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The FA Will Not Devalue Our Jewish Heritage

2 min read
by The Fighting Cock
In some sense we should be grateful that a few months have passed by without our fans being labelled racists or told they’re part of the problem when it comes to discrimination in football. It was nice while it lasted. A recent statement by the FA has once again thrown the issue of “the Y […]

In some sense we should be grateful that a few months have passed by without our fans being labelled racists or told they’re part of the problem when it comes to discrimination in football. It was nice while it lasted. A recent statement by the FA has once again thrown the issue of “the Y word” onto the front pages however, and a new chapter in this ridiculous saga looks set to open.

spurs fans webThis recent outburst from the FA comes a few months after the last time our fan base was attacked and told to stop chanting the word Yid at matches. Its easy to see the Society of Black Lawyers also taking this opportunity to throw their two cents in once again. It just baffles me that these two bodies can continue to push this campaign against Tottenham fans without taking a moment to look at the other genuine acts of discrimination in football that are happening around them.

The FA are trying to take a fantastic show of strength by Tottenham, to not allow other fan groups to use the Jewish following and heritage that the club has in a derogatory way, and make Spurs fans look like the problem.

Is a word mentioned when West Ham and Chelsea fans make hissing noises to resemble the sound of gas chambers at matches against Spurs?

Did they make a statement last year when Lazio ultras chanted anti-Semitic songs before attacking Spurs fans the day before a Europa League game?

These are examples of genuine discrimination against the Jewish religion by other football fans, but rather than single out the fan groups behind these incidents and tell the word that they’re the problem, Spurs fans are told to stop chanting songs that show our pride and solidarity with the Jewish support group and basis that the club has.

Recent events in international football make this outburst by the FA seem even more out of place. Just days after English fans were attacked in Ukraine, a country with football fan groups known to have wide-spread racist elements, the FA aren’t concentrating on a violent battering that their own home supporters took but are spending their time giving Tottenham fans a kicking of their own.

It’s hard to see what changes can be made that will close the book on this issue for good. Dialogue between the FA and Tottenham fan groups who actually know what they’re talking about may well be the way forward. One thing we know for certain is that the word Yid is here to stay at Tottenham Hotspur.

Come On You Spurs

Yid Army

[author name=”Craig Harrison” website=”www.coysnews.com” tag=”CraigHarrison[/linequote]

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

19 Comments

  1. Stradders
    12/09/2013 @ 8:35 pm

    well said, thank you

    COYS

  2. Bongo
    12/09/2013 @ 8:44 pm

    This is becoming an absolutely ridiculous waste of time. When they tried to stop us singing a year or so ago, the law enforcers even said, or suggested they were not interested in stopping us using the Y word, in fact sod it, I’m not scared to say it “YID”.

    In my opinion there is nothing racist in the way we as Spurs fans use the chant, and people have nothing better to do in their lives than incorrectly try and take a moral high ground. I have seen proper racism and cannot tolerate it, I’ve seen hunger, poverty and people in distress all over the world. People trying to make a name for themselves like this really annoys me.

    Why not concentrate their efforts on worthwhile causes. They are a bunch of idiots and I hope they read my comments.

    Come on you Yiddos. My youtube channel is below if you are interested.

    https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRedundantSoldier

  3. Wesingwhatwewant
    12/09/2013 @ 8:46 pm

    COYS!!!!!!!!

  4. Bongo
    12/09/2013 @ 8:55 pm

    In fact don’t get me started on this subject because I will fill up a whole page and more, it would probably be the size of The Lord of the Rings by the time I’ve said all I have to say.

    Count to 10 Bongo, deep breaths, sandy beaches. Lets stuff Those Bumpkins at the weekend. (You can’t call them Bumpkins – That’s East Anglianist). Do me a favour.

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyU0e0F45uQLG25qOJSKARg

  5. Thecolganator
    12/09/2013 @ 9:00 pm

    The attitude of the fa is akin to blaming an anti nazi march for encouraging nazi to attack minorities. Baddiel tops it by claiming Tottenham fans chanting Yid army makes it impossible for Chelsea fans not to react with racist abuse as they can barely contain themselves with that sort of provoking. Rather than blame Chelsea fans for the way they behave he blames others for making them that way. He also has a selective attitude to what racism bothers him as he didn’t say much about terry did he?

    • Catheras
      12/09/2013 @ 10:26 pm

      I doubt anyone could have said it better. FA are disregarding the context of the use of the word Yid by spurs fans, and are banning the use of it, to ease their own conscience and work when faced with allegations regarding racial abuse using the word Yid. I can’t imagine going to a Spurs game without hearing the chanting again and not get the collective feel when it is sung.

    • IKnowAlanGilzean
      13/09/2013 @ 7:17 am

      I think this is the most risible aspect of it all for me. That Spurs fans chanting Yids makes so many Chelsea and WHU fans lose all control of their nasty little selves. A cynic might suggest they are simply using this as an excuse for their anti-semitic baiting. In my experience the anti-semitic baiting usually starts before anyone utters the word Yid …

      If Jewish people and groups (rather than Chelsea/WHU mugs and Peter Herbert) are against Spurs fans using Yid Army or Yids then we should rethink it.

  6. Bongo
    12/09/2013 @ 9:23 pm

    The larger racism issues are not with this issue where it is a coming together of a group of fans affectionately chanting as a sense of belonging. Real racism is when you are nasty to a specific race, not when we use the YID word for encouragement.

    Try sorting out some Eastern European clubs. UEFA banned English clubs in Europe in the 80’s.

    Where are they now? Oh they fine the about £2.50 in relative terms……

    https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRedundantSoldier

    https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRedundantSoldier

  7. Martin Sewell
    12/09/2013 @ 9:33 pm

    The Bishop of Willesden -WHL season ticket holder – might be presumed to know a thing about this kind of thing and has tweeted that ” We sing what we want”. Good on him.

    If you think about it there is probably quite a lot of blasphemy/ “taking the Lord’s name in vain” going on at matches: are the FA going to prosecute anyone who does that? Quite seriously, it is very offensive to sincere Christians like myself, but do you hear us joining the grievance merchants of the PC brigade? That kind of language is much more offensive to us than the term “Yid” which, in contrast, can be used inoffensively between and to people of Jewish origin.

  8. Sid
    12/09/2013 @ 9:38 pm

    Same old, same old. Great article by the way. We adopted the chant for a reason and the reasons make me proud. To stand shoulder to shoulder and deflect the Anti- semetic abused aimed at the Spurs jewish contigent.

  9. Park lane 33
    12/09/2013 @ 9:41 pm

    Society of black lawyers, is that not racist?

  10. N ame R equired
    12/09/2013 @ 9:44 pm

    Disclaimer – I am a Spurs fan, I am not Jewish, I do not know any Jewish Spurs fans – I know some Jewish Arsenal and Chelsea fans though.

    I enjoy singing songs and joining in the chanting at games and in the past have tended to join in and go along with whatever is being sung. I have never intended to cause offence to anyone with songs or chants in the past and do not intend to cause offence in the future or in what I am writing.

    The current editorial spin and FA posture is that Spurs fans are worsening the problem by chanting things that incite the opposition fans. In my view the opposition fans have been chanting things that incited the Tottenham fans. I also feel that the media enjoy stirring up this stew to help sell newspapers by reporting the above issues and at every opportunity repeating and deepening the idea (which is inaccurate in my opinion) that Spurs fans are by and large of Jewish heritage.

    If we are to see an escalation of arrests and punishments for any sort of Semitic chant either pro or anti then I suggest that the following measures are also needed.

    1) Encourage THFC to promote a non-religious nickname which should be used by the club and the media.
    2) Encourage Spurs fans to sing about the new nickname (even if it is an existing one).
    3) Encourage other clubs fan groups to use the new nickname when coming up with derogatory songs about our club.
    4) Encourage or ban the media from linking THFC with the Jewish religion which seems to incite fans into either pro or anti semitic chanting – both of which are reportedly offensive. Encourage the media to promote use of the new nickname. Whenever the media promote THFC as a Jewish club it encourages anti-semitic chanting from opposition fans and counter-chanting from Spurs fans.

    Basically encouraging good behaviour works better than punishing bad behaviour. This is just elementary psychology.

    I go to see Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, I dont really care what religion used to be prevalent in North London 100 years ago, I dont really care about the religion of other people that go to football matches or in general day to day life – to me religion has nothing to do with football and should be kept separate by everyone.

    I worry that if we continue along the route that has been started by prosecution of Spurs fans it will escalate the situation. If we can get to the situation where no-one talks or sings about religion at football matches then the problem will subside. It has taken a generation to embed the idea in the minds of football fans and it will probably take many years or a generation to reverse that.

  11. Kosher Kid
    12/09/2013 @ 10:15 pm

    First they took away standing, the cheaper option.

    Then they ramped up the ticket price.

    Then they told you to sit down if you stood up during the game.

    The issue now is the songs that are sung at football grounds or, more specifically, the content of the songs.

    At least 50% of the songs sung by football crowds have traditionally been offensive, racist, homophobic, sexist. Some chants have been pure evil.

    They were tolerated for a long time because the songs being sung were insignificant when people were being beaten, stabbed or assaulted in and around football grounds.

    The game belongs to the middle classes now so it would appear that the sophisticated evolution of football is entering a new era. No one will sing when the club is moved to a new ground anyway. Polite applause is the future.

    Can’t we just ban working class people from football grounds and then all the problems will stop. Beam the matches live, free of charge, to the roughest public house that can accommodate them, in every town and city, and let the buggers shout, spit, punch, kick, hurl abuse at one another and all the nice people can watch the game in peace before driving back to the gated community, without being offended by anyone who gets their hands dirty for a living.

    Thank you.

  12. Kosher Kid
    12/09/2013 @ 10:39 pm

    I forgot to mention that the point of a football chant is either to praise a particular player or the team collectively. If it isn’t either of those two scenarios it is usually to taunt the opposition supporters regarding the score or an individual players lack of footballing ability, personal problems or physical appearance. The whole concept is to ridicule or belittle the opposition.

    The problems began when people who were easily offended started to attend football matches. For reasons best known to themselves they continued to attend, despite being regularly offended, and started bringing their chums with them. This group of Nigels, Jeremys, Geoffreys and Toby’s have been steadily growing in number and despite several years of quietly seething while being offended they have written several strongly worded letters and are now confident enough to claim their victory.

    Hurrah!

  13. Simon Barak
    12/09/2013 @ 11:06 pm

    I am Jewish, born in UK and live in Israel. I am a Spurs fan and I urge Spurs fans to carry on using “Yid”. There is nothing antisemitic about it. It is easy for any Jewish person to know when Yid is being used in a derogatory way and this is not it.
    I really am a proud Spurs Yid!! COYS.

    • pleb
      13/09/2013 @ 1:09 pm

      100% agree with this. Lets fight this blatant attempt to gag our supporters!!

  14. spyros
    13/09/2013 @ 9:01 am

    On Saturday all Spurs fans should stand and sing together “YID ARMY”. What will the authorities do? Arrest 36,000 Fans? The FA(which stands for Fuck All) have always been a joke and always will be. If the word YID does not offend the Jewish community, then no one is being offended.

  15. Hootspur
    13/09/2013 @ 1:06 pm

    I sympathise with a lot that has been said here. What concern me how do Jewish people, football supporters or not, feel about the way we associate ourselves with the name that was stuck on us by other fans in an overtly racist way? If a significant minority of them are offended, then unless we can change their views we may not be able to sing what we want.

    Our team is based in an area where there are a large number of people from a West Indian background. If our opponents had picked up on that and used an offensive term relating to colour I wouldn’t in the least comfortable singing about that because that would certainly give offence.

    The Association of Black Lawyers may have a very specific agenda and they are welcome to it. But I would no more wish to be offensive to the West Indian community than I would Jewish people.

    I’ve not heard a lot from the Jewish community and I would like to know what they think. Personally I’m proud of our Jewish associations.

    Sad fact is Football has become far too tribal; intelligent and witty banter has given way to banal, stupid outpourings of hate. All clubs are guilty of this and it is not improving the game.

  16. phil
    17/09/2013 @ 3:07 pm

    another great article on this subject, which has been going on far too long. Personally I believe that you will not take away the word yid until such time as the opposing fans stop their racist activities. The media push the jewish link continuously yet Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham also have their fair share of jewish fans. The more the issue is raised the more fans (for or against ) will focus on it. Deal with the undelying problem quietly and efficiently and things may then change. Bring a hammer to crack a nut and you will get the reaction you have already got. COYS

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