It may not occur at such a grand scale as the Milan, Rome, Old Firm, River-Boca derbies etc, and you will most certainly never have heard of it, but it just as fierce, strikingly historical, and the implications of failure (and the accompanying storyline) go way beyond football and into the social & political arenas. The tale of one nation of people, sharing the same language, culture, history religion and traditions has diverged to one of separation – two groups of people championing two sets of opposing ideals, with two football clubs forming the backdrop of this struggle. Yet, when the derby rolls around, it is football which becomes the focal point for each faction. AssyriskaFF and Syrianska FC become pawns in a political and social game – and become the very tools by which a nation of people has become separated (think Dinamo Zagreb against Red Star Belgrade….but not quite as violent).

Assyriska Foreningen Sodertalje v Syrianska FC

Assyrians v Syriacs (aka “Arameans” or as I like to call them, ‘confused’ or ’self-hating’ Assyrians)

Zelge fans v Gefle fans

Family v Family

Us:

Them:

Prepare for some blogs about the derby, it’s history and why Syrianska (who, only for the purposes of explaining the derby, I refer to by their actual name. To me, they are the “other” team from Sodertalje, or “confused Assyrians FC” or simply the “self-haters”) aren’t fit to tie the shoelaces of an Assyriska ball boy. Their supporters, furthermore, multiply this scumbagness exponentially – from their tales (proven) of attacking Assyriska players during a match (1989, I will cover this), deliberately unscrewing the bolts in a stand holding Assyriska’s supporters the night before the derby (you see, both teams share the same stadium) with an intent to kill, and plain and simply possessing such an inferiority complex that they are inclined to celebrate a derby victory for weeks even if they lose all of their remaining fixtures in the season.

Tickets went on sale a week ago, I’ve already ordered the game on C Sports. It is well and truly on.