We’re all looking forward to Monday; our team is playing with courage and guile; Poch is back at the Lane and there’s nothing like a London derby.. However, a number of Spurs fans, yep, the people you hug when the ball hits the back of the net, are approaching the game with trepidation and some dread.. All because of a particular chant levelled at Chelsea.
It’s the start of the season, the sun is shining and things are looking good; let’s not tarnish it with homophobic chanting on Sunday.
And yes, the ‘rent boy’ chant is homophobic—if it wasn’t, nobody would bother. It’s busted out precisely to be insulting and hateful, and when the affected community tells you it’s homophobic and explains the impact, please hear us (see Lee’s story).
It was a rollercoaster of a day and a night. There were bumps, hits, highs and lows. I won’t be able to do it justice but wanted to set out the highlights I remember, one year on, of how those magical 24 hours unfolded—from 3pm on 8 May 2019. COYS!
This weekend we look forward to welcoming the fans, players and officials from Manchester United Women’s FC, but not at any cost. We were unhappy to see the reports in multiple mainstream media outlets of the negative chanting that was levelled at Liverpool FC Women by some Manchester United Women fans in the last round of WSL games; chanting which was subsequently reported by Liverpool FC Women to the FA for further investigation.
Social media can be like your favourite pub, you go in, have a chat with people you know as well as strangers, and have interesting, mundane and sometimes surprising conversations. The only problem is, as the pub gets really busy, some people come in with masks covering their faces and things can get a bit hairy. Sheer volume and anonymity mean people say things that they perhaps wouldn’t if they were interacting face to face.