Meet Kristof, a Czech, sitting opposite me in a Copenhagen S-train, on the way back from the Brondby versus Horsens game that we both saw. I met him on the platform at the train station after the game - there were the usual rowdies and then the two of us, both trying to make sense of the railway map.
He supports the Bohemians. Now that's normal because Bohemia is Czech [BTW there's another Bohemians team - the one in Dublin - so to try to confuse us the Czech team wears Irish green (see above) whereas the Irish team wears red and black].
Anyway, I digress. Now, I'm quite a soccer aficionado, but by him I am thoroughly outclassed. Kristof is the REAL deal. In 2007-8 he went to every single Bohemians game - home and away. That already put him in the die-hard top 5% or so. But it wasn't enough, so since then, on Fridays he takes an overnight bus from Prague to some other country, takes in one or two soccer games, then returns back overnight on Sunday again just in time for work. He's probed 28 countries like that! And what makes him even more amazing is that he doesn't just watch the big teams - he watches the little ones as well. One trip to the cold North of England took in Fleetwood FC, who were, like, in the tenth division with about 100 supporters per game. So he's clearly one sandwich short of a picnic.
Brondby are now useless and in crisis (they're so bad the ticket man let me in for free!) but on Sunday I will watch Hoffenheim, who are now useless and in crisis, then next Saturday I will watch Norwich City, who are....you guessed it. Ahem! So, for voluntarily subjecting oneself to this drivel, maybe one has a slight touch of insanity oneself?
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