West Ham United Football Club have forewarned their fans that they will need to curb their inherent need to behave appallingly.
My issue with this, is that football and the police have an abysmal track record when it comes to anti-Semitism.
Our own chairman got sucked into the hypocrisy of the David Baddiel mess.
Fans joyously cheating “Yid Army!” were issued issued with on the spot banning orders and arrested.
Of course, the CPS later ruled that there was no charge to answer and the whole thing fizzled out, and the banning orders were eventually rescinded.
All of which was against the miserable backdrop of both Chelsea fans and West Ham fans being unchecked with their continued hate chants.
Hammers manager Slaven Bilic wants the match to be memorable for what happens on the pitch, rather than off it.
“It’s a big match for both clubs,” he said. “No matter where you are standing in the table, or whether it’s the first game of the season or the last game of the season, it’s a big, big derby.
“It should be a good game because of the position they are in, and we are in. The message is I would like the fans to be behind us, to be behind the team, behind the club in a positive way. The fans are ambassadors of our club and they can show the world that we are big, great and a polite club.”
West Ham Co-chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold also issued a statement warning supporters that they will not tolerate vile chanting.
They said: “It promises to be an extra special occasion, with two sets of passionate fans in a capacity crowd getting behind their team. Therefore, any inappropriate behaviour is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the club, whether it be in the stadium, the journey to or from the game or any other public place.
What I want to know is, will the police being arresting fans making hissing noises – in a crass reference to gas chambers – and will the police also be arresting fans who think by singing ‘He’s coming for you’, or is that alright if they simply drop the ‘Adolf Hitler’ bit from the beginning of that chant?
Instead of bland mumbling from chairmen trying to protect their brand, it would be useful if the specific problems were addressed.
West Ham fans who are outraged by this blog might dwell upon the opportunity that they have here.
It was when talking to Anthony Clavane about his wonderful book, ‘Does Your Rabbi Know You’re Here?’, it struck me that that Jews who attended White Heart Lane would have had a far shorter journey from the East End if they had gone to watch West Ham, opposed to Tottenham.
Clearly there has been ‘a problem’ with the people from that area dating back over 100 years.
Hammers fans have the opportunity to make a break from their bigoted forefathers here.
Will they be brave enough to take it?
