David Williams—acclaimed documentary theatre maker, writer and football fanatic—is the ‘Smurf’. For the uninitiated, ‘Smurf’ is the nickname given to a Sydney Football Club fan.
During the 2013-14 A League football season, Williams, a long-suffering Sydney FC fan, frequented Western Sydney Wanderers’ games on their home turf in Parramatta. Kitted out in his Sydney FC sky-blue jersey, Williams-the-Smurf stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of red and black.
His presence caused bewilderment and banter, but none of the hooliganism that’s come to be associated with the game—he didn’t need to fear for his life.
Developed during Williams’ 2015 residency, Smurf in Wanderland is one man’s insightful and hilarious examination of football, tribalism, belonging and identity. It’s also a passionate defence of the fan—what it means to be a fan, the demonisation of fans and the artificial wedge that has been created between Sydney and its western suburbs.
