We are predominantly a club of non Jewish based supporters, who rather wonderfully don’t tolerate faith hate or racism. You could say the same for just about any Premier League side. But of course, you’d need to lose the second half of that sentence.
From the word “who” onwards.
Aplogies if you you’re aware of the next bit, but some evidently aren’t.
Anthony Clavane’s “Does Your Rabbi Know You’re Here” I would describe as prescribed reading for football fan, even more so if you’re Tottenham.
What I was immediately fascinated to know, and the first thing I asked Anthony when I met him, was why are we perceived as a “Jewish Club”?
The frequent misconception is that geographically, The Lane isn’t to much of a schelp from all the identifiably Jewish strongholds of North London. There have been some heavy weight Jews in the Spurs boardroom over the years. We sell bagels. That sort of thing. All good clues if you were doing a “Through The Keyhole” but all of these pointers are far too contemporary.
An estimated 120,000 Jews fled to Britain between 1881 and 1914. To describe the circumstances of these people as grim is an understatement. The came from ghettos in Eastern Europe. They had nothing much beyond fear, and an instinct to try to survive.
It’s impossible to imagine quite what they were up against, but survive they did. and the Spitalfields/Whitechaple/Stepney axis became one of the largest Jewish communities in Europe.
Their nearest football stadium would have been Upton Park. So what happened? Well, Anthony describes West Ham as being a “close-knit” operation.
One can only hesitate to image. I won’t reel out a sociopolitical history lesson of the East End of London, but if you’re unaware of what I would describe as innate hate-mongering, insular, xenophobic and generally backward behaviour that has taken place in that part of town since forever, I suggest you might wish to educate yourself.
Jews and combustion engine powered vehicles on the Sabbath don’t mix well. But to jump on the tram or a train was kosher. So, quite possibly enthused by an FA Cup win in 1921, the Lillywhite Loophoel was born. In fact, if you lived where these people were living, it was quite possibly less complicated to get to The Lane than just about any other stadium in London, including the unwelcoming Upton Park.
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Proof? Oh sorry. David Hytner in The Guardian writes:
The visiting support trod a fine line when a small number of them chanted, “We won’t say his name, he’s coming for you.” Some of them had caused outrage last season by chanting that Adolf Hilter was coming for the Spurs fans. They then sang, “Same old West Ham, taking the piss.”The Met made one arrest, that of a Spurs fan for allegedly using “Yid” in a chant. He was held on suspicion of committing a section 5 public order offence at half-time in the East stand.
And here is some charming video footage taken from Sunday’s game.
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And here are some screen shots from a West Ham fan on Twitter calling himself PieNmashGeezer. I’m pleased to share that his account has been suspended and I hope he is arrested, charged, sentenced, publicly shamed and loses everything.
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