It was Saturday night.  Jagger was back from Italy.  And we were off to a football game – KAA Gent versus STVV from the Belgian city of Sint-Truiden.  Go Blue!

There were about 15,000 of us enjoying the festivities in Planet Group Arena.  For the first while STVV thoroughly outplayed us and I was mesmerized by the footwork of their #77.  He danced with the ball.

To our left, behind the goal net, sat the KAA fan club.  They clapped, they drummed, they chanted.  Loud!  Intoxicating rhythms!  Sometimes they’d call out to fans at the other end of the field.  And those folks yelled back.  So cool.

Club members waved huge flags.  Their bodies moved in sync.  Often snake-like left and right.  Or three claps and then the arms out wide.  Woh!  I was drawn into the flow of the noise.

As for the game, I was bored for most of it.  Very few sweet passing plays.  Very few shots on net.  Only a couple of great saves.  Two goals (for us!)  The fan action overwhelmed the game play.  And that was fine.

At the end of the match (the last home game of the season) almost all of us fans stayed in the stadium.  The KAA players walked the perimeter of the field, kicking mini-soccer balls into the crowd.

Then they stood in front of their fan club.  Each player was introduced, stepping forward into a wall of applause.

The coach was leaving the team.  He gave an impassioned speech in Dutch.  And then received a standing ovation.  Not how I remember coaches bring treated in the NHL or NBA in North America!

***

I had fun

Jagger had fun

And so did thousands of others