?% Villa (is that a thing, that % business?) Homophobia in Football

[OzVilla]

Well as we dont know what they were chanting it makes it a bit difficult to judge, on one hand she may have taken it out of context or on the other it could have been really vicious.

You can be sure we'd certainly not be putting up with it if it were racist.

 

[purpletrousers]

Sadly 100% Vila.
Reminds me of a number of uncomfortable incidents of singling out an individual for varying reasons.
The sad effect of majority influenc?
Most wouldn't go up to the individual 1:1 and give the same abuse. No reason why being part of a crowd makes you less responsible. More so perhaps given the collective impact. .

Police probe homophobic chants at Aston Villa match

Police say they are investigating after the chants were reported by stewards

A football fan says she was reduced to tears after being subjected to homophobic abuse at a match at Villa Park.
Middlesbrough fan Carol Smith said a handful of fans chanted at her for half an hour as she watched her side play Aston Villa with her wife Stacey on Tuesday.
West Midlands Police is investigating, but said no arrests have been made.
The force said: "Some people were spoken to and their details taken."
Mrs Smith, 35, from Birmingham, said she was sat in the away stand next to the home fans in the North Stand when "they [the home fans] just started picking on me".
'Heartbreaking'
"I laughed it off first time and the second time, but it turned out to be for 30 minutes continuous that they kept singing it so I just got a bit upset."
She said the treatment had put her off attending future matches.
"It took away the win, I came out of there and felt like we'd been battered 10-nil, I was really deflated," she added.
"It's just so heartbreaking to hear it."
Middlesbrough won the Carabao Cup third round match 2-0.
The BBC has contacted Aston Villa for comment.

[Dave]

sounds like a storm in a D cup to me - football fans baiting rival fans is par for the course.

Yeah, just like black supporters shouldn't get all uppity if people want to make monkey noises at them.

It's only baiting rival fans after all.

[frank black]

Well merged admin forgot about this thread....As I said hope they get lifetime bans.

[tomd2103]

Well as we dont know what they were chanting it makes it a bit difficult to judge, on one hand she may have taken it out of context or on the other it could have been really vicious.

You can be sure we'd certainly not be putting up with it if it were racist.

Exactly.  Where was this chanting coming from as well?  Their small pocket of support was relatively far away from the North Stand and there was hardly anybody in the Doug Ellis Stand, so I'd be interested to hear where it was coming from and exactly what was being chanted before I rush to condemn anyone.   

[brian green]

It is bad and wrong and needs to be stamped out but you can bet your mortgage that the FA are much more likely to punish us for it than they are to punish Manchester United fans for singing about the size of a black man's penis.

[mr underhill]

it is Brian and i wasn't condoning it - merely pointing out that shit happens in football grounds as anyone attending on a regular basis knows - including the ever right on/PC  Dave.

[lordmcgrath5]

There's a difference between taking the piss out a football team and singing personal abuse to one lady. Not on.

This

[dave.woodhall]

it is Brian and i wasn't condoning it - merely pointing out that shit happens in football grounds as anyone attending on a regular basis knows - including the ever right on/PC  Dave.

Shit happens so it's alright to be sexist, homophobic and if you disagree you're just being PC.

[dave shelley]

Why would you want to pick on someone anyway if this is indeed true?  Sometimes human nature really is shit.

[tomd2103]

Why would you want to pick on someone anyway if this is indeed true?  Sometimes human nature really is shit.

Again, has there been any clarification about exactly what went on?  It sounds like we are being led to believe that some Villa fans (again doesn't say where they were seated) spotted two women sitting next to each other 30 yards away, immediately assumed they were gay and began abusing them.  That was obviously enough to convince the BBC that was the case and they could drag the club's name through the mud again.   

[cdbearsfan]

Getting a bit Millwall with the "the media are out to get us" defence. If some of our fans didn't act like twats, they'd have nothing to criticise them for. Singling out fans for homophobic abuse is scumbag behaviour and we would, rightly, lay into any other group of supporters that did it.

[SoccerHQ]

Those fans in the corner of the North right by the away section are always baiting the away fans.

I don't know how true this is but there isn't huge distance between the two sections so I imagine the words used would be pretty audible.

[tomd2103]

Getting a bit Millwall with the "the media are out to get us" defence. If some of our fans didn't act like twats, they'd have nothing to criticise them for. Singling out fans for homophobic abuse is scumbag behaviour and we would, rightly, lay into any other group of supporters that did it.

Agree, but only if the facts had been clearly established first.

[tomd2103]

Those fans in the corner of the North right by the away section are always baiting the away fans.

I don't know how true this is but there isn't huge distance between the two sections so I imagine the words used would be pretty audible.

There was a bigger distance than usual on Tuesday.