What Makes A Chiefs Supporter?

By ouch!_that_hurts
January 9 2021

Having stood on the east terrace at Sandy Park, chatting with those around me, I’ve often wondered what makes a typical Chiefs supporter, mainly because, like me, many don’t seem to be from Exeter.

As a junior school kid in Dorset I was, like all my mates, a football supporter – Chelsea of the late 60’s and early 70’s were my team – and virtually every second of spare time was spent playing football with my mates. Then I passed my 11+ and went to the local grammar school. We didn’t play football there – instead, we played rugby (and hockey). Oddly, I took to certain elements of the game instantly; being a ‘goalie’ I was good at catching the ball, I could place kick and kick from hand and I loved tackling. The physicality of the game really appealed to me. Our PE teacher, who played for the local club, tried me in most positions but the ones I liked best were flanker and full back – an odd selection, I know, but I was a kid! If memory serves, over the years, we were fairly successful. But I was expelled when I was 16 and my playing ‘career’ came to an end.

After spending a few years at college deciding what I wanted to do with life, I settled into a career which firstly took me to different parts of the UK and then to the US and Canada for a while. When I came back to the UK I lived in Sussex, but my roots were in the west country and I became aware of the rise of the Chiefs. I had friends in Dorset who went to Bath regularly but that never appealed to me. Then a mate who was originally from Exeter one day suggested we go and watch a match.

So, in 2014 we headed off to Sandy Park to watch Chiefs against Harlequins ……………………… and I was hooked. I’ve watched football at Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and the Bernebau, American Football in the LA Coliseum and Seattle’s Kingdome, cricket at The Oval and Lords, baseball in the Toronto Skydome and even the All Blacks at Twickenham, but none matched my enjoyment of watching the Chiefs that first time. It wasn’t just the game – I can’t even remember the score. I immediately recognised that I was among like-minded people. People who understood the game, who liked a beer and a pasty, who were prepared to chat and have a laugh with complete strangers and at no point did anyone want to fight.

In October each year I watch the Champions Cup draw – in all honesty, hoping we get an Italian side instead of Glasgow Warriors. But whoever we get, the small group of us who head to Exeter every few weeks for the game have had long weekends in France and Ireland. We’ve been to all of our Premiership finals (except of course, the last one) and have had the joy of meeting supporters of other clubs. If it hadn’t been for this dreadful pandemic we’d have done all we could to be in Marseilles to ‘see the boys home’.

No longer do we refer to the Chiefs as ‘them’ or ‘they’ – now, it’s ‘we’ or ‘us’. We worry about players’ injuries and celebrate their successes. We’re as proud of their New Years honours as they are. Yes, we may not all necessarily be happy with everything at the club – the native American ‘thing’, some (maybe) ill-thought comments about coronavirus on social media, etc. – but ultimately, as the guy on the mic bellows out when they take the field, they are ‘OUR CHIEFS’ and as soon as we’re allowed we’ll be back down there to watch the game, have a pasty, a Hiawotter and a good chat about the last year or so!

I look forward to seeing you all there then.