Let’s begin this with the most obvious and salient point of this whole incident. Throwing a coin from the crowd at a footballer is idiotic, dangerous and wrong. There is zero defence for anyone old enough to make that throw to justify the lack of self-control and common sense that it shows and there is no place for it in football.
Many a Palace supporter has made this point on messageboards, in pub conversations and through various other means already. Sure, there are a handful of people who think that makes the supporter a “Nigel” and such, but that in itself is such a laughable statement that any sensible point of discussion with such a person is entirely pointless.
You see, it should be cut and dried shouldn’t it? It should simply follow that everyone knows it was totally wrong, the person involved holds their hands up at this moment of madness and accepts the inevitable punishment. After all, you can’t go around physically assaulting people just because they annoy you. Even a child knows this. So what is it that makes not only some people do this, but others effectively defend it? Why do some people think that law and order is suspended when you get into the confines of a football ground? Why do people of an age where they can’t possibly know as much say “It used to be a lot worse than this” like it’s some sort of badge of honour?
Well in all honesty there are a couple of points to be made that aren’t so much a “defence” as points of order. Everyone, fans, players, managers and media, knows what football grounds are like and how supporters are. There are a lot of unwritten rules and traditions that govern behaviour at a match. The Newcastle players will ALL know full well that scoring at the Holmesdale end of the ground and celebrating in front of those supporters will incite a reaction. Whether it should or shouldn’t is wholly irrelevant – it does. Players jogging slowly behind the goal, goading the fans makes it even more likely. Not one player or fan will, if they are totally honest, be surprised at the negative reaction they got.
Incitement of the crowd is an offence in football for precisely that reason – but more than that it is massively disrespectful for a multi-millionaire footballer to take the proverbial out of thousands of people who have actually got themselves to the game to support their team. Those players knew where their fans were, it would have been just as easy to keep the celebrations on the pitch or to have headed to the relative calm in the direction of their support. The Newcastle players failed in their responsibility and – as a result – one of their own nearly suffered a potentially nasty injury.
That does not mean I am blaming them – simply that there are guidelines in the rule book for a reason and that playing ignorant to the politics of football supporters simply doesn’t cut it in my book.
The second point of order is perhaps on even less secure ground. The actual action of coin-throwing itself. I would have to argue what the purpose of it was – was this a rational person selecting a coin as something specific to throw to cause an injury or was this a person throwing the first thing they could get their hands on as a petulant reaction to having their face rubbed into conceding a goal? It’s hard to prove which – but we’ve all reacted badly to things in our lives and in the confines of a passionate and aggressive crowd, is it much of a leap from screaming abuse to throwing a coin? I can’t answer that for you, I think everyone’s feeling will be different depending on where and how they support their team.
So there is my attempt at balance – I’ve presented the condemnation and then looked at the “flipside” of the coin, so to speak. Hopefully you are in little doubt as to the fact I am criticising and advocating punishment for the fan(s) involved. I can see how it can happen though – just last weekend at Leicester I was right by the home support and one fan in particular spent no time watching the game and the whole time picking out individuals in the Palace support to abuse. I had no direct contact but he was in the corner of my eye the whole game and, up until we scored, I found it very hard not be annoyed by him. The momentary thought of throwing something his direction did enter my mind – but I had the self control to console myself with thoughts of how I’d celebrate when we scored. When we did the satisfaction of him shrinking back into the crowd before leaving 10 minutes early was immensely satisfying. It does show, however, that football can bring out the worst in people.
After all of that though, I think that once again there are issues being ignored. In this country, football supporters are at a stage where they have to campaign for rights – the right to go to a football match and not be filmed by the Police without reason. The right to go to a football match and not be kettled into illogical and dangerous situations. The right to go to a football match and have a drink with friends without being treated like a criminal. The right to go to a football match and stand in a suitable area. The right to go to a football match and not be ripped off in terms of ticket prices and food and drink. Every step of the way, football is a world in which the supporters are either a walking wallet or a crime about to happen.
The biggest truth of it is, that when one idiot loses control of his actions and throws a coin, s/he is contributing directly to the negative attitudes and policies that everyday fans have to battle against week-in and week-out. They increase the pressure from the authorities and dull the power of clubs in looking at supporter’s rights.
The next time a police unit films the Holmesdale stand – who can honestly say “Why are you doing that?” when a physical assault was witnessed around the world on camera? The likelihood is that the very same person who threw the coin is the same sort of person who will be complaining at their treatment by Police, the stewards and the club.
These incidents are not about who is a “Nigel” and who isn’t – they serve no purpose to anyone. The club may be fined, it may not be, but who’s to say the authorities don’t decide there’s evidence of persistent standing in the footage and that the council need to investigate? The club have been able to effectively manage that situation at Selhurst and a degree of trust has built up – but that could all end because one person can’t take losing.
I went the whole article without even mentioning that a human being could have been blinded too.
