* "Έρχομαι από την Σμύρνη για να δω το πραγματικό σμυρνέικο ντέρμπι. Σας χαιρετώ αδερφια μου"
- Ο Andrew Simes, Λεβαντίνος σκοτσέζικης καταγωγής, γόνος μια οικογένειας που ζει στη Σμύρνη από τον 19ο αιώνα, κι οπαδός του Πανιωνίου, ήρθε προχτές από τη Σμύρνη, για να δει στη Ριζούπολη το σμυρναίικο ντέρμπι Απόλλωνα-Πανιωνίου, φέρνοντας το παραπάνω πανό.
- Πιο συγκινητικά ακόμα ήταν τα λόγια που έγραψε στο προφίλ του:
(^) "This weekend I had the privilege to travel to Athens to attend one of the best derbies in the world. No, Real Madrid, Juventus or Bayern Munich weren't playing. You probably may have never even heard of the two teams I watched, Panionios and Apollon. That is also the case with the new generation in Athens these days. People prefer teams which win every trophy in the market. But I left the house at three in the morning to watch two teams in another country's third division. These teams were founded between 1890 and 1891 in Izmir, the city that my family and I have lived in for six generations. Chances are my forefathers played against them or watched them. After a war in 1922, these teams had to leave the city they were founded in and settled in Greece...
(^) ... I was stopped by the police at Izmir airport because I was carrying a banner which I had prepared in a language they could not read. It was in Greek and read: "I come from Izmir to watch the original Izmir derby and I salute all my brothers". We waited for a translator who I had the most difficult time convincing that I was travelling all this way for a football match. Luckily, I was allowed to leave and later that morning, I arrived at Athens airport and proceeded to clear customs. The customs agent asked my intentions of being in Greece, to which I replied to attend a football match. He looked at my British passport, at the two Greek football team scarves I had around my neck, and double checked his computer for my origin: Izmir. In full sarcasm he asked "Let me get this straight, you are British, you are coming from Izmir, to attend a match between Panionios and Apollon?" "You wouldn't understand" I replied. He shook his head and stamped my passport. I was in! ...
(^) ... The stadium is anything but full. The few remaining fans are made of older men who know not the meaning of surrender and younger men who burn with an innocent fire inside... Once upon a time, men supported teams, and supported them well. Players never felt alone and children were taught about traditions and values. These fans took charge because that's what they did. But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed real fans. Uncaring businessman by uncaring businessman taking over clubs, transfer by transfer bringing clubs financially to their knees, fans were stripped of their pride, their first love, and the traditions handed down to them by their fathers and were left stranded on the road between a spectator and a coma. Fans slowly retreated into the dark recesses and began vanishing. Today, there are questions our passionless society has no answers for. The world sits idly by as clubs crumble, players don't care about their teams, and those children have nothing to share with their fathers on any given weekend. Now the world needs new heroes. We need men to put down the iPhone, step away from the TV and derail football from the tracks of consumerism and destruction. Its time to answer the call. Its time to bring out more fans like Panionios and Apollon".
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ΤΟ ΣΗΜΑ ΤΗΣ ΟΜΑΔΑΣ (φωτογραφίες)
