Peter Herbert get his wish

Peter Herbert gets his wish

Most people would be forgiven for not knowing the name Peter Herbert much before the end of October this year.

I personally had never heard of the man or read any of his views on racism.

However over the last few weeks this gentleman has become the voice the media run to each time there is a hint of racism to comment on.

I am sure Mr Herbert’s point of view is well meaning after all who can argue that racism is right? Nobody in their right mind surely.

 On Thursday last week several Tottenham fans were ambushed and severely stabbed and beaten  in a bar in Rome.

Anti-Semitic banners and chanting were heard throughout the game.

On Sunday the visitors to White Hart Lane were West Ham United. Once again vile anti-sematic chants were heard throughout the game.

The thing is Rome and English supporters is not a good mix. There has been trouble there each and every time and English club has played there.

The issue missing with the other clubs is the anti-Semitism, so why so prominent on Thursday?

Then there is West Ham. One of the originators of the hissing that used to ring around Upton Park whenever Tottenham played there. The same supporters who came up with the ditty Spurs are on the way to Belsen Hitler’s gonna gas em again!

But that was back in the bad old 80s.

Whatever you say football has moved on massively over the last 30 years, supporters from all walks of life go to games together shoulder to shoulder to support their team.

Long gone are the days of the National Front man recruiting in the stands.

Like most other Spurs supporters I was outraged when Peter Herbert dared suggest that we should stop chanting Yid Army. I even wrote an article in support of it as a positive influence in my life.

But with all the discussion and debate on the issue, inevitably there has been massive media coverage. It is here where I feel that Peter Herbert has got what he wanted.

The more we stood up to his misguided crusade the more the issue has become a weapon for those stupid enough to want to use it.

I still strongly believe that the reasons for taking on the Yid Army identity are valid. I also believe that over the last 30 years it has contributed to the demise of the chants which were heard around the Lane on Sunday.

Peter Herbert’s crusade on the other hand has just thrust us back into the bad old days!

Had this issue not been thrown into the limelight I doubt very much is West Ham supporters would have disgraced their club as badly as they have. There will always be idiots and bigots in football grounds, but on the whole their influence is normally muted by the sensible majority who want banter not hatred.

I don’t believe the attack in Rome was initially due to our Jewish connections, I believe they would have attacked us anyway, they always seem to. But raising the Jewish connection time and again through the media has given these idiots even more cause.

Peter Herbert will say that its because we make our chants it legitimises the opposition fans behaviour? I disagree I think that the massive coverage in the media and on social networking  has pushed the issue back to the forefront allowing some supporters the opportunity to prove Mr Herbert’s point.

Unfortunately Peter you got your wish!

welcome back to the 1980s

Welcome back to the1980’s

Like most Tottenham fans I was disgusted at the thuggery inflicted upon our supporters in Rome last Thursday night!

My thoughts and prayers go out to Ashley Mills, Dave Lesley, Stephen Tierney and Christopher Allen their family and friends and anyone else affected by what happened to them in the Drunken Ship, on the eve of our Europa league match against Lazio.

Here’s hoping you make a swift and full recovery!

It seems that travelling outside of the UK to watch a football match remains as dangerous as ever!

In 1985 English teams were banned from playing in European competition due to the Heysel stadium disaster. The ban continued for some 5 years.

However the Heysel disaster was only one of a long list of problems caused by English hooligans around Europe during the 1970s and 80s.

To be fair there was always someone prepared to have a tear up with the English it was not all one sided, but because of our brazenness inevitably we took the bulk of the blame.

English football has come a long way from those days, on the whole a trip to see your favourite team can and is for a lot of people a family day out. Wives, girlfriends, sons and daughters all join in the experience, safe in the knowledge that they will be going home safe at the end of the day.

Long gone are the days of young men mob handed outside the pub looking for the other teams top boys to show their face shouting “lets ave it”!

However there is an element of the 80s that has created a sub culture in this country and to a more extreme level all around Europe.

You will still see the clothes of the 80s at most football grounds in England especially around us middle aged men who were part of the culture in the 1980s.

I include myself in this as wearing the right clobber to go to football is still a part of the experience for me, (call it nostalgia.)

Danny Dyer has made a good living reminiscing with old Skool hooligans for his TV show. Those guys have also made a good few quid from books interviews and even films. There are also a fair few websites and clothing lines dedicated to it. It seems there is still glamour around the subject.

Going away to places like Italy Germany Serbia and Turkey though is almost like going back in time. The clothing the organisation, the attitudes are all based on the English hooligans of the 80s!

Danny Dyer’s programme visits hooligans abroad and their overwhelming story is their admiration for our hooligan culture.

So if these guys in these countries base their plans, attitudes and processes on our past, perhaps it is time for the powers to be to look at what they did in the 80s to change us, and use the same powers to change them?

Perhaps its time to ban these clubs, these countries these fans!

The authorities cannot continue to allow these places to work to a different set of rules to those used everywhere else.

Football supporters should be able to go to a match in any country and feel as welcome and safe as the other supporters feel when coming to White Hart lane?