I mean, yes and no. Racism is definitely being used as a wedge issue by Putin-affiliated Internet operations - that much is clear from Facebook advertising data. But it’s not creating it: English football has had a mean streak of racism running through it since football has been a thing. And I don’t think any of this is directly incited by foreign powers. It’s just angry racists being angry.
Nope. The articles were about how the team had managed to speak out against the divisive populist tactics of our current government, helped (in no small part) by the mainstream media through offering an explanation of their actions and what it meant to them in the sadly naïve belief that the fans as a whole would take it to heart.
The cognitive dissonance required to publish such self-congratulatory articles whilst not questioning today’s comments from Johnson, Patel & Dowden without highlighting their hypocrisy is stunning.
It almost as if England football fans are not a homogenous group of like-minded individuals, but a cross section of society with a particularly noxious section having their basest enthusiasms indulged by culture-warrior politicos and “commentators” and emboldened by Brexit and it’s psy-ops campaigns.
Totally concur with you. The problem is the fixation on the actual result. I’ve found as I get older the result matters less than the process, and on that front this England team, including Southgate, have been a true inspiration. They’ve played some fantastic football whilst being powerful advocates for social justice.
Italy played very well, and the result was fair, but the England team have nothing to be ashamed of and should be immensely proud of themselves.
Wow, if that’s at the stadium (or really wherever it is), security there really sucks. 
Thank you! Several people have called him mediocre. He’s an ex-international, a player at the top level. Someone who rose through a genuinely meritocratic system, one that most boys in the world dream of rising up through but aren’t talented and driven and hard working enough.
He then goes to manage England to their BEST tournament in 55 years. 55 years! And does it in a dignified manner. One which stresses anti racism, that avoids jingoism, and that fosters pride and respect in a sustainable and honourable endeavour.
I would have no problem with that team and that manager winning. I would have a problem with the fash claiming the credit for something they actively worked against.
This team were the opposite of the jingoistic, dystopian, corrupt, drug fuelled Olympics that the UK were so proud of. If sports can ever stand for decency, for me they did.
And that’s the problem, isn’t it? That in the end, no matter what the players , staff, and FA were like… the fans are what is going to be remembered from this by their actions. And the FA , ultimately, won’t do shit to them. They won’t ban them from matches, they will fight against any sanctions for racial abuse UEFA hands down, and they’ll talk about “the misdirected passions of the English fan.”
All that’s going to be remembered from this is the incredibly poor sportsmanship of the english fan, and the english team removing their second place medals and skulking about.
The point of sports is to be in the game.
At my advanced age, when I play hockey most of us couldn’t tell you the score in a given moment. Usually over beers in the locker room we try to recount the game to figure out who ‘won’. It wasn’t always that way, but none of the people I play with were ever going to be playing elite anything. Just regular folks enjoying sport.
When I watch elite sports I always try to remember that while they might make a mistake, 100% of the players in that particular game are orders of magnitude better at the sport than literally every person I have ever met.*
Literally every single person screaming at the players in this instance are worse at the sport than the people they are vilifying. 100% of the racist morons would be embarrassed by their targets if they ever shared a field.
- With the exclusion of a couple actual pros that I happened to grow up with.
I think that a relatively small number of people have dominated the discourse. The bigger issue is that the current regime has stoked that smallish group as their stormtroopers in the culture wars. As a Tory MP said today “if you dogwhistle, don’t be surprised when the dog bites”.
There had been some progress in recent times on dealing with English fash abroad and de-escalation of violence. There is obviously no support from the top for that now.
England is in many ways the least racist country to Black people in Europe, shocking I know, but there it is. Being Black in the EU | European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
England fans have this element in part because it seems to have been driven out of the club game and English club matches are significantly less subject to racist chants than many other European clubs. So yes, I believe they can get rid of this and were making progress.
This is now stopped and reversed. Obviously de Pfeiffel and Patel are not capable of honest self reflection.
Toxic Fandom.
Those who are unwilling or incapable of doing themselves, bitch, moan, and scream at the ones who do.
Kinda like politics when you think about it.
They are perfectly capable of reflection and know exactly what they’re doing.
Fair point.
I azzurri you, it is fun to play
If you can reverse the outcome with one fluke at the end, then your opponents weren’t playing that well to start with and they deserve what they get.
Memories of Liverpool vs Carlisle in the EFL cup, when the Carlisle fans were singing “you’re getting sacked in the morning” at Brendan Rodgers because of Liverpool’s inability to score a winner against a team three leagues below them and who had the worst defensive record in the country. Brendan Rodgers didn’t get sacked after Liverpool won on penalties, but a month later Jurgen Klopp had taken his job. I’m a Carlisle fan, but Liverpool should have hammered us that night.
And this highlights the stupidity of blaming the penalty kickers who missed- everyone involved had numerous chances to win or lose for 120 friggin’ minutes. Like blaming a kicker for a last minute missed field goal (in USian football), when there were dozens of dropped passes, missed blocks and tackles, interceptions, etc.; or blaming the person who misses a last minute shot in basketball, never mind that someone else in the first half missed numerous free throws or gave away turnovers. For some reason we fixate on the last moment to find blame instead of the overall picture.
I’ve met plenty of white people. Most of them through out most of my life weren’t so public/loud about their racism. They hid it well it really feels like it was only in the past decade or so that they felt comfortable voicing it.
I’m not saying they weren’t there and that racism didn’t exist until someone chose to exploit it for geopolitical ends. I’m just wondering if a few agents aren’t out there trying to provoke people into vocalizing thoughts/beliefs that before they would’ve kept to themselves.
I recall hearing all sorts of racist shit from people in the 80’s in person… then in the 90’s early 00’s it all seemed to disappear. Then poof late 00’s and onward it’s like people suddenly became comfortable expressing their horribly racist BS again. I mean it’s all my personal bubble I suppose… but I just wonder if something additional is at foot.
Oh, yeah. Google Spain + Racism. And not just in soccer… as far as sports, but even in Formula 1.
It doesn’t even need to be elite level. Penrith FC in the North West Counties Northern league are a semi-professional* team, and would need to be promoted eight times without relegation to play at an elite level, but they can outplay a pub league team easily.
An elite player on their worst day will always be better than the average person on their best day, assuming that the elite player isn’t injured.
* They train and play part time and have other jobs. Some of the England squad started their career playing in semi-professional teams.
