Acceptable behaviour at football

Let's assume this Chelsea chap did say "Manc".

I'd still say his behaviour, on what I've seen and no I've not heard his side of it, was completely unacceptable - whether what followed "Manc" was "c**t", "tosser", "idiot" or "fool", because of the aggressive, intimidatory and personal way the sentence was delivered.

I also think publicising where he lives and so on is completely and utterly out of order - he's not stood trial for anything and people other than him live there - but that's beside the point.

For me it's the manner of delivery - close, personal, aggressive, if you like "fighty" - that's the issue, not the precise language. Screaming anything into someone else’s face is rarely a good idea.

Many clubs have a version of our song which goes "My Old Man said be an Ipswich Fan, I said goodness, gracious no I won't". Or words to that effect. Most people new to matches that I've seen laugh when they hear it (probably at least in part due to the juxtaposition of a twee song like "Don't Dilly Dally" and "c**t").

I'm really not sure any Ipswich fans or players have been particularly affected by our singing it (and yes, I do join in); just as I've never been affected by them or anyone singing anything similar to/about us.

Kevin Muscat used to dance along when we sang "Muscat, Muscat, you're a c**t". Andy Marshall has never said how nasty City fans were for calling him a "Judas Cunt": it's all part and parcel. Paul Merson rubbed his belly when we suggested he might be a touch overweight. Etcetera.

Now, if any individual Nodger actually confronted Marshall personally and aggressively screamed stuff into his face, I'd be on Marshall's side, because you just don't do that to anyone (but I'm very old, I suppose).

If we go down the route of banning individual words, where does it end? Is it OK to say the referee's a w**ker but not a bastard, on the grounds that onanism is a personal choice but illegitimacy is a condition of birth? Or are both banned, with fans expected to sing "you're mistaken - you're mistaken - you're mistaken referee"?

Should we be trying to shoehorn "technically he was not offside due to the third stipulation of the second bullet under rule eleven" into the metre of Sloop John B?

Not all the language you hear at football is polite or refined. That's always been the case, and that's fine with me. Language which is discriminatory or based on prejudice is never OK; but for me, swearing (as long as not to or in front of e.g. young kids) is.

Vague fighty gestures - you! No, not you the bloke just behi...yes! Him! You! You're a w**ker! Let's meet outside the ground in the general direction indicated by the broad arc of my arm and set to fisticuffs quite unencumbered by the Marquis of Queensbury, what? Wanker! - well, anyway, it's all a bit pathetic but you're not going to stop it and a penny gets you a quid no people who've done that to each other at Carrow Road or most other grounds at least in the last three decades or so have actually ended up pulling each other's hair extensions off afterwards.

However, violent, threatening, otherwise intimidatory or overly aggressive behaviour right in someone's face isn't OK whether that someone is another fan, a player or an official. And generally I think the stewards and the police do a good job in telling the difference and dealing with what needs dealing with.

Sorry for all the words. Didn't have time to make it shorter.

Posted By: Old Man, Dec 11, 18:29:57