Is the England football team killing this government’s cynical culture war

I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a "Woke" movement, in the sense of something you can join. But the term seems to have come, over the years, from "Awake". If the thought of being thought "Woke" upsets you, you can always stay asleep.

If opposing racism and seeking to stamp it out is a political movement then I’m up for it, frankly. Why would anybody be against that?

Trisher I am not the one who doesn’t get it. Fans don’t like taking the knee as it is a political gesture not because they are in favour of racism. We have our own anti racist movement in football called Kick it Out which also supports LGBTQ

Fans have already influenced what happens in football. That’s why the 6 Premier Clubs wanting to form a European Super League had to back down and indeed apologise.

25Avalon so you think booing is an appropriate way to show you don't like something? And that policies should be influenced by the loudest and noisiest of fans? Perhaps those who made monkey noises should have had some influence then?
Isn't that the exact reason there are campaigns- Show Racism the Red Card and Kick it Out, although Kick it Out has little to do with fans and is funded by the PFA and the FA and has been criticised for not actually dealing with racist abuse by players.

I don’t think there should be politics in football fullstop. How else are fans supposed to show they don’t approve of this political symbolism? They have a right to free expression too. We are NOT talking about monkey noises which is a separate issue and is indeed racist.

Kick it Out is funded by The Premier League, the PFA, the FA and now Sky are giving a massive donation. It is against racism and discrimination. It’s about on and off the pitch, education, diversity as part of the anti racism and discrimination drive. Fans are also involved. Fans can apply for diversity funding to organise events. Fans will also know how to report any discrimination or racism in the crowd. Most fans are in favour of this and the respect campaign. The days of stadia full of fascist and racists are coming to an end but there will sadly also be some.

If a player is abusive they can be fined and suspended by the FA plus any action their club takes on top of that.

As it is clubs are also actively involved. At grassroots level as club Secretary if I hear abuse towards the referee, the coaching staff or players that person will be asked to leave the ground and possibly be reported to the County FA as part of the Respect campaign. The club can also be charged. It is in our Club programme that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.

As you are such an entusiastic supporter of KickIt Out perhaps you should follow their advice then 25Avalon

KICK IT OUT AND FSA CALL ON ENGLAND FANS TO APPLAUD PLAYERS TAKING THE KNEE

Kick It Out, English football’s equality and inclusion organisation, and the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), the representative body for football supporters in England and Wales, are calling on England fans to stop the boos, support the team and applaud players taking the knee.
www.kickitout.org

I am a supporter of free speech. Some fans and some black players incidentally do not approve of taking the knee and have every right to show that disapproval.

Does booing count as speech?

Well I never.

Lemongrove “ and I applaud the team for doing it to show all the other teams and followers that they want to kick out racism”
Good to hear you say that. I agree.

(By the way The amount of anti American prejudice on GN is astonishing. )

In real life I have never heard anyone use the expression "woke" or "wokeness". It seems to me to be just a derogatory term coined and endlessly repeated by the right-wing media to ridicule the notion of treating others as you would like to be treated.

This nasty cliche seems to have taken over from their previous favourite "political correctness gone mad".

Plenty of people in this country are anti BLM and take a knee but are not racist. Why should football fans be any different? Let’s amend to freedom of expression then. Same difference.

Varian
Not just the right wing

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9569989/Tony-Blair-warns-Labour-destroyed-woke-Left.html

25Avalon

Plenty of people in this country are anti BLM and take a knee but are not racist. Why should football fans be any different? Let’s amend to freedom of expression then. Same difference.

So do you think none of the booers are racist? Or is it just possible that the booing is a way to express racist opinions without being called to account?

I think most are people just fed up with the posturing.

I think, when someone describes an action taken up by black people after the murder of a black person, by a police officer, and repeated by people all over the world, to show solidarity, as "posturing" you realise hidden racism is still there.

Indeed. I heard someone describing a sports person as “coloured.. oh no sorry man of colour or whatever you’re supposed to call them nowadays”. Them !!!! I was so gobsmacked I couldn’t work out what to say and left

I am fed up of woke being used as some sort of insult too, I remember a few years ago 'liberals' being used in the same way too.

JaneJudge

I am fed up of woke being used as some sort of insult too, I remember a few years ago 'liberals' being used in the same way too.

Agreed. On GN the insult of choice is 'leftie' I find. I have always wondered about the mindset of people who consider liberal an insult

lemongrove

Got to hand it to you ww....you never give up on the anti-Conservative rhetoric, even working it into a thread ostensibly about praising English football. Reminds me of the Duracell bunny...?

wow, how rude and unpleasant- and very personal insult. I hand it to you now lemon, you never give up on your anti-remainer rhetoric, ever.

25Avalon

I am a supporter of free speech. Some fans and some black players incidentally do not approve of taking the knee and have every right to show that disapproval.

If you only took the trouble to re-read your post- you'd see the utter contradiction and hypocrisy!

Kali2 all I see from a lot of posters are those who cannot accept a different point of view without insulting and calling that person a hypocrite or racist etc. I see no contradiction or hypocrisy in my post.

I think in terms of free speech people are probably entitled to boo, in terms of manners and morality are they entitled to boo, that's a different question. I dont agree with having a Royal Family, and in terms of free speech it is my right to say that, what I dont do in terms of common decency is boo every time I am in public and the national anthem is played. I understand that the anthem is important to many people and I respect that, therefore I dont behave like an idiot.

Now, that’s really interesting Kali that you ‘saw’ anti Remainer rhetoric in there, because there is none, zip, nada!
It certainly isn’t me who’s obsessed by Brexit.

On the taking the knee, I thought it was a good thing just for the Euro games, as so many countries/ football fans are very racist indeed.After that I think it’s time to let it quietly drop and allow the ‘Kick It Out’ strategies work instead.

Galaxy that's a great example. I have absolutely no problem if people choose not to Take the Knee, it's the mass booing that I find unacceptable. No way is it just expressing an opinion it's an attempt to intimidate those who are doing it. If you want to demonstrate disapproval without intimidation you could simply turn your back. There was a time when many people did that.