It doesn't. But it feels like it does. It's a vessel into which you can pour hopes and dreams and prejudices and your identity, in a way you can't with other things. We're going round in circles, anyway.
Personally, anything that encourages or facilitates pouring prejudice, it should be banned. This tribalism is a fundamental issue and why there is so much hate. I was at the t20 last night. Obviously i'm from Yorkshire, and my other halfs from Kent, her brother lives in Sussex and her dad a Surrey season ticket holder. During the ebb and flow, there was no prejudice on obvious display, when a wicket fell, nobody questioned the parentage of anyone, there were celebrations, alcohol was consumed in sight of the pitch, there was no racism, no hate, just a good time had by all 20,000 or so went home without incident. Sounds a much more enjoyable environment... unless a conduit for hate, racism and multi phobias really is necessary of course.
I like the tribalism. I don't want to sit next to a Charlton fan tomorrow. I wish Charlton fans a safe journey up north and back, and I don't want to fight with them. But I want to be in the same place as others who feel like me, and who want the same thing as me. I'd probably stop going if there was no segregation at football matches. I like the fact that football is edgy. It's one of the best things about it. I want Oakwell to be intimidating, but I don't want it to spill over into actual violence, racism, homophobia, whatever. And that's a difficult balance to strike.
I don’t see how it’s a difficult balance at all. It’s so easy not to be abusive and racist. Hopefully at some point in a generation or two, the current hate and intolerance will be a very distant memory
Agree with this to a certain extent, however, if you politely ask the same group of people not to sing this song on Saturday, you will be met with derision, and "we'll sing what we want.". How do I know this? Because that is the exact conversation I heard coming out of the ground after the Fulham game. For many of the people we are talking about, their reason for going to games is so that they can behave exactly in this manner. In their logic, people who don't want flares letting off = boring old people who sit on their hands and never sing. It's almost as if yobbish behaviour is the only means to create an atmosphere. Individually, you may get these people to agree it's wrong, and to not sing it, but in front of their mates they will revert to group culture. As for name calling, again, whilst I believe it's wrong, all they need to do to stop that is to behave themselves. I can't really see a way round this for the club other than give the warnings they have, and then start to remove culprits permanently if needs be. I'm not sure they as a group of people who have been asked on an number of occasions not to behave in this way, deserve anything else?
Easy for you. Easy for many others. Clearly not easy for loads of fans at Hillsborough last Saturday. (I hate Wednesday, but many of our supporters were a disgrace and we showed ourselves up.) Clearly not easy for a lot of the Ponty against Fulham. Personally, I'd ban or restrict alcohol sales but that's probably too draconian. I don't know what the answer is. But I'll only believe that it's easy to not be abusive or racist when I no longer hear it.
We’ve always had a moronic drunken element who won’t listen to authority. I just hope the club take action finally. I’d rather have 2000 less fans if it meant ridding racism et al from our terraces.
Back to the chant ... I don’t think any harm was intended ... but certainly harm has been caused to the club. Whether someone thinks it’s racist or not (I think it is as it perpetuates racial stereotyping), the club (twice), Dale Tonge, Kick it Out have All asked us not to sing it! So ... instead of arguing the toss, please let’s stop singing it! We’ll bring the club into disrepute! In a week where QPR U18s walked off the pitch due to racist chants & actions, let’s not allow our club to be mentioned in the same vein. Please.
They stopped people congregating in the top right hand corner of the Ponty at one point because of bad behaviour. There were then moans that it killed the atmosphere. I'm assuming they reversed that decision at some stage, unless they all now genuinely have seats up there.
If the song starts today its down to the rest of our crowd to drown it out with boos until they stop. Hopefully the club, players and kick it out will then see the majority of barnsley fans are not ignorant scumbags and that we are supportive of .kick it out
The chant rightly stopped yesterday apart from one fellow replacing those words with “we’re not racist” It seems like the young uns have accepted their rightful ticking off yet not one word about this on here. Strange
Sadly we live in a world we’re people would rather highlight people’s bad point Instead of offering praise when it’s due
Ironically, although our fans didn't sing it, I heard it properly for the first time live as the Charlton fans sang it continually for half an hour and it easily carried to the quiet Ponty End. I didn't got to the Wednesday game and although I assume it was sung at the Fulham match, I'm at the other end of the Ponty, it wasn't sung there, it was very loud around us and I never heard that song.
Pub full of Leicester City fans singing it along the same lyrics as the one we were warned not to sing last weekend. P.s i heard one lad constantly try starting the chant at the back of the Ponty with the offending words in but other then that it wasn't sung at all. Top work.
From my personal perspective; I considered a post to congratulate our fans on behaving well but decided against it as it’d almost certainly have been seen as inflammatory by some. Happy we can draw a veil over this episode.
Someone behind us - with his small child, who spent all game kicking the back of my seat - was singing it, but only at normal volume.
People deserve praise for stopping being racist? Strange notion. Reminds me of the time at school when the kids who habitually twagged it, got caught smoking, got sent to isolation for having a go at teachers etc were rewarded with a trip to Alton Towers when they behaved for a term. Meanwhile the ones who’d behaved all the way through got sod all. Why praise people when they start behaving in a normal, reasonable way?