Why FA and police must come down hard on disgusting chants and abuse.

[Aannddyy]

Eh? That's like calling someone a complete ******* and expecting them not to care because it isn't true. Sure, logically it'd work like that, but in reality there is no way calling someone a paedophile is okay if he/she isn't.

No matter if it isn't the worst chant around, it is still disrespectful, rude, lying and a stain on football. I don't think it offends the majority of people listening, but the point is we're trying to clean up football and make it respectful and friendly, not a swearing, lying free for all.

I was just using the logic given to me by whoever I quoted, just pointing out that this is totally different to any form of discrimination. In fact I wouldn't even call it discrimination, fans from certain clubs have obviously caught on that this particular chant annoys Arsenal fans and Wenger, so that's an even bigger incentive to carry on singing it.

I'm sure this isn't very nice for him, but when you consider how far England has come with hooliganism, if the worst thing a journalist can write about is that you can't really complain.

 

[Grenwald]

I think ANY fans who makes chants about diasters, or brings flags, etc to delibratly antaganise other fans is a disgrace. I'll admit to joining in with songs about Munich when I was younger (13/14) but now Ive grown up more, I dont see it as big or clever, but rather it disgusts me.
Dave Jones at Cardiff also has the 'with a packet of sweets...' sang at him, after charges were bought against him, then dropped, after the case fell to pieces when the child in questions family admitted to trying to make money out of compensation. Yet fans still sing this week in week out too him.
But what of cases such as Marlon King, where he was found guilty? Does it become acceptable then to chant at him? The man commited a crime, yes. He has now served time for it, done his punishment as seen fit by the courts, but still has abuse hurled at him. Is this any different to unfounded chants such as those aimed at Wenger?

 

[Joss]

I was just using the logic given to me by whoever I quoted, just pointing out that this is totally different to any form of discrimination. In fact I wouldn't even call it discrimination, fans from certain clubs have obviously caught on that this particular chant annoys Arsenal fans and Wenger, so that's an even bigger incentive to carry on singing it.

I'm sure this isn't very nice for him, but when you consider how far England has come with hooliganism, if the worst thing a journalist can write about is that you can't really complain.

I admit that It was an exaggeration to suggest that it's just as bad as the other chants - but I still stand by the points echoed by GC.

---------- Post added at 03:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:38 PM ----------

I think ANY fans who makes chants about diasters, or brings flags, etc to delibratly antaganise other fans is a disgrace. I'll admit to joining in with songs about Munich when I was younger (13/14) but now Ive grown up more, I dont see it as big or clever, but rather it disgusts me.
Dave Jones at Cardiff also has the 'with a packet of sweets...' sang at him, after charges were bought against him, then dropped, after the case fell to pieces when the child in questions family admitted to trying to make money out of compensation. Yet fans still sing this week in week out too him.
But what of cases such as Marlon King, where he was found guilty? Does it become acceptable then to chant at him? The man commited a crime, yes. He has now served time for it, done his punishment as seen fit by the courts, but still has abuse hurled at him. Is this any different to unfounded chants such as those aimed at Wenger?

Good point. I don't think it is, really - he's done his time and what he did was clearly wrong but he has a criminal record to remind him of his stupidity without fans hurling offensive abuse at him.

 

[Giggles]

There's a line with these chants- When Argyle played Exeter last November & December, we give the Exeter Fans some abuse, but it was mainly pantomine stuff. It wasn't racist, nor over the line. Its what you would expect from a derby.

So, the Exeter fans sung stuff about BWP's Mum [That wasn't anything massive bad, just a play on words with our chant about he's better than Shaun] but it didn't offend me or anyone at the ground- It just inspired the team and BWP to score 2. And in football, its all about a reaction from that chanting.

At the end of the day, Racism & Homophobic Chanting is wrong- But I don't think the 'banter' spread across a stadium in a local derby is anything too get all worried about. Ever keeper that comes to Home Park will get constant abuse, but usually they have a laugh and a giggle about it- Scott Flinders is now apparently an Argyle fan after his game against us.

So, it wasn't Racism or Homophobia- Just banter, in a game where passions, emotions and tempers will be high. If we can't deal with that, I'm afraid Cricket might be a better option.

 

[Grenwald]

There's a line with these chants- When Argyle played Exeter last November & December, we give the Exeter Fans some abuse, but it was mainly pantomine stuff. It wasn't racist, nor over the line. Its what you would expect from a derby.

So, the Exeter fans sung stuff about BWP's Mum [That wasn't anything massive bad, just a play on words with our chant about he's better than Shaun] but it didn't offend me or anyone at the ground- It just inspired the team and BWP to score 2. And in football, its all about a reaction from that chanting.

At the end of the day, Racism & Homophobic Chanting is wrong- But I don't think the 'banter' spread across a stadium in a local derby is anything too get all worried about. Ever keeper that comes to Home Park will get constant abuse, but usually they have a laugh and a giggle about it- Scott Flinders is now apparently an Argyle fan after his game against us.

So, it wasn't Racism or Homophobia- Just banter, in a game where passions, emotions and tempers will be high. If we can't deal with that, I'm afraid Cricket might be a better option.

Banter is acceptable! Its when you cross the line to plain insults. I will happily have a laugh and a joke with rival fans, but offensiveness ceases to be banter! Ya mum jokes at BWP were fine, skin colour jokes wouldnt of been!

 

[CJACKO11]

I dont really know what to make of this as i have 2 views. Although the chants are not nice i feel as if they should be able to handle it and rise above it. If i was Wenger getting that sort of abuse i would just play along with it and give gestures back to the fans. Although these people earn stupid ammounts of money that dosent give people the right to slate them but in this day and age it will happen. On the topic of rasicm im ashamed to admit i have been racist in the past to a bouncer who kicked me out of a club for literally no reason and i felt awful after it i really did.

Some of my so called mates are members of the BNP and i slate them for that, one of my Man Utd supporting mates says how can i (me) support a team with so many blacks playing for them. And i just say if you are so against them then why do you support Man Utd because you will go along way to find a football club without a black player in the side now days.

I will like to add i am 100% against rasicm and hope knowone thinks different of me. I think rasicm needs to be kicked out the game but personal slates could be torrarated.

My uncle who is a Pompey supporter likes to sing a song about Matthew Harding (which i believe Man Utd fans know of) which is sickening but it happens and it will always happen.​

 

[fuelledbypassion]

I don't know how you can argue that a chant about Wenger being a paedophile is disgusting and sickening, and then say it's alright to joke about BWP's mum. Surely that is offensive to her? Just because she may or may not be there, it's still the same thing.

There are clearly lines that shouldn't be crossed. Anything surrounding death and tragedy, or racism and discrimination should rightly be no go areas and severley punished. I don't think the Wenger chants fall into those categories, football has changed a lot over the years but if that was the worst chant around then I'd certainly not complain. Just man up and rise above it, ignore it and it will soon grow old

 

[Sid]

There's a line with these chants- When Argyle played Exeter last November & December, we give the Exeter Fans some abuse, but it was mainly pantomine stuff. It wasn't racist, nor over the line. Its what you would expect from a derby.

So, the Exeter fans sung stuff about BWP's Mum [That wasn't anything massive bad, just a play on words with our chant about he's better than Shaun] but it didn't offend me or anyone at the ground- It just inspired the team and BWP to score 2. And in football, its all about a reaction from that chanting.

At the end of the day, Racism & Homophobic Chanting is wrong- But I don't think the 'banter' spread across a stadium in a local derby is anything too get all worried about. Ever keeper that comes to Home Park will get constant abuse, but usually they have a laugh and a giggle about it- Scott Flinders is now apparently an Argyle fan after his game against us.

So, it wasn't Racism or Homophobia- Just banter, in a game where passions, emotions and tempers will be high. If we can't deal with that, I'm afraid Cricket might be a better option.

Read about Scott Flinders in fourfourtwo, sounded hilarious

 

[Joss]

I dont really know what to make of this as i have 2 views. Although the chants are not nice i feel as if they should be able to handle it and rise above it. If i was Wenger getting that sort of abuse i would just play along with it and give gestures back to the fans. Although these people earn stupid ammounts of money that dosent give people the right to slate them but in this day and age it will happen. On the topic of rasicm im ashamed to admit i have been racist in the past to a bouncer who kicked me out of a club for literally no reason and i felt awful after it i really did.

Some of my so called mates are members of the BNP and i slate them for that, one of my Man Utd supporting mates says how can i (me) support a team with so many blacks playing for them. And i just say if you are so against them then why do you support Man Utd because you will go along way to find a football club without a black player in the side now days.

I will like to add i am 100% against rasicm and hope knowone thinks different of me. I think rasicm needs to be kicked out the game but personal slates could be torrarated.

My uncle who is a Pompey supporter likes to sing a song about Matthew Harding (which i believe Man Utd fans know of) which is sickening but it happens and it will always happen.

Would it be rude to say that doesn't surprise me a great deal? (Bold bit)

I don't know how you can argue that a chant about Wenger being a paedophile is disgusting and sickening, and then say it's alright to joke about BWP's mum. Surely that is offensive to her? Just because she may or may not be there, it's still the same thing.

There are clearly lines that shouldn't be crossed. Anything surrounding death and tragedy, or racism and discrimination should rightly be no go areas and severley punished. I don't think the Wenger chants fall into those categories, football has changed a lot over the years but if that was the worst chant around then I'd certainly not complain. Just man up and rise above it, ignore it and it will soon grow old

I'm not sure how you can just "rise above it" - it's not like Wenger has reacted and this isn't the playground. If 75,000 people in a stadium are calling you a paedophile to the extent that you have to publicly come out and deny serious allegations, would you actually just accept it as a joke and move on?

Really?

Obviously I went overboard by comparing it to racism but it's still incredibly offensive to him, clearly. I guess if you're the ones shouting and not on the receiving end it's easy to say "Just rise above it", or "It's just a joke, don't be so serious" - I'd like to see how you'd react...

No one's suggesting that paedophilia chants are the worst sin to ever grace the beautiful game, but it's still something that needs looking at.

BTW - CJACKO; that was more of a response to FBP, but you made the same basic points so I quoted you both..

 

[matyfatymole]

It makes me sick to here people singing about tradgerdys like the air disaster and the hilsborough disaster. For example my dad was at Hilsborough disaster that day and he said it was terrible and deeply sadening he still is very emotional when it comes up to the anniversery and it shows videos of what he saw on that terrible day. People need to think what if they lost a relative or friend at something like that and think why they are chanting something like this? Is there any point I'm all for people chanting to try and get their teams morale up but why would you chant words about the death of people. You could also say about racial abuse and how people should have equal rights yet people are still chanting about their colour of their skin. Why? I still don't understand why fans sing songs about the past this can carry on when at my home team Forest you can hear whenever an ex mining community place Forest chanting about they will get no more work. Why? It's in the past and I'm sure they have new jobs now! This comes down to there is no point about this and it should be counted as a form of bullying if it carries on and on. The f.a. need to take a real look at some of these fans and hand and harsher punishments to stop this. Furthermore people need to take a real look at themselves if they are chanting about disasters and ask why they are doing it and is there any point? It won't agrivate anyone it'll just sadden people.

 

[CJACKO11]

Would it be rude to say that doesn't surprise me a great deal? (Bold bit)



I'm not sure how you can just "rise above it" - it's not like Wenger has reacted and this isn't the playground. If 75,000 people in a stadium are calling you a paedophile to the extent that you have to publicly come out and deny serious allegations, would you actually just accept it as a joke and move on?

Really?

Obviously I went overboard by comparing it to racism but it's still incredibly offensive to him, clearly. I guess if you're the ones shouting and not on the receiving end it's easy to say "Just rise above it", or "It's just a joke, don't be so serious" - I'd like to see how you'd react...

No one's suggesting that paedophilia chants are the worst sin to ever grace the beautiful game, but it's still something that needs looking at.

BTW - CJACKO; that was more of a response to FBP, but you made the same basic points so I quoted you both..

It wouldnt be rude but i want to know why you think that lol.

 

[fuelledbypassion]

The fact that attention has been drawn to it will surely only increase it though? Fans will continue to chant knowing that it gets to the recipient, just like the mind games that some managers play. I've never chanted anything offensive, I just find it pathetic to do so, but I'm the type of person that would use offensive chants to help spur me on and improve my game. That is my interpretation of rising above it

 

[JDY]

Don't really see how you can complain about these chants when some of your own fans abuse Adebayor calling his mum a *****?

 

[Deleted member 79730]

Massive hypocrite here Joss, you have said the adebayor chants (about him not going on buses anymore and his mum being a *****) before. really hypocritical. But i agree it needs to stop.

 

[Ride The Walrus]

Well, nothing can really be done about it. What are they going to do? imprison/fine/ban 30,000 people in a stadium? Of course it shouldn't happen.

 

[Joss]

Don't really see how you can complain about these chants when some of your own fans abuse Adebayor calling his mum a *****?

Arsenal fans don't tend to call his mother a *****.. The washing elephants thing I've not heard any Arsenal fans sing and I certainly don't. They may sing: "We have Arshavin, f*** Adebayor", though.

Massive hypocrite here Joss, you have said the adebayor chants (about him not going on buses anymore and his mum being a *****) before. really hypocritical. But i agree it needs to stop.

Personally? I really don't think I've ever said [certainly not in an any way serious way or anything that could be interpreted as serious] anything about Adebayor's mum. I think I may have posted the vile joke about the shooting but a) Haven't repeated it so it's not really like I was using it to offend or get to anyone and b) I've grown up since I (may have) posted that.

I'd be pretty embarrassed to hear my own fans singing something about disasters etc.

Also - how the **** am *I* being hypocritical for posting an article, written by SOMEONE ELSE about abuse in general. Yes, the focal point is about the Wenger chants but I'm not playing a blame-game here... I've tried to avoid any specific targeting of saying "Man U fans sing this" or "Your fans sing that, but mine are amazing" so I'm not sure why you're making it into some sort of rivalry of who's worse.

Abuse like this should be stopped altogether - be that at Wembley, the Emirates or Barnet's home ground.

 

[sunilvk7]

Last season Arsenal fans did sing about Ade and when he scored he ran the entire length of the pitch and celebrated infront of Arsenal fans.

 

[Joss]

Last season Arsenal fans did sing about Ade and when he scored he ran the entire length of the pitch and celebrated infront of Arsenal fans.

Well then that's not acceptable. I wasn't at the match and don't remember what/if they sung but please - let's not make this about who sung what when. It's about general examples.

Some fans of EVERY club can be sick, let's not make the mistake of suggesting otherwise.

 

[ajt09]

let's not make this about who sung what when. It's about general examples.

No matter what club, no matter what league, no matter what country. Your always going to get a minority (which is still too much) who insist, on being complete dicks, and obviously not caring about others, and dragging their clubs names through the mud. And that club will get painted with that brush which is so full of tar. Sadly they'll always be there, no matter where you go.

 

[Ben]

We're not directly affected and as cruel as it may sound, neither are Liverpool fans

How so? I know a few people who had relations who died at Hillsborough, they're directly offended no?