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Finnegan

Thank you Wasyl's army.

By Finnegan, in Leicester City Forum

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davieG

davieG

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Marcin Wasilewski

Image by: Plumb Images
Sunday’s visit of Bolton Wanderers will be another special occasion for Marcin Wasilewski, as the Blue Army’s new-found Belgian contingent prepares to return to King Power Stadium.
Twice already this term, scores of fans from Wasilewski’s former club RSC Anderlecht have made a long pilgrimage to Filbert Way to hail the Polish defender, who became a cult hero during his six-year spell with the Belgian club.
 
‘Wasyl’ was mobbed by the travelling Anderlecht fans following the 3-0 win over Millwall last month, after climbing into the stands to show his appreciation for their eight-hour round trip across the Channel.
 
And with over 100 set to return to King Power Stadium for Sunday’s Sky Bet Championship clash with the Trotters, Foxes fans can look forward to an increasingly familiar cosmopolitan influence on the matchday atmosphere.
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“I always had a great relationship with the Anderlecht fans when I played there, they were very good to me,” Wasyl tells Sunday’s edition of CITY Matchday Magazine.
 
“My squad number was 27, as it is now at Leicester, and in the 27th minute of every game the fans would sing my song. We had a great relationship and they will always be in my heart.
 
“I'm very grateful that they travelled such a long way to see me play for Leicester. It was an amazing gesture and it was very special to see them after the game.
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“We won the game too and hopefully we can win again when they come back for the Bolton game.”

Read more at http://www.lcfc.com/news/article/271213-belgian-blues-back-for-bolton-1258820.aspx#5FEPK509RjggIaVM.99

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red5

red5

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lol

We can't start basing team selection on what fans are turning up!

 

Oh yes we can, his fans were more entertaining than the match, stick him up front and when he scores the fans will go wild.

 

If he doesn't play then it's Peason Out!

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XLM

XLM

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Wouldn't be surprised if he came in. Moore had a giant lump on his head after last game, and De Laet might need the rest. I'd expect him to play at some point, if not start depending on the fitness of our preferred back 4. 

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StanSP

StanSP

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Never - ever - call us bleus or reds. :xmassad:

We are maaaaaaauuuuuuufffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff (mauves) :xmascool:

 

1,5 more sleep and off we goooooo :yahoo:

 

Our official site has called you the 'Belgian Blues' in anticipation of you guys coming over lol (yes you guys have an article on our official site about your presence!)

 

Have a safe journey!

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davieG

davieG

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They are Anderlecht ...

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In the early hours of tomorrow morning, a coach full of Belgian football fans will set off on a 600-mile round-trip across three countries to cheer on Leicester City’s Marcin Wasilewski. Lee Marlow finds out why

Ostend, Belgium. An old port town with no ships, separated from Leicester by 300 miles of land and sea. By coach and ferry, it’s a good nine-hour trek. It’s a long way to go to watch a game of football.

In the early hours of tomorrow morning, two coach-loads of Belgian football fans – fuelled by 50 crates, 1,200 bottles, of Belgian beer – will leave Ostend for the 600-mile round-trip to Leicester. They will get home, to Ostend, in the small hours on Monday. Door to door, their football jamboree will take nearly 24 hours.

Why would they do that? Why would two coach-loads of beery Belgians travel across three countries – at a cost of hundreds of pounds, a full day on the road – to watch a 90-minute football match that doesn’t involve their team?

They are doing it for one man: Leicester’s Polish centre-half Marcin Wasilewski. The 33-year-old defender signed for City from Anderlecht in September. In Belgium, the 6ft 1in Poland international is a cult hero.

Wasyl, as he was known by the Anderlecht faithful, played at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium for six seasons, making 143 appearances and scoring 20 goals. In the close season, with young

defenders coming through the ranks,

RSC Anderlecht (Royal Sporting Club

Anderlecht) decided to let him go and his contract was not extended.

At his home in Ostend, Anderlecht fan Anthony Michils, 38, was devastated.

Anderlecht are Belgium’s top club, the Manchester United of the Belgian Jupiler Pro League. They’ve won that championship 32 times. The club prides itself on its attractive football.

At Anderlecht, they like skillful, creative players. They are the players who get all the attention, the ones the fans sing about. Yet Wasyl – an uncompromising defender; a player unlike the other

Anderlecht heroes – was a cult figure at the club.

“There’s a song about Brazil that football fans sing. We took that and swapped Brazil for Wasyl. We’d sing that at every game: ‘Wasyl, la, la, la, la, la, la, la’.” He loved that, Anthony says.

“It was because he was so committed, so tough, so determined,” says Anthony. “He never backed away from anything. He has the heart of a lion.”

When Wasilewski signed for City in September, Anthony and his friends

started planning their trip. “I know about Leicester City, I watch the Football League Show – I know Schmeichel and Nugent and Konchesky and Wes Morgan. I know about Knockaert. Knockaert is a Flemish name. I know a little about the history of the club,” says Anthony.

They came to Leicester on Saturday, November 30, to watch the home game versus Millwall. “We bought 63 people – all Anderlecht fans – and we came to cheer on Wasyl,” says Anthony.

It took them nearly 10 hours to get here.

“I was working nights on Friday night. I managed to leave a bit early, get a few hours’ sleep. I caught the coach in the early hours of Saturday.”

The first pick-up in Ostend was at 5am. They travelled across Belgium, to Calais, catching the ferry to Dover, then there was a 200-mile drive to Leicester.

They arrived at the KP stadium at 3pm. “We were a bit late because we didn’t know where to park,” says Anthony. “We missed the build-up to the game and the first bit of the match. As soon as we took our seats, there was a bit of fuss.”

At first, stewards in the ground thought Anthony and his pals were Millwall fans.

“I think some City fans near us thought we were Polish, because we were singing about Wasyl all the time. We tried to tell people we were from Anderlecht, and we were here to cheer on Wasyl because he was one of our favourite players. We know he heard us. Early in the game, he looked over to us and put his hand on his heart.”

At that moment, all the travelling, all the expense, all the fuss, was worth it, says Anthony. They were told, repeatedly, to sit down by stewards. “But we stood up. We’d had a few beers. We wanted to sing.”

They sang, virtually non-stop, throughout the match and at full-time Wasyl came over to them. “The stewards kept saying, ‘Sit down, you can’t leave your seat’, but Wasyl was coming over to us! We wanted to greet him,” says Anthony. They mobbed him on the concourse – singing his name, throwing him in the air. “We carried him around on our shoulders, singing his name. We didn’t sing any Anderlecht songs, it wasn’t about Anderlecht. It was about him.

“But when we put him down, he hushed everyone and he looked at us and he sang: ‘We are Anderlecht, we are Anderlecht’ and we sang it with him.”

It was magical, says Anthony.

After the match, the Anderlecht fans bought 65 tickets for City’s game against Bolton. Anthony’s brother paid for them all on his credit card. It cost him £1,430.

Wasyl met them after the game. He gave them his shirt, shorts, and boots and posed for pictures.

The Anderlecht supporters saw nothing of Leicester or Leicestershire. They climbed straight back on to the coach and headed home.

Anthony was dropped off in Ostend at 2.30am. Some of his friends didn’t get home until 4.30am. “It was a 24-hour trip,” says Anthony.

That evening, clips of the fans – singing, rushing on to the concourse, carrying their hero aloft on their shoulders – were posted on YouTube and shared on social media sites. The fans were lauded for their commitment.

Anthony got home and got ready for work. “I had to go in for the early morning shift,” he says. “I was tired, but it was worth it to make the trip. It was a brilliant day. I’ve been to many English games. I regularly went to see Chelsea. I’ve seen Luton, Sheffield

Wednesday, Sheffield United. I have a friend in Barnsley and we went to see them. Now I think, when Anderlecht are not playing, we will come over to see Leicester.”

The long-suffering Mrs Michils doesn’t mind, apparently. “Sometimes she comes with me. Sometimes I bring my five-year-old son, Connor, with me, too,” he says.

“I liked it there. I liked the stadium – although many people told me it’s not as good as the old Filbert Street stadium for atmosphere – people made us feel very welcome.

“We want to get there a bit earlier this time, so we can go to the pub before the game and have a drink with the Leicester City fans. You’ll know it’s us – I’ll have my flag with me.”

The flag says: ‘Crazy Belgians on Tour.’

“It describes us quite well, I think,” he says.

And what does Marcin have to say?

“It was a very special feeling for me when the Anderlecht fans came to the Millwall game. I always had a great relationship with them, they were very good to me.

“When I had my injury they were very supportive and when I came back (from the injury) they made me feel great. I’m very grateful that they travelled such a long way to see me play for Leicester. It was an amazing gesture and it was very special to see them after the game.

“One of my favourite memories of the Anderlecht fans was from one of the first games I played after my injury. We played Standard Liege, we won 5-0, I scored a penalty and I celebrated with the fans. I’ll never forget that.

“My squad number was 27, as it is at Leicester, and in the 27th minute of every game the fans would sing my song. We had a great relationship and they will always be in my heart.”


Read more: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Crazy-Belgians-tour-Meet-Anderlecht-fans/story-20372832-detail/story.html#ixzz2olNt1T9A

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