Abuse of players by fans (1 Viewer)

Like it or not this is symptomatic of our times. Now before anyone starts I'm not claiming that all Brexiteers are this or that. However there are some who are seemingly bouyed on, and believe it gives them a platform to revert to unacceptable behaviour towards others. However it does show that the problem never really went away.

I like it when players give it back and they usually near enough start crying

Otis said:

I've never ever really got it and I could never behave in such a fashion, but you do see it every week. The player doesn't even have had to do anything.

Sort of get it when a player has been giving it the big un to the crowd, but still don't think it's right and most of the time a player has only done the horrible thing of playing for the opposition.

Have to say, I can't make out what these fans are shouting here at Sterling, but there's lots of frothing at the mouth.



Hope their wives, partners and family are ashamed of them.

Seems to be uglier than ever these days.

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They’re just a bunch of cowards who’d probably cry if a player dared to have a go back at them

SkyBlueScottie said:

Like it or not this is symptomatic of our times. Now before anyone starts I'm not claiming that all Brexiteers are this or that. However there are some who are seemingly bouyed on, and believe it gives them a platform to revert to unacceptable behaviour towards others. However it does show that the problem never really went away.

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Racism within society has never gone away and is still there. I used to know plenty who’d use words like paki, coon etc. I doubt they’ve suddenly become enlightened all of a sudden either.

Apologies for the language in the post, btw but it has to be pointed out that it is still relatively common, although I like to think they’re becoming an ever smaller minority

Of course we don’t know exactly what was shouted but can form an educated guess, pathetic if there was racial comments of any type and if you look to the left there is a black chap right next to them. All three ain’t kids and look to be long time Chelsea fans and if any sort of racial words can be proved to have been shouted lifetime bans from Chelsea home games aswell as naming and shaming should be the minimal result.

Sick Boy said:

Racism within society has never gone away and is still there. I used to know plenty who’d use words like paki, coon etc. I doubt they’ve suddenly become enlightened all of a sudden either.

Apologies for the language in the post, btw but it has to be pointed out that it is still relatively common, although I like to think they’re becoming an ever smaller minority

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It isn’t relatively common and is significantly improved from a couple of decades ago

I noticed this incident too.

Way over the top

Snarling middle aged blokes giving Sterling absolute dogs abuse right in his ear.

Grow up ffs.

SkyBlueScottie said:

Like it or not this is symptomatic of our times. Now before anyone starts I'm not claiming that all Brexiteers are this or that. However there are some who are seemingly bouyed on, and believe it gives them a platform to revert to unacceptable behaviour towards others. However it does show that the problem never really went away.

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I expect that most Remainers aren't racist, either

Grendel said:

It isn’t relatively common and is significantly improved from a couple of decades ago

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I disagree and still think it’s there under the surface.

Our fans were snarling at the end of yesterday, but that was partly shock at letting in the 2 late goals. Chelsea won that game 2-0, so should all have had happy smiles on their faces? No excuse either way, but even less understandable is the snarling when your side hasn't just been 'robbed!' Racist stuff - no excuse full stop.

Sick Boy said:

I disagree and still think it’s there under the surface.

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I'm a British Asian city fan, been going to city for over 25 years and never once at a city game had any racist abuse hurled in my direction either at home or at the odd away game I go to by city fans, Port Vale fans are sadly a different issue.

Racism definitely still exists in society, but I'm significantly less likely to be abused when walking down the street than my grandparents were when they arrived in this country in the sixties.

Sick Boy said:

They’re just a bunch of cowards who’d probably cry if a player dared to have a go back at them

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Did you ever attend games in the early 80’s?

To put another spin on this,would we even be having this conversation had the player been white and 3 black/Asian men were hurling abuse at him,wouldn't even make the news,racism only works one way and that can be sometimes be abused too,not that i am condoning this behaviour in any shape or form.

sylus said:

To put another spin on this,would we even be having this conversation had the player been white and 3 black/Asian men were hurling abuse at him,wouldn't even make the news,racism only works one way and that can be sometimes be abused too,not that i am condoning this behaviour in any shape or form.

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Well it sounds like you are

sylus said:

To put another spin on this,would we even be having this conversation had the player been white and 3 black/Asian men were hurling abuse at him,wouldn't even make the news,racism only works one way and that can be sometimes be abused too,not that i am condoning this behaviour in any shape or form.

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Prejudice is prejudice, no matter what from it comes in.

That clip in particular is pathetic, middle aged blokes acting like 16 year old kids. To say it hasn’t got better is not correct in my opinion, it’s not gone away clearly but the constant abuse black players received in the 70s and 80s was ridiculous and no comparison to current. I don’t understand anyone personally abusing players, our fans do it to our own players which I just cannot work out. Walsall fans got onto the pitch yesterday and seemed to be abusing Burge but where let back in the stands, would love to know what was said

I remember the Forest Green away game earlier in the year. We were stood next to a group - including a girl - who were hurling racist abuse at both sets of players. We were packed in tight so couldn't move that far away from them. Most around me were tutting and were obviously disgusted but no one said anything, including me. You don't know how these idiots are going to react nowadays. A sad reflection on society.

I've personally never thrown abuse at players like that.

sylus said:

To put another spin on this,would we even be having this conversation had the player been white and 3 black/Asian men were hurling abuse at him,wouldn't even make the news,racism only works one way and that can be sometimes be abused too,not that i am condoning this behaviour in any shape or form.

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Classic racist whataboutery.

sylus said:

To put another spin on this,would we even be having this conversation had the player been white and 3 black/Asian men were hurling abuse at him,wouldn't even make the news.

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Quite a bizarre scenario you paint. A white footballer being abused by 3 non-white fans. I’m curious as to why you even think it’s necessary to construct this fictional account of player abuse unless it is to dilute the accusations of racism from these white fans towards Sterling.

Demographically I suspect the sheer weight of numbers in football grounds suggests that it’s very unlikely to happen that a group on BME supporters could cluster and behave in the way you sugges but if it did, I suspect it would be on the news agenda just like this incident.

There is a wider point leaving aside the racism (I’ve seen plenty of apologists claiming that this bloke is actually called sterling a “manc c*nt” not a “black” one).

Like Otis I just don’t get the desire to abuse humans who happen to move close to us. I’ve said before on here abt an incident during the final game of our Prem relegation season (home vs Bradford) Altho I didn’t know it I was sat next to Lee Carsley’s family. At the end of the game the players went for the least well thought out lap of honour in the history of bad ideas. Carsley stopped by to see his wife and collect his baby child. The abuse he got was frankly unbelievable. I know tempers were raging, the manager had lost the plot, the players had let us down etc etc but i had never seen anything like it.

Unbelievably, as Carsley stood with his wife to collect his son, one of the lads who had been booing (in fairness I didn’t hear him scream that he wished Carsley would die in a fire or of cancer as others had) asked him for his match shirt. Carsley looked astounded but after a quick roll of his eyeballs, he stripped off his shirt and gave to the bloke before making his way back down onto the pitch with his child. The bloke immediately put on the shirt and looked really pleased with himself only to resume the booing of the players on the pitch.

It was the first time in my life that I thought that being a professional football player might not always be the best job in the world.

torchomatic said:

Classic racist whataboutery.

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Who are you calling a racist?. if you start a thread with racism in mind,be prepared to have a conversation which comes from both sides of the coin,not just the one.
Oh, and Otis i personally haven't witnessed any black guys hurling abuse at white players,but saying that,doesn't mean its never happened though does it.I am not racist in any form, and neither have i been ever,but if you want to act childish when someone else maybe see's it from another point of view,well what can i say..

sylus said:

Who are you calling a racist?. if you start a thread with racism in mind,be prepared to have a conversation which comes from both sides of the coin,not just the one.
Oh, and Otis i personally haven't witnessed any black guys hurling abuse at white players,but saying that,doesn't mean its never happened though does it.I am not racist in any form, and neither have i been ever,but if you want to act childish when someone else maybe see's it from another point of view,well what can i say..

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But can’t you see it’s a really curious instinct when presented with this example to say “but if it was three black blokes abusing a white player it wouldn’t even be on the news”?

1) it wasn’t.
2) I suspect it would be news.
3) if you must persist with this confection, can’t we agree they would both be highly regrettable incidents?

The problem with this type of argument is it quickly becomes “fact”. Ah but remember the time 3 black blokes abused a white player and no one said anything. That’s why it looks like “whataboutery” to some.

Even if what they said wasn't racist it's still absolutely wrong to abuse someone like that.
If it was racist then its wrong on two counts

At the game yesterday I was thinking how the demographic of the crowd in no way reflected that of the players on the pitch. While at least a third of the players were non- white, in the part of the Bescot where I was, there were no black or Asian faces. Why is that? There must be a reason why our support and presumably that at other clubs is overwhelmingly white. Do people from ethnic minority groups not feel safe at football or are there other reasons for not going? It is a shame that crowds are not more reflective of British society as that fact alone would help to stop some racist comments if not racist thoughts. It would be seldom I agree with Grendel but overt racism is minimal at games compared to the throwing of bananas, the monkey chants and the use of the N word that was common in the 70s and 80s. However, I also agree with Sick Boy that some racists have simply learnt to keep their comments to themselves but inside their heads they are still the same. There seems far less racism among the young so the eradication of racism seems to be an evolving, positive process.It probability needs people of my generation and older (and a few younger looking at the Chelsea idiots) for the process to move on.

Dazmataz said:

I'm a British Asian city fan, been going to city for over 25 years and never once at a city game had any racist abuse hurled in my direction either at home or at the odd away game I go to by city fans, Port Vale fans are sadly a different issue.

Racism definitely still exists in society, but I'm significantly less likely to be abused when walking down the street than my grandparents were when they arrived in this country in the sixties.

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I was referring to society in general and it being under the surface still.

I was at the Warwick and Leamington supporters forum this week. While Robins in particular (really articulate and thoughtful answers), but also Grimmer and Hyam came across very well, I have to say I disagreed with Grimmer when he was asked how it felt like to be on the end of crowd abuse. He may have been being diplomatic when he said that if you take the praise and adulation when you win, you have to accept the abuse when you lose. I don’t think you do. Some of the abuse thrown at players is disgusting and completely wrong (an example of this being the post about Lee Carsley above or the abuse given to the players at Chesterfield (after a draw!) or Yeovil last season). Aside from the moral factor of one human being treating another so badly, how on earth does screaming filth in the face of one of your players help him to perform better and develop a love of the club or it’s fans so that they will want to run the extra mile or bust a gut to ensure a win?
Unfortunately some football fans do behave like cretins.

sylus said:

Who are you calling a racist?. if you start a thread with racism in mind,be prepared to have a conversation which comes from both sides of the coin,not just the one.
Oh, and Otis i personally haven't witnessed any black guys hurling abuse at white players,but saying that,doesn't mean its never happened though does it.I am not racist in any form, and neither have i been ever,but if you want to act childish when someone else maybe see's it from another point of view,well what can i say..

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You think it's worth mentioning a hyperthetical scenario alongside the very real issue of white supporters abusing black players?
Come on, it was a silly thing to say.

Irish Sky Blue said:

I was at the Warwick and Leamington supporters forum this week. While Robins in particular (really articulate and thoughtful answers), but also Grimmer and Hyam came across very well, I have to say I disagreed with Grimmer when he was asked how it felt like to be on the end of crowd abuse. He may have been being diplomatic when he said that if you take the praise and adulation when you win, you have to accept the abuse when you lose. I don’t think you do. Some of the abuse thrown at players is disgusting and completely wrong (an example of this being the post about Lee Carsley above or the abuse given to the players at Chesterfield (after a draw!) or Yeovil last season). Aside from the moral factor of one human being treating another so badly, how on earth does screaming filth in the face of one of your players help him to perform better and develop a love of the club or it’s fans so that they will want to run the extra mile or bust a gut to ensure a win?
Unfortunately some football fans do behave like cretins.

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I think it depends what it is. Full on abuse isn't on, moans and groans are to be expected with a misplaced pass.

At the Walsall cup game, when any of their players were on the touch line our fans were in groups trying to lean over to abuse them. It's no wonder they cup their ear when they win.

Nick said:

I think it depends what it is. Full on abuse isn't on, moans and groans are to be expected with a misplaced pass.

At the Walsall cup game, when any of their players were on the touch line our fans were in groups trying to lean over to abuse them. It's no wonder they cup their ear when they win.

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I don’t disagree. Everyone moans and groans. The players do at their team mates. The screaming in players faces, the hate filled comments to our players or another team’s is a completely different matter.

Irish Sky Blue said:

I don’t disagree. Everyone moans and groans. The players do at their team mates. The screaming in players faces, the hate filled comments to our players or another team’s is a completely different matter.

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I agree, it is always the people who do that who get upset when they get a bit back. See kilbane getting abuse and then fan outrage when he said something back.

If i was a footballer and had fans literally in my face all game and I scored the winner in additional time. Id probably run through their stand sshhing, cupping my ear and everything.

Sick Boy said:

I was referring to society in general and it being under the surface still.

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I agree, it's still there at every level of society. Sterling gets a ridiculous amount of abuse in the tabloids, which is pretty much racist in tone, and it is without a doubt different to the kind of coverage young white footballers get.