On television, the English crowds singing their songs is the EPL’s signature sound. People who attend a game for the first time say it sends a glorious shiver down the spine.
Last month however, some West Ham United fans made a noise that “sent a chill through the stadium”.
The singing that celebrated a team had descended into abuse of the opposition, Tottenham Hotspur. Nothing unusual about that given the tribal nature of the sport’s following, except they crossed a serious line.
Due to its large Jewish following Tottenham has often been a target of anti-Semitic chanting from opposition supporters, with Spurs fans – Jewish and non-Jewish – eventually claiming the title of Yid as their own. However fellow London club Chelsea took it to another awful level with chants like: “Hitler’s gonna gas ‘em again, we can’t stop them, the Yids from Tottenham”.
The aforementioned West Ham fans also made references to Hitler, but what chilled the people at White Hart Lane who heard it was the noise that followed: a hissing sound replicating the cyanide gas doing its work inside the Nazi death chambers.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said that incident highlighted a “lack of understanding or compassion within some sections of the British football world which needs to be addressed”.
Sadly, as The Times pointed out: “This was not ignorance – the fans who hissed knew perfectly well what they were doing and why it was offensive, that is why they did it”.
Most ardent sporting fans have felt guilty at some point for what their passion has made them do. Half way through an a abusive tirade at an opposition player, or umpire/referee you notice a child in front has turned towards you staring at with trepidation.
Did any of the West Ham United fans who hissed regret it immediately?
It’s important to remember that it is a small minority who take tribalism to this ugly extreme. These fans are somewhat estranged from their own clubs. The managers and players are wealthy stars who come from across the globe and many probably feel alien in their own club’s environment. They do their thing on the ground while the fans sing with, to and against each other.
The managers and players, of all people, would realise as they walk around the ground waving, that there are some ugly souls in that sea of adoring faces. West Ham’s own chairman David Gold is Jewish.
In 2002 British comedian and Chelsea fan David Baddiel said: “But I’m not blaming the club, there’s little that it can do. The mass nature of the anti-Semitism, the fact that it exists in songs and chants, is the key to its survival”.
These incidents are more common in football than the other codes. That is likely a result of the sheer number of the sport’s followers and the international nature of the game. Some say that because the game is non contact, the aggressive passsions generated by the contest are played out in the crowd, or on the street.
Just days before the White Hart Lane incident a gang of thugs attacked a group of Spur’s supporters in a Rome bar before a Europa League game against Lazio. It was assumed that the attackers were Lazio supporters but two of them who have been charged with attempted murder are, in fact, Roma fans.
But in a heartening address, the president of the Italian Football Federation Giancarlo Abete,apologised on behalf of the “whole Italian football family”, adding: “Once again unfortunately, football gave a handful of delinquents the excuse to take out their racist and antisemitic anger.” “I beg you to apologise on our behalf to all Tottenham fans and to those families directly
involved,”.
The songs of English football are clever, powerful and theatrical. At some stage against Tottenham the West Ham fans were probably singing: “I’m forever blowing bubbles/ Pretty bubbles in the air/ They fly so high, they reach the sky”. But then came the hissing. It was superbly theatrical as it affected all who heard it.
But it was a disgrace.
c
Guest
Fuss mate I am as male as they come and agree with you again with the statement. “ Not that there is anything wrong with that.” My luv is directed to your wonderful and insightful comments particularly those that highlight the problem that the locals have with our game and your continual corrections of their myopic views. We are football
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Appreciate the Christmas Greetings, c ... wish you the same. Thanks for all the love messages, too. Although, I do hope you are female ... of course, not that there's anything wrong with a male expressing love for another male!
c
Guest
i luv u fuss :) merry xmas
Scott Mchappy
Guest
West Ham - Andrew why did you have to mention my most loved sports team
pete4
Guest
Haze - in his last article on the Football tab the author admitted he'd never even attended a soccer game in his life and held prejudices against the game. What does the behavior of West Ham fans over in England have to do with Australia anyway? Absolutely nothing.
Haze
Guest
One things for sure; this article definitely shows how whiny and insufferable Soccer fans are.
Kasey
Guest
By contrast it is cricket that should be worried by the alatrming drop off in its BBL ratings now that the new-car smell is fading from T20 cricket. Just to compare these were the TV ratings for the 2012 Big Bash first weekend last year: Fri 16 Dec – Sydney Sixers v Brisbane Heat - 342,000 Sat 17 Dec – Melbourne Stars v Sydney Thunder - 488,000 Sun 18 Dec – Adelaide Strikers v Melbourne Renegades - 349,000 Sun 18 Dec – Perth Scorchers v Hobart Hurricanes - 273,000 This year: 344,000, 237,000, 225,000 and 206,000 so may be seeing some of the novelty wearing off and having less impact on A-league ratings compared to last year (though still great rating for PayTV). from justafan on 442Oz forums
OMG
Guest
Well! I find the torrent of abuse, mainly based on a mis-reading of this article, to be quite unbelieveable. Heaven forbid that someone who doesn't particularly follow soccer should dare to have an opinion. This act in question - the hissing - by any standards, is abhorrent. Surely you all agree with that premise?? It didn't read AT ALL like an attack on soccer - you guys have embarrassed yourselves by your knee-jerk and unintelligent reactions.
clipper
Guest
I didn't say they were racists if they didn't know what they were doing, I was highlighting how low the education standards have fallen if this were the case - which is a worry for chav-like areas in London.
Damiano
Guest
It is possible that the Spurs fans were beaten up because they were English, but much more probable, they were beaten up for being supporters of a "Jewish" club. Lazio are known for having racist ultras (I do not mean to offend Lazio fans, most of whom are decent people). There is a strong undercurrent of anti-semetic thought and behaviour in Italy, which I have observed even in the last couple of years. Spurs are known by reputation as a jewish club. I doubt, in the heat of the moment, any of these thugs checked to see if they were actually jews. I doubt this had anything to do with what team the thugs supported, as it seems Lazio & Roma fans were together at the time they beat the Spurs fans. Obviously all of this is just my opinion, I don't actually know the motivation of these idiots.
Matt F
Roar Guru
I didn't see any major inference to it's footballs fault in the article. If anything you probably infered something that wasn't there. If an article clearly does offer some serious unwarranted criticism then feel free to have a go at it but treat every article on it's merit. I didn't read this article as an unfair attack on the sport (apart from possibly the non-contact line.) There are plenty of articles that aim to discuss legitimate issues in the game and ways it can be improved yet the default reponse seems to be to attack the author rather than debate the actual point. IJust because someone criticises an aspect of them game it doesn't mean that they're trying to destroy it. Constructive criticism is actually quite a good thing As for the whole “I thought you were a good bloke and now you tell me you follow that ****insert SW&P referenced jibe*** sport!” I think you'll find that occurs among all sports. Some of the threads on this very site about AFL or NRL crowds inevitably turn into a slanging match.
Kasey
Guest
Simple. They aren't. Last season HAL ratings improved and this season they have once again improved.Next year will be even better with SBS FTA TV involved. Now is a great time to be a football fan in Australia.
Kasey
Guest
Iangou: IMO Its not a chip on the shoulder, its a defense mechanism from decades of belittling and baseless attacks by so-called journalists with obvious anti-football agendas. Nobody who loves anything cabn stand idly by and watch it be attacked without responding. The trick for the modern football fan is to recognise what is an attack, what is a harmless jibe in an attempt at humour and what is a discussion starter about an issue that needs to be discussed and resolved. This piece could be described as the latter, but of course some of the responses here are attacks, some anti-football folk just can't help themselves I guess:(
Redb
Roar Guru
why are A League tv ratings are going backwards...
Kasey
Guest
Which is why I wrote " Inferred" ...did you fail to read that bit? One thing that cannot be argued is that football fans in Australia have had to develop(out of necessity for self protection) a seige-mentality against the constant stream of attacks, both real and perceived against football. I find myself constantly battling the small digs and slights against the game on a daily basis...At work just this morning: "Oh I see your lads won the riot on Friday Night, you must be proud" ..etc and last Friday I got "I thought you were a good bloke and now you tell me you follow that ****insert SW&P referenced jibe*** sport!" Sure it could all be to get a rise out of me, but it is apparent to me that there is an underlying lack of respect for football in the Australian sports culture. Perhaps once the HAL has been around longer than is current 7.5 years this might change, but all it takes is a riot in some part of the globe in the same district as a football game and we're back to square one:(
Matt F
Roar Guru
Where exactly did this article claim that the sport shouldn't exist? I don't think I've read that in any article. Where did it claim that football was "the sole source of eveil?" Why are you mentioning Australian society? The article was about a match in England and didn't mention Australia
Kasey
Guest
Football is the ONLY sport in Australia where any anti-social/dispicable behavior anywhere on the planet even remotely connected to football is used as an argument AGAINST the very existance of that sport. God forbid somebody hold up a bank wearing a Real Madrid shirt! I find racism as appalling as the next even-minded person, what I am getting rather sick of is the constant refrain or inference of "it's footballs fault." Is it Music's fault that that blind Aboriginal artist couldn't get a taxi a few weeks back? Is it Rugby League's fault that a bunch of Canterbury fans are violent hooligans who riot after losing a GF? Until writers are skilled enough to understand and convey these nuances in pieces they write; they will continue to get attacked by football fans who are sick of having the sport they love made out to be the sole source of evil and dispicable behavior in the wider Australian Society
Matt F
Roar Guru
Yep. While I do think that Football has had a pretty rough treatment by the media over the years the paranoia that some fans have seems to have gotten to the stage that any article that isn't 100% positive is seen as some attempt at trolling by a football-hater and legitimate points that might be raised are completely ignored. No sport is perfect and there's nothing wrong with constructive criticism and haveing a genuine discussion about various issues
langou
Roar Guru
Unfortunately so many football fans in this country (and on this forum) have a huge chip on their shoulder. It is just a strange thought process 'so and so' writes a negative article about one aspect of the game. Rather than respond with why you agree or disagree with what was said, you go into their profile, check what sports they have listed as their favourites, check what previous articles they have written and if Soccer is not their favourite sport, accuse them of being on a crusade against the sport. Its lucky those running the sport don't have similar views or the game in this country would be doomed.
qwerty
Guest
I would agree.The same responses every time anything is written about the negatives of football.I wonder what excuses will be found for the ugly scenes at the latest Manchester derby?And I'm a football fan, by the way.