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STORY OF A JAPANESE SAINT
K. Watanabe is the founder of Japanese Saints, the first and only Saints website in Japanese! This is her story.
St Mary's Friends Provident Stadium - venue of Japan-Nigeria friendly
3 July 2003
I became a Saints fan last year so I'm a new fan.
I've been a football fan for seven years but previously I'd only watched the games of Japanese clubs and the Japanese national team.
In 2000 I became a fan of a dance company called 'Adventures in Motion Pictures' (AMP) in London. (This company is famous for a male version of Swan Lake and the last scene in the British movie 'Billy Elliot'.) The works of this dance company are all very, very British. I've been to London four times to see their performances. Then I became interested in British culture and I liked it.
Last year was the first time the World Cup was held after I became interested in British culture. Before the World Cup I thought I would like to support the England team (because Scotland and Wales didn't qualify), so I watched some England friendlies (v. Italy, v. Paraguay, v. South Korea, etc.). Usually you can't watch these games (or EPL games for the matter) unless you subscribe to Japanese satellite TV. But thanks to the World Cup I could watch them for free. Watching these games made me a Wayne Bridge fan.
Why Wayne Bridge? Because I like defenders and he's a good leftback. I like his tackles, getting forward and his fantastic crosses. And as I read his interviews and some articles about him, I liked his good character, his love for Southampton and his loyalty to Saints as a Saints fan himself.
Then I subscribed to satellite TV so that I could watch Saints games. Now I can watch the preview and the highlights programme every week.
But we can't watch every game in Japan so I listen to the live commentary on Sky Digital Radio and see the BBC Online Live text commentary when a game is on.
As I watched Saints play, I gradually became a Saints fan. Why Saints? There are a number of reasons.
I like the colours, family atmosphere, supporters and staff (who are both optimistic and kind people), the manager (I'm a Strachan fan - I think he's the best manager in the EPL!) and all the Saints players who play hard and are polite.
Two games made me a 100% Saints fan - Fulham home and Man U away. I really enjoyed these games and was very impressed with Saints' aggressive play. I was not just a Bridge fan anymore, I had become a true Saints fan.
I visited Southampton from 27 December 2002 to 5 January 2003 and had a very good time. I went on a tour of St. Mary's, made some friends and took in three games: Saints v Sunderland (2:1 to Saints), Saints v Spurs (1:0 to Saints) and the thrashing of Spurs in the FA Cup (4:0 to Saints). Maybe I'm a lucky mascot!
By the way, Japan played Nigeria at St Mary's Stadium in Octber 2001. I read some reports about this game on Japanese football websites. The Japanese fans all said they were very impressed with Saints' hospitality. Saints made match-day programmes and the announcer introduced the football of Japan and Nigeria, even though they are foreign countries and it was just a friendly match.
A few days before that friendly, Japan played another friendly in Lens, France.
The fans noticed the difference between Saints and Lens because there were no programmes and announcements in Lens.
K. Watanabe
Japanese Saints
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