Emma John’s article (Is it ever OK to wear another club’s shirt? My life in a Liverpool top this week, 1 May) made me think of conversations with my 53-year-old uncle, who finds it strange that I wear more than one team’s colours. I think his idea is old-fashioned. These days my friends and I wear shirts of the players we like, not just the team we support.
My favourite team in Germany is 1.FC Köln. I’m a member of the club and always wear their shirt when I go to the stadium to watch them. I get nervous when they play, feel happy when they win and frustrated when they drop points. I care as much about their results as any other true fan, and more than my dad. But when I am at school or at home, I sometimes wear a jersey of their rivals, Leverkusen. I am not a fan of Leverkusen, but I like one of their players – Patrik Schick. All of my friends in my team (SpVg Nöthen under-13s) have lots of different jerseys from different teams because we like certain players.
It is the same with international teams. Most of us have Brazil shirts because of Vini Júnior or Neymar, but we don’t support Brazil. We still like to tease someone if the team we support beats one that a friend supports, but it is not serious. We know which team we support even if someone is wearing a different shirt. It doesn’t even matter that you do not like the football team or player – you might just like the shirt.
I don’t support Chelsea, but I like their shirt this season. It looks good because it doesn’t have a sponsor.
To Emma John: wear your Liverpool shirt if you like it. You are lucky – they are the best!
Tom Stanley (aged 12)
Bad Münstereifel, Germany
• On a business trip to Serbia in 2002, I bought a Serbia football shirt with the name of (Mateja) Kežman, later of Chelsea, on the back as a souvenir. I kind of liked the cool accent over the Z. I wore the shirt the next day at an informal social event organised by my hosts, but couldn’t work out why they were giving me the cold shoulder.
Someone eventually pointed out that Kežman played for Partizan Belgrade, while everyone else at the party supported Red Star, their bitter rivals.
John Williams
Portsmouth
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