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Sunday 6 December 2020

To boo, or not to boo, that is the question



As we would expect, there has been priggish media disapproval of the Millwall football booing. Easy stuff to write I suppose.

George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, has declined to condemn booing Millwall fans as players took the knee in opposition to racism.

Appearing on Sky's Sophy Ridge programme, he was asked for his opinion on Saturday's Millwall match, which saw some of the 2,000 fans booing the players' gesture...

Mr Eustice, when shown the Millwall clip during the Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme, said: “There has been problems obviously with racism in football in the past...

“My personal view is that Black Lives Matter – capital B, L and M – is actually a political movement that is different to what most of us believe in, which is standing up for racial equality.

To my mind Mr Eustice is right and players taking the knee are effectively making a political salute. Perhaps this should be pointed out more often, but the media aren't likely to do it. Craven is their watchword.

6 comments:

Sam Vega said...

I wouldn't have thought that Eustice had it in him. Good for him.

Quite apart from the aims of BLM, those footballers deserved to be booed. They are millionaires engaging in nothing more than virtue-signalling. If I had bought a very expensive ticket, I'd want to see something a good deal more entertaining. But doubtless the media will blame sarf London racists.

johnd2008 said...

Here in New Zealand, the West Indies cricket team is playing.I was very disappointed to see that the NZ team are taking a knee for BLM. I thought they were better than that. I was going to see them in the local T20 game but will stay at home and save my money.Political statements have no place in sports.

Scrobs. said...

Kneeling down in this ridiculous non-statement of self-stupidity and ignorance, just about sums up the rotten issues with over-paid, underwhelming footballers who think they're somehow important!

I'd boo the whole damn lot of them, kneeling or otherwise!

A K Haart said...

Sam - the media do seem to blame sarf London racists, but maybe there is also a hint in the air that many people do see taking the knee as a grovel too far.

johnd - yes, staying at home may be the best way to flag disapproval. Probably feels like a drop in the ocean but protest has to begin somehow.

Scrobs - I'd boo them too but I don't go to football matches. I hope they don't get kids doing it.

wiggiatlarge said...

The Times in their The Game football section today had a piece on this 'issue' and everyone condemned the booing, though PL ? said it was left up to the individuals to make a choice there was no diktat to knee, but of course peer pressure from black team mates would make not taking the knee difficult, but why, nowhere else in Europe is this nonsense going on, even F1 with the new woke LH leading the charge can't get all the drivers to obey his wishes.
Yet the Times did publish along with the comment Eustace made the statement from the Millwall Supporters Club that pointed out that the BLM movement was the reason for the booing and they could not go with the kneeling for that organisation but supported the other measures against racism, seems eminently reasonable to me, so why all the boohah from the press and assorted voices like Lineker who seems to find a new cause to get behind every week.

A K Haart said...

Wiggia - it's too easy to go with the flow even if it is demeaning. As if too many people can't or won't see beyond the social and political fashions of the day.