One law for football fans?

Galaxy

I could describe the benefits that both my sons gained from football, understanding of teamwork, cooperation, better health, friends etc, the issue of fans congregating is a seperate issue, but the disdain for football is very interesting to watch.

And yesterday we saw hordes of people screaming, packed together in their thousands, in a town where so many are not vaccinated- are we being snoobish for thinking that is very worrying?
Yes, it was worrying Kali2 and I agree with you. I remarked to DH that some picked out on camera were loutish but, of course, the majority will not behave like that. They were self-distance in the stadium but how some behaved outside was a different matter.

Galaxy I agree with your post.
Presumably rugby is more upmarket, unfortunately my DS was advised not to play it so played football instead.

DGD plays for a girl's football team and it has helped her in many ways through adolescence and school- socially, mentally and physically.
Grammaretto ? Any sport should be encouraged in youngsters.

Oldudders I'm not a football fan but your post is pathetically sneery.

Shall we pick one thing to be outraged about at one time, then maybe we have a better chance of understanding each others posts.
A post about football, proles and the Royal Family combined perhaps, Alegrias?
The Duke of Cambridge is President of the English FA. Does that make him a prole?

Does that help? ?

Excuse me if I indulge in a bit of "Whatabootery".

Tennis?

Royal Ascot? = people dressed in weird costumes, getting drunk and falling over (but all in the best possible taste)

Lillie

Whats a prole? my husband likes the football, he was a bank manager.

Anyone less in the hierarchy than oldudders of course, Lillie so I presume a bank manager is a prole.

Lillie

Whats a prole? my husband likes the football, he was a bank manager.

A member of the working class.

I suppose she could have banned anybody leaving by cruise liner. Or coracle, maybe?

Honestly, in some eyes everything negative about Scotland is NS's fault.

Football has an audience from all walks of life. My GP was always going to see her chosen team. And lets not forget the consultant cardiologist who rushed on to the pitch to assist when Fabrice Muamba collapsed

www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/fans-praise-hero-doctor-who-rushed-on-pitch-to-save-muamba-7577708.html

This prole is thoroughly enjoying the football thanks.
To refer back to the OP, the vigil for Sarah Everard on 13/3/21 was specifically banned by the Metropolitan Police when we were in lockdown. The fans for the football were asked nicely not to go while we are in stage 3 of unlocking.

I have attended alot of football matches at the ground my chosen team play at, at away grounds, and at the old Wembly Stadium. I see comradaree, banter, some bad language and mostly well behaved fans. Yes there are badly behaved fans, but there are arrests on protest marches, and on the weekends in lots of towns where people are drunk. Why do people single out football?
26 people were arrested, and I do not condone bad behaviour, but considering the size of the crowd most of them were just loud and out to have a good time and did not engage in behaviour to get them arrested.

I am so glad I used the word 'proles'. We are all proles in the eyes of the ruling class - that self-perpetuating oligarchy currently headed by Boris. So keeping us mollified by allowing a football competition to proceed in a pandemic is indeed dangerous patronising. Let me draw a parallel. A few decades back in New York, if there was trouble brewing in Harlem, they would get a tv channel to broadcast the entertainer James Brown, and everyone went indoors.

Someone observed that I hadn't sneered at rugby. No - because I am not aware that those fans engage in widespread anti-social behaviour, any more than those of cricket, tennis, polo or golf.

As for being a snob - born in a tied cottage with no bathroom or loo, and spending 38 years working in the railway industry, with everyday people of all sorts of cultures and ethnicities, hardly befits me to see myself as superior, does it? OTOH, as others have said, the way people behave, which has nothing to do with class, can indeed make anyone sigh.

Speak for yourself olddudders I am not a Prole, ( what a horrible word). I consider myself intelligent enough to do what I want, enjoy the things I enjoy, and take responsibility for myself and my behaviour. Had no complaints so far.
Are you saying Rugby fans never behave like hooligans and never get drunk? We hear more about football via the media because it is big and very popular.

Prole relates to proletariat, I believe? Those who are ruled over. That’s most of us.

Back to the massively important title here. This is not a discussion about football versus rugby or horse-racing, or tiddly winks.

It is about massive crowds (and I don't care if they were from Scotland, Devon or Timbuctu) arriving in a very large town with a large % not vaccinated- without any social distancing, etc. In the middle of a pandemic which is far from over, and with very serious rise of a dangerous variant.

Theatres and other veneus were they can insist on proof of Covid status, and limit numbers by having on a % of seats taken, and insist on masks, etc- can't open. So why tolerate this?

As for being a snob - born in a tied cottage with no bathroom or loo, and spending 38 years working in the railway industry, with everyday people of all sorts of cultures and ethnicities, hardly befits me to see myself as superior, does it? OTOH, as others have said, the way people behave, which has nothing to do with class, can indeed make anyone sigh.

olddudders but your post makes you sound as if you are superior and anyone who enjoys football is a prole, does it not?

As she is well aware, I share DW Ashcombe's distaste for the entire football culture. 22 overpaid prima-donna yobs chasing a bag of wind round a field. And now I believe there is far more interest worldwide in female teams too. Talk about lowering themselves! But politicians know it keeps the proles happy,

distaste, bag of wind, females lowering themselves, keeps the proles happy
Nice.

Bag of wind?

There were 27 arrests before we are over critical of the police. There have been so many protests, marches, crowds on beaches etc that everyone thinks they can do it. Fortunately not many get drunk and strip off naked as happened yesterday. As it was limited ticket entry there wasn’t a great deal of point in their coming except to support their teams. I don’t know exactly how it could have been stopped tbh. The players themselves on high salaries have often broken covid rules so not set a good example, not that that would have made much difference.

I am a bit cynical. Grass roots football is great for getting everyone in the community involved, but as soon as spectators are involved you tend to get problems. Fans refuse to social distance, refuse to wear masks, refuse to follow the one way system for the loo, and unless you have plenty of staff which is unlikely as they are all volunteers, are difficult to police. We run a ladies football team and quite frankly we’re glad when spectators were banned. That’s not to say all fans are bad because they aren’t.

Football does seem to attract a certain type of anti social element. Not just Scottish folk, but some England supporters in Porto recently were badly behaved, no-one is saying all football fans behave like this, but you have to concede some do.

The First Minister has just announced that she is banning all travel to Manchester from Monday. How can she be able to do this but not stop football fans with no tickets travelling to London?

It's all just such a mess, isn't it dragonfly.
Not this in particular, but the patchwork of rules, the ad hoc decisions.

I agree Callistemon. I have been quite optimistic since I had the second vaccine but it seems we are going backwards which is very worrying.

To be honest, I’m confused. The Covid restrictions, such as they are, are still in place until 19th July, but I constantly see on news programmes huge crowds of people attending various sporting events. As well as the football yesterday, we had Ascot throughout last week. I (or you) can’t meet in a park or garden with more than 30 people, and I haven’t done. And if we do meet other people, we’re advised to socially distance. But if I wanted to go to the match yesterday, or Ascot last week, it would have been okay to mix freely and closely with hundreds of other people. I’m utterly confused by this situation.

I hatr being referred to as a Prole, serf or anything like that.

The Goverment makes the rules, yes, but I also take responsibility for myself, make my own decisions and decide what I like and what I dont.
I am tired that as we like football as a family and we watch football on the television, we are associated with anti social behaviour. Most football fans are well behaved, as with everything else the few make it bad for the majority. Anyway I have got everything done so we can watch the France V Hungary game.
Anyway this thread has reminded me to to ring Sky and BT sport to see if I can get the cost of my my sports channel down once competition ends and there is no Prem league footie until August.

I have often wondered if there is an element of conformity going on around football, a conformity which starts with boys in early childhood.

Any small boy who didn’t like football would find himself in the minority, and as we all know, children have a strong desire to fit in, to be accepted as one of the crowd.

This pretence could continue into adulthood, depending on the peer group (and work environment).

The vast majority of males in my family have no interest whatsoever in football, but some follow ( and play) golf, cricket and tennis.

I wish other sports featured more heavily in schools then possibly this obsession with football would lessen.

Another question. Should this football match have been hosted at venues in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, English supporters allocated 3,000 tickets, would it have been possible for Boris to ensure only ticketed fans would travel? I doubt any FM/PM has such special powers.

Any gatherings of large crowds during a pandemic is madness!

olddudders. Time to read up on the history of football hooliganism to present day if you really must insist on shaming one nation from your high horse. Describing people as proles is particularly nasty.

IMHO, in his original post, olddudders used the term proles as a way of describing the way the general public is regarded by the current government.

Any small boy who didn’t like football would find himself in the minority, and as we all know, children have a strong desire to fit in, to be accepted as one of the crowd.
I don't think that's the case here; there are (or were) lots of sports on offer in our area; rugby is just as popular as soccer.

A lot went to judo and karate when my DC were small.
Some boys and men play hockey, it's not just for girls!
DS was a keen tennis player and that is still popular too.

Yes up to a point Callistemon
but other sports don’t feature as heavily as football does.

I guess it’s cost.