Fflint Scousers wind up United

Word reaches me that there was some minor trouble at Fflint's friendly with FC United the other day. FC United are the team that were formed by Man Utd supporters in the wake of Glazier's takeover. They have such a large following that lots of clubs have been keen to arrange matches to boost income. The clamour for friendly fixtures has been so great that a reserve side has been formed especially to meet demand.

It seems that a number of antagonistic Scousers turned up chanting about Munich and things "got a bit heated" according to our correspondent.

I have to say that it doesn't surprise me. I've been on a train going through Fflint after an Everton home game. A group got off at Fflint that had been singing songs about Hillsborough and Heysel since they got on at Chester.

It's one of the things that has surprised me since my move up North. In South Wales, there are very few serious football fans who follow English clubs. Yes, there are dozens of coaches that go up the M6 every week, but these are day trippers, theatre-goers. They're not proper football people.

This isn't the case in North Wales. Football is more popular, and I would say that generally people are more knowledgeable about the game. But almost everybody follows a big Northern English club. Rabid Nationalists like Seimon Glyn see no hypocrisy in travelling to Man Utd instead of patronising a Welsh team.

The Fflint wannabes were probably not real Scousers. But they become honorary citizens of Liverpool when their teams play. They absorb the regional prejudices of their fellow supporters on the Gladys Road and become Scouse for a day. Their blood boils when the Mancs mock their "City of Culture", and they take this affrontery back home across the A55.

There is a sort of false rivalry created between fans of the English clubs which makes no sense. All this is bemusing for a Valleys boy, but it's been happening for a long time now, and I don't see anything changing unless Fflint Town United win the Champions League .

The image above shows a huge crowd at Fflint in 1954 for the visit of Cardiff City. If people stopped chasing the reflected glory of English teams, then maybe those crowds would be back.