Verdy`s 12th Man...and The Flag Bitch

Speaking of insanity, the last post got me thinking about another odd character you will ocassionally see at Verdy games. I`ve no idea what this guys name is and I`d forgotten he even existed until bumping into him again yesterday. It must be 6 or 7 years ago since me and  Mrs Nerdy went to a game and noticed a rather odd guy at the back of the stand pacing around,hopping on one foot, then the other nervously and smiling to himself. He had a Verdy uniform on but the unusual thing was that he had the rest of the kit too....now as kid I had my fair share of football kits which I would never take off and wear anywhere. But that stopped as with most other people as I got older. Seemingly not with this guy, all those years ago he would have been in his early 20`s with his top tucked unto his Verdy shorts, pulled up to his nipples, his socks pulled up to his knees with football trainers on. Myself and Mrs Nerdy laughed and thought  he must be a bit strange.....and that thought was reconfirmed yesterday. We were sitting on the grass bank at Toyama and the same hopping around nervously guy came into view. Same Verdy uniform but this time he had seemingly adjusted his attire to reflect the modern game. The top was now outside the shorts and he had his socks rolled down, this time sporting post match flip flops. Not TOO mad I thought but then I noticed the strips of plaster material that players strap to their calves for whatever reason. He was stripped up to the nines, he hopped around for a bit and went and stood with the people with the drums for 10 minutes then went off got changed and sat down with his friend.

The Flag Bitch and Mrs Insanity chatting.......

Yeah just like what Ice-T said...

The Flag Bitches are an interesting phenomenom and (I imagine) are  present at each and every J League stadium in the country. Tokyo Verdy have their very own Flag Bitch who did a sterling job of carrying 8 or 9 flags and poles strapped to various parts of his body.  A typical Flag Bitch will be a young member of a supporters club and will be easily recognisable as he will be completely obscured from view due to the sheer number of flags he is carrying. The Verdy Flag Bitch yesterday, directed us to the stadium delivered all his flags stood a good 10 metres away from the main supporters groups with the drums. Jumped up and down for 90 minutes, collected his flags and was last seen dashing for the sation presumably on some flag related emergency. The job of the Flag Bitch is probably the most important job in J2. If the team is playing at a far away stadium, it is The Flag Bitch`s job to carry as many flags as is humanly possible to the ground, forgoing all thoughts of hunger, expense and concept of time until his flags have been safely delivered to their wavers or tied to the stadium walls. A team with only 25 away supports but with 377 flags and banners tied behind the away end?? All due to the endless energy of The Flag Bitch. All hail The Flag Bitch!!