A while ago I was asked to write a piece about Millwall by fellow poet and football writer Gary From Leeds for the brilliant blog he runs called the The 127 Formation and this is what I came up with...
Ok, that was a bit of lie, it does…
I was once asked a question with which I answered “Millwall” to then be asked a second question “Are you racist?”
Of course, the first question was, “what football team do you support?” These days, even in the supposedly open-minded arty circles I sometimes rotate in, like a child on a waltzer, looking as if he’s about to regurgitate his excitability consumed large McDonalds milkshake all over his Chelsea t-shirt (now that’s an image!), this strikes as an all too predictable response from many people.
Understandably, Millwall have a terrible reputation and are by no means angels. But then nor are Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, West Ham, Stoke, Liverpool, Leeds, Cardiff, Portsmouth etc etc the list goes on, and the figures from the statistics for football-related arrests and banning orders prove this, year in, year out.
A lot of it, I believe, is too do with media coverage and the influence they wield over public opinion, which seems to lean on the Millwall reputation a bit too easily, all the while perpetuating an age old stereotype which can act as springboard for absurd, and sometimes offensive accusations which bypass the ring fences of political correctness, reserved for most other sections of society, without many people ever batting an eyelid, other than Millwall fans themselves. Phew, let me take a breath!
The recent reporting in the Evening Standard about Millwall supporters coming out to protect Eltham during the riots did not receive the same admiration as the Turkish and Kurdish shop owners in Dalston, just a patronising rhetoric, which only serves to further alienate an increasingly alienated section of society.
At a time when there is extremist vultures lurking overhead like the EDL and the BNP, ready to pluck at the corpses of pre-dominantly young white working class men, lazy nonsense like that doesn’t help.
When confronted with pre-loaded questions about morons, racists and hooligans, it can be very frustrating, even after pointing out facts about behaviour and incidences involving supporters from bigger clubs, such as those mentioned above, many people would rather hold on to the force fed images of Man United being the jewel in the English crown, untouchable, family and huge corporate sponsor friendly whilst Millwall is the dangle-berry clinging on to footballs rectum, rather than accepting that hooliganism is not exclusive to SE16.
I would have thought that any look around a town centre on a Friday or Saturday night from Bristol to Newcastle would prove this, but for some reason it’s rare that the similarities in behaviour of those misbehaving on a night out is ever compared to that of a football fan looking for a punch up.
In retrospect, I should have punched that person in the face, or at least told to them where to go, upon being asked if I was racist, based on the findings of what football team I support. I’m sure no one would ever approach a father pushing a child on a swing in the park and ask him if he’s a paedophile, I’m quite sure that man would be highly insulted, as I was, such is the regard for paedophiles and of course racists, and rightly so.
But of course, punching someone in the face or cursing at them only further enforce a terrible stereotype, and I would most likely come out it the villain. I just like football and Millwall, that’s all.
