The Ayatollah (football celebration)

The Ayatollah (football celebration)

The Ayatollah is a football celebration used by fans of Welsh football club Cardiff City. [ [http://home.wanadoo.nl/maarten.geluk/songs/cardiff.html "Cardiff City"] Football songs & chants Retrieved on 3 January, 2008] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2934700.stm "Cardiff fans to cheer in Welsh"] BBC Retrieved on 3 January, 2008] Performing the action is always preceded by a chant of "do the Ayatollah".

Action

Performing the Ayatollah is done by having both hands flat pointing towards each other raised above your head and repeatedly moving them up and down in a patting motion. [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/footballnation/cardiff-city-fc/2007/07/25/fowler-signs-for-city-image-gallery-91466-19510730/ "Fowler signs for City: Image gallery] icWales.co.uk Retrieved on 3 January, 2008]

Origins

The Ayatollah celebration came into use at Cardiff City games in 1990. It was originally performed by the singer and fans of a Welsh-language punk group called U Thant. It was first performed by Cardiff City fans at Sincil Bank, home of Lincoln City, on September 15 1990, the day after U Thant had played a gig at Cardiff's Chapter Arts Centre. [Come On Cymru, Keith Haynes, Sigma Leisure, Oct 1998;ISBN-10: 1850586896 ] . U Thant's singer had been inspired by footage of attendants at the funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini, which was broadcast live on British TV, doing the movement to express their grief at his death. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2005/08/29/scbrig29.xml "Buchanan's head on Aussie chopping block"] The Daily Telegraph Retrieved on 3 January, 2008]

It has been claimed that it was initially used as a sign of despair at the way the team were playing, but this is not true. In the era of inflatable balloons, it was simply a surrealist performance which looked good on the terraces. Cardiff at the time were struggling in the lower leagues, but it quickly became very popular with fans of the club and has since been used in terms of celebration and support for the team. Away games at Hereford United and Peterborough United in 1992 helped cement its place in the fans repertoire. [Come On Cymru, Keith Haynes, Sigma Leisure,1998;ISBN-10: 1850586896 ]

The start of the Ayatollah has often mistakenly been credited to former chairman Sam Hammam. [ [http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/daisychristodoulou/entry/wales_and_doing/ "Wales and doing the Ayatollah"] Warwick blogs Retrieved on 3 January, 2008]

Use

upporters

The Ayatollah is now performed by the supporters of Cardiff City at every match. They, in turn, sing for each stand at their home ground Ninian Park to "Do the Ayatollah". During matches players performing well in the game or players who have just been brought on during the match are called to "Do the Ayatollah" [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41lwzYFnrYg&feature=related "Fowler do the Ayatollah"] YouTube.com Retrieved on 3 January, 2008] . Other people in the ground are also often called on to perform the move including the team's manager, away fans, former players on opposing sides (although managers of the teams have strongly discouraged it so it is rarely performed) and police officers on duty at the match.

Doing the Ayatollah has also become popular for famous Cardiff fans to do when celebrating. Ex-Wales rugby team captain Gareth Thomas often performs the Ayatollah after scoring a try [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/3701742.stm "Thomas turns gamekeeper"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 3 January, 2008] [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20070909/ai_n19515033 "Ric's rap for Gareth"] Sunday Mirror Retrieved on 3 January, 2008] , swimmer David Davies performed the Ayatollah on the podium while receiving his medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and at the 2008 olympics and cricketer Simon Jones also used the celebration after taking the wicket of Simon Katich during the 2005 Ashes series [ [http://www.religioninsight.com/Section/Islam.html?page=9 "Ayatollah - Shia"] Religioninsight.com Retrieved on 3 January, 2008] . Mark Webster, winner of the 2008 BDO World Darts Championship, also performed the Ayatollah after winning the title.

Former Cardiff players and footballers who are fans of Cardiff have often performed the Ayatollah at the home grounds of the Bluebirds bitter rivals Swansea City. Ipswich Town midfielder Gavin Williams, a lifelong Cardiff fan, performed it at Vetch Field after scoring against them for his former club Yeovil Town [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/sites/swanseacityfc/pages/vetch1009.shtml "The Vetch verdict from Glen Donnachie"] BBC Retrieved on 3 January, 2008] and former Cardiff player Christian Roberts performed the Ayatollah when he scored against them at the Liberty Stadium after being verbally abused throughout the match for being a former Cardiff player. [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/footballnation/football-news/2007/10/04/roberts-unrepentant-over-ayatollah-91466-19891709/ "Roberts unrepentant over "Ayatollah""] Western Mail Retrieved on 3 January, 2008,] Nottingham Forest winger Arron Davies stated that he would love to become the first player to "do the Ayatollah" at Wembley Stadium had he and his team at the time, Yeovil Town, reached the Football League One play-off final. [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/footballnation/football-news/2007/05/26/davies-hopes-wembley-will-see-ayatollah-91466-19202536/ "Davies hopes Wembley will see Ayatollah"] South Wales Echo Retrieved on 3 January, 2008]

In song

The Ayatollah was the focus of two songs written in support of the club prior to them playing in the 2008 FA Cup Final. A group of supporters released a song named "Do The Ayatollah!" [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbjqBi_VwbA "Do The Ayatollah - music video"] Youtube.com Retrieved on 10 May, 2008] and a different song under the same title was written by one of the clubs players, Steve Thompson. [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/footballnation/cardiff-city-fc/2008/05/06/city-s-thommo-adds-his-voice-to-do-the-ayatollah-91466-20867656/ "City's Thommo adds his voice to "Do The Ayatollah!"] South Wales Echo Retrieved on 10 May, 2008]

References


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