The Nordecke Question

The Nordecke has been attracting a lot of attention the past month, but this time it has not been positive. First, an official stopped the game early in May against Kansas City due to debris being tossed from the stands. This is not the first time items have rained down on opposing players, but this was the first time it really affected the game in any tangible way.

This week, General Manager Mark McCullers posted a letter on the Crew’s blog calling for an end to the cursing from the corner. McCullers is promising direct action to take care of this issue. This is more unwanted attention to an issue that has been bubbling since last year. The Nordecke experiment is starting to show the cracks from the tremendous growth in the last year and sits at a turning point. With the team

First a little history. Until last year, the Crew have lacked a large supporters group. There have been other groups of dedicated supporters that stood in the old North End, but the numbers were in the dozens or maybe hundreds at times. The Hudson Street Hooligans, Crew Union, and La Turbina Amarilla came together to form the core of a much larger group. The corner started small last year, but really took off as the team improved and others found the joys of supporters culture.

The rapid growth only made the Crew’s home field advantage more pronounced. The chants were louder and more diverse as people got involved. The corner really adds to the atmosphere of going to a Crew match. I enjoy seeing the passion that radiates out of the Nordecke even though I don’t sit over there.

However, despite the good behavior of many and a fairly diligent attempt at self policing by the supporters groups, it is hard to control a group as large and diverse as the Nordecke has become. The original diehard soccer fans that made up the majority of the Nordecke in the beginning are now joined by newcomers. Many of these people are soccer fans who have an interest in the game or understand the nature of being a supporter, but there is a growing crowd of people just wanting to drink, party, and act like idiots.

These idiots could easily undermine all of the hard work of the last year and a half. The Crew are promising action that includes ejecting people and limiting ticket sales in the corner if things don’t improve. Both would probably end the Nordecke. People would be thrown out (nearly at random) for violating the no organized cursing edict. If it is truly most Nordecke chanting “You Suck A******” or “This is our" house… Get the F*** Out"”, it makes it nearly impossible to keep the supporters section intact. It would essentially clear out the corner.

The very future of the corner is at stake. Most of the responses I have seen share my concern. This is beyond self policing. The Crew have set a standard and if things do not change then the Nordecke will probably start to splinter and fall apart. I still have hope that the supporters in the corner can salvage this. The irrepressible Crewfighter is already figuring out ways to squelch the unified cursing. I have read a half dozen proposals on Big Soccer that would refresh some of the

These are all good starts, but I still wonder how to handle the outsiders without anything invested in the Nordecke. They probably don’t care if the Nordecke lives or dies; these are people who will just move on to the next thing. I really do hope that this gets sorted out. I don’t stand in the Nordecke, I probably never will, but I love what the supporters bring to the Stadium. It is great to look over and see an overflowing section. I would still have season tickets and enjoy Crew games without it, but there is no denying that it adds something extra to the atmosphere inside the stadium (and just I don’t mean the noise).