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Sport can be responsible for some of the greatest moments of joy in a person’s life and conversely can bring absolute despair when a poor result occurs.
Sporting teams will have a supporter base made up of all kinds of different people and personalities, and the reaction to a good result or bad will be different for everyone. It is often dependent on the level of interest and emotional attachment a fan has to their club.
For some people, the sporting team they support is their life. People buy memberships, attend matches, pay for merchandise and their mood can be directly dictated to by the results of their team.
For many fans win or lose and life goes on, a sporting result will not have an adverse effect besides disappointment on match day. For some, however, letting the players and manager know their disappointment after a poor performance is considered fair game, and often in the form of abuse.
When you have a vested interest in a team then you can be taken on an emotional roller coaster. No one can realistically expect the team they support to never lose a game, but a certain level of effort and level of performance is something that is generally expected.
As an Adelaide United supporter I still remember the pride and joy as I watched the Reds qualify for their first grand final appearance in 2007. A week later I sat at Etihad Stadium and watched Melbourne Victory proceed to demolish Adelaide United 6-0 in a grand final that will not be seen again. It sometimes only takes one game to completely change the emotional state of a supporter.
That day at Etihad I sat among a large group of Adelaide United fans and you could see the emotions of fans change throughout the day after starting with initial confidence, hope, pride and excitement. Ninety minutes later those feelings were replaced with disappointment, sadness, embarrassment and for many people anger.
It is easy to understand negative emotions, people have not only spent large sums of money to support their team in many cases, but also given up time.
Many people take time off work to travel and the money spent supporting a team can be a large portion of their income. When fans do not feel they are getting 100 per cent effort, abuse towards the team can often be the inevitable conclusion.
Last month the situation got too much for some of those fans who support Aston Villa after an FA Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers. Not only was captain Micah Richards confronted on the sidelines, the players were heckled and verbally abused as they boarded the team bus from the ground.
Most people would agree any type of physical violence is unacceptable, as is invading the players’ personal space. A lot of verbal abuse is not tolerated, especially slurs relating to sexuality, religious orientation, race and many people would feel insults to family should be off-limits.
But is a bit of raving and ranting at players considered fair game if fans feel aggrieved? In the case of Aston Villa they have certainly done themselves no favours after being demolished 6-0 by Liverpool in their last league game.
Immediately after the match defender Joleon Lescott tweeted a photo of his expensive car, which he later claimed was tweeted by accident. Lescott did later apologise for the performance but the damage was done.
When fans see a team underperforming they do not need to be reminded of the wages some of these players enjoy. Social media has given fans not only another platform to voice their opinions, but also direct interaction with the players.
While players in a team performing well may enjoy some positive interaction and pats on the back, it also means when things are not going well the negative and often derogatory comments will flood in.
It may be impossible to come to a consensus on what is acceptable criticism from fans. Many fans will not only have opinions about the team performance, but also issues such as boardroom management, tactics and team selection.
For those clubs that are struggling at the foot of the table, the abuse and criticism will certainly be something they will have to deal with between now and the end of the season.
If Villa continue putting in performances like they did against Liverpool then the previous abuse might just be a sign of things to come. Fortunately for Lescott his new car should allow him a quick getaway if required.
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