When Banter Goes Too Far: The Ongoing Problem of Fan Trouble

'By all means enjoy the banter and passionate support for your football teams, even passionate opposition of other football teams – it is the lifeblood of football. But sectarianism and other expressions of hate are not acceptable and it is time for it to stop. Those engaging in it will face the full force of the law.'- Roseanna Cunningham (Scottish Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, 2011-2014) comments on the introduction of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act, March 2012

Sport tends to bring the more passionate side of human beings to the surface. From glorious euphoria to the depths of total defeat, those games that involve balls of various sizes and numerous methods of scoring points take up a great portion of our lives. It's uplifting to see pictures and videos of fans celebrating wildly at seeing their team triumph, and we all feel a little sorry when the cameras focus on one spectator who looks as if they had dropped their cheesy chips at 2 in the morning during a drunken night out. Then there are those that find it 'appropriate' or 'hilarious' to run onto the field of play just to have their moment in the spotlight. While they are mostly harmless, there are times when things get out of hand and all hell breaks loose.

You twat (Action Images)

Last week, there were three televised incidents of football fans bypassing the billboards and stewards that separate the stands from the pitch to confront and even assault players. Pitch invasions are nothing new, but these three instances threatened to completely ruin the competitive nature of these fixtures. Below is a quick summary of what happened in each one:

• 8/3- Hibernian 1-1 Rangers- Cameron Mack ran onto the pitch to confront Rangers skipper James Tavernier, which comes just under a week after Celtic winger Scott Sinclair had a glass bottle thrown at him during Celtic's Scottish Cup game against Hibernian. He will be sentenced next month, but for now had admitted a breach of the peace charge and is banned from all games in Scotland
• 10/3- as Birmingham and Aston Villa clashed in 'The Second City Derby', Paul Mitchell thought it would be a spiffing idea to clobber Villa captain Jack Grealish round the back of the head, much to the joy of the Birmingham crowd (clearly failed to make an impact- Grealish scored the winner). Mitchell will have to watch his beloved Blues from prison for the next 14 weeks after being convicted of assault and pitch encroachment
• 10/3- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had just converted a penalty to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead over Manchester United (scenes), with the dubious infringement giving Gary Cooper the confidence to run onto the pitch, shove United defender Chris Smalling and celebrate with the Arsenal players. That has earned him a common assault charge, a pitch encroachment violation and a court decision on his fate later this month 

Ruined a fantastic moment (Getty Images)

It would actually take too much time to list all of the incidents over the last few seasons of fans invading the pitch and causing trouble. Essentially, we have reached a point when a slap on the wrist, fines and lifetime bans for fans just doesn't cut it anymore. Even in an era where security is tighter than ever and the police keep a watchful gaze over proceedings, spectators can still make their way onto the pitch and ruin a perfectly good game of football. Now comes the fear that one of these fans could do serious harm to one of these players; imagine if a Celtic vs Rangers game boiled over and one fan did more than just 'common assault'. There are checkpoints in place to ensure no weaponry is taken into the ground, but people can be inventive when it comes to violence. Sporting stars have been attacked before- just take the stabbing of American tennis player Monica Seles in 1993.

What a 'tennis face' (EPA)

Pitch invasions have actually been part of 'football culture' for decades. A game between England and Scotland on 4th June 1974 is cited as the moment when football hooliganism reared its ugly head on our glorious shores. The Scots triumphed over the English, with the surge of patriotism inciting fans to rush onto the pitch and annihilate one of the goals. While the likes of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace would look down and applaud their fellow Scots, there is no excuse for this sort of behaviour. It was a mindset that continued throughout the 70s and 80s, with fathers happily taking their kids to games just so they can have a go at causing some trouble and teach them some 'tricks of the trade'. British football fans became the face of general hooliganism, taking their tendencies abroad when their team faced off against the giants of Europe in the continental cup competitions. Foreign fans rose to the challenge, which only just made the problem worse. A vicious cycle of pain.

Orient vs Manchester United, 1974 (Flashbak)

Even in the stands, fans cause a stir by participating in racially or politically charged chants and actions that make this student of history have horrible flashbacks of demonstrations hailing the extreme regimes of times gone by. Banana skins and monkey sounds are still being directed towards players of colour (not just in football, by the way), and it's common to see fans chant in one voice about how specific ethnicities are terrible. In the last 2 months, West Ham fans were filmed directing abuse towards Liverpool's Egyptian maestro Mohammad Salah due to his Muslim beliefs, as well as Millwall (surprise, surprise) being charged as their fans conducted anti-Pakistani chanting during their FA Cup tie against Everton. In a world that is trying its best to be as inclusive and respective as possible, there are always those that will take it upon themselves to be utter pricks.

'Class' fans (Getty Images)

Politics and other external influences has merged itself into the mindset of football fans. There are scenes of European football fans raising their arms for the salute of the Nazi Party, raising standards adorned with fascist symbols and slogans that send shivers down one's spine. Rivalries between clubs can turn from cheerful banter to open conflict, whether because they share the same city (Lazio and Roma are both based in Rome), their success (Argentine clubs Boca Juniors and River Plate play in Buenos Aires and dominate Argentine football) or even religion (Celtic are Catholic, Rangers are Protestant). The Old Firm Derby between Celtic and Rangers covers all three of these brackets, so there's no surprise that there have been a tremendous amount of violence, with letter bombs being sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon in 2011. Sometimes, football can be much more than a game.

A happy chappy (Press and Journal)

It's a shame that those iconic images of Borussia Dortmund's 'Yellow Wall' or the Kop at Anfield bursting into a rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' are overshadowed by these scenes of violence and political extremism. In cases such as invading the pitch during the World Cup Final in 2018 (a move that Pussy Riot claimed responsibility for), it really is hard to escape politics. There have been more hilarious cases of pitch invasions, such as Morganna 'The Kissing Bandit' Roberts, who infringed on NBA and MLB games to kiss players on the cheek. She became an unofficial mascot of the MLB, and it was all taken in jest by players, officials and the higher powers of baseball. This was during the 1960s-1990s, meaning that fan presence on the field of play wasn't as much as a security risk as it is nowadays. Nonetheless, it's satisfying to see an example of the more lighthearted pitch invasions.

Not to be confused with the League of Legends character or the Arthurian sorceress (AP Photo)

We should applaud Morganna for being a precedent of better fan behaviour if they find themselves on the pitch, but that praise is still drowned out by the general bad reputation of pitch invasions and fan trouble. Aggressive behaviour by fans is generally seen as negative, but there have been times when fans have taken a stand for the right reasons. One prominent example comes from 1971, as the South African rugby team toured Australia. At the time, South Africa was divided due to the implementation of apartheid, with the black population of the country segregated and oppressed by the white minority. The Springboks were a white-only team, and the Anti-Apartheid Movement (a left-leaning Australian protest group) decided to voice their opinions. Games in Adelaide and Perth were disrupted by youths, with the third match in Melbourne attracting a large crowd to descend upon Olympic Park. The police were armed with batons, forming a wall around the stadium to stop any notion of trouble. It was in Sydney that saw the demonstrations become more active, as attempts were made to cut down the goal posts before the match took place. As Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen declaring a month-long state of emergency, the moves of the AAM were making a mark as the subsequent South African summer cricket tour to Australia called off. Again, the more 'pleasant' side of fan trouble.

A hostile start to the tour (Getty Images)

This humble blogger has made his way onto a football pitch before, yet this was after the game had finished and was under very strict control of officials and security. After Plymouth Argyle had scored a last minute winner against Portsmouth in the League 2 play-off semi-finals and Home Park had gone wild, fans made their way onto the pitch to celebrate. Sadly, the photo taken of this Argyle fan and his compatriots on the hallowed turf have been lost to time (might be out there somewhere, with a bit of digging) but it is a memory stuck in one's mind. Some members of the Green Army did mock the travelling Pompey fans to bring a small downside to the proceedings, but that's football for you really. These sorts of pitch invasions are more or less OK, although they can halt any important things that need to take place on the pitch such as trophy ceremonies or ground staff work. As long as nobody starts trashing the place up, then at least we have another more positive example of 'fan trouble'.

What a strange dance (Harry Trump)

Scenes as lovely as this still don't justify what transpired last week in both England and Scotland. Nobody was harmed and Grealish took his whacking like a champion (some footballers would have feigned drastic injury *cough* Sergio Ramos *cough*), but the real harm is the reputation of the game. Cheating will sadly always be prevalent in sport, the scuffles between players is seen by impressionable youths and there is now so much money in football that some clubs spend more on their defence than a Balkan country. Spectator violence and the 'hilarious' act of invading the pitch just ruins it for everyone, with calls now being made to reintroduce fences around the pitch and to heighten security and separation between fans. Football needs to learn from the likes of rugby as these fans mingle with one another, drinking and eating as 30 burly men crash into each other. Happy days.

Good times- can England put in another solid performance against Scotland this weekend?

To bring the whole ramble to a close, one feels as if the whole situation is something like gun violence. Hold on, before everyone loses their minds and start to chastise these opinions, it's important to clarify that gun violence and fan trouble are not on the same level i.e. guns are worse than spectator stupidity. The continuing problem of gun laws over in the United States are far more serious than making sure fans behave themselves, but that old argument of 'only a really bad incident can enforce change' relates to both guns and fan trouble. Even though there is clear evidence that gun ownership should be more controlled, the higher powers look down at their feet and mumble something about 'thoughts and prayers'. If a fan runs onto the pitch and fatally harms a player or official, then that would surely get FIFA, the FA or whoever to take action. Honestly, it's best to address the issue now rather than let a serious incident occur. Seems simple enough, but nothing really is- just look at Brexit (bollocks, we were so close to not mentioning it).

Sorry Theresa, the pub can't save you now

Ben G 😁 xo