bbc sport. (2019, july 24). reports of racist abuse rose by 43% last season. Retrieved from bbc sport: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49089209
jackson, j. (2019, october 21). manchester united. Retrieved from the guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/oct/21/supporter-ejected-for-alleged-racial-abuse-during-manchester-united-v-liverpool
kershaw, t. (2019, december 9). man city raicst. Retrieved from indeoendent: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/man-city-racist-fan-manchester-united-fred-monkey-chant-gestures-arrest-a9238766.html
the premier league. (2019, march 30). premier league launches no room for racism. Retrieved from the premier league: https://www.premierleague.com/news/1113790
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Social Psychology 
Really impressed by the detail and the importance of the subject. Very well executed and written.
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Hi,
Football is a really good topic to use to explain the in group and out group, people who go to football should not be discriminating towards the opposite team because of their race or gender etc.. because there are people within their own group that will be the same. Just because they are supporting an opposite team does not mean that discriminating the opposite team is right to do so.
It is very good that football clubs are creating the ‘no room for racism’ campaign as they are sending awareness out to the supporters that is not going to be tolerated. There is always going to be a big climax before big games and then supporters do often ruin it at they end when one group does not get the results they wanted they start to fight or chant unacceptable rhymes that can be offensive. We as adults are not being good role models to our children we are not showing them that they should support everyone when it comes to such a big sport we should be promoting equality and diversity by saying good bye to discrimination and ‘gang violence’!
It will take a lot of time and effort in the coming years to get groups to work together and make the sport a more enjoyable watch and play for the players as they are the main targets most of the time because they are in the spot light. I used to watch Manchester City a lot with my father at home games, I watched from above the opposite team hurling a lot of abuse towards the police and the police even had to stand very close together forming a barrier to stop the supporters getting on to the pitch. How is this fair to the police? They are also a victim as they have to get in the middle of the violence, they are only there to ensure everybody gets home safe so why should they get hurt in the process whether its physical or verbal abuse it is not right!
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Hi, Thankyou for your feedback, I’m glad you agree that just because they might support the same team it doesn’t mean that fans will get on all the time, fan groups seem attractive to other fans as they have the same interest and the same end goal but individual differences can cause tention within the group often leading to an individual either feeling like they are too good to be apart of that group or like they aren’t good enough.
You have made a valid point that whilst the police are there to keep the peace and keep the public and the players safe, they are being put at risk of facing physical and verbal abuse which is not ok. The abuse is just being transferred from the players to the police and stuards, rather than the abuse being stopped altogether, that’s why I think it’s a great idea that the Premier league and kick it off have come together to launch a campaign that makes people aware that discrimination and abusive behaviour at football games will not be tolerated and people will be removed and possibly banned from football games if they can not support their teams in an appropriate and acceptable manner.
Especially when it involves football peoples self concept can change or become clouded due to the competitiveness of the sport, peoples egos can get the better of them and then rather than it being about supporting their team they are competing with other fans wether it’s looks, or behaviour or attitudes and they don’t even realise that’s they’re doing it. My boyfriend always feels anxious before football games, and majority of the time he isn’t worried about his team losing, he is worried about his hair, his outfit who he’s going to the football with and what the opposing teams fans will be like, all that worry and he is really only interested in going to watch the game and cheer for his team. Even without football being advertised on social media and television there is so much social pressure being put on these individuals to be the ideal football fan when realistically it shouldn’t matter, everyone is there for the same purpose and that it to support their team, there will also will the odd fans who are looking to cause trouble but when there’s alcohol involved with a competitive game there is bound to be people who get out of control. I just hope that the efforts being made to stop discrimination will be acknowledged and will pay off one day soon.
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Such a good read! I’m a football fan myself and totally agree that as a fan it is easy to be attached to the going ons, and to be easily led by such a high volume group, however some stadiums have had to take serious measures to keep their fans safe take a look at millwall’s ground for example! They lead their away fans straight into a tube station that sits just behind their away stand! We all remember the famous film green street! And how times have changed since then. I was also present at the Manchester utd game were fred was racially abused numerous times and how as a professional he carried on, however this should not be happening nor tolerated! And more needs to be done to kick this out. Great read again!
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Thank you very much, i will take a look at the Millwall stadium i didn’t realise that, maybe that could be another small step to reducing discrimination at matches if they lead fans directly to their stands rather than having both fan bases mixing before the game. its just being taken way too far now and when people are doing it collectively as a group they don’t think its as bad as one individual being racist but in fact it is worse that people are basically ganging up against players and authoritative figures and bullying them, just because they are paid professionals it does not mean they don’t have a right to be respected whilst on the job.
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I agree with this blog and the detail in it, there is so much discrimination in football games it is quite shocking! In my opinion not enough was done to prevent it before and it was left to get out of hand and became the kind of ‘norm’ to behave that way at matches. I think that it is due to feeling powerful within their group, and the feeling of belonging to a group and feeling important. When they come together i think their emotions get out of hand and therefore their behaviours. In 2009 the Blackburn V Burnley game resulted in fans fighting and numerous fans being sentenced to imprisonment, there was also documentaries done on this specific game due to the violence! These people were branded hooligans. I also feel that the amount of police needed to ensure its a safe environment is ridiculous, they could be else where dealing with other crimes but instead they have a full operation monitoring people at a football match because people can’t treat others equally and enjoy the game for both groups/sides. Football is supposed to be a sport supported by all ages, races and genders like you stated in your blog, meaning families will be there and children. Racism and discrimination is not acceptable on any measure, especially infront of children! This is then teaching the younger generations that discriminating behaviour is ok and it is not! However, I love the fact that the premier legue has launched the no room for racism campaign as this is showing it has been recognised and not accepted.
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yes! thank you, i couldn’t agree more with you on the policing issue. tax payers contribute a lot of funding for police and other services that benefit the general public and keep us safe. yet we are using an obsurde amount of resources, staff and money in order to hold football matches safely. football is a sport for public entertainment an leisure, if the public can not behave appropriately at games they need to be either reducing the number of fans allowed at a game or reducing the alcohol served at games, of course because a lot of money is made through football they wont do this, even if it would protect players and public they would lose too much money. i suppose what it comes down to is if money is more important than the safety and well-being of our community. would we rather lose money from sporting events or spend more on making them secure.
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