FSA issues fresh plea to football fans in England to stamp out the scourge of tragedy chanting
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The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) have called upon people attending football matches in England to support efforts to eliminate tragedy chanting from stadia in the country.Over the past few years, a number of fixtures in the Premier League and EFL have been tainted by vile, hateful chanting from a minority of spectators in attendance who inexplicably use tragic losses of life as a vehicle for provocation.Liverpool fans have sadly experienced this far too often with disgusting chants about the 97 people who were unlawfully killed in the Hillsborough disaster, along with taunts about poverty in the Merseyside city.Other fan bases have also been subjected to this disease in the sport, with tragedies such as the fatal stabbings of two Leeds supporters in Istanbul in 2000 and the Munich air disaster of 1958 in which most of the Manchester United team died being referenced in hateful chanting which has no place in society.Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustFSA urges fans to put an end to tragedy chantingThe FSA published a statement on their official website calling for an end to tragedy chanting at football matches in the UK, to coincide with the commencement of the club season in England.In a post on X, they declared: ‘As a new season gets underway, football fans across the country are being urged to support efforts to eradicate tragedy chanting from the game. ‘Tragedy chanting can land fans in serious trouble, including convictions and banning orders.
We don’t want to see football fans criminalised. Education is the key to ending tragedy chanting.’(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)FSA member Joe Blott – who’s also involved with the Spirit of Shankly supporters’ group – has said: “As supporters, generally we police ourselves well.
Efforts against tragedy chanting have to be supporter-led.“Tragedy chanting can land you in serious trouble, including convictions and banning orders, but we don’t want to see football fans criminalised. This is why education is so important for our younger and future generations.”(Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)Tragedy chanting will only disappear with proper punishmentWe commend the FSA’s efforts in highlighting the scourge of tragedy chanting and campaigning for its permanent removal from English football, but sadly the depressingly immature nature of many replies to their post on X show just how steep of an uphill battle is being fought in that regard.We’re all for good-natured banter at stadia, which is part and parcel of the match-going experience, but there’s a fine line between slagging opposition fans over their team’s failings on the pitch and plunging the depths of hate crime by mocking those affected by tragedies.Chants of ‘murderers’ and ‘victims’ which are aimed towards Liverpool fans are not banter – they’re a hate crime and should lead to prosecution and banning orders, rather than hollow tutting from the authorities for a day or two before the matter is quickly swept under the carpet.Sadly, until such time that every single person who attends a football match takes it upon themselves to act responsibily, and punishments with consequence are meted out to perpetrators of tragedy chanting, this disease will continue to rear its ugly head in our game.