Tólfan, the fan club for the Icelandic national teams in football, came second to the supporters of Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund at The Best FIFA Football Awards in Zürich, Switzerland, on Monday. For the Fan Award, Tólfan received 31 percent of votes and Liverpool and Dortmund jointly 46 percent, Fréttablaðið reports. The third candidate were the supporters of ADO Den Haag.
The jury reasoned that Tólfan had earned the nomination for the Fan Award in the below comment:
“Icelandic players leading superbly-choreographed fan chants became one of the iconic images of UEFA EURO 2016. The chant, which sees fans and players clap and shout in unison, starting with a long pause between claps and building to a crescendo of noise, was even adopted by other fans at the tournament. One of the most memorable renditions came after France saw off Strákarnir okkar in the last eight, and the fans – with more than eight per cent of the tiny country’s population travelling to France – joined their players in celebrating a remarkable run to the quarter-finals.”
As for giving the award to Liverpool and Dortmund, the jury concluded:
“Anybody who has ever been to Anfield can profess to the remarkable noise when “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, a song adopted by the Reds’ fans in the early 1960s, is sung by the home support. The tune has since travelled around the world, transcending language barriers. German giants Borussia Dortmund have adopted the anthem, and their fans joined Liverpool supporters in a chorus of solidarity ahead of their April UEFA Europa League meeting, with the Hillsborough disaster’s 27th anniversary the following day. The moving gesture put sporting rivalry aside for a few minutes.”
