Whether you’re a supporter of football or don’t follow it at all, everyone knows what football is and everyone knows when there is a game on within their community. Not only is football advertised all over TV and social media but it is the main topic of conversation within communities when there is a game on, so as hard it is avoid the game itself its becoming even harder to avoid the antics that fans can bring with them. when there is a game on between two teams there is rivalry between the fans and the players because both teams want to win and both fan bases want their teams to win, but isn’t this changing what football is supposed to be about? Communities used to come together to support their team and to celebrate the victories together and take the losses together. People are using race, religion, gender more than ever to discriminate against players, rival fans and sometimes even their own fellow supporters.
I remember seeing an incident on TV during the Man United Vs Liverpool derby last month where a fan from Man United’s home stand had been accused of making monkey gestures at Brazilian midfielder Frederico Rodrigues de Paula Santos known as ‘Fred’ who plays for Man United. The incident was caught on tape but the individual being accused claimed he was simply putting his hands in his pants. This wasn’t the only discrimination Fred endured during the game, he was also hit with objects being thrown onto the pitch by fans. Obviously opposing fans might be in a fit of rage if their team is losing but that does not make it acceptable to throw things at people let alone singling out one individual and being racist towards them, that is just utterly disgusting.
Everyone has experienced at least once in their lives a time when they have felt like they didn’t belong in a group. self-concept which is the beliefs you have about yourself and the influence of other opinions of yourself can affect your values and attitudes. For example, I see myself as quite an introverted person, still friendly and talkative but I prefer my own company, I believe in god and am a catholic, I hold family very close to my heart and value honesty and genuine people. My self-concept, values, beliefs and attitudes all contribute to my feelings and needs, I would not discriminate a religious group because I respect that everyone has different beliefs and faiths, whereas I would be hesitant to be part of a group that didn’t share similar attitudes and beliefs to me as they might discriminate against me or against others with similar self-concepts of themselves as me and then I would feel offended and uncomfortable within that group.
Discrimination is being recognized more in football now and on the 30th March 2019 the premier league launched a ‘no room for racism’ campaign to raise awareness and urge fans to speak out if they hear or see any abuse at football matches. The premier league believed this campaign would demonstrate their commitment to equality and diversity and recognize contributions made from ‘kick it out’ to tackle discrimination. They have used their power and platform to make people aware that discrimination against anyone will not be accepted or associated with the game as a wider sport. Roisin Wood the chief Kick it out believes that the rise of racism in football can be linked to Brexit. Statistics gathered by the anti-discrimination charity show that reports of racism in English football rose 43% in just one season. Wood suggests that home office has seen a rise in hate crimes and it must be linked to what is going on in society at the moment, what behaviour and discrimination we have seen at football matches is a reflection of what is happening currently in society.
I have seen first hand how crazy football rivalry can really be, on Saturday 11th January 2020 Blackburn rovers played Preston at Ewood stadium, I live local to the area and I knew people going to the game, Preston fans were coming through the area in huge groups shouting football chants and rovers fans didn’t seem to welcoming either. There was a lot of police on my street and crowds of Preston fans making their way to the game, my boyfriend who also was going to the game (who supports rovers) waited until they had left before he set off to the stadium as to avoid being confronted. Roads near my house were being held up by police horses guiding the crowded paths. Although the police was supervising the streets this was not keeping the groups of fans from causing trouble, as you can imagine being in a big group with one thing in common (football) can cause competitiveness within the groups, one individual from the group might start to shout and swear at the police, and then disregarding the polices authority the rest of the group will join in with the behaviour, this is also to show other groups that they are inferior to them and in their own sense more powerful as a group.
Although not all fans are football hooligans looking for trouble, I saw dads taking their sons, groups of middle-aged men just walking to the game and people walking on their own. People presume when they see other big groups that they must be Preston fans and they’re all causing trouble before the game when in fact its maybe 50% of them that act like hooligans. There are so many different groups of fans who come to support their team, all varying in age, gender, race and religion and this unfortunately is why there is so much discrimination within fan bases because although there is a common bond between all of these people which makes the group attractive, they have so many individual differences that people start to feel and act more superior than others in the group which is generally because their self-concept is higher than others in the group. Next time your in a group where you feel you don’t belong or considering joining a group just think about what interests you have in common and whether aside from those things in common you would be apart of that group with those people. You might just end up in the wrong group adopting new values and attitudes that are not a true reflection of your self-concept, or worse…you might lose your self-concept through the influence of the groups opinions or to try and fit in. only you know your true self but its so easy to be led astray. Stay safe, be kind and keep others safe.
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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