The Arsenal v Boro match was a sell out. This means, obviously, that a lot of people who wanted to go were denied that opportunity.
Therefore, it was very disappointing to witness a small group of individuals who not only did not appreciate that they were lucky to be there in the first place, but who were seemingly present only to abuse the Gunners' fans.
Those of you who read my News of the World blog will know that this is not the first time this subject has had me hammering out an article and there will no doubt be some people reading this and thinking I'm too sensitive and should just ignore it because I should expect 'rowdy banter' at matches.
Firstly, there is a difference between banter and abuse and secondly, I'm not a small child or an elderly lady - both of whom were present and had to hear such obscenities.
The Arsenal players were announced by their first names only, giving us a bizarre role call featuring 'Samiiiiii' 'Cesssssc' 'Andreeeeey' and the like and emphasizing the lack of English players at the London club.
I can only assume this was to give the fans a feeling of intimacy, a friendly familiarity with the players. The Emirates is magnificant. It is absolutely huge and every inch of it screams money and power. Intimate, it is not.
What was incredibly personal though, was the abuse being dished out by a group of Boro fans.
As I, unlike the 'fans' in question, was trying to watch the football, I cannot give you a full report of all the insults which were hurled at the Gunners' contingent.
However, I can tell you that the 'c' word was the word of choice, accusations of paedophilia, racist remarks and homophobic abuse were all employed in a sustained and personal attack on people whose only 'crime' was that they happened to support Arsenal.
As they left the ground, these morons started singing "We only came for a piss-up" which would have been funny had it not been almost accurate. They had actually come to get drunk and be abusive.
A Boro fan who had the misfortune of being sat next to these idiots waited until they had left then remarked "It makes you ashamed to be from Boro".
I agreed. The racism, homophobia, general abuse and disgusting language that was coming out of the foul mouths of this small section of Boro fans made me ashamed to be associated with the town or the team.
There was a small boy at the end of my row and I was tempted to put my hands over his ears. Thankfully his father was as disgusted as I was.
For the most part the Arsenal fans were characteristically good natured about the rants coming from the worst kind of fan. The Gunners' fans merely cheerfully sang "You'll never play here again" and "That's why you're going down" with increased regularity.
Although, one charming individual from the Gunners' side was happy to interact with these imbeciles. He did not get to see the second half of the match either.
The stewards who were positioned between the home and away supporters included a lady of mature years who commented that it was so much worse to hear that kind of abuse from a female fan, that she was happy that she couldn't understand some of what was being shouted due to our accents and that in her job it helped to be 'half deaf'.
Whilst I'm not certain if the main offenders were escorted out or left of their own volition at the half time break, there were a couple of Boro fans further over who were marched out of the stadium with police escorts.
For those of you who don't know, the away 'end' at The Emirates is actually surrounded by Arsenal fans. The upper tier is all Arsenal and either side of you there are Gunners' fans too. The stewards sit in between. I have to say, the Arsenal stewards dealt very well with the situation, staying calm and collected to ensure that the 'bad element' was removed.
I must stress that these fans were a tiny minority of the traveling support but we are the first to complain about rival fans' behaviour and we need to look at who we have representing Boro on the road.
First published on www.ComeOnBoro.com on 27-4-09
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