Kick it Out.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Kick it Out.
Owing to a moment of unmitigated madness on an online football related social media forum, I attracted shall we say, the interest of the National Football Authorities, in this case the Police.

Because of a comment I made on a dedicated football site that was construed as being “racist” in nature. There was also the belief that I had sent a “malicious communication”.

It quickly became apparent I had landed myself in a spot of serious bother. I must say I was treated fairly and with courteousness by the individual police officers who interviewed me under caution. It is worth a mention I did not deny writing the opinion and from the get-go accepted full responsibility for articulating and posting the message.

Without going into expansive detail all I can say categorically and with fair warning from my own recent experience is I can only warn football fans of any club, tribe, or colour to desist from what we footy fans call “banter”.

Obviously collective fan chanting or individuals slinging abuse at rival fans about tragedies such as Hillsborough, the Bradford City Fire Disaster & the Munich Air Disaster and all the many other catastrophes we have witnessed at football grounds or during travel to or from games are now categorically off the menu.

Aiming tasteless helicopter whirring propellor signs towards Chelsea and Leicester fans are an obvious no-no, arm spreading to indicate plane wings to Manchester United fans or aiming choking or CPR relief images to Liverpool fans are quite likely to result in a period of incarceration at one of His Majesty’s penal establishments.

It came as a bit of a shock to me to discover there is a small army of dedicated uniformed police and IT auditors who monitor the behaviour of football fans 24/7. The surveillance society we now live in seems to me to take a particular interest in the behavioural aspects of British football fans. Government inspired scapegoating of football fans. Whatever next?

In a form of rehabilitation for my own transgression I was made to attend a mandatory Kick it Out themed “education course”. I had no idea what to expect but discovered it to be a one-on-one two-hour discussion with a very genial but football knowledgeable Geordie instructor who turned out to be a Toon fan. A police representative was also in attendance.

In this new age of moral enlightenment, it was made very clear to me a zero-tolerance approach to any type of a measured hate crime in a football environment will not be tolerated. The age-old alcohol fuelled two team tribalism is what we are told we don’t want to see in football, but from my own experience a lot of football fans really love to see it and participate in is now also completely taboo.

I concluded from the course it is not just paternal wokeism that the Kick it Out campaign is all about, it is seriously seeking to draw a line under unacceptable behaviour at football matches. It is equally obvious that Football Banning Orders, fines, and jail sentences are waiting around the corner for perpetrators of any sort of abuse that may fall under the Equality Act of 2010.

The act is a useful weapon for the police to use in the Kick it Out programme. It is designed to protect people from discrimination, harassment, or victimisation in employment, and as users of private and public services based on nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, ***, and ***ual orientation.

Charges of “Hate Crime” await anyone who breaks the law by failing to comply or adhere to these legal requisites. The end message is clear to football fans in England and Wales, when attending football matches or articulating your opinions online either behave in a civilised manner or get Kicked Out!

An article and opinion piece from the Editor of Clarets Mad, the forum for supporters of Burnley Football club fans everywhere.

[alfinyalcabo]

Thanks for the info BT,no more banter from me from now on. I'm too old and frail to attend courses in Manchester.🙄

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Thanks for the info BT,no more banter from me from now on. I'm too old and frail to attend courses in Manchester.��

And God help any person who is on the wrong end of a football related (or none) anti-Semitic complaint.

I now know for certain we live in a lunatic asylum named "Woke House".

[ballcock]

The country is going to the dogs and will get even more barking when labour get their grubby claws on the job

[Swissclaret]

Ironical that everyone makes great store of Britain being a democracy with the freedom of speech enshrined in the unwritten constitution - provided of course that the speech conforms to the rules of Big Brother and the woke brigade.

[kritichris]

It amazes me, they police forums for racism but they don't police live matches, the abuse that black players get continues.

[kritichris]

The footymad forums have 2.8 million posts and when you think about all the other footie forums there must be 10's of millions of posts at least. Then you have social media. i know they have software that helps pick out key words but the scrutiny must be really time consuming for what cannot be a big or serious haul of flagged comments compared to what you hear in the real world which is far worse. Added to which it seems a lot of abuse in social media goes un prosecuted because they can't identify the offenders, the serious abusers hide behind false registration details so it seems they're going for soft targets rather than properly dealing with the serious stuff.

[outwoodclaret]

In the new age of moral enlightenment Football’s World Cups have been awarded to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

[army88]

The footymad forums have 2.8 million posts and when you think about all the other footie forums there must be 10's of millions of posts at least. Then you have social media. i know they have software that helps pick out key words but the scrutiny must be really time consuming for what cannot be a big or serious haul of flagged comments compared to what you hear in the real world which is far worse. Added to which it seems a lot of abuse in social media goes un prosecuted because they can't identify the offenders, the serious abusers hide behind false registration details so it seems they're going for soft targets rather than properly dealing with the serious stuff.

Easy targets Chris - keyboard warriors

Proper policing catching rapist - drug s barons - stabbings not so much.

In a week where they projected racist and inciteful comments on Big Ben and nothing was done so as not to not upset the Muslim mayor and Muslim communities.

That should tell you all you need to know about the world we live in today and yet BT is dragged over the coals for nothing in comparison/ a laugh or humour it was meant to be.

The world is a mad place I’m afraid.

[Swissclaret]

I agree army. It is hard to know where to begin. And it is getting more insane by the day.

There is no doubt in my mind that England will be a Muslim country in not too many years.