Goat Racing Fan Culture

Goat Racing is an immensely popular sport in Farensal and the surrounding lands, and a rich fan culture has developed around it.

Teams

There are four main racing teams competing in Silford, The Yellow, Blues, Greens and Purples, and much of the fan culture centers around supporting one of the teams. The favourite team is usually strongly affected by the social background.

Fans commonly appear to the races dressed in the theme colours of their favourite team, or wearing designs including the team's theme flower.

The Yellows

The Yellow Team, Fomen, also known as the Roses is the oldest of the teams. They trace the origin of their crest to the First Kingdom Era, when the fastest chariot racer was adorned by yellow roses (the symbolic flower of the God Naralte), before official teams existed. The Yellows are strongly supported and funded by the Senatorial class, the generationally wealthy inhabitants of the city.

The official Senatorial dress is yellow, but as Goat Races are deemed more suitable past time for lower classes, wearing any visible signs of fan culture is looked down upon. However, fans still love discussing the sport behind closed doors, and Yellow teams members, especially their First Racer is often invited to lavish dinner parties.

The Blues

The Blues, Anwandan, or the Columbines, are known as a strong traditionalist team. They are known for opposing changes in the ruleset, and emphasising the competition's role as a celebration of the Gods. The Blue fans are most often wealthy traders and members of the clergy.

Greens

The Greens, Çaren, are relative newcommers to the scene, that broke the traditional class based fan culture. They are commonly supported by younger fans regadless of their class, and have been often accused of attracting fans more based on the good looks of their riders than their actual merits in the sport. The Greens were also the first team to allow women to compete in their ranks.

The Purples

The Purples, Fausanden, are known in the scene of their hard-working attitude and perseverance, represent in their crest as the thistle, a plant common in the harsh highlands of Arensande They don't have the highest funding in the scene, but have often overcome that using clever innovations and hard training. The Purples are often prefered by fans of the lower classes, and forces opposing the senatorial and clerical classes, the main funders of the Yellows and Blues.

Activities

The main activity of the racing fans is attending the races. Weekly races are organised on the Firstday, while larger competitions take place to commemorate religious and state holidays. All citizens are invited to participate, while slaves and foreigners require a citizen to accompany them. in addition to goat racing, various other activities also take place during the races, such as worship of the gods, swordsfighing, and comedy.

Outside the shows fans engage in discussing and sharing rumours about the racers, and daydreaming about meeting them in person.

Betting

The financially most important part of the fan culture, is the betting industry surrounding the races. Many fans have lost fortunes funding and betting on their favourite racers, but then some have become unimaginably rich by the same means. They are generally looked down upon by the families that have gained their wealth by acceptable, traditional means, such as land ownership.

The crests of the four main teams, the Yellows, Blues,
Greens or Purples

by The Flag Institute, Christie L. Ward, Carlos yo, RootOfAllLight (wikimedia), edit. me

Important Locations

• Farensal

Related Organizations

• Purple team