By Davis Hathaway ’23
In the United Kingdom, soccer (or ‘football’, as it is called) is by far the most popular sport. Wherever you go and whoever you talk to, there will more than likely be a big fan of a particular soccer team there. Sixth Former Tristan Hays ’23 is one of these aficionados. Born in Cambridge, England, Tristan grew up with soccer being a major aspect of life for himself and everyone around him.
“Football means a lot in the UK because it’s our main sport. Every town, big and small, has a team, and it’s very common for people to go and support them when they get off work. You’re pretty much forced to play football in school as well,” Tristan explained.
With such a focus on soccer in the UK, Tristan obviously had to pick a team to root for.
“Cambridge United were the local team, but they were very bad, so I preferred Chelsea. Also, Chelsea played in the English Premier League, which is the highest tier in English football,” Tristan stated.
Since Chelsea is one of the most popular soccer teams in all of England (if not all of the world), they naturally have some fierce rivals. According to Tristan, there is no greater rivalry for Chelsea fans than Manchester City. The club, based in Manchester, England, is also in the Premier League and is one of the most successful teams in the country. The rivalry is fierce between the two teams and their respective fans.
“My least favorite football team would have to be Manchester City. It’s such a soulless club with very plastic fans. That’s why everybody calls their stadium the ‘Emptyhad’ instead of the Etihad,” Tristan declared.
On the other side of the rivalry, 5th former Manchester City fan Derek Bell had some strong words to express his distaste towards Chelsea.
“I could care less about Chelsea. I have had numerous convos with Tristan Hays about Chelsea and Manchester City. He’s always depressed about Chelsea, and he always speaks down on [Manchester] City. A usual Brit,” Derek said.
With the Premier League season coming to a close in a little less than two weeks (May 28), the season has been far from ideal for Chelsea. Historically one of the best teams in the Premier League, Chelsea sits at just 11th out of 20 teams in the standings. For Tristan, this season has quite frankly been a disappointment.
“The season’s pretty much over at this point,” Tristan said. “The decision to fire Thomas Tuchel [head coach], right after we spent millions on players he wanted in the summer, was extremely dumb. It’s hard to watch us spend so much money for very little results.”
Looking forward to next season, Tristan really doesn’t expect much but he does want to see some improvement from his team.
“All I want for next season is a top-five through eight finish. We don’t need to win the league or even be in contention. If there is gradual improvement in the win column, then I’m feeling good,” Tristan stated.
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