My old friend Stef wrote one of these years ago, and it was great. Here’s my crack at the same sort of thing. If you like, please copy, provide your own answers and invite your friends to do the same.

Football survey

1. What team do you support and why?
Arsenal and I fell in love with them for no apparent reason 14 years ago. It was a dramatic penalty shootout against Sampdoria and a crush on Ian Wright that did it.
2. Any other teams you follow, and why?
Dinamo Zagreb - went to see them in 2007 and the atmosphere knocked me off my feet. I go to Arsenal for attractive football and Dinamo for the rush.
3. Which team do you hate the most and why?
Tricky one… I vacillate between Spurs and Man United. I think it’s Spurs atm. Not only are they local rivals, theyr’e actually winning sometimes. And they are accumulating players I used to like at an alarming rate. Gah.
4. Which other teams do you dislike and why?
Man U (annoying), Chelsea (rich and annoying), Hajduk Split (Dinamo’s rivals), Lazio (racist), MK Dons (plastic franchise football team)
5. Favourite all time player
Patrick Vieira. And also Ian Wright.
6. Favourite current player for your club
I love Gallas and Eduardo. They both push my buttons. I would have favoured Gallas until the last couple of weeks but the ridiculous way Eduardo’s been vilified has made me love him extra much!
7. Favourite current player not at your club
I think Artur Boruc right now. Also Patrick Vieira obviously, and Cristiano Lucarelli.
8. If your club had to sell one player, who would you sacrifice?
Almunia. We’d sign Boruc as a replacement.

9. Current favourite goalkeeper
Artur Boruc
10. Current favourite defender
William Gallas
11. Current favourite midfielder
Patrick Vieira
12. Current favourite forward
Eduardo
13. Current favourite manager
Slaven Bilic

Who do you prefer…

14. Arsenal or Spurs
Arsenal
15. Liverpool or Everton
Everton
16. Man U or Man City
City. JUST.
17. Real Madrid or Barcelona
Barca
18. Milan or Inter
Erm… I like both. Historically Milan but now Inter have Vieira!
19. Celtic or Rangers
Celtic
20. Rhyl or Bangor
Rhyl, having seen them play. I wouldn’t care otherwise.
21. Linfield or Glentoran
Linfield, because Stevie Baxter scores 26 billion goals a game!
22. Dinamo Zagreb or Hajduk Split
VOLIM DINAMO!
23. Legia Warsaw or Wisla Krakow
Don’t ask awkward questions! I still haven’t got to the bottom of my dilemma about Polish teams to favour!

24. Describe yourself as a supporter, in ten words or less.
Passionate, loud, community focused, pretty fearless ultra in training.
25. Favourite national side and, if it’s not your country, why?
Croatia, for similar reasons as why I like Dinamo. I fell in love with them around the same time, having visited the country.
26. Who will win the 2010 World Cup?
Erm…… England could actually do it, or Spain, or Brazil.

27. If you could watch any football game in the world, what would it be?
Dinamo v Hajduk. Hopefully I will, maybe as early as next May.
28. List some of the other fixtures you’re interested in.
Any Polish match; Galatasaray v Fenerbahce; Partizan v Crvena Zvezda; any Latin American derby.

29. Favourite… Championship team
Newcastle, for my mum. Also like Doncaster.
30. …League One team
Brighton and Hove Albion
31. …League Two team
Either Dagenham and Redbridge or Barnet. They can both be promoted this year! Also have a soft spot for Bournemouth despite almost getting hypothermia after a game at Dean Court!
32. …Non-league team
AFC Wimbledon. Community owned clubs are my thing.
33. Which is your nearest club, of any size?
Eastleigh. Saw them play AFC Wimbledon last season. 16 minutes of injury time due to an injury to the linesman!

34. Favourite… French team
Lyon I think. Glory hunting but they used to be an Arsenal retirement home so I had a soft spot for them then.
35. …German team
St Pauli. Like my sister, I tend to follow both Hamburg teams which is odd!
36. …Italian team
Livorno. Also have always liked AC Milan.
37. …Spanish team
Barcelona
38. …Polish team
Don’t ask me this, I’m still trying to work it out.
39. …Croatian team
Dinamo
40. …Dutch team
Ajax
41. …MLS team
Don’t know much about it but Adrienne would want me to say Colorado Rapids, so I just did
42. Any other teams you like from unpredictable countries or just those I haven’t mentioned yet?
A lot of teams capture my imagination. If there’s passion in the stadium, I’m interested. I’m also interested in teams with a left wing support base.

43. Best match you’ve ever been to or watched on TV and why?
That’s really hard… I loved Arsenal v Juventus in December 2001. 3-1. Also the 3-1 over Man Utd in the same season, about a month beforehand.
44. Worst match you’ve ever been to or watched on TV and why?
I didn’t actually go there or watch on TV, I listened to it on the radio and it traumatises me for life… Man U, February 2001, don’t make me talk about it anymore!!!!!
45. How many games do you go to per season?
As many as i can. Sharing a season ticket atm, expected to make 7-10 games.
46. Would you go to more games if you afford to?
Yes, if I also had time.
47. How do you think the atmosphere could be improved at football games (especially if you follow the Premiership)?
I’m for anything which doesn’t involve racism or people punching each other. Someone let off flares right next to me at Hearts v Dinamo and it gave me such a rush! Short of such behaviour, I think everyone should take responsibility to join in the chants and generate atmosphere.
48. Do you envy any other club’s supporters, and if so why?
Dinamo and every other club whose fans give it their all for 90 minutes.
49. Have you ever joined in a football related protest?
I used to launch them! I ran a football action group called GRODD as a teenager. Good times. I’ve been involved in the Free Michael Shields (yay, victory!) and Save the Vuvuzela campaigns of late. I am also in favour of safe standing and have argued for it often.

50. If you had a time machine, what football related thing would you do?
Go to an Arsenal game when there was atmosphere at Highbury. Maybe a north London derby in the 70s would float my boat? Terraces would be involved, of course.

51. Do you play?
Sometimes. Not for a year. Must get involved at uni.
52. What position do you play/did you play at school?
Selfish striker.
53. How good are you?
Erm… not very!
54. Who was your childhood idol?
Ian Wright. I’m actually better at playing up front than anything else, so I don’t think I let my idol sway my choice of position.
55. As a player, what are your strengths and weaknesses?
I’ve always been able to get a shot on target and I’m tenacious when it comes to winning the ball. Main weakness is too much time on the ball, hesitation, lack of confidence in what to do with it. I also struggle to get power behind my shots in a competitive situation because I’m over worried about accuracy. Basically I psyche myself out and don’t have the competitive experience to fix this problem.

56. What problems does the team you support have (i.e. money, administration, board issues)?
Finishing 4th over and over and over and over again. Not having a plan B on the pitch, thus being vulnerable to teams who only want to kick us.
57. What problems do your club’s supporters have (i.e. racism, apathy)?
Complete apathy and general silence, unless you’re in block 6.

58. Everyone answer this question, even the straight boys, for a laugh… if you had to date one player from your club, who would it be?
Just one? Hmm, that would have to be Gallas.
59. Same question, but with a player from another club?
At the moment, Artur Boruc. Players aside, Slaven Bilic pushes my button too.
60. Ever had a serious crush on a footballer?
I was in LOVE with Ian Wright for 2 years as a teenager, in a “crying when he handed in a transfer request and wanting to marry his wife off to my IT teacher so I could have him” kinda way. I get very defensive when I have a crush on a player and want to fight their corner! I also write songs about them!
61. Which club side has the most attractive players?
Tough question that. Used to be unquestionably Arsenal but they’ve sold a few hotties. Villa are quite interesting. Barcelona because Henry alone is worth half a dozen cute players at another team.
62. Which national side has the most attractive players?
Croatia of course! Because when Corluka and Kranjcar have Croatia shirts on, they’re not disgusting anymore!

63. What do you think of your team’s current kit?
Home kit is fine, away kits are rancid. White one looks like school uniform and blue one is Facebook blue, which is a Spurs colour!
64. Do you buy the kits? If so, how often, and how many do you own?
I don’t buy new Arsenal kits anymore, but used to and have taken to buying random kits. I’ve got about 10.
65. What’s the most random kit you own?
Dinamo home shirt (2008-9).
66. What do you think of your club’s current sponsors?
They probably pollute the environment quite a lot. I think there are further issues but not quite sure what they are, to be honest. Not keen on shirt sponsorship in general.

67. Funniest thing you’ve ever seen at a football match?
People singing “are you Schmeichel in disguise?” at some diving Wimbledon player in 1997, days after Schmeichel had been pretending to have been fouled by Ian Wright.
68. What would convince you to streak at a football match?
Artur Boruc.

69. Who will win… the FA Cup this season?
Man City
70. …the League Cup?
Villa
71. …the Premiership?
Arsenal would be nice. Real answer = Chelsea.
72. …the Champions League?
Arsenal would be nice and more plausible than the League. Arsenal, Real Madrid or Barca.
73. …the Europa League?
Someone who gets dumped out of the Champions League… I’ll go for Rubin Kazan. At least then I can stare at Savo Milosevic a bit.

74. What would you really, really like to happen in football this year, even though you know it won’t?
Dinamo winning the Europa League.

75. First match you went to:
Arsenal v Blackburn, 26/11/1995, 0-0.
76. Last match you went to:
Hearts v Dinamo Zagreb, 27/08/2009, 2-0 (2-4 on aggregate *yes*)
77. Favourite stadium visited:
Highbury.

I found this text next to a photo on Flickr of some Ultras graffiti on a wall.

“I’m old enough to remember when football was great in my home country (England). Although I will forever support the team I was born with I find myself travelling Europe looking for the atmosphere and passion to match that I remember from the past.”

This is me! I’m sure I’ve seen something similar on the Legia Warsaw stickers which get left lying all around Southampton. I wanna meet the guy that does that. I’d buy him a drink and listen to him say hhhh. And a friend of mine who I do political stuff with was saying he identified with European ultras. We arrived at the same conclusion through different routes: he got sick of the racism at his club, Millwall, and decided he’d rather be a leftie Livorno or St. Pauli fan: I just got sick of the silence at the library! It’s been a bit better in the last few games, but that’s cos we’ve been winning and it shouldn’t be like that. I can’t imagine the Maksimir being silent in the event of Dinamo losing.

Anyone having similar feelings about the boringness of the Premiership? It says a lot that when I googled “no to modern football” and found this page, it was actually “no al calcio moderno” that I’d read, and the guy who wrote the words quoted previously was summarising a piece of Italian graffiti, though he was English and identified with the problem. But I haven’t had anyone invite me to a Facebook group called “no to modern football” and I got the phrase from Livorno fans. We Brits need to start taking some responsibility if we want to win football back from the upper middle classes and give ordinary people a chance to feel a part of it again.

Right, I gtg, gotta cook some dinner.

God bless, Jenni xx

I asked both my parents who or what they thought the Torcida were.

Mum: “Tortillas with a ‘tsee’”.

Dad: “Manufacturers of evening suits.” (Tuxedo!)

The Torcida are, of course, not as good as the Bad Blue Boys… I mean they are the dedicated supporters of Hajduk Split. To my shame, I used to walk around with Torcida on my back:( I had a Hajduk T-shirt from about 2000 until last autumn when I got rid of it to Ivo. Zvone saved me from my terrible mistake! It was bought for me anyway, but I always erred on the side of Hajduk until I actually got to see Dinamo play, live, not playing Arsenal.

I am back from my holiday in Croatia. I didn’t get to go to Dinamo v Hajduk. I watched the Torcida throw paper on the pitch until the kickoff got delayed from the “safety” (I’m being sarcastic, we’d have been perfectly safe in Split but nobody agrees with me except Vedran so who cares?) of a bar in Pula. But did I have a fantastic time in Croatia anyway? Of course I did:D My friend Darren at work has a nice take on Hajduk’s 200,000 kuna fine for throwing paper on the pitch:

“It’s a bit harsh. I mean, if Southampton got fined every time there was rubbish on the pitch, they’d be broke!”

A bit harsh on Southampton who have won their last 3 games but a good shout nonetheless. I am wondering what has happened to the Jenni who would have agreed with Darren, the “Chairman of GRODD - Fighting for the Future of Football” Jenni. GRODD is the name of a supervillain according to Google - Gorilla Grodd - and also there’s a composer called Uwe Grodd, but it’s also the name of a football action group I formed and ran while at secondary school and the beginning of college. We started off complaining about referees and the FA cracking down on anything exciting that might happen at a football match, before moving on to become more of a supporters’ advocacy group, campaigning against pay per view football and stuff like that. I think deep down I do agree that you should be able to get away with stuff like that, because it was exciting and I don’t want to be conservative in any way (even if I might accept these days that you have to be sometimes). I still rail against any kind of stuffy Daily Mail reader attitudes from deep down. I need to watch myself for signs of becoming old and middle class, and equally, for signs of becoming so rebellious that I ignore God, other important stuff, right and wrong, etc.

Speaking of God, I went to church on Sunday and came away feeling that I had never been saved before, for the hundredth time. I realised tday that I need to reconcile how I respond to God on Sundays with how it works during the week. I don’t know if this means being more humble (and a bit more scared and, apparently, odd) during the week, or more relaxed on Sundays. Bit of both, maybe? I need to sort it out inside. I don’t really get the personal relationship with God stuff. Usually, at least once a week, I think God is telling me to do something, and it usually leasds to me feling negative about myself. I’d appreciate prayer and support on this, if anyone is available, and I’m more than happy to pray for people in return. I don’t know if I can offer any advice in return, but I will pray first and see where the Holy Spirit leads me. After all, the Bible says not to worry what you will say, for God’s Spirit will speak into your heart. I hope that’s true in my case.

Here is an article which will make you laugh. And I have taken that picture for personal use (otherwise known as Facebook profile picture!). And here is an absolutely hysterically funny question. I’m glad I didn’t ask my parents this. Who knows what might have happened?

Right, I’m going to go now before I get square flatscreen eyes:)

God bless, Jenni xx

1) Here is the promised Janko Tipsarevic picture. It carries a severe health warning. Janko’s looks can lead to hhhhospitalisation and so can his accent.

Also, Marat Safin has retired from tennis. Aww, poor Ros! Here is a present for you!

2) A naughty Dinamo player has made The Sun! I couldn’t believe it when I saw a Croatia shirted man in the FRONT part of the paper Nigel was reading at work. The account in the paper was better than this one which doesn’t actually mention that he plays for Dinamo and has at least 2 typos. However, the paper one was shorter and didn’t mention that he might be going to the T team (no, don’t do it!) and that his son had been mistaken for Madeleine McCann! It was on the unpronounceable Krk (which should be calld hrh!), as well. Sinisa has been on holiday there recently.

3) You need to watch this video of Lazy Town, around the 4.40 mark. We tried to cut out 10 seconds of it using this tutorial, but I couldn’t work out how.

Of course, I’m never guilty of doing this banana eating, purple shoe wearing sort of thing. Never at all.

It took me ages to find Artur doing the L sign and now I’ve found it by accident!

Now I am annoyed with computers. Thanks Caroline and Ros for all your help and patience at this difficult time! Who knew making 1 blog entry could cause this much pain?! I’m going to play Albert Tatlock now.

God bless, Jenni xx

I have become obsessed with Croatian football and here is an example of why.

Once I was disappointed that Arsenal were planning to paint the preserved front of the old Highbury stadium green. I emailed them and they said it was to match the new trees on Avenell Road, and that there had been a wide supporters’ consultation and nobody had complained. A quick visit to the Arsenal World message board confirmed that none of the committed supporters there had been consulted.  Many of these people were members and season ticket holders, who you’d think would be high on the club’s list of people to ask about the proposed changes to the stadium.

I therefore launched a petition which one Arsenal site moderator posted on his website. However, after a few days it had been removed and the moderator never told me why. A wise friend suggested that Arsenal probably leaned on him and told him he would have to remove all copyright content if he didn’t stop questioning them. I don’t know if this was true or if the moderator just lost interest in supporters’ activism, but the result was the same.

Compare this to Dinamo Zagreb’s Bad Blue Boys. Their website has a whole section dedicated to petitions - against moving to the new stadium, against some actions of the chairman, etc. They are much more organised than English fans. My friend Zvone tells me that there is an unspoken agreement that the fans don’t sing before kick off so that the fans are not tired of singing by the time their team needs them! And there is atmosphere at every game. I went to a 4-0 victory against Slaven Belupo (who brought no away fans - it didn’t matter one iota) and a 4-0 defeat against “the T team” (the other North London side) and the fans’ behaviour was similar - very, very loud, noisy and passionate! At Spurs, they sang after the game finished until the police let them out of the stadium, with all the White Hart Lane stewards and other staff standing around to watch!

I think if my first Arsenal game after that hadn’t been against Man United, the contrast would have scared me silly. I know that it’s good that we have less problems with hooliganism in the UK than many other European countries do, but isn’t it possible to find a compromise - neither silent nor violent?

So, Croatia 1 England 0 in terms of fan enthusiasm. I’d appreciate some feedback in terms of which other teams have great fans.

EDIT: The website full of “peticija” (Croatian word of the day = petitions!) is at http://www.badblueboys.hr/ - thanks Zvone for this!

God bless, Jenni xx