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Fish Fans Out Of Water
The globe’s most passionate Dolphins fans? Meet the Dolfans UK
by Michael E Lawrence
25/10/2007
From the front room of a terraced house in a small suburban drive in West Drayton, Hillingdon, West London, something remarkable is happening.
It’s from here, in this tiny unassuming corner of the world, that Bob and Carla Ball operate the nerve centre of Dolfan UK, not just Britain’s, but the world’s only officially recognised Dolphins fan club outside of Miami, Florida.
 But this is no house, it’s a tardis. The back room, and by all accounts the bedroom cupboard, the loft, the porch in all likelihood the linen basket are crammed to the rafters with gameshirts, pennants, helmets, programmes, Dolphins paraphernalia of all shapes and sizes. Don Shula’s probably down in the basement somewhere playing ping pong with the Marks brothers.
And at the centre of it all are Bob and Carla, communications director and membership secretary respectively, and above all ‘Phins fans through rain, sunshine and snow. So committed are the Balls and the other UK Dolfans, that when the Miami Herald ran an article Wednesday on their fervent support, American fans wrote in wishing there were more like them in the States.
The Dolphins need us more than ever right now, says Bob, fully expecting the number of Miami followers attending Wembley to far exceed the quantity the 0-7 Dolphins have been drawing at home games recently.
We’ll support them no matter what, echoes Carla.
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As it did for so many UK NFL fans, it all started two decades ago when Carla, by trade a director of HR, happened upon American Football on Channel Four. As soon as she spotted the Dolphins bearing the logo of an animal she was fond of and sporting a colour, aqua, she liked she knew they were the team for her. Then, after attending a classic Jets-Dolphins barnstormer live in 1988, there was no looking back.
Since then, she’s come to bleed aqua. She’s been on cruises with Dolphins players and their wives, has met Garo Yepremian, Bob Kuechenberg, has even worn the Super Bowl rings of Earl Morrall and Jim Mandich, now a friend of Dolfan UK, on her hands.
The rings were so big they went over not just my finger but the rings I already had on there too! she laughs.
Then, three and a half years ago, she met IT consultant Bob, who at that time was flirting with supporting the Bears, until Carla’s sheer enthusiasm swung him irreversibly towards the Dolphins. Married six months ago, Carla and Bob, also a Liverpool fan, had Dolphins and Reds scarves intertwined above the top table at their reception.
Now, every Sunday is a raucous and emotional time in the Balls’ living room, with the mood of the house dictated by the Dolphins’ result, or, at least, the quality of their play.
Every week there’s improvement, they point out, and 2007 was always going to be tough.
Above all Carla was hoping to see Zach Thomas – or “my Zach” as she calls him, “a real gentleman” – in action Sunday, though Thomas won’t be making the trip due to injury.”
I want to see him, she notes, because I’ve watched him since I saw him as a rookie in 1988. He tells a story that he knew he’d become a football player after his Dad accidentally reversed his car into him twice, and he was completely unharmed. When I heard that I knew he’d be great.
 Between them, this couple the only thing they love more than the ‘Phins is one another, and Carla unashamedly calls Bob the love of my life when Football Diner jokingly suggests Bob might want to keep an eye on Thomas are the eye of the Dolfan UK supporting frenzy.
They do at least get some small reward. As thanks for the many hours of work they put in daily on membership and the Dolfan UK website (www.dolfan-uk.co.uk), the Balls and the entire Dolfan committee, including founder and President Eddie Irwin, will be hob-nobbing with the stars on Friday at the Dolphins’ private team party in the Tower of London.
Whatever will they wear?
I don’t know, says Carla, it says smart-casual!
But then this isn’t just any old supporters’ club. These guys are seriously involved, even playing a major role in bringing the Dolphins to London, having monopolised ex-coach Nick Saban’s radio show week after week, persistently turning up to the live recording in Miami to ask whether the ‘Phins would actually be coming to the UK in 2007.
After weeks of continuous asking, Bob stood up and told Saban, this week I’m not going to ask you when the Dolphins are coming to Wembley, and proceeded to pose an unrelated question.
But when Saban answered it anyway, we just knew they’d be coming, laughs Bob.
Even the players know who Bob and Carla are. Two off-seasons ago they ran into recently injured running back Ronnie Brown when he was shooting a milk commercial in the locker room, and to this day he asks after them. Elsewhere, Bob is jokingly referred to by friends in Miami as ‘Olindo’s mate’, after introvert and former Dolphin kicker Olindo Mare got wind he was British, and wanted to know all about footballer David James.
When the ‘Phins visited London in June, Bob got chatting to Cam Cameron about a mutual friend in the US. Deep in conversation, he only noticed the army of cameramen and journalists recording the whole thing when he turned round.
I thought blimey, I’d better hold my stomach in since they say the camera adds a few pounds! he says.
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And so, on Sunday, Bob, Carla and around 160 other official Dolfans will stream into Wembley stadium to cheer on their heroes in person, for it’s finally here, the game they’ve anticipated for so long.
And what do the Balls think the result will be?
Do you really need to ask?
Win, says Bob, without pause or qualification.
Really, what have we got to lose? poses Carla. I have a feeling we’ll come in and blow the Giants away. Even the neutral fans will back us, because we’re the underdogs.
Just don’t rule out a Dolfan UK pitch invasion if the Dolphins really do pull off the upset.
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To contact Dolfan-UK be sure to visit their site: www.dolfan-uk.co.uk
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