Intracity Sporting Rivalry in Valēka
Valēka, the most populous city of the Kiravian Federacy, is home to two teams that compete in the Federated Fieldball League, the highest level league for Kiravian-rules gridiron football (commonly called "fieldball"): The Valēka Metropolitans and the Valēka Emperors. As in any city hosting multiple professional sports teams in the same league, the sporting allegiances of Valēka residents are split between the two teams. However, in Valēka, rivalry between the two teams and their respective fanbases, termed the "Blues" (Ávrikuya, Emperors fans) and "Greens" (Kérmikuya, Metropolitans fans) after the colours of each team's uniforms, has developed into a unique and pervasive phenomenon of social division, manifesting itself in segregation, political polarisation, and sometimes physical violence between fans of the opposing teams. This divison has some correlation with other, more ordinary social divisions such as class, neighbourhood, ethnosocial group, and recency of arrival in Valēka, yet eludes simplification to any of these divides. Both rich and poor can be found on either side of the divide, as can recent immigrants to the city and descendants of its first settlers. Many Coscivian ethnosocial groups and non-Coscivian immigrant communities have a pronounced preference for one team over the other, but these are rarely absolute, and most ethnosocial groups are divided along team lines to varying extents. Perhaps most surprisingly, the rivalry has not only endured but rather intensified despite multiple waves of migration to the city, increased social and residential mobility, and Valēka's relative cosmopolitanism. Efforts by the city government and the State of Kiygrava to break down barriers between fans of the two teams have had negligible success to date.
Historical Development
-Two teams and their locations
The two most influential factors over one's team affiliation are:
- The part of Valēka that one lives in or is historically connected to
- Which of the two teams was athletically dominant when one's male line moved to Valēka
Fans of both teams are, however, united in their antipathy towards the city of Béyasar and its sports teams, especially the (confusingly named) Béyasar Blues of the FFL. Metropolitans fans will enthusiastically root for the Emperors whenever they are playing against Béyasar, and Emperors fans reciprocate. In hockey, Emperors fans root for Hockey Team P and Metropolitans Fans root for Hockey Team Q. This does not carry over into Gaelic football, shinty, or sampakuv, as Valēka has more than two teams in all of these sports.
Profiles of the Factions
Geographic
Ansalon and Tandhurin Islands are predominantly Blue, as is the island of Strathannan. Canova, where Metropolitan Stadium is located, is predominantly Green, as are Inverígan and Cadexa. The other cantons of Valēka are more mixed, with the balance of Blues and Greens varying from year to year with shifting patterns of immigration, internal migration, and land use. For example, neighbourhoods along the southern waterfront of Kośridan have historically been Blue while the rest of the canton has been Green. However, since the end of Kirosocialism, new high-rise developments in the central areas of Kośridan built to accommodate higher-income residents coming in from Ansalon, Strathannan, and other parts of the country during a time when the Emperors were the athletically dominant team have created new Blue-majority neighbourhoods in the canton.
Ethnosocial
| Team Affiliation by Ethnosocial Group | ||
|---|---|---|
| Group | % Green | % Blue |
| Natives | ||
| Ærem Coscivians | 80 | 20 |
| Austral Coscivians | 42 | 58 |
| Peninsular Coscivians | 39 | 61 |
| Sîkutran Coscivians | 72 | 28 |
| Lusan Coscivians | 69 | 31 |
| Taństem Coscivians | 39 | 61 |
| Gaelic Celts | 95 | 5 |
| Meridian Finns | 57 | 43 |
| Prythonic Celts | 77 | 33 |
| Highlanders | 78 | 22 |
| Sea Coscivians | 25 | 75 |
| Lúnstem Coscivians | 15 | 85 |
| Kostiatem Coscivians | 48 | 52 |
| Kópistonians | 36 | 64 |
| Immigrant Groups | ||
| Levantines | ||
| Burgundines | 14 | 86 |
| Urceans | 99 | 1 |
| Kuhlfrosians | 73 | 27 |
| Others | ||
| Hekuvians | 7 | 93 |
| Pauldustllahnis | 43 | 57 |
| Slakonians | 32 | 68 |
| Azikorians | 38 | 62 |
| Kulukusi | 96 | 4 |
Some ethnosocial groups are more or less united in support of one team or the other, while others are divided to varying degrees. This sometimes correlate with other divisions within a particular ethnosocial group. For example, the Kiygrava Taństem, a community of Taństem Coscivians that trace their roots to Taństem who settled in the Kiygrava during the colonial and Viceregal periods tend to be Greens, while the "Nor'easters", relatively more recent Taństem arrivals from the Far Northeastern states, tend to be Blues.
Economic
Because Ansalon Island (where the cost of living is very high) and Tandhurin Island (home to many of the city's "old-money" residents) are predominantly Blue, and also because people who came to the city during the post-Kirosocialist economic boom arrived during a period when the Emperors were the better team on the field and mostly became Emperors fans, Blues are often stereotyped as being in the upper and upper-middle income brackets. During High Modernity, Canova, where the Metropolitan Stadium is located, had a primarily residential character and provided housing for many of the middle and low level workers employed in the Home Islands. As such, Greens have long been stereotyped as working-class and lower-middle class. This stereotype was strengthened during Kirosocialism when public housing projects and new industrial zones in Inverígan, Cadexa, and southeastern West Valēka brought many poorer residents into areas that were closer to the Metropolitan Stadium, causing them to identify with the Greens.
In actuality, surveys conducted since the 21190s have shown that while Blues in Valēka do have a higher median income than Greens, the income gap between the two factions has narrowed over the past two decades. Outside of Valēka, there is no significant correlation between sporting affiliation and income.
Beyond Valēka Proper
The Green-Blue rivalry radiates outward into the many sattelite cities, suburbs, and exurbs that make up the wider Valēka metropolitan area, but their social and political effects become less pronounced the further one ventures from the city. Institutionalised residential segregation disappears completely outside of the city limits, and team loyalty does not have any bearing on municipal, county, or state politics in other parts of Kiygrava and Niyaska.
The bulk of the population in Downstate Kiygrava, North Niyaska, and Róvidrea is descended from people who at one point lived in Valēka. As such, these people mostly inherit their team loyalty patrilineally from their Valēkan forebears. People without ties to Valēka who move to these areas often choose one of the two teams to root for based on which one is more popular in their local area or social group, and their children and grandchildren most often identify with the predominant team in their area. However, such people are often less attached to their chosen team than "cradle fans" and typically do not treat it as anything other than a sporting preference. There are also substantial minorities of people in these areas that root primarily or exclusively for non-Valēkan teams and thus do not participate in the rivalry.
Holden Island, a condominium jointly governed by Kiygrava and Niyaska, has a Green-majority (~65%) population, with a Blue minority (~25%). Social segregation is practiced, though to a lesser extent than in Valēka. During disagreements over governance of the island between the two states, newspapers in Cantrasar and Valēka have sometimes reported that Greens support Kiygrava State's position, while Blues support Niyaska's, though islanders themselves have contested this claim. Holden Islanders can register their cars with either the Kiygravan or Niyaskan authorities, and an informal study by a County Manôt, Niyaska newspaper pairing licence plates with team-related bumper stickers found no significant correlation between having a Mets sticker and having a Kiygravan plate.
In Niyaska, South Niyaskans predominantly root for teams based in Eriadun, Etivéra. North Niyaskans, however, root for Valēka-based teams. Most North Niyaskans are Blues, though there is a substantial minority of Greens in most areas. The port city of Śervinaxt on Valēka Harbour stands out as a predominantly (>75%) Green city in contrast to neighbouring Cantrasar (>80% Blue).
Counterintuitively, the Metropolitans' practice facility and "base of fieldball operations" is located in predominantly Blue North Niyaska (although the town containing it has gradually become a small Green enclave), while the corresponding facility for the Emperors organisation is located in the predominantly Green suburb of Esdrasar in County Astorin, Kiygrava.
Despite being well outside the Valēka metro area, the island of Åstor, currently part of the state of Harma, is a bizarre outpost of support for the Metropolitans. Åstor was within the colonial boundaries of Kiygrava when it was first settled in Template:H:title, but was reassigned to Harma in Template:H:title. The islanders, who have objected to the transfer for centuries, began a movement in the early Template:H:title to root for the Metropolitans (the dominant Valēkan team at the time) in order to show their opposition to the Harman mainland (populated mainly by Béyasar Blues fans), honour the island's historic ties to Kiygrava, and express the desire among a large minority of islanders for Åstor to be returned to Kiygrava (rather than become a state in its own right or simply gain more autonomy from Harma). In recognition of this, the Emerald Civic Alliance has called for "self-determination for the island of Åstor within the Kiravian Federacy" towards the bottom of its official manifesto since Template:H:title, and has maintained party-to-party relations with the autonomist/secessionist Åstor People's Party since Template:H:title, over the vociferous objections of the Harma state government. Ꝡioỽur Ꝃaꝛaꝟon, an Åstor native who became a dockworker and later a labour leader in Valēka, represented the ECA in the Sardēmur Canton Council during the 21190s and currently serves as the Canton President.
Social and Political Manifestations
Segregation
Blues and Greens in Valēka practice self-segregation from one another, and this practice has gradually become institutionalised in many respects by the city government. The most visible manifestation of this is residential segregation, with most residential neighbourhoods being identifiable as either Blue or Green, and many high-density and mixed-use neighbourhoods having Blue and Green subsections. Residential segregation of the two team's fanbases is believed to be a major factor in perpetuating the rivalry, as new arrivals in the city will usually take on the team preference of the neighbourhood in which they settle. The distribution of Green and Blue neighbourhoods is complex, as even deep Green cantons (e.g. Canova) and deep Blue cantons (e.g. Ansalon) have numerous scattered enclaves inhabited by fans of the opposing team.
Real estate listings in Valēka used to explicitly specify whether a property was in a Blue or Green neighbourhood or whether applicants from one faction or another were preferred. This was banned by a state law adopted during Kirosocialism, but listings continue to communicate the same information somewhat more subtly, for example by including blue or green drapes in a photograph of the unit's interior, or by stating how close the building is to one team's stadium or another. The Valēka Public Housing Authority designates most of its properties as Green or Blue (a few are mixed, but are separated into Blue and Green floors), and asks applicants for public housing to declare their team affiliation (although this is optional).
In addition to residential segregation, Blues and Greens make use of separate pubs, community centres, and (in many parts of the city) public parks. Restaurants, pubs, and some other businesses in the outer cantons often indicate which faction they cater to by flying their preferred team's flag out front or hanging jerseys in their windows. Blue and Green workers in many sectors - including dockwork, food service, and window-washing - formerly maintained separate Blue and Green labour unions. Most of these have since been integrated in face of employers' attempts to play the unions off one another, but many retain designated Green and Blue chapters, and separate unions remain the norm in a few major industries such as construction and roofing.
Religion is the only aspect of Valēkan life that is almost completely free of sporting-based segregation. The Roman Catholic, Coscivian Orthodox, and other churches have endeavoured to draw parish boundaries to create reasonably mixed congregations wherever possible, and have long upheld episcopal edicts forbidding parishoners from wearing FFL merchandise to religious services or parish social functions. Catholic clergy are under orders not to disclose their sporting preferences to their flocks. The Ecumenical Crusade Against Hooliganism is a clergy-led interdenominational civic group that works to divert youth away from fieldball hooliganism and promote dialogue among people from opposing fanbases.
Politics
Team affiliation is of central importance to politics in Valēka's two-party system, with the Azure Civic Union representing the interests of Blues and the Emerald Civic Alliance representing the interests of Greens. Neither party has an ideological alignment or comprehensive political platform, campaigning instead on appeals to team loyalty, patronage, and pragmatic stances on local issues. Which team wins a majority on the city council in a given election depends largely on how well each party can induce its base to turn out. Empirical studies have demonstrated that the long-term fortunes of the two parties are closely tied to the athletic performance of their respective teams, as extended periods of one team being dominant on the field tend to grow that team's fanbase (and its party's voter base) by making new arrivals more likely to adopt that team as their own.
Episodes of Violence
According to the Valēka Police, violent confrontations between Emperors fans and Mets fans fall into two general categories: Mass incidents and sporadic incidents. Sporadic incidents tend to involve fewer than ten (but usually 2-5) participants, who are usually either youths, intoxicated, or both (as is often the case). They typically occur when a fan of one team enters a space, such as a neighbourhood or pub, that is regarded as the " territory" of the other team's fans. Sporadic incidents can result in serious injury and (if rarely) death, but more often end with the "trespassing" team's fans leaving and only minor injuries to both sides. Mass incidents are typically triggered by a sports-related event (a bad call by a referee, a cheap shot, injury of one team's key player by the other team, or even just an ordinary game) or a political one stemming from team-linked partisanship. They can involve anywhere from tens to thousands of belligerents and typically result in serious bodily and property damage on varying scales.
Policy Approaches
Over the course of the rivalry's history, the city government, state government, and civil society actors have made many efforts to defuse tensions between the two factions and break down social barriers between them. So far, these efforts have been met with little success. To date, the only intervention with a substantial and lasting impact has been the Federated Fieldball League's Template:H:title decision to place the two teams in separate conferences, which has been empirically demonstrated to have cut down on large-scale violent confrontations by limiting the frequency with which the Emperors and Metropolitans face one another on the field.
In Template:H:title, city officials tried banning clothing and personal items with sports logos from public schools, leading students to advertise their affiliation by simply wearing blue or green. Schools then briefly attempted to ban blue and green clothing, but most relaxed or abandoned these bans shortly thereafter because they were widely defied and proved difficult to enforce. A few schools serving districts that encompass both Blue and Green neighbourhoods or districts where the rivalry is particularly intense still restrict students' display of FFL merchandise and other symbols of team affiliation.
The Kirosocialist period witnessed some of the most ambitious attempts to end the rivalry. In Template:H:title, the Kirosocialist-controlled federal and state governments engineered a merger of the Azure Civic Union and Emerald Civic Alliance parties to form the Turquoise Socialist Unity Party. The politburo of the TSUP, handpicked by Kirosocialist party élites in Valēka and Alēdmar, tried to forge a non-factional and socialist political culture, and purged city officials with strong factional ties, but slowly became internally divided along factional lines itself before splitting into an Azure Socialist Party and Emerald Socialist Party in Template:H:title. However, during its two decades in power, the TSUP instituted several defactionalisation programmes. One such programme was a forced integration of the city's public housing projects: VPHA apartments were redistributed to ensure that all residents would live next door to fans of the opposing team. This scheme was ineffective from the outset, as the populations of entire buildings banded together to resist relocation, forcing the city to evict them through police actions at a high financial and political cost. Violence was rampant in integrated projects as a result of more frequent encounters between fans of opposing teams, and as the relocation process went on, factional gangs formed to create all-Blue and all-Green zones by using violence and intimidation to force enemy fans to switch units. The TSUP government was reluctant to accept the programme's failure and continued it over objections from VPHA bureaucrats until Template:H:title, when it moderated the policy to formally allow for all-Blue and all-Green floors. The initiative was abandoned entirely in Template:H:title.
Template:H:title, Kiygrava Governor Adhran Kilikas, a native of Caridosar and Evira Cougars fan who had been elected with strong support from the parts of the state outside the Valēka metropolitan area, announced that definitively ending the Valēka sporting rivalry would be a priority for his administration. After his appeals to the ownership of both teams and to the FFL to move one franchise or another out of the city were rebuffed, Kilikas resorted to political pressure, auditing both teams' finances and subjecting them to intense regulatory scrutiny, racking up millions of saars in fines. Kilikas' actions were poorly received in Valēka and its environs, and was (unexpectedly) somewhat successful in causing Blues and Greens to unite in their opposition to Kilikas, with supporters of both teams organising protests during the Governor's visits to the city and pelting him with expired produce. The effort came to an abrupt end after the Daily Bants, a Valēka-based tabloid known for having a loose relationship with the truth, obtained a photograph of Kilikas wearing a blue scarf at a Emperors home game in Template:H:title with Strobilus Palūstrin, a state political strategist who had consulted for Kilikas' failed first gubernatorial campaign but mostly worked for ACU candidates in Valēka. The Daily Bants ran the photograph on its cover the day that Kilikas was scheduled to give a speech supporting Wintergen irredentism outside Wintergen House on Tandhurin Island, accompanied by a headline suggesting that the Governor's true intention was to force the Metropolitans out out of the city. Xrysippus Kálvēler, a street vendor and devoted Metropolitans fan from Canova who was selling grilled sausages from his cart on the north end of Tandhurin that day, saw the tabloid while purchasing cigarettes from a nearby convenience shop, retrieved a pistol he kept in his cart for protection, and then proceeded halfway across the island to Wintergen House where he shot the Governor in the face.
In Template:H:title, Governor Saīodávix Kabellon of Niyaska, who had been elected as Vice-Governor and entered office following the resignation of his predecessor due to corruption charges, quietly established a committee to investigate options for inducing the Emperors to leave Valēka and relocate to Cantrasar or another city in North Niyaska. Kabellon had intended to run for Governor in his own right after serving out the remaining year of his predecessor's term, and was projected to win by a fairly large margin. However, one week before the election, a copy of the committee's minutes was leaked to the press, causing Niyaskan Metropolitans fans (including loyalists of Kabellon's party) to vote against him in droves. Kabellon lost the election by over 11 points and subsequently left the state for Strathannan.