Category Archives: Football

May 15, 2013 · 2:33 pm

On Loïc Rémy and how some football fans contribute to the UK’s rape culture

My heart sank today when I read that the QPR striker, Loïc Rémy has been arrested on suspicion of rape.

It sank because once again we were reminded of the rape endemic that is found in the UK. This story centers around three guys and one girl, but reminds me of the 85,000 women who are raped in the UK every year.

My heart sank because somewhere a girl has gone to the police to report a rape but we know from experience, she will face an uphill battle to bring about a prosecution. We know that even though 85,000 (or higher) women are raped each year in the UK. Only just over a 1000 men are convicted of rape – even though 90% of rape victims know the identity of their attacker.

My heart sank though because I knew people would also forget the word ‘accused’ and assume that Rémy was guilty. Although it is, statistically speaking, a small issue compared to rape, false accusations of rape have the potential to ruin a man’s life. With the 24/7 premiership media spotlight shining on Rémy, this potential is only amplified.

My heart sunk though, because I knew any subtlety in this story would fly from the window as soon as people graced their keyboards with the presence of their fingers.

Sure enough, ‘Jack Miller 1993’ decided to impart his wisdom on the matter saying:

And he was not alone in gracing social media with such enlightened thoughts. This next selection of tweets were pulled at random from a torrent of rancid inappropriate comments that have been tweeted this afternoon.

Thousands of tweets later, all we know is that another rape has been reported in Britain and that many football fans on twitter are incapable of associating it with their own behavior.

Laura Baites writing in the Independent described the term ‘rape culture’ saying:

“I am not referring to isolated incidents, but to a widespread trend towards articles, websites and events that sexualise, objectify and dehumanise female students and women in general. I am talking about entire websites where across hundreds of articles about women not a single female name appears; they are replaced with “wenches”, “hoes”, “clunge”, “skank”, “sloppy seconds”, “pussy”, “tramp”, “chick”, “bird”, “milf”, “slut” and “gash”. They are part of a growing culture in which the sexual targeting of female students as “prey” is actively encouraged, even when it verges on rape and sexual assault. It is an atmosphere in which victims are silenced and perpetrators encouraged to see crimes as merely ‘banter’ – just part of ‘being a lad’.”

Whether or not Jack Miller realizes it, he is, by tweeting such bile with such rancid sentiment and terminology as ‘slag’, only further contributing to the rape culture in the UK.

About these ads

3 Comments

Filed under Football

Tagged as , , ,

April 18, 2013 · 5:52 am

Boycotting Sunderland FC is the only appropriate and moral response to their recent installation of a fascist manager

This is the final article in a short series on Social Justice First about the state of modern football.

Paulo Di Canio, a fascist (in all probability), is now sitting at the helm of one of Britain’s most respected football clubs. The only way to remove him from such a prestigious position is for the fans to implement a boycott of the club.

For the last two years I have been calling for a boycott of Swindon Town FC – Di Canio’s former employers.

"I am not political... I do not support the ideology of fascism" - Paulo Di Canio

Few in the midst of the media scrum that followed his appointment to Sunderland commented on his two year reign at Swindon Town. Barney Ronay at the Guardian was the exception to this rule when he wrote, “Di Canio has been manager of Swindon for two years without complaint…there is an excellent point to be made about the lack of attention paid to events in the lower leagues.”

He was right on one count. The whole Di Canio debacle shows the unhealthy media spotlight that is shined upon the Premiership leaving the lower leagues in its shadow.

Just as the next big things can be spotted playing in the lower leagues, so the next big problem can also often be found there.

Barney was wrong however to assert that Di Canio spent two years at Swindon without complaint.

I was complaining and complaining loud.

Back in 2011 I wrote that Swindon should be embarrassed to employ a man who is a symbol of modern fascism and called for all fans to boycott the club.

I finished that article by appealing to the Swindon fans saying, “The message has to come from the supporters. Sack him for the reputation of the club.”

This message was ignored by most, if not all, Swindon fans. Could it be different for Sunderland?

At the heart of every football fan is passionate burning desire for success. Regardless of Di Canio’s politics he delivered promotion to Swindon. Success on the pitch acted to numb the consciousness of many Swindon fans. Promotion enabled them to look the other way.

Although this isn’t an excuse for their silence, it does at least act as an explanation.

For Sunderland fans there is little chance of this level of success and this might act as the catalyst for his dismissal or at least a de facto boycott (drop in gate sales).

The harder question though sits with all of the non-Swindon and non-Sunderland fans. Di Canio has been a manager in the UK for over two years now; why have they not spoken out until now?

Not my club, not my problem was the most common response from non-Swindon fans that I spoke to over the last few years.

Let’s be clear though: it is our problem. Fascism has no place in a modern tolerant democracy. Fascism, by its nature, invokes a support for authoritarianism coupled with a questionable understanding of culture and national identity. Is this what Sunderland want in a figurehead?

This issue moves beyond just fascism though.

In a macabre game of ‘footballing extremist ideology bingo’ we are now erring towards a full house in modern football. We’ve got racists, we’ve got homophobes, and now, to complete the set, we have a self-declared fascist.

While the footballing establishment has at least started to tackle the first two problems, there remains uncertainty about how, or even if they should, tackle fascism.

Once again this is why the message needs to come from the fans that fascism has no place in the game.

Look either side of you on the terraces and you will see people who not only fought fascism but also know people who died at the hands of fascists. The horrors of the 20th century are not as far away as some think.

It pains me to have to write this, but being a fascist is not just being ‘a bit right wing’ – it is lending your tacit support to a movement that oversaw the mass death of millions.

At best Di Canio will stay quiet. At worst though, the poisonous ideology that this confused Italian extrovert follows will drip into his decisions and affect the players underneath him.

Just as Marcel Desailly would probably choose to never play for a team that Ron Atkinson managed, so I doubt any Italian with immigrant descendants would want to play for Sunderland.

For the good of British football, for the good of Sunderland FC and for all those who spent their lives fighting fascism I call on everyone to boycott the Stadium of Light until Di Canio has either renounced all aspects of fascism or left the club.

17 Comments

Filed under Far-right politics, Football, History, Sport

Tagged as , , ,

March 5, 2013 · 9:04 am

A message from Kampala to whoever thought up the ‘Adebayor Chant’

With a cold beer in hand I sit down on a plastic chair behind rows of chattering men. Glancing around, I see that almost everyone is wearing an Arsenal shirt - not an unusual sight in Uganda. The sun is setting and I think to myself I that I cannot imagine anywhere I’d rather be watching this north London Derby, a thought that would soon disappear.

I sit taking sips of beer and listening as people chat noisily in Luganda. With the exception of a few words I struggle to make out what people were saying so I happily sit back and let the atmosphere wash over me. The big screen is on and sit half watching the match build up and half watching the people around me chat and laugh.

I am deep in thought about how different watching football in Kampala is compared to my old haunt of the Dog Star in Brixton. So deep in fact that I don’t notice when six guys sharply turn around and look me up and down.

All six of them look straight at me. A few seconds later one of them asked, “What’s the Adebayor chant?”

I feel a prick of panic on the back of my neck. We were sitting just down the road from where the 2010 World Cup terrorist attacks took place and I had no idea why these guys were asking me.

The words of the chant run though my head as I try to buy myself time.

“Adebayor, Adebayoooooooooor, your dad washes elephants, and your mums a whore.
It should have been you, it should have been you, killed in Angola, it should have been you”

I think to myself how fucking unacceptable it is. I think about how, not for the first time, I am complicit in some football fans outrageous actions. Mostly though I think, how the fuck am I supposed to explain what ‘the Adebayor chant’ is in this situation?

Maybe spotting my discomfort, one of the guys piped up with, “Is it true that they sing about the Togo shootings?”

I lamely offer a “yeah” in response. This was getting beyond awkward.

The guys muttered a few words to each other before one asked, “Why?”

Why? Like why do British football fans think it’s acceptable to sing about a terrorist attack that resulted in one of Adebayor’s friends bleeding in his arms? Like why do they feel it is OK to throw in crass racist stereotypes as a prelude to such fucking outrageous comments? Or perhaps just why do so many fans in the stands join in?

Pathetically I muttered into my beer, “I don’t know”.  The guys turned away and went back to pre-match build up. There was no bitterness in the whole exchange but it left me thinking.

One thing I pondered as I moved onto a second and third beer was how would have one of the guys who had thought up that chant have responded if they were in my situation? Would they have tried to justify their crass racism and insensitivity to terrorist atrocities or would they have sheepishly apologised?

I imagined in my mind’s eye the stereotype of a classic football thug almost spitting, “It’s just a bit of fun”.  In all likelihood though, the guy probably looked just like me, young, male and football mad.

As I walked home that evening I was deep in thought. Am I responsible in any way for what happens on the terraces in the UK? Should I have apologised, criticised or critiqued the chant? In retrospect though I was predominantly feeling pissed off that these fucking morons who come up with these chants hold the power to dictate how my evening, thousands of miles away goes.

I have nothing to do with these idiots but to many people we are one of the same.

7 Comments

Filed under Football, Social comment, Uganda, War

Tagged as , , ,

December 12, 2012 · 12:54 pm

Football fans and violence

This blog was written for Tattooed Football site.

According to 2011/12 figures, arrests of football fans are down 24% from last season.

The Football Supporters Federation welcomed this news saying, “The overall picture is a very positive one”. Indeed, the total number of arrests stood at just 2,363 – a decrease of 726 from 2010/11. 74% of all matches passed without a single arrest.

Whilst the footballing world welcomed these latest statistics as proof that the football thug image no longer applies, I wasn’t so sure. The flip side of these statistics show us a side of the game that we are perhaps less comfortable talking about.

Try this at home…Flip every figure from the Football Supporters Federation’s press release on its head. For example, when they say 74% of matches saw no arrests, think that you have a 1 in 4 chance of going to a match and an arrest being made.

When they say there has been a fall in the number of banning orders think that despite over 3,000 banning orders being issued in 2010/11 – which you would have assumed would have got rid of a significant chunk of the problem offenders – a further 2,750 banning orders were issued in 2011/12.

Indeed, only through the twisted logic of comparing ourselves to our unacceptable past, could we consider the ‘overall picture’ to be a good one. Almost all types off offences are down year on year, but down from an unacceptably high starting point. It is the equivalent of saying, a clinically obese man is healthy if he has lost a few pounds year on year. He is still fat and football still has a problem with violence.

To be clear, I think the game has moved on, especially when we think back to the problems of the 1980’s. Stadiums are now often family friendly places with little or no violence. We should welcome this. But, let’s not get complacent. Football matches still attract violence, aggression and criminality in a way that other public events do not.

As a peace loving football fan, it is not a nice thing to be associated with, but it is something that we all have to face up to in a way rugby or cricket fans don’t. Terraces can be aggressive and unpleasant places to be.

Have you ever tried to find crime statistics for rugby, or cricket? I did for this article and I couldn’t find any. We can make an educated guess to why this is!

The problems are of course not evenly spread – if you are a Forest Green Rovers fan for example, you can pat yourself on the back and go and eat one of your veggie burgers as there were no arrests made at FGR last season!

The problems increase greatly if you follow a premiership club – especially Manchester United, Manchester City or Liverpool who topped the offending charts. This is of course partially explained through fan numbers. Although interestingly Fulham had less arrests than Wrexham or Newport County!

However you look at the problem of violence, alcohol or racist chanting at football matches though, it is still there. You can chose to look at it through a rose tinted lens but the ugly truth remains. Whether we are talking about organised fights outside Ibrox or pub brawls in Birmingham, 2012 has shown us that there is still an ugly side to the game. This needs to be faced up to. Not spun into a false sense of security.

Of course, the blame for these problems is not totally on the doorstep of the football fan. Part of the problem is with the police who were described in a recent Football Supporters Federation report as at times being “disproportionate, overly aggressive and indiscriminate”. Fans are often labelled as hooligans for simply wearing their team’s colours. They face prejudice and discrimination and this needs to be tackled as it plays into a spiral of the problems.

Looking positively though, there are some good examples of police forces mixing with the fans before, during and after matches. A new ‘interactive’ form of policing have been trialled by West Midlands police that involved as little as 25 officers attending Birmingham City games. Early results from this trial have shown a 30% reduction in arrest rates.

The challenge for football as a whole is to face up to these challenges without playing into the ‘negative stereotype’ that drives so much public and media discourse of football fans being violent thugs - most of us are not!

We are not all knuckle dragging Neanderthals unable to control our emotions, but there are some. To tackle this problem we have to keep things in perspective and welcome positive examples of policing. What we cannot and should not do, is pretend that football has miraculously fixed itself – we are a long way from seeing the family friendly football that most of use want to see.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Football

October 31, 2012 · 11:27 am

MPs to back safe standing in football stadiums

Roger Godsiff MP has recently submitted an Early Day Motion (EDM 573) which calls on the government to “accept the case for introducing, on a trial basis, limited standing areas at grounds of clubs in the Premier League and Championship“.

I have written before about safe standing – which you can read here - so I won’t waste your time going through the arguments again.

All I would ask is that you:

1) Watch this video which makes the case for  safe standing in top flight football grounds.


2) Contact your local MP to ask them to sign this EDM. It is an issue I am passionate about!

Thanks.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Football, Politics, Sport

Tagged as , , ,

October 17, 2012 · 2:48 pm

Racism, it is not just Serbia who has a problem

This article was written for the Tattooed Football blog.

“I was just so angry and I found it hard to concentrate on the game” remarked Danny Rose, the England under 21 defender. Not surprisingly either. Throughout last nights game against Serbia, from the warm-up right through to the last few messy minutes, Rose was the focus of a series a racist chants.

The abuse Rose suffered was not just verbal. Rose commented that he had stones thrown at him when he went to take a throw in.

He left the pitch last evening seeing red and hearing yet more monkey chants echo around him. The referee sent him off for unsporting behaviour after kicking the ball away seemingly ignoring the racist chants. Rose explained his actions saying, “after 90 minutes’ worth of abuse, I expressed my emotions as soon as we scored.

Next thing I know, all the Serbia players were surrounding me, pushing me. I remember getting slapped twice. I got ushered away and that’s when I kicked the ball – and then the referee sent me off”.

Inevitably, the usual suspects emerged to condemn racism in the game. David Cameron said he was “appalled” while the Sports Minister, Hugh Robertson condemned the “disgraceful scenes”. Quite rightly the Football Association reported “a number” of incidents to UEFA.

To the shock of many, the Serbian Football Association today released a statement that denied any racist incident took place. This statement not only contradicts a number of accounts but also video footage where monkey chants are audible in the background. Their statement read:

“FA of Serbia absolutely refuses and denies that there were any occurrences of racism before and during the match at the stadium in Kruševac. Making connection between the seen incident – a fight between members of the two teams – and racism has absolutely no ground and we consider it to be a total malevolence”.

This is quite extraordinary. It is common now for establishments to use the ‘bad apples’ defence, ‘There were a few bad apples but we have a zero tolerance approach’. But this statement by the Serbian FA goes further and constitutes a blanket denial that any racist incident took place. If ever there has been a head in the sand approach to tackling a problem it is here.

This is not the first time either that English players have suffered racist  abuse in Serbia. 5 years ago, Nedum Onuoha was subjected to racial abuse in an England Serbia match at the European Championships. The punishment that UEFA dished out on this occasion? A fine of £16,000.

To put this into context, Manchester City was fined £24,740 for returning to the field less that minuet late in a match against Porto. This same match resulted in a fine for Porto after Balotelli was racially abused. The fine for Porto? Just £16,700.

Whilst it is easy to attack UEFA and the Serbian FA for their inaction/action, we should also take this opportunity to climb down off our high horses and to look around at the modern game in Britain. I won’t talk more about the well publicised cases of Terry “I didn’t call you a” case or Suarez “But it’s fine in my country” case. Where to start?

The outrageous? Remember when Ron Atkinson described (live on air) Marcel Desailly as a ‘lazy fucking thick nigger’?

The continuous? The fact that for almost every season I have been a football fan there has been an example of racism. In 2009 Jason Euell was subject to racist abuse. In February 2008 the then Chelsea manager Avram Grant received anti-Semitic death threats. In 2007 a Labour party cllr was banned from matches for 3 years for racially abusing a spurs player. This sad list could go on and on.

Serbian fans were out of order last night, but don’t fool yourself – English fans/players have been equally out of order for generations. We have moved on leaps and bounds but we still have a long way to go before we can truly say we have kicked racism out of football.

1 Comment

Filed under Football, Sport

Tagged as , ,

September 21, 2012 · 1:46 pm

MPs say to football fans ‘you’re still racist homophobes’

John Whittingdale MP says, “racisms bad”

In a damning condemnation of the not so beautiful game, a group of MPs have pointed out that football fans are still a bunch of racist homophobes.

Despite football stadiums being filled with good middle class bankers (it’s an easy rhyme), a report published last week by the DCMS select committee highlighted ‘continuing concerns’ about levels of racism in football.

Specifically it highlighted incidents such as Suarez’s Uruguayan greeting and Terry’s clarification of what he defiantly didn’t say.

Terry, when asked what he thought of the report allegedly said, “I didn’t say that I think it is a load PC bullshit written by a bunch of ageing middle class MPs who haven’t stepped foot in a stadium in their entire fucking lives. This is beyond worthless”.

In an effort to point out the blindingly obvious though, the report went on to state that things had improved dramatically since the 1970s and 80s when ‘racist abuse was common‘.  The MPs reportedly watched Elijah Wood’s depiction of a football hooligan in ‘Green Street’ in extra slow motion to gain an understanding of ‘what it was all about’.

In a move to tackle this problem the report suggests that more ethnic minorities should take up one of the most detested positions in the modern game – the referee. A footballing psychologist who wished to not be named stated, “By focusing the unwavering never ending mindless hatred that spills from football fans mouths, we hope to focus their little minds on simply hating positions of authority – not the skin colour of the man, or *smirk* women”.

In addition to all the racist bullshit in football the report also pointed out that fans didn’t really like gays either. Heterosexual Graham Le Saux declined to comment in any publication other than the Guardian where Robbie ‘the bully’ Fowler wouldn’t read his comments.

Even though no footballer is, or ever will be gay, some people who drive to games in BMWs think that the stands should be welcoming of ‘gayers’ as long as they don’t stand too close to them…or their children. Patrick from North London said, “I agree with the report, we need to make stadiums more family friendly and welcoming to the gays. Maybe we should have a gay seating area opposite the family seating area”.

Sat in a dusty room just off a cobweb filled corridor somewhere in the House of Commons the chair of the committee John Whittingdale MP said, “We heard evidence that ‘social media’ has become a tool for the spread of racist and abusive content but it is also a potential means of combating the ignorance and prejudice that lie behind such behaviour”. It is purported that the FA are considering joining a ‘World Wide Web’ of people – a system that would enable them to not comment to millions of people.

Clive Efford who is apparently the shadow minister for sport, blandly repeated the executive summary of the report saying, “we can never be complacent when it comes to any form of discrimination whether it is racism, religious hatred or homophobia”. Everyone everywhere responded saying, “no shit, find a new bandwagon on which to jump”.

When contacted Paolo Di Canio was unavailable for comment.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Football, Politics, Sport

Tagged as , , , ,

August 7, 2012 · 5:33 pm

A pissed off Arsenal fan at the Nou Camp

This article was written for the Tattooed football blog.

I knew that my pilgrimage to the Nou Camp would not be easy. I’m Arsenal, always have been, always will be. Barcelona tends to piss off Arsenal fans, especially in Champions League finals.

Throughout the trip I started to come to terms with the fact that this feeling (was it anger?) derived from the continued frustration surrounding Arsenal at the moment. It is not that Arsenal are playing badly at the moment, its worse. We are nearly brilliant.

Worse still, Barcelona have shown themselves to be brilliant over the last few seasons.

I am not bothered about the silverware Barcelona has bagged (10 trophies in 2 seasons alone). I am bothered though about the football they have played. They have beaten the best in the world in a way that would make Wenger weak at the knees.

As I approached the formidable entrance to the Nou Camp, I was hoping that this might be a chance for me to move on.

It was a sunny day and I was surrounded by thousands of fellow football devotes from all around the world. The atmosphere was one of a family day out – almost no-one was scowling.

Once inside the Nou Camp I stood watching video highlights of ‘Barcelona’s greatest goals’.  I sighed out loud at an 8 year old for pressing ‘play again’ on the video board showing Ronaldinho’s notorious overhead kick. I had the feeling I was being a smidgen petulant.

I knew what I needed to do.

I knew I had marvel at Barcelona’s extraordinary footballing success. The cabinets stuffed full with every cup the club could get their hands on. I knew though that this would only shine a spotlight on the dusty 7 years gap in the trophy cabinet at the Emirates.

I knew I had to go there and marvel at their illustrious roll call of football’s greats. Life sized photos of Messi, Ronaldo and Stoichkov were everywhere I looked. I knew however that this would be impossible without thinking about ex-Arsenal greats such as Henry of Fàbregas.

I knew I had to go there and marvel at their ground breaking partnerships with organisations such as UNICEF. I knew though that would only lead me to dwell on the overtly cooperate nature of the Premiership. We play in the ‘Emirates’ stadium for fucks sake!

All of this I knew and I will confess it did slightly hinder my ability to enjoy the “Camp Nou experience”.

Even the grumpiest of silverware deprived Arsenal fan though would be hard pressed to not be impressed with the biggest stadium in Europe (even after losing over 20,000 in capacity from its 120,000 peak). It is a formidable sight and the views from throughout the stadium are impressive.

Equally I enjoyed learning about the quirks of the club. Did you know that no Brit has played for Barcelona since Gary Linker? Interesting, well at least I thought so.

Equally, I was genuinely interested to learn more about the club’s history. Not only do they play beautiful football they also have time to develop a political opposition to fascism (Franco reportedly warned their players in a 1942 game Vs Madrid that “that taking the ball into Real Madrid’s half would be considered unpatriotic by the regime”).

For me however, despite the skill in which they play, despite the trophies in the cabinet, despite their social democratic principles…all I associate with the club is that fateful night in Paris back in 2006.

Why? 7 years of underachieving. Every Arsenal fan knows there is only one way to rectify this. Over to you Mr Wenger.

1 Comment

Filed under Football, Sport

Tagged as , , , ,

June 13, 2012 · 3:52 pm

Euro 2012 Special: Hate crime in Ukraine – Will the police look the other way?

This article was written for the Football Rascal Blog.

UEFA, the governing body of European football comments on their website, “Racism and any other forms of discrimination will never be tolerated. UEFA will not tolerate violence either on the pitch or in the stands. Football must set an example”

Indeed, I couldn’t agree more UEFA. Which rather begs the question, why did you chose Ukraine to joint host the Euro 2012 championships?

Ukraine, is a country that Amnesty International describes as having, “[a] poor human rights record, in particular, widespread criminality, torture and other ill-treatment by the police force responsible for the safety of Euro 2012 fans”. The human rights group goes onto raise, “the issue[s] of racist and homophobic attacks, discrimination, violations of the right to a fair trial, failure to protect asylum-seekers and migrants, and the harassment and prosecution of human rights defenders”. I wonder how many in UEFA officials have read this glowing report card?

Now, I am no expert here but how do “racist and homophobic attacks” combined with “torture and ill-treatment by the police force” sit with UEFA’s image of “zero-tolerance” of either “violence or discrimination”. In fact it seems to imply the exact opposite.

I am not opposed to major sporting events being held in countries with less than perfect human rights records per se. Indeed, life would be a bit boring if year in year out every major event was held in Luxembourg as every other country failed to make the cut. But, there has to be limits, a line that isn’t crossed. My argument here is that fan safety is an example of a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

On 20th May 2012, police told organisers of the gay pride march to abandon the event claiming, “500 ultra-right football hooligans were en route to the rally point with the intention of preventing the march from going ahead”. So, a peaceful march was banned because of “500 ultra-right football hooligans”.

Once again I turn to Amnesty International and their researcher Max Tucker who commented, “Their [Kiev’s police force] reluctance to commit to the event and to put adequate security measures in place to protect demonstrators left organizers fearing for their safety”. After this, two activists were beaten up by a dozen youth in central Kiev. In short, the police failed to protect a group of citizens from a group of far-right football supporters.

So what has a gay pride event and Euro 2012 got to do with each other I hear you ask?

Simple. Why would you believe that the police are going to be more willing to protect LGBT activists at a gay pride event than a LGBT supporters group at Euro 2012? Or come to think of it, a black family or a Jewish supporters group?

The issue is about how authorities respond to trouble makers. Call me old fashioned on this one, but I think authorities shouldn’t pander to the hate filled whims of the far right. Crazy I know.

I think that “immigrants, gays, blacks” or anyone else who doesn’t fit into the far right’s bizarre hate filled outlook, should be free to attend these sporting events without fear of attack. In Ukraine I don’t think this is the case.

The families of  Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott have already said they will not travel there because for fear of racist abuse. This lack of protection means that Ukraine has failed in its responsibilities as a host country.

Despite what the BBC would have you believe with their slightly sensationalist ‘Stadiums of hate’ documentary, this is nothing new. Attacks on the LGBT community, religious groups and ethnic minorities have a long and well documented history in Ukraine. A history that too often the state has been complicit in.

At this stage however I don’t believe the tournament should not be cancelled. Nor though do we want an atmosphere where people are arrested on the spot for drunkenly shouted something offensive (in my opinion it shouldn’t be a crime to cause someone offence).

What I would like to see is the Ukrainian state to unequivocally condemn the police’s actions a few weeks ago and make it abundantly clear that the police will be there to protect supporters regardless of their background, sexuality or beliefs. Is this too big a ask?

My worry is that by the time this article goes to print we will already have seen violence on the streets or terraces of Ukraine.

I worry that Sol Cambell’s comment to fans to “Stay at home, watch it on TV. Don’t risk it because you could end up coming back in a coffin” may end up becoming a reality. Fan safety is the first priority and football is the second. UEFA have to be clear on this point.

Is football being overshadowed by events around the tournament? If UEFA had made a better choice in the first place, would such problems even be on the agenda? Let us know your opinion! 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Far-right politics, Football, Human rights, Sport

Tagged as , , ,

May 20, 2012 · 7:40 pm

Mahmoud al-Sarsak – Palestinian footballer’s health is ‘deteriorating’

This article was written for the Tattooed Football blog.

As the football season draws to a close most of us are sitting back waiting for a summer of football to begin. With less than a month now until Euro 2012 kicks off, football fans across the globe are gearing up for the tournament, stocking up the fridge and pinning up the fixture list. Here in Israel and Palestine it is no exception. I have already sorted out front row seats for the England/France opener down the local (coffee shop)! There is however one exception, one guy who isn’t joining in this build up. His name is Mahmoud al-Sarsak who is, or at least I should say was, a member of the Palestinian football team.

Mahmoud is currently being held under Israel’s ‘Unlawful Combatant Law’ (a form of administrative detention – held without trial) and has been on hunger strike since the 22nd March 2012 in protest. Mohmoud’s detention is not up for renewal until 22nd August 2012. The insightful amongst you might well notice that this is well after the championships. The even more insightful amongst you might have counted up the days in your head and worked out that this guy might not even be alive come the championships. Amnesty International report that his health is “deteriorating”. The longest ever Palestinian hunger strike is 77 days – this is one record no one wants to see him break but he is coming pretty close. How much longer he can hold on for is debatable but I would count it in days not weeks.

You might well be thinking at this point “Bit of shitter, but there is f*** all I can do about it” (note the compulsory swear words proceeding any badly thought out point on the terraces). Well, I have good news for you. There are a few people over here that have the power to stop all this. One of them is a chap called Ehud Barak – he’s the Deputy Prime Minister of Israel and also the Defence Minister (in other words he holds a bit of sway).  What we are asking is pretty simple. We would like him to firstly ensure Mahmoud is given full and specialised medical care in a hospital suitable to provide such care. And secondly to ensure that Mahmoud is either released or charged with internationally recognizable criminal offences and brought to trial in proceedings that meet international fair trial standards (jargon I know but it’s important – trust me). Not big asks. If you have a chance, get the quill out and put these point onto paper and send them to:

Ehud Barak
Ministry of Defence
37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya
Tel Aviv 61909, Israel

I am sure he would love to hear from you.

Mahmoud is not only a footballer, but a relative and a bloody human being. I find it disgusting that someone could be held for three years without charge or trial. All it will cost you is a few minutes (keep it short) and few pence down the post office.

If you are really keen you can find loads more information here. If you are really really keen send this blog onto your mates. It is mad to think, but you have the power to make a difference and maybe save a guys life.

2 Comments

Filed under Football, Health, Human rights, Middle East, Politics, Sport

Tagged as , , , ,

April 9, 2012 · 9:27 pm

Alan Davies, “I feel that the Liverpool v Everton semi-final could be played on Apr 15th”. I tend to agree

This article was published on the Tattooed Football blog.

The need to obtain justice for those who were taken from us on April 15th 1989 at Hillsborough is as important today as it has ever been. 96 people, fathers, sons and friends were taken away by what was an avoidable disaster. The days that followed filled with the smears and lies as they were are something that no one should have to go through and my heart goes out to all the fans, friends and family who did. The fact that 23 years later we are still fighting for the truth is the ultimate insult to those who died and leaves the footballing world in a collective grief.

It was with surprise then that tweets starting coming through my twitter stream suggesting that the comedian Alan Davies was “cheapening” and “mocking” these events. I was so surprised I took it upon myself to find out exactly what Alan Davies said.  To my surprise listening to him and watching twittersphere implode conjured up more than the inevitable shock at his crass comments – it conjured a feeling of sympathy. The sympathy I felt was founded in an empathy based in shared experience. This shared experience was being hounded by angry Liverpool fans who were on a moral crusade with the Hillsborough disaster as their armour.

Last year I was accused of disrespecting those who lost loves ones at Hillsborough by arguing for the introduction of safe standing (something very different from the reintroduction of 1980s terraces).  For many, it became impossible to have a rational argument about something which was affecting the modern game because of the emotive memories it stirred up. Everybody grieves in their own way, but loss and grief is not a free ticket to act like a complete prick (prick here is defined as someone who emails me with death threats, abusive rants and uses an unnecessarily wide of similes “you are like a…”).

As such, there are two logical conclusions to draw. The first is that grieving or loosing someone (or supporting a club that has lost fans in a disaster) is not a justification to be a complete prick and threaten to kill or beat people. Secondly, the lost that we have suffered should not stand in the way of needed developments within the modern game – it is disrespectful in my mind to use these tragic deaths as a barrier to the development of the game.

In regards to my safe standing article people asked why should we would ‘take the risk’ introducing  safe standing? Apart from highlighting the distinct lack of risk in modern safe standing stadia (the emphasis being on the word safe) I also had to show that a problem existed in the first place that needed to be tackled. The issue of standing in seated areas is one that directly affects the modern footie fan and can easily be sorted through the introduction of safe standing areas. The only thing in its way is an archaic FA and an impossible media hurdle surrounding Hillsborough.

At the time I went on to argue that introducing safe standing was the greatest tribute we could pay (to show lessons learnt).

Equally, it is worth highlighting that to keep the status quo of LFC not playing on the 15th April also has negative repercussions. This year it happens to be Chelsea who suffer but in future seasons it could be any club (including LFC). The problem exists – and if you doubt the depth of feeling surrounding it,  just talk to a few Chelsea fans at the moment.

And thus at the heart of what Davies was saying is what I feel to be a reasonable request – that Liverpool should play football on the 15th April. There are a plethora of arguments against this assertion (many of which can be found in this reasonable response to Davies by a LFC fan) and these views need to be considered and dealt with compassionately.

The choice is not an either or between playing football or remembering the dead though. There are a number of ways of remembering – in football rituals we have the silence before games, the minuet of clapping or the black arm bands. These all serve well as a visual poignant reminder of what we have lost and significantly do not detrimentally affect other clubs.

Liverpool have developed their own ways of remembering – the service held at the ground on the 15th is a particularly poignant one. There is no reason to see why this all can’t still happen in conjunction to football being played.

I am under no illusion to the pain that the Hillsborough disaster and the subsequent mishandling has caused to thousands of people from across the country. It cannot however be used as a full stop in any argument.

I would go one step further and suggest that  by standing and watching LFC play is perhaps one of the greatest tributes we can pay to those who lost their lives 23 years ago and to those who are still fighting for justice.

1 Comment

Filed under Football, Sport

Tagged as , ,

April 3, 2012 · 1:14 pm

Is “Death to Arabs” just another football chant?

This article was written for the Football Rascal blog.

“Mavet la ‘aravim” is Hebrew for “Death to Arabs” and is regularly chanted at football grounds throughout Israel. It was recently recorded being sung by some fans after a Beitar Jerusalem victory before the same fans turned on a couple of Palestinian men and attacked them.

A few days later an off duty Israeli soldier in Jerusalem approached me in the street and struck up a conversation about Israeli and European football. He was keen to talk to me about how Israeli football was developing on an international stage. The conversation soured slightly when I asked him what he thought about these ‘Death to Arabs’ chants. His first response hinted at a wider problem, “come on man, those fans are crazy”. He swiftly turned the conversation to why Benayoun was not starting for Arsenal and extolling the virtues of keeping him as captain of their national team.  I tried my luck and once more asked him why this one specific chant is so prolific. He responded bluntly, “Look, it is not nice but it is no worse than what is sung in football stadiums throughout Europe”. Sadly, I know this to be true.

The incident to which I refer was caught on video and shows a few hundred Beitar Jerusalem supporters singing loudly in a shopping mall before the incident escalates. It was reported inHaaretz that some of the fans started to spit at 3 Arab women who were with their children close by. Some men stepped in to help and chased the football fans away but were then turned on themselves and were severally beaten.

One shop owner described the assault saying, “They caught some of them and beat the hell out of them…They hurled people into shops, and smashed them against shop windows”.

The soldier, who asked not to be named, went on to argue that this sort of hatred was a reflection of ‘mindless soccer culture’ and does not represent the views of the majority of Israelis. Although I am sure that this statement holds an element of truth, it misses an undeniable fact that the discrimination that Palestinian Arabs face within Israel is systemic in its nature.

The Mossawa Centre summarizes the situation of Palestinian Arabs (who make up about 20% of the Israeli population) when they say, “the Arab Palestinian citizen of Israel faces direct and indirect discrimination in all aspects of political social and economic life”. In 2011 alone the Coalition against Racism [In Israel] reported that there were 35 pieces of discriminatory legislation in the Knesset, 60 cases of racism committed by elected representatives in Israel and 58 cases of racism committed by the Israeli Army.

The soldier’s assertion that we can write off football chants simply as a reflection of a moronic minority sadly holds a lot of weight in the UK as well as in Israel. Chants, however moronic, do not occur completely out of a social context though. When we hear disgusting racist, homophobic or even anti-Semitic chants on our terraces in the UK they are framed by an undeniable persistence of these problems in our society. The biggest mistake we can make is to pretend that we do not have these problems. Like an alcoholic, the nature of our problem has numbed our ability to spot the problem in itself. We have developed a culture that laughs off problems that when analysed in the cold light of day hold little humour. To acknowledge the nature and severity of the problem is to take our first steps to recovery.

In the UK racism is too often talked about in the past tense as something that John Barnes had to endure back in the ‘bad old days’ (if this season has taught us anything, it is that racism is still alive in British football). There is nothing special about the ‘type of discrimination’ you find inside football stadiums compared to ‘real life’.  The only thing that makes a stadium’s terrace unique is that it can shine a light on a problem which would otherwise lurk in the shadows of society. The sooner we face up to this reality the better.

In Israel we have seen a series of grass-roots initiatives to voice opposition the recent attack and disgraceful chanting. I would suggest however, that the real challenge for Israeli society is to acknowledge the severity of the underlying causes for such chants. The ‘Death to Arabs’ chant (as far as I am aware) is uniquely Israeli but how we tackle prejudice and hatred highlighted through football chants is a universal one. In Israel, I cannot swallow the argument that these chants were just ‘a small moronic minority’ of football supporters – it is clear that this prejudice sits much much deeper. Equally, in the UK I do not accept that we have ‘kicked racism out of football’ any more than we have out of our communities in general.

1 Comment

Filed under Football, Middle East

Tagged as , , ,

February 20, 2012 · 8:46 pm

The universal language of Messi

This article was originally published on Tattooed Football.

In the dusty streets of Jayyus in the West Bank, the language that children use cuts through adult constructed divisions. The names of Abbas or Netanyahu are alien. What rolls off the lips of the children here are the names of Messi, Fabregas and Puyol.

Jayyus is a small farming community situated near the town of Qalqiliya in the West Bank. It has been devastated by the construction of the separation barrier (which is universally acknowledged to be illegal under international law). 75% of the village’s farmland is now on the wrong side of the barrier. Recently, the village has seen a number of Israeli Defence Force incursions that have resulted in a number of local boys arrested.

These events however are just distractions for the children from the more serious business of street football. The challenge is simple – who can get as close to mastering Messi’s majesty as possible. To this goal, the children spend hours trying to match his touch, skill and athleticism. There is one coffee shop in the village where every Barcelona game is watched religiously and you can see every detail being gulped down with enthusiasm. The attendance, dedication and passion given to this cause is unwavering.

In a situation so bleak, it is heartening to see children throw their enthusiasm into football. I am sure it is a more productive use of time than throwing stones at the IDF. Equally, in a time when football seems so personified by casual racists, materialists and playboys, I find it heartening to see Messi being held up as a role model.

Messi manages, both on and off the pitch to balance his enthusiasm with a calm composure.  Messi also represents the dream that every child holds onto. He was taken from his home in Argentina at the age of 13. It is said he was only 4 foot 7 inches when he signed for Barcelona. From this he has developed into undoubtedly the greatest footballer of a generation. Messi has gone from being a small shy boy playing street football to be earning and inspiring millions.

It is this romance that drives children all over the world. Messi provides each child with a chance to dream. Cut off from life chances, it is this hope that keeps children going. This hope is communicated through the language of Barcelona. Football connects the children on the streets of Jayyus to billions around the world. Whatever the language their government or the occupying government speaks – these children will always be fluent in the language of football. No one can take that away from them.

Steve Hynd is currently an EA with EAPPI and is living in Jayyus, West Bank.

1 Comment

Filed under Football, Human rights, Middle East, Sport, War

January 18, 2012 · 7:40 pm

The day I was ashamed to be a Cheltenham Town fan

This article was published on the Tattooed Football blog.

We were 2-0 down. The collective voice had slipped out of our supporters. We were silent. Spurs fans responded in the only way they knew, to start mocking our silence. They finished with a collective ‘shhhhhhh’ to illustrate the resonating silence coming from us. What happened next shocked me. It shouldn’t have done, but it did. Someone behind me shouted in a thick West Country accent, ‘you’re not in gas chambers now!’

Read the full article here

2 Comments

Filed under Far-right politics, Football, Gloucestershire, Politics, Social comment, Sport

Tagged as , , , ,

January 12, 2012 · 6:39 pm

When Guardian readers become the discriminators – the plight of the football fan

A few days ago I left a slightly over the top and unnecessarily aggressive comment at the bottom of an article about men and football. If you like you can read it here. If the author of that article is reading this – I am sorry, I didn’t mean to be a complete prick.

The reason I got so hot under the collar was because I felt this article played into an on-going problem – the discrimination of the football fan. Despite what some would have you believe, we are not all knuckle dragging Neanderthals unable to control our emotions.

Let me illustrate the problem. Think of football fans abroad and you see in your mind’s eye beer swilling sun burnt blokes with their shirts off starting fights. There is of course an element of truth in this image (as there can be with some negative stereotypes). Last year 14 British football fans were arrested whilst travelling abroad to watch football. This however was out of 60,000 who made the various trips abroad to watch their team. That is one in every 4,285 fans travelling abroad.

When we look domestically, these figures become even smaller – just one in every 12,249 fans viewing domestic football matches were arrested last season. Around 70% of all football matches saw no arrests what so ever. This however does not stop people labelling all football fans with the same negative perceptions.

What is more worrying is the eagerness in which the liberal establishment revels in this prejudice. When racists try to correlate violent crime figures around ethnic minorities to ‘an inherent aggressiveness’ there is an army of Guardian readers and bloggers to point out the absurd nature of this assertion. When someone suggests that ‘football fans are all hooligans’ because some football fans are violent everyone nods and jeers. There is an entire swathe of the middle-classes that would rightly condemn racism but openly contribute to the building hatred and misconception of the football fan.

As a football fan I am banned from many pubs (I have to come back in a few hours dressed in my respectable civilian clothes), I am openly legislated against (we can trust music fans to stand up at concerts but not football fans at matches, we can trust rugby fans to enjoy a beer pitch side but not football fans etc) and I face a barrage of low level discrimination on a day to day basis.

I will concede that the consequences of this prejudice and discrimination are less severe than say racism or homophobia – it is however still a form of discrimination that I would like our society to be rid of. Equally, the more prevalent these stereotypes become the more it becomes self fulfilling with a minority of fans who do perhaps fulfil one or more of these negative attributes.

We need to ensure all discriminatory laws which apply to football fans, and no other group in society, are changed without delay. We also however need to start standing up for ourselves and pointing out the massive institutionalised hypocrisy around football fans. I am sorry to rant, but I am a football fan and I am not violent, aggressive, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, topless, drunk, tribal, narrow minded, inclined to sleep with my friends wives or any other crazy assertion anyone may have about football fans. Anyone who suggests that I am because I enjoy watching football is playing into a nasty prejudice and perpetuating a very real problem that needs to be addressed.

3 Comments

Filed under Football, Politics, Social comment

Tagged as , ,

January 6, 2012 · 10:32 am

We are Cheltenham fans – we have to be crass enough to dream

This article was originally published by the ‘Tattooed Football’ blog.

I cannot blame Mark Yates for trying to keep fans expectations low in the lead up to our 3rd round FA cup match against high flying Tottenham Hotspurs. The FA Cup has created a fever pitch atmosphere around the club in the last few weeks and the excitement levels are sky high. It is Yates job to guide us (the players, the fans and the media) through this high, and also through what many predict will be an inevitable low. He will be the one who has to focus on securing important results against Aldershot and then Bristol Rovers in the League.
 
His logic is clear, go there expecting nothing and anything will be a bonus. I cannot, and will not accept this.

Continue reading the full article here

Leave a Comment

Filed under Football, Sport

Tagged as , , , , ,

December 8, 2011 · 3:55 pm

The magic of the FA Cup

The more I tried to push it out of my mind the more it kept flooding back. The more I tried to focus on the work in front of me the more I kept glancing at the TV. There was a matter of minutes until the 3rd round draw of the FA Cup. There was a matter of minutes until a team’s future could be changed for a decade to come. This buzz you get before the draw, let alone the match, is one of the reasons why the FA Cup is so special.

Any diligent reader will know that I am a Cheltenham Town fan. Anyone vaguely connected to the footballing world will know that we have been drawn away against Spurs. I cannot put into words how exciting this is!

There is more to being drawn against one of the big boys than the six figure sums that can accompany it (although for any lower league club these sorts of figures are very welcome), it is the chance of being a giant killer. It is the chance to play against the best that the overpriced and overhyped premier league can offer. It is a chance of a lifetime for a player to go down in history. It is a chance of a lifetime for the club to be on the lips of people around the world.

The FA Cup offers the football fan the chance to dream outside of the constraints of league football. It allows us to think the impossible. Perhaps most importantly it allows us to go the White Hart Lane!

We know that we are the outsiders, that we stand no hope of progressing to the next round and that Wembley is a far far away dream. But what drives us though is the thought of what if, what if we make, what if we win? This is something none of the supporter of any of the big teams can ever experience. The intensity of this feeling is ratcheted up for every league down your team normally plays in. Even the biggest football haters out there struggle to not get excited when non-league teams take on bigger clubs. This excitement is the pinnacle of being a league football supporter. 

Here’s to believing. Here’s to the FA Cup.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Football, Gloucestershire, Sport

Tagged as ,

November 28, 2011 · 5:59 pm

Glasgow’s sectarian violence will not be sorted out through more legislation

The sectarianism between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Glasgow has destroyed families, taken lives and crippled communities. This sectarianism is embodied in the rivalry between Glasgow Rangers and Celtic FC. With every Old Firm derby there comes further reports of violence. The violence between the two sets of fans escalated to such an extent that last year Les Gray, head of the Scottish Police Federation, called for the derbies between the two clubs to be banned. 

As a result, the Scottish Parliament tried to rush through the The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill. This Bill broadly aimed to do two things:

1) To deal with those who engage in certain behaviour if it is likely to incite public disorder where that behaviour relates to a regulated football match involving a Scottish football team.

2) Criminalise threatening communication generally. It does not have to relate to football supporters.

For the record, I will be the first to admit that something needs to be done to tackle this level of violence, but I am not convinced that yet more legislation is the way forward.

There is a plethora of offences on the statute book already dealing with breach of the peace, violence and incitement of hatred. Section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 outlaws “threatening and abusive behaviour”. Section 74 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 outlaws any action aggravated by religious prejudice. Football banning orders can already be made against individuals convicted of a violent offence which involves a football match. The Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) Scotland Act 2009 outlaws action aggravated by the perpetrator ‘evincing malice and ill-will’ towards the victim on the grounds of sexual orientation, transgender identity or disability.

No one has yet explained to me why, with these plethora of legal tools at their finger tips, the Scottish government thinks we need more legislation.

The sceptic in me thinks that perhaps this was a knee jerk reaction to a moral panic created by the unacceptably high levels of violence we saw during the last footie season. Either way, if you want to introduce new legislation you have to A) show how it is different from existing legislation and B) That it is proportionate to the problem it aims to address. Currently I do not believe this Bill does either.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Football, Human rights, Politics, Sport

Tagged as ,

November 21, 2011 · 5:42 pm

Hatred is penetrating every level of the game

Hatred within football is penetrating every level of the game – it does not respect league tables, geography or levels of professionality. This was highlighted by Worcester City player Lee Smith (formerly of my home town Gloucester City FC) recently tweeting “Respect to all the heroes 11/11/11 now to all the illegal *****, **** off out of are country all, call of duty could become a reality – kill um”. Terry and Suarez might make better headlines but believe me that this sort of hatred is not affected by your ability on the pitch.

When confronted, Mr Smith responded, “It is my right to write what I think – but I didn’t mean any offence”. Sadly for Lee, but probably for the good of everyone else, it is not his “right” to use threatening and abusive language. Indeed, it is a criminal offence (although I am not holding my breath for a prosecution).

Mr Smith later said he had only meant the comments as “friendly banter”, I wonder if this was the same “friendly banter” that Ron Atkinson was using when he describes (live on air) Marcel Desailly as a ‘lazy fucking thick nigger’. Or perhaps it was the same “friendly banter” that fans up and down the country use when they sing the ‘Adebayor chant’.

On the positive side, it looks as though Worcester City has acted quickly and decisively by suspending the player indefinitely while a police investigation is carried out (note to Blatter that a simple handshake is not sufficient).  This also comes in the same week that we see two Southampton fans arrested for homophobic chanting during Saturday’s (19 November) game against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Every level of the game from youth football in the local parks through to the head of FIFA have an obligation to be seen to be tackling this problem. Not just racism, but the hatred that runs through footballing culture. It has to be attacked at every level if we are going to see the level of change that we so badly need.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Football, Sport

Tagged as , ,

November 15, 2011 · 6:19 pm

Long live St James Park

St James Park, will always be St James Park to me. This is not because I am a diehard Geordie, indeed I have no real connection with Newcastle. St James Park will always be St James Park to me though because of what it represents.  When you remove the fans, the clubs history and the passion that drives it you are left with nothing but a commodity.

Firstly it is worth noting that this move is madness even from a business point of view. The move to rename the stadium the “Sports Direct Arena” has not earned the club a penny. The only noticeable beneficiary from this move is Newcastle United Chairman, Mike Ashley – who is also the owner of Sports Direct. The justification that it is ‘showcasing’ the corporate sponsorship is based on the bizarre assumption that potential sponsors don’t have the mental capacity to imagine what it might be like to have a stadium named after them. Newcastle seems to have offered Sport Direct months of free advertising for little in return.

Significantly this move has been shown to have near universal opposition from the fans. It is not in the fans interests, nor is it in the clubs. Assuming Ashley’s master plan works and he sells the stadium naming rights with the shirt sponsorship for 10 million quid, what has he really gained – a third of Andy Carroll.  By selling off over one hundred years of history, alienating a fan base and by appearing self interested Mike Ashley has managed to gain the club the equivalent of a half decent defender. Not a great bit of business in my mind. Millions of pounds don’t go far in the modern game.

This however continues the debate as if football is a commodity, and that this move could somehow be justified if it made  Newcastle a small windfall. This argument is dangerous to the long term health of the game, the club and its surrounding communities.

If you make football clubs malleable to your financial desires then you lose what binds so many different so many societies together. If a club breaks down into simply being a financier’s play thing then it will soon lose the passion that binds its
supporters. Football communicates in a way no other force can in society. There is a reason for this and it isn’t simply the shared appreciation of watching skilled sportsman play and exciting sport. It is shared humanity, identity and passion. Humans are social beings who embrace public shared identities. What Ashley has done is attack the humanity, the identity and the passion that provide the bedrock of Newcastle United FC. This is not good for the club, Newcastle or the wider game.

We have seen stadiums renamed, clubs relocated and players sold to the highest bidder. What is left of the game?

2 Comments

Filed under Economics, Football, Sport

Tagged as , , ,