Some of the Hyundai A-League’s more dedicated fans make banners and flags to wave in the stands. Others attend training sessions for a glimpse of their heroes or the chance of an autograph. A few even dare travel to New Zealand, braving penetrating rain and cyclonic winds, just so they can say they were there. Yet no one would yet go as far as getting a tattoo of their team’s crest inked permanently onto their body. Would they?

Lion’s Bravery
“I was thought to be either an idiot or very brave,” remembers Queensland Roar fan Sas Collins. “I got it in October 2005, so the Hyundai A-League had been going for less than two months.”

Since attending the very first Roar match in 2005 with her husband and young son, Sas has been one of the Roar’s most committed followers, travelling to almost half of the side’s away matches in addition to the Suncorp fixtures. After such instability in Australian football, getting a tattoo so early might be seen as a bold decision by Sas, but she has no regrets.

“[The Roar] has changed our lives completely. We’re part of a club, we get to watch decent football – sometimes! We’ve met a different group of people who also love football,” she says. “I used to have season tickets at the Brisbane Strikers [in the old NSL], but the Strikers were never like the Roar are now, where you feel like you’re part of a football family.

Roar Nerve
Sas, who also helps run the Queensland Roar official supporters club, enjoys some notoriety around Australian football supporters for her support as much as her tattoo. She regularly chats to other fans via the internet and hasn’t missed an away match in either Sydney or Newcastle in the Hyundai A-League’s history.

Loyal Husband
Not long after she got her tattoo, she attended an autograph session at a local shopping centre. “The players couldn’t believe it,” she jokes. Feedback from fellow Roar fans about the tattoo Sas says has been “pretty positive”, while her husband is a loyal supporter. “He thinks it’s great,” she says, though he wouldn’t get one himself. “Nah, he doesn’t like tattoos!”

So for any fans out there looking to prove their passion for the Hyundai A-League, this could be the answer, however extreme. “As far as I know no one else has got one,” says Sas. Her advice to those umming and aahing about their own club tattoo? “Just do it.”

Reproduced from TheFull90 – the official matchday magazine of the Hyundai A-League www.a-league.com.au Get it at the game!