Out of respect for Queen Elizabeth, I didn’t want to on the day of her funeral give any attention towards those who booed the National Anthem at Goodison Park on Sunday and at certain SPL fixtures (which is why Scotland on Tuesday went for a minutes applause rather than silence).
The National press obviously made a promise to do the same, reporting like all pre match rituals were met with respect by those in the crowd.
Yet Eric Dier, to his credit, once again put the behaviour of fans in England again into focus by admitting out of fear he doesn’t allow his parents to attend away games.
How sad that instead of the talk being about how the Spurs defender has earnt a recall by the Three Lions, the topic centred around the day he felt compelled to jump into the stands and protect his brother from abuse.
The same abuse his family were subjected to when visiting Stamford Bridge last month.
Rightly the 28 year old equally questioned how the media reports these incidents, almost like it’s part of the sport we have to accept.
I have long written football supporters in Britain having an issue where they can’t separate the game with the real world.
Someone’s mum, gran, monarch has passed away .
Clearly by the thousands who camped in London for hours to see her at rest, there is evidence that this person meant a lot to a lot of people .
It’s not about being a royalist, it’s simple having some class.
I have no feelings either way to the Royals. I do acknowledge though it’s something that upset many and my education tells me empathise with that.
My upbringing teaches me that if someone if grieving to allow them to do so.
If you don’t want to sing God Save the King, then don’t, that’s your right .
Yet by booing and chanting your making it all about your own agenda.
You know like Liverpool do every time they travel to Wembley.
In the Cup Final Prince William was taunted with hand gestures and vile words.
The same City who expect rightly for silence when they want to remember Hillsborough.
The same city who accuse the French media of sweeping under the carpet how their police behaved in May.
Yet they don’t mind the English press leaving out how on Sunday, Everton, the ‘People’s Club’, couldn’t for a few minutes be dignified for the death of a 96 year old.
They will tell you they are Scousers and how opposing anything dictated to them by the government is their badge of honour.
Sickening, a generation will grow up thinking booing a national anthem is normal behaviour.
Liverpool after all is the only city in the world who in any period of history has been hard done by politics.
The irony is; it’s the same fans who can’t sit through a period of silence or a song that wondered why football was one of the few sports postponed the weekend after the Queen’s death.
The saddest part is they probably don’t see that irony.
Horse racing, cricket, tennis, etc have followers with a certain decorum.
The FA and the Premier League knowing they embody the national sport in the UK most likely asked could grounds across Britain be trusted to celebrate the life of the head of state, or at the very least show warmth to the Royal Family?
It was too much of a risk and the juice simply wasn’t worth the squeeze.
It would have been an embarrassment to football if 24 hours after the Queen’s passing the national anthem be drowned out by morons who can’t see the bigger picture (go check what Dundee fans chanted !)
As we start a new era with a new king, many are uncertain about the future .
One of the concerning aspects on the rise that needs to be fixed, is people thinking, in the confines of a football bubble, they can say and do anything they regard.
Essentially a Euros, that the UK hosted,was marred by online racial abuse and fans breaking into stadiums.
Even some not trying to be offensive lacked sensitivity.
There were articles on how a weekend off could benefit us, not benefit us, be good for our rivals, not be good, etc .
Say that out loud, fixtures are postponed due to the death of a human being, and we are using a death to debate who gets a sporting advantage .
Football is a beautiful game but it’s just that ….a game.
Dan Smith
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