The Face of Football Support

[Glassman]

I realise there is next to nothing that can be done about it so it's probably another rant.

Watch any live game, or even sit amongst the crowd at one and have a closer look at the people nearer the front. The abuse they give the oppo is quite something. I'm not against booing and jeering or even chanting something in the name of 'bants' but when you see 'fans' angrily shouting obscenities; demonstrably making hand gestures and generally hurling hateful abuse at players, it shows a very ugly face of football support.

During the Pompey v Arsenal cup game last night, kids and teenagers could be heard abusing players and whenever the camera went to focus on a corner or throw-in taker, there were home fans behind the player with hateful faces making all kinds of animated gestures.

I'd love for a ref to stop the game and start sending some of these brainless morons out of the stadium, but then like I said to my son last night, if I ever found out he did anything close to that there would be consequences.

Does it all come down to authority/parenting? Is it the referee? Or is football just so tribal?

[AshVX220]

It's tribal, I was at the game last night (Pompey season ticket holder) and when you see what some fans get up to it's ridiculous, but it happens at every club.

Pompey may be worse than others when big teams come to Fortress Fratton, the fans know that any seed of doubt, or any kind of impact they can have the mindset of the bigger players can turn a result.

As Thierry Henry said, Pompey fans are amongst the very best, he loves Fratton Park.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

The irony is that it's massively counter productive. I suspect the average away team footballer being abused at close quarters by home fans becomes even more determined to ram it down their throats with his actions on the pitch.

I quite like the away scorer running past the home fans cupping his ear, although these days he'd probably get booked for inciting the crowd!

I recall once in the Clock End at Highbury. Chelsea fans had been giving hell to Ian Wright thru the whole match, and then he scored and ran in front of us, taunting us. I thought it was quite funny, he deserved his moment of revenge against us, but those around me, who'd been handing out the abuse, suddenly turned into hugely offended snowflakes.

Pathetic.

[ro250]

On BT Sport last night there was the clearest shout of w**ker I've heard on a televised game for ages.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

ro250 said:

On BT Sport last night there was the clearest shout of w**ker I've heard on a televised game for ages.

Somebody must've spotted Michael Owen in the commentary box!

[coldel]

I took my father in law to a pompey game when they were last in the prem against West Ham, he used to go as a kid all the time and in his yonger adult years. Hadn't been to a home match for about 20 years and was crest fallen with the stuff he heard the pompey fans saying - Anton Ferdinand was warming up on the touch line and the stuff the fans were saying about his brother, incest with his mother and various C words tossed around for fun just for starters before it got much worse was definitely one of the worst experiences I have had sitting in a football crowd - I can handle language but the stuff being said was just vile rubbish, it wasn't even bants.

Likelihood is we were just unfortunate to be in a bad spot in the crowd but felt for him as his long term ill health meant it would be the last time he got to go to a game - I tried to get him over to Craven Cottage to watch Fulham Pompey a couple of years later and he cancelled last minute due to a fall, shame as Fulham is a great stadium to watch footy never had any problems there.

[jcremonini]

I don’t mind the use of certain profanities but the c word still annoys me. So much so that, on one occasion where the guy behind me was being a little over generous in its use, I turned around and remonstrated with him. He apologised at first then , when I turned back around to watch the game, he said “it’s football innit mate”.

[ro250]

The official Arsenal photographer posted a photo on his instagram of a bloke and 2 kids, neither could be more than 10, making the coffee bean gesture.

Lovely.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9QyFS5huUc/

[Gary29]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Somebody must've spotted Michael Owen in the commentary box!

[Glassman]

AshVX220 said:

It's tribal, I was at the game last night (Pompey season ticket holder) and when you see what some fans get up to it's ridiculous, but it happens at every club.

Pompey may be worse than others when big teams come to Fortress Fratton, the fans know that any seed of doubt, or any kind of impact they can have the mindset of the bigger players can turn a result.

As Thierry Henry said, Pompey fans are amongst the very best, he loves Fratton Park.

I'm all for loud and raucous support. It's the nasty abuse I don't like. Like you say, every club has them.

[chadders74]

ro250 said:

The official Arsenal photographer posted a photo on his instagram of a bloke and 2 kids, neither could be more than 10, making the coffee bean gesture.

Lovely.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9QyFS5huUc/

Unfortunate when cropped, "Baby Hand Man"...

[48k]

Glassman said:

I realise there is next to nothing that can be done about it so it's probably another rant.

Watch any live game, or even sit amongst the crowd at one and have a closer look at the people nearer the front. The abuse they give the oppo is quite something. I'm not against booing and jeering or even chanting something in the name of 'bants' but when you see 'fans' angrily shouting obscenities; demonstrably making hand gestures and generally hurling hateful abuse at players, it shows a very ugly face of football support.

During the Pompey v Arsenal cup game last night, kids and teenagers could be heard abusing players and whenever the camera went to focus on a corner or throw-in taker, there were home fans behind the player with hateful faces making all kinds of animated gestures.

I'd love for a ref to stop the game and start sending some of these brainless morons out of the stadium, but then like I said to my son last night, if I ever found out he did anything close to that there would be consequences.

Does it all come down to authority/parenting? Is it the referee? Or is football just so tribal?

And yet it's still a million times nicer than it was in the eighties.

[ro250]

chadders74 said:

Unfortunate when cropped, "Baby Hand Man"...

[SS2.]

48k said:

And yet it's still a million times nicer than it was in the eighties.

There's a considerable number of Portsmouth supporters who don't seem to have emerged from there yet.

[C70R]

Football fans don't seem to want to call out this significant minority of their cohort, and I can't imagine why.

Without anyone questioning why they think this behaviour is appropriate (for any circumstances), they continue emboldened and unchecked.

It's clear that organising bodies and clubs don't feel strongly enough about it to address the hundreds of 'fans' who can be clearly seen hurling abuse on TV every weekend.

The result is something that you don't see in any other sport. It's disgusting.
https://twitter.com/United__Live/status/1235756315...

[Europa1]

C70R said:

Football fans don't seem to want to call out this significant minority of their cohort, and I can't imagine why.

Without anyone questioning why they think this behaviour is appropriate (for any circumstances), they continue emboldened and unchecked.

It's clear that organising bodies and clubs don't feel strongly enough about it to address the hundreds of 'fans' who can be clearly seen hurling abuse on TV every weekend.

The result is something that you don't see in any other sport. It's disgusting.
https://twitter.com/United__Live/status/1235756315...

The guy in that clip can't be playing with a full deck, surely - that's just not normal.

[Thankyou4calling]

I don’t see the issue.

It’s football, it stirs the emotions.

I think it’s a shame the way the game has gone I. That it’s sanitised and no longer as edgy and exciting as it used to be to attend a game

[Europa1]

Thankyou4calling said:

I don’t see the issue.

It’s football, it stirs the emotions.

I think it’s a shame the way the game has gone I. That it’s sanitised and no longer as edgy and exciting as it used to be to attend a game

"It's football" excuses that sort of behaviour?

[Pericoloso]

It's not just the away players getting stick ,if the home team are playing badly ,the manager gets a torrent

of abuse from the home fans.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

C70R said:

The result is something that you don't see in any other sport. It's disgusting.
https://twitter.com/United__Live/status/1235756315...

If that was as bad as it got, I wouldn't lose to much sleep over it. Someone on £5m a year who is under performing in his job being told in no uncertain terms by those who are contributing towards his salary.

But I've heard fans wish cancer on the wives and children of players they are unhappy with. When that happens, if the player climbs into the crowd and knocks them senseless, I wouldn't lose any sleep over that either.