Foul Play

Hello, dear readers!

Warning: Buckle up, Rupert. This might be a heavy one.

You know that feeling that you’ve said something, or in my case typed something, just a little too soon? That feeling that in some way, because of that, you’ve jinxed it. That some petty and vengeful god has perhaps seen your hopes and dreams spelled out so clearly, turned to his minions and said ‘right, hold my coat, this’ll be a good one’?

Yeah, that’s me right now.

I’m sure that at least some of you, my dearest readers, will already know to what I allude. Even if you’ve been holidaying in the Outer-Hebrides for the last week, cut off from all human contact and without even half a bar of internet signal, you must. There’s simply no getting away from it. Everybody seems to know the score.

Gonna Blow It Away
I am, of course talking about football, and England careering out of Euro 2020 at the last hurdle And yes, we have seen it all before, albeit not in the final of a major competition (the only other time we’ve reached such a stage we won it, despite what some malcontents may say, and yes I am looking at you, Mr. Taylor).

But still, whether it be the final, the semis, or even the quarter final, that same empty sense of disappointment lingers. The same haunting feeling of a golden opportunity scorned. It left this footy fan feeling like a deflated balloon, as the expectation, excitement, hopes, and dreams which I’d sworn not to entertain this time escaped from me like so much saliva flecked breath.

And then, of course, it got so much worse.

The Stupidity Of Crowds
It’s no secret that football and racism have oft seemed to make far too comfortable bedfellows. I’m old enough to remember the gory years of the eighties and the spectacle of bare-chested ‘fans’ of various clubs making monkey noises whenever a player of colour got hold of the ball, old enough to remember bananas being pelted at John Barnes and Viv Anderson (although, to be fair, probably too young to understand a lot of it).

Now, that particular behaviour does (thankfully) seem to be a thing of the past, and I would certainly hope that any repetitions of such public racism would be duly punished by that ‘fan’ being banned from the ground for life, preferably, from all grounds. It simply has no place in either the game or in our culture. None. Sadly, while such horrendous actions may be disappearing from our grounds, they seem to have found another arena in which to display themselves. I am, of course, talking about social media.

Manky Monday
It was Monday morning that I awoke, bleary-eyed and dry of mouth, to try and stomach some breakfast, rehydrate, and work past my lingering despair. Having accomplished at least some of this, I turned my attention to social media, curious to see if others shared my opinions of the game (decent first half, too passive in the second. Once the pace and thrust of the attack had disappeared, it was too hard and we were too slow to get it back, Southgate should probably have made his substitutions in the first half of extra-time, if not before). This was when I became aware of the torrent of abuse suffered by the three players whose penalties did not find the back of the net.

For those who don’t know, these players were Marcus Rashford (Hit the post), Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka. All three are on the young side to be given such responsibility. All three had been playing in positions either side of the main striker, but also, all three happen to be black. Let’s all guess which attribute the abusers chose to highlight.

Nothing New
A lot of this was accomplished through Emojis. With monkeys and bananas featuring heavily (I guess some things never change), but some comments were even more blatant. One ‘fan’ even chose to hand in his resignation by using the N-word in a tweet on his company-linked account. Genius.

So, yeah. Here we are again. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess. At the risk of getting political (sorry, mum), I don’t think the ever-shrinking post-Brexit world we find ourselves in, and the nationalist sentiments that seem to accompany it, has helped things along. I don’t think the tendency to blame our woes on people who are simply different from ourselves, either culturally, economically, or geographically is useful, either. I’m also not entirely sure that the comments of Priti Patel, regarding the booing of players taking the knee added anything positive to the conversation. The gesture may have become linked To Black Lives Matter (the political movement), but it pre-dates them by a long time (Martin Luther King took the knee in 1965, to show solidarity to protestors) and the players publicly stated they were taking to knee to highlight social injustice and racism and nothing else.

Those booing their own team minutes before one of the biggest matches of their careers should perhaps bear that in mind and those in power should most definitely consider if their words could be seen as condoning or encouraging any form of prejudice, even as a by-product. Such people do, after all, have a loud voice and the perceived authority to back it up.

I know this is a bit on the ranty side, and it does wander away from my usual content a little. I'm not black, but I guess, as a disabled man. A man who has always belonged to the ‘other’ I can see a dangerous precedent being set. If racism is not stamped out. In real life and in cyber-space. If it becomes okay to single people out simply for what makes them different from you, to disparage their skill in one area because of a quality that has no bearing on that skill, then where does it end? It might be an extreme parallel, but I’m reminded of the war-time poem by Martin Niemöller.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.





Until next time…