O/T:- Millwall FC ban the knee!

[lunaspie]

I always thought that Millwall fans were some of the most racist in football. However, it turns out, despite a host of evidence to the contrary, that it has all been a very long protest about politics in football.

I just need to work out what the bananas on the pitch were for - any ideas? EU bendy bananas? A misguided protest against the Lib Dems?

I seem to remember they always threw a bunch on the pitch up in Scotland whenever East Fyffe played.

[Glad2BeAPie]

As Mark Bright said, kneeling has run its course, but why wasn't it done before instead of waiting for a low life to die

[SwalePie]

As Mark Bright said, kneeling has run its course, but why wasn't it done before instead of waiting for a low life to die

It started long before that with Colin Kaepernick in 2016 or 2017 I think. Trump famously demanded that he be sacked by his club IIRC.

[BigFatPie]

I have a feeling that a lot of those people saying ‘it’s run it’s course’ weren’t big fans of it in the first place.

Or any other anti-racism gestures/campaigns for that matter.

[matt_magpie]

I'm neither for or against it, if it raises awareness of racism then there's no harm in it and I guess it will run it's course. I do question Kick out though, for me their just waiting to pounce on someone like Greg Clarke, yes possibly a bit of a dinosaur but them commenting on it like he was racist, totally taking out of context him highlighting black players abuse through twitter for me was just totally wrong.

[irish_pie]

Millwall have not banned it. There was a meeting of several stakeholders, including the club, Kick It Out, and players representatives who decided how to react. In my opinion, the booing on Saturday was racist. For anybody who thinks there is not a racist problem in football, the next time there is a proper crowd at Meadow Lane, take a look around. There may be up to half the players who are black, but how many black faces will you see in the crowd? Black people, and other minorities are put off football by the racism, and the booing compounds that.

This is a very good post... if any club would be first to boo taking the knee if would be that toilet of a football club... the look of horror on some of the players faces wasn't nice to see but for me this taking a knee is complete nonsense anyway...just watch match of the day, they show it for every single game... after a while people get sick of something being rammed down their throat... be interesting to see who cracks next.

[crazyfists]

https://www.theguardian.com/football...-taking-a-knee

[applepie]

Well why do you think they were booing, Elite? To say they were just Millwall yobs is easy, and perhaps they were, but there could be the reason that they had seen it all before on the telly and were there for the game and not to watch 22 grown men getting their knees muddy.

Slightly, and only slightly, off the main fred, have you noticed how some of the black players are now raising the clenched fist whilst kneeling? Black power symbolism? Do we sympathize?

I’m very wary of assuming what people mean by any gesture. I remember when Hughes did the Hughesie and some people claimed he was enacting steering a car 🙄.

[maddogslater]

Very true.

Get rid of all of it and just play football, which after all is what people have paid their money to see. There are plenty of other places where folk can voluntarily express their social and political views, take part in remembrance or religious ceremonies, express their conscience or do whatever else they please.

Football administrators seem to be obsessed with this idea of a “football community” within which everyone subscribes (or should subscribe) to the same views, beliefs and causes, and that these must be officially endorsed or encouraged and signalled within the sporting event, albeit more for corporate commercial reasons than moral reasons if the truth be told.

The reality is that the mythical “football community” does not have a homogenous view on anything. It’s a massive, worldwide group of individual fans and players coming from a vast array of different backgrounds, each with their own experiences and reasons for seeing the world the way they do.

If you corral such a diverse range of people into a football stadium (charging many of them for the privilege) and then promote the expression of one particular view or participation in one particular act, you shouldn’t be surprised if sooner or later a certain group of individuals express a different view, regardless of whether that happens to be a minority view or even an abhorrent view to others.

Your point about remembrance is a good one. I remember the fuss that occurred when footballer James McClean opted not to wear a poppy on his shirt – a choice he was perfectly entitled to make. If you seek to force or embarrass someone into to wearing a poppy, how does that accord with the freedom of speech and expression that those you are remembering were supposedly fighting for?!

I wear my poppy with pride but I do so voluntarily, when and where I want, in the lead up to 11th November. If I want to be part of the Remembrance activity at that time of year, I can visit the local events arranged for that purpose or join in the single national two minutes’ silence. I do not need to do it at a football match. The only thing I’ve consented to do in paying to enter a football match is watch fecking football, and it is an imposition that the football authorities assume I wish to do anything else or that they can accurately represent my views on anything else!

Well put jackal, OT post of the year.

[Ayeayeskipper]

Great to see the Notts players take the knee tonight in support of organizing that defaced the Cenotaph.