There are those who might argue that this should be in Koeman's Corner or one of the general threads, but given our blank weekend coming up, and reports today I thought it might merit its own thread. Mods, trust you agree.
Chelsea play PSG and you may recall there was a nasty racist incident on the Metro the last time Chelsea were in town. On radio 5 they are trying to make out that racism is endemic outside of the ground, but was controlled within it.
As a Saint, I do think the club ran a decent campaign to reduce racist incidents. There are those among us who wondered whether the abuse suffered by Guly Do Prado, among others, was racially motivated. Suspicion there may have been, but proof there was none. Standing on the Northam I hear lots of abuse of players, but I can't remember the last time there was a racist comment made (the absurdly sexist "She Fell Over" still abounds, mind!). In fact the nearest I've felt we moved to racist chanting was when a section of fans wanted to praise a player and got it horribly wrong. "He's big, he's black, he plays at Centre Back, he's Paul Williams" was cringe-worthy on just every level. While when Victor's song first appeared it was still "In the jungle, the wild jungle" until the penny dropped!
But today a Chelsea fan said he still heard a section of their fans singing about Concentration Camps on the way to matches, albeit not inside. Is it me? Have I been hidden from the horrors of some of our fans? Our nutters seem intent on shooting Pompey Scum and this is not only unpleasant and frankly boring but is it racist?
Of course I accept we live in a racist society (and a sexist/homophobic one for that matter). I've overheard the racist and or Islamaphobic comments made about the Asian community through which we pass on the way to St Mary's, but have heard the same elsewhere and in general they seem isolated. I don't like the comments. I'd rather that the people making the comments didn't identify with Southampton FC. But, and this is a big but, I don't think that even these neanderthals will gain us the reputation of being a "racist club" as Chelsea have been tarred.
I would love to hear other Saints think from their own experience.
Chelsea play PSG and you may recall there was a nasty racist incident on the Metro the last time Chelsea were in town. On radio 5 they are trying to make out that racism is endemic outside of the ground, but was controlled within it.
As a Saint, I do think the club ran a decent campaign to reduce racist incidents. There are those among us who wondered whether the abuse suffered by Guly Do Prado, among others, was racially motivated. Suspicion there may have been, but proof there was none. Standing on the Northam I hear lots of abuse of players, but I can't remember the last time there was a racist comment made (the absurdly sexist "She Fell Over" still abounds, mind!). In fact the nearest I've felt we moved to racist chanting was when a section of fans wanted to praise a player and got it horribly wrong. "He's big, he's black, he plays at Centre Back, he's Paul Williams" was cringe-worthy on just every level. While when Victor's song first appeared it was still "In the jungle, the wild jungle" until the penny dropped!
But today a Chelsea fan said he still heard a section of their fans singing about Concentration Camps on the way to matches, albeit not inside. Is it me? Have I been hidden from the horrors of some of our fans? Our nutters seem intent on shooting Pompey Scum and this is not only unpleasant and frankly boring but is it racist?
Of course I accept we live in a racist society (and a sexist/homophobic one for that matter). I've overheard the racist and or Islamaphobic comments made about the Asian community through which we pass on the way to St Mary's, but have heard the same elsewhere and in general they seem isolated. I don't like the comments. I'd rather that the people making the comments didn't identify with Southampton FC. But, and this is a big but, I don't think that even these neanderthals will gain us the reputation of being a "racist club" as Chelsea have been tarred.
I would love to hear other Saints think from their own experience.
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