Are lucky rituals a load of pants?

By All Blue Daze.

Some time ago, during a bored ten minutes or so, I chanced upon an article buried away deep in one of the dark recesses of the BBC News website, seeking to avoid the scrutinising light of day.

Embed from Getty Images
Someone had completed a study about the influence of supposedly ‘lucky’ items of clothing in shaping the outcome of sporting events. In short, could wearing a particular pair of pants, socks or even having tomato ketchup on your cornflakes for breakfast makes your team more likely to win? You may not be surprised to hear the result of the study. It found donning any particular garment or partaking in ritualistic behaviour of any kind has no influence whatsoever.

As I read, a few thoughts jumped into my head. Firstly, who pays these people to carry out such a mindless exercise? Was it ever likely to prove any different? Imagine, for a moment if there had been statistical support for the theory that wearing particular pants – let’s use them to symbolise all other garments and rituals – made it more likely that your team would win. Fans would no longer chant about the name of their star player.

I’ve been a football fan for over 50 years and I have as many rituals when my club is playing as most other people. If we’re playing a midweek game, I always wear a blue tie at work. I’ll always wear my club’s shirt when I watch them. There are others, but relating them here may open me up to justifiable ridicule. However, I don’t do these things because I think they’re lucky – I do it (and I suspect many others do) because I want to belong. I want to participate, to contribute. I accept the bitter disappointments but enjoy the victories so much more if I feel I’m on the inside.

These rituals are symbols of my dedication to my club. I once heard a radio interview at a now defunct Scottish football club’s supporters’ bar. Without giving too much away, the club was based in Glasgow and bordering on extinction. The club was adrift at the bottom of one of the Scottish lower divisions and hadn’t paid the players for months. The physiotherapist had played in goal in the last game because the only keeper on their books was injured. You get the picture, I’m sure.

The interviewer asked one of the supporters why he stayed loyal to the club. Why not take up with Celtic or Rangers? This supporter then gave the most complete description I have ever heard about fandom. He related how one can always change jobs, move house, even get a divorce, but if you’re a fan, you can never change your team, because they’re not yours – you belong to them.

I thought that was brilliantly perceptive and encapsulated the point that I’m trying to make. He was on the inside. He willingly took all of the pain, and shared it. He was never going to change his club because, if he had, it would have meant that he had never truly belonged in the first place. It’s a bit of a weird thing this. If you’re a fan, I’ll bet you can empathise with the thought even if you may not totally believe. If you try telling it to a non-fan – as I have – they’ll look at you blankly because they can’t understand.

So to my mind, fans don’t wear ‘lucky pants’ because they think it’ll make a difference but because they belong. Right, my guys are kicking off in a bit, so I’m just going to don my shirt and get settled into the zone. I don’t care if the opposition fans are wearing their lucky pants or even if they’ve gone for the double reassurance of wearing two pairs – ‘cos I’ve got on three!

For more from All Blue Daze:
Visit the website: www.allbluedaze.com
Facebook: facebook.com/AllBlueDaze
Twitter: @All_Blue_Daze