There was carnage in central London during the match. Photo / AP
There was carnage in central London during the match. Photo / AP
OPINION:
As an English football fan ever since I watched my first game in 1969 I was rather upset by the Euro 2020 final.
Not because of the disappointment, which as a fan of Queens Park Rangers and England I have been living with for decades, but because ofthe global condemnation of the English as a boorish, racist, violent mob who assault women and abuse children.
As an English Kiwi, I am used to the ribbing that accompanies any rugby game between the two, even though I long switched my allegiance to the All Blacks with England as my second team in most sports, including football.
But this outpouring of scorn from around the world and the almost universal support of Italy by neutrals in the recent game was a bit of a wake-up call. In rugby, England are derided for our public-school arrogance even though a very small proportion have been educated at public schools. In football, we're derided for being a low life underclass. Those of us in the middle are getting squeezed.
I have been in New Zealand for the last twenty years and I have heard far more racism here than I ever did in England, though I maybe have my middle-class Home Counties upbringing to thank for that. I had a season ticket at QPR for several years and I have heard players being abused for many things but rarely for the colour of their skins. Several of my friends growing up would have been described as football hooligans but this was about childish, macho, tribalism, not racism. There is a lot less fighting in and around the grounds which was pretty constant when I was growing up but there is something rotten going on.
I have tried arguing that it's not really fair to blame the 98 per cent of decent English football lovers for the minority of scum, but nobody wants to listen. I'm told it is the majority who are enabling the minority which to me is like blaming all Germans for Hitler or all Russians for Stalin, and I feel goes a bit far.
Or does it? Are the rest of us not doing enough, even with the distinct probability of being punched in the face for intervening?
On top of emboldening by Brexit and the sharing of extremist views on social media, I doubt that the Covid restrictions have helped fostered much togetherness among those whose natural state is aggression and scapegoating.
Paul Catmur has bee a football fan since 1969. Photo / Dan Max
On the other hand, maybe this global opprobrium is a good thing. Maybe the behaviour has finally sunk so low that something will be done. Had England won, these issues would have been swept under the carpet and we'd have been told to concentrate on the positives amidst the national jubilation. The rest of the world has united in its condemnation of the English xenophobic nationalism which may actually be a good thing.
So hopefully, in England, the game will be provoked into getting its house in order, though sadly, I fear this behaviour is a symptom of issues that run much deeper than just a game.
I think it's a little much to blame me, but I suspect the likes of Nigel Farage may well have spittle on their hands.
- Paul Catmur is a former advertising executive and a QPR fan.
