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.
Bfc
Guest
Nah...am often angered by the club's management but do not boo the players who are "having a go"...if you "have a go" but are vanquished, then so be it as not every team wins. If a team is seen to be 'tanking'...then I understand if paying fans vent their anger. Booing of Newcastle United etc is perhaps aimed at their owners who have policies that continue to frustrate fans, and Lescott was silly to emphasize how much he is earning while the team underwhelms. And I agree with many...I am good enough to pay to watch...while the players are good enough to get paid to play. BTW...a disclaimer: I am a supporter of the QLD Reds rugby team...and I don't even boo them despite some appalling performances.
Justin Mahon
Guest
At Melbourne Victory we have a very long, well established and regularly practiced policy of giving the team an absolute boooing at the end f a match. It seems to be reserved for those fpgames where the team has performed poorly, particularly where that performance is characterised by a lack of aggressive play. I've seen it too many times. It's a clear pattern and at some level it is part of what we believe we should do f we take this enterprise of football seriously. I also notice the players and club always acknowledge it and never complain (at least publicly). It's now ensconced in the culture in my opinion and I'm comfortable with it now after so many years.
Chris
Guest
Players are never bood for not being good enough, players are bood for not trying hard enough. Everyone is ok with a loser who tried. The buck stops with the players, if they try hard then they will not get attacked by any fans regardless of results.
Chris
Guest
The problem with that is that how do you define civil? 'so and so is a wanka' is a brilliant chant, the barmy army drawing attention to the bowling direction to the left and the right of mitchell johnson and how its shite is another wonderfully fun chant, even the 'ozzie ozzie ozzie' which i hate because in my opinion it makes us sound like bogans is a chant that many australians adore and as such i think it deserves it place. I think behaving in a civil and acceptable manner is something one does in church but at a sporting event the atmosphere is so much better if we are hurling, for the most part, witty attacks at the opposition team and its fans. Obviously hate speech is not on but apart from that have at it.
Chris
Guest
There are people who actually think we shouldn't be able to abuse our team? I find that bollocks. Supporting a team is like having siblings in a way, you are allowed to call them rubbish but if anyone else does, who isnt related, they are on your ass kicking list. If you are a Villla fan after that game you are allowed to call Villa rubbish to everyone you want, but if you are also a proper fan you still know that Villa are still the best club in the world and if not for some questionable referring decisions in games a,b and c then you would be top of the league, probably unbeaten and about to win the treble for the next 5 years.
John
Guest
I am sure the Man U supporters will have some abuse ready for the team when they get back from their Europa game!
Arnold Krewanty
Guest
I reckon last season the Jets were booed off the ground at h/t & f/t at least 1/2 dozen times. It was a very low ebb.
Bob Brown
Roar Guru
If you only support your team when they are winning you are not a true sports fan. You are a casual observer. My EPL team won the Title last year and this season are battling relegation. I am not going to stop supporting them and start following Leicester. You have a right to protest anything you like about football or your football team, including playing badly or snorting too much coke for their own good. Its a democracy and you pay to see them play at their best. The criticism should motivate them to do better.
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Cheers for the reply, great to see another kid from round my way turning out for such a massive club like Villa even if they are going through such a bad spell. In the dog eat dog environment of English football for a young guy from Perth to go over captain the under 21's and get in and around the first team at 20 is a massive achievement in itself, hope his body doesn't let him down like Herd and becomes a permanent fixture in the Villa starting 11 soon.
Mark
Guest
Leeds are still down there. Must be over 10 years now that they've been out of the top flight. Went down to League 1 while they were at it too. Boro are another team that had a good run in the top flight, finished top half for a few years, made a European Cup final, but went down and have been down for quite a while now. It is pure folly for a club to think they will bounce straight back up.
Carl
Roar Rookie
I thank you, it is indeed hard. Something that makes it even harder though is the attitude of some of the hierarchy that seem to think we'll breeze back into the top flight if we don't pull the greatest of great escapes this season. They don't get how hard it is to get out of the Championship these days and that Villa could be stuck down there for a long time if they don't get to work rectifying what has gone wrong with the club in the last few years.
Carl
Roar Rookie
From what I've seen he looks like he has more potential than Herd who was never more than just a workhorse player really (that isn't a knock on him, you need those kind of players in your team too). I think he could really flourish under a manager like Remi Garde as he seems to have a really good attitude and is willing to work for the team, he probably won't be a star (how many defenders are really?) but could form the linchpin of a pretty solid defence in a few years time.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
northerner
Guest
Generally, I agree with what you're saying but I would make one exception: I was at an NHL game years ago, a good tight game and, as hockey is, very physical, but then one guy high-sticked another deliberately and damn near took his head off. You bet I booed that player. Really dirty play deserves to be booed.
Kaks
Roar Guru
You have my Sympathy Carl, I can only imagine how hard it is to see your great club include so many lazy players. As you said, if you go down you'd at least like to go down fighting.
Brick Tamland of the pants party
Guest
Carl have you seen much of Jordan Lyden and if so what's your opinion, from what i've read the manager certainly rates him and could be getting much more game time in the Championship if Villa go down. Seems like Chris Herd mk2, now there's a guy who doesn't mind a scrap just ask the bouncers around Birmingham!
Carl
Roar Rookie
"how would you feel if you were a life long Villa fan who was watching a bunch of money grabbing players with zero desire putting in zero effort on the pitch? And then to have to read tweets from their players after the match a la Joleon Lescott?" (Or Jack Grealish going out and partying after the Everton loss earlier in the season) A: Sick to the very pit of my stomach. As I said above, the least to ask is to go down fighting, show some pride in that shirt they are wearing.
Carl
Roar Rookie
You're kinda both right. Villa have been in a downward spiral for a few years due to some terrible decisions and practices from the hierarchy, mainly down to Randy Lerner's falling out of love with football and subsequent running of AVFC as just another of his businesses. Its a very sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in currently and after the Liverpool result I will be tuning in to the Stoke game with some trepidation. At the end of the day the players that are selected need to perform. Being relegated is not a good situation of course but if we are going to go down the least we ask is that the players go down fighting, we saw none of that against Liverpool despite the decent run we were on prior supposedly giving them some confidence to take the game to the opposition.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Supporters are also paying customers and as such have the right to express their disapproval if they feel shafted. players who disrespect their jersey and the club institution deserve to be reminded they are here to serve the club.
SM
Guest
Disagree. While the players deserve some stick, the player recruitment has been a joke for a long time at that club. You can't say this hasn't been coming. The majority of the anger should be directed at the board for letting the club get to this state.