The unprovoked verbal abuse was not sudden when it occurred. I had spent an hour outdoors the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, speaking to Asian followers who had come to see their membership play. Many had been launched to Spurs via Son Heung-min, the beloved South Korean celebrity.
When Son was appointed captain in 2023 he grew to become the primary Asian participant to steer a Premier League crew, a lift not just for his already important profile however that of Tottenham. For greater than a decade, he introduced a movement of Asian followers to Spurs matches. And regardless of his departure this summer season for Los Angeles FC, they're nonetheless coming.
They are going to be Spurs supporters for all times, says Solar Thaicharoenporn, a 22-year-old Singaporean of Thai heritage who lives in London. He and his girlfriend, Ang Ang, turned up for the sport in opposition to Aston Villa this month decked out in membership scarves and caps. They flashed massive smiles and fortunately posed once we took their pictures outdoors the stadium. After which a Villa fan, in a bunch of males, interrupted. “Fuck Tottenham,” he yelled, leaning into their faces.
Solar and Ang Ang blanched, however brushed it off. However the query lingered, unstated. Would he have carried out that to different Tottenham followers? Would he have so confidently focused a bunch of white males sporting Spurs colors, not Asian followers, stereotyped as extra passive and timid, and maligned at occasions even by different Spurs followers on-line for being on the bandwagon, for not being “true” followers.
Who will get to be a fan in English soccer, to totally take part in membership tradition, to really feel they're a part of a membership? Son made lots of people really feel they might. When Solar moved to London three years in the past for college, he instructed his girlfriend he needed them to go to soccer and get behind a membership, to take part in English tradition and assist them “combine”. Tottenham had been the clear selection. He had been following the crew casually for years due to Son. “After I was in center faculty he was the primary Asian illustration within the Premier League,” he says. Solar's household had been Liverpool or Manchester United followers. “I'm the black sheep,” he says wryly, “However I felt like I needed to assist a crew which represented that sort of multi-diversity.”
To him Son's presence within the Spurs crew, his choice as captain, made him really feel Tottenham had been a extra tolerant, open membership than others. “As an Asian individual coming to the UK, you understand you're a minority, and Son's presence, his management, form of signifies that this membership at the very least is aware of the right way to deal with multi-diversity they usually need to embrace that. So I feeI extra secure going to the stadium and being a part of the followers, being a part of the membership.”
Solar additionally appreciated the “Asian values” Son displayed at Tottenham: his respectful and humble character, grace in management and politeness on the sphere. “Quite a lot of the time you'd see him displaying a gesture, like a bow,” he says. “For instance, after he received the Europa League he bowed to the followers.” The truth that Son was such a superb footballer made him even simpler to get behind.
Son is a “cultural touchstone” for Koreans world wide, based on the New Yorkers Mike and Paul Chung. The brothers made a Spurs recreation a key a part of their itinerary after they flew to London and Mike wore Son's No 7 shirt for the event. “He validates the concept a Korean will be among the best gamers for the most well-liked sport on this planet,” says Mike. Son stays an intrinsic a part of Tottenham, the brothers say.
“He's one of the best Asian participant in England's soccer historical past, in order a Japanese individual I'm proud,” says Yusuke Sasaki, an informal spectator for the Villa recreation. Stat-obsessed Ko Morita, on vacation from Thailand, rattled off Actual Madrid as his favorite crew, however when requested about Son, the 11-year-old says: “Son Heung-min? He's my boy! He's so good! He and Harry Kane had been one of the best strikers ever … for Tottenham at the very least, though to me Son is extra like a left-winger.”
The assist that Son, and by affiliation Tottenham and the Premier League, obtained in and from Asia over the previous decade was large, and measurably so. Guests spent their {dollars} and stall house owners across the stadium nonetheless report promoting out Son scarves after a giant recreation.
South Korean college students Junoh Yoon and Seynuh, finding out in Eire, flew over for the Villa match regardless of not having tickets. They only needed to take in the ambiance and are available to the stadium for the primary time. “I'm a fan of the Spurs due to Son,” says Junoh. “However I'm a fan of the entire crew. I've adopted them for eight years now.”
Son was such a popular participant that he didn't cop a lot hate from opposition supporters. However resentment amongst some Spurs followers at ticket costs going up, the problem of procuring them and their crew being thought to be a vacationer attraction impacts Asian followers. Austen Chan, who grew up “religiously” watching Tottenham in Hong Kong, says he has seen loads of such abuse “not a lot in individual on the video games however on-line”. He has seen accusations that Korean followers who fly in for the video games are solely there for Son, taking on the spots of so-called “reputable” followers. And as an Asian fan, he has felt uncomfortable scrutiny.
Austen moved to London final yr to check and has attended three video games since, together with the Villa match. However he doesn't really feel any “nearer” to the crew due to it. “I don't suppose being from a unique a part of the world makes you any much less of a Tottenham fan,” he says. “I could not have been capable of go to video games whereas I used to be in highschool as a result of I simply was not in the identical place, clearly. However I believe the truth that I used to be keen to remain up until these early hours to look at the video games exhibits that I'm simply as a lot of a fan as another individual.”
The harassment Solar and Ang Ang confronted earlier than kick-off was not the primary such encounter, which he believes is fuelled partially due to his race. However he has additionally had optimistic experiences: on the way in which to the primary recreation he took Ang Ang to final yr, a Europa League encounter, they had been approached by a bunch of older followers on the practice “in all probability as a result of we had been Asian and appeared comparatively younger. They requested us whether or not it was our first recreation watching the Spurs at a stadium and we exchanged our factors of view on the legacy of the membership. Additionally they instructed us about how lengthy that they had been supporting Spurs and it felt like they had been attempting to welcome me and introduce me to a very massive a part of their life.”
