Updated forum rules and attitude at matches

If I want to call the ref a w****r I will call him a w****r like I would tell someone who tried to tell me to stop
 
Ricky Gervais: “Just because you're offended doesn't mean you're right”.

It also doesn't mean your opinion represents the majority. Social media and online platforms tend to act as megaphones to the minority these days.

The emotion on football terraces have what made the sport so utterly incredible over the years, frustration and anger goes hand in hand, along with tribalism. Take those away and you end up with a sterile soulless stadiums.

Obviously it should go without saying that racism and discrimination have no place in football because they have no place in society full stop.
 
Oxford Aesthete said:
Shabby, have you tried rugger it might be more to your liking?
Click to expand...
Completely unreasonable response to the bloke's original post, which was well expressed and full of good points.
Inverted snobbery too...Rugby League crowds are every bit as feisty as the average football crowds.
 
Sarge said:
Getting caught up in the emotion and passion of watching your team, and at times vocally chipping in with encouragement, disbelief and frustration (depending on how the game is progressing) is an integral part of supporting your team .... or at least it has been for as long as I've been going to watch the U's..... I personally have no interest, affiliation or links to any other football club, nationally or internationally.... Oxford United fc and England national team and that it for me..... times change , not always for the better either, ditto watching football. Since the advent of all-seater stadiums and the 90s arrival of prawn sarnie types , who blanch if the referee is called so much as a rascal, bounder or scoundrel (or similar! ), or even report a fellow supporter to stewards for offending their delicate ears .... we have family areas where good old anglo saxon words are a no-no, which is where to go if individuals feel offended or even threatened by the general language used in an everyday manner elsewhere in the ground.' Industrial language 'is in common usage everyday and every night in Britain, Oxford, outside of the academic areas of the city centre, provides a large amount employment in the car factories , and related industries in the area, where, so Im led to believe, anyone who manages to articulate a sentence without including an anglo saxon word or five in their workplace is in line for some sort of award !

Awaydays invariably attract a number of groups of predominately males on a day out, with mates, few drinks, few laughs,support their team at the match, and maybe a few more drinks after the match, celebrating or commiserating depending on the match result.

Football, supporting your team in person, is an emotional rollercoaster of 90 mins or so duration .... where at times individuals do get caught up in the moment & vocalise their views at the time. Live football in England has slowly been sanitsed by corporate types with no understanding.... look at Wembley stadium, rubbish attempts to orchestrate the crowd with cheerleaders prancing about and really cringeworthy loud 'music', most of which is truly dire, played to 'get the crowd going'. Demonstrating the powers that be haven't a clue. football supporters have been quite witty with various popular chants n songs, yet at the national stadium not a snowball (or snowflake's) in hells chance of football supporters at any match there building an atmosphere naturally, its all drowned out by glitz and naff music. has nobody told the Wembley plc company that we are not Americans?

If any supporters of OUFC going to away games are easily offended snowflake like delicate souls perhaps if they lobby OUFC, EFL etc for travelling away support to be provided with a family area at grounds visited for away games? if successful then they wouldnt have to hear or mingle with those nasty, working class individuals who use elements of the English language that are currently deemed 'offensive'... albeit not always the case!

Lets not forget that ALL English language words have been, in different times, in common everyday usage over the centuries, EG - during Shakespeare's time calling someone 'naughty' was regarded as rather risque, not so today (well, not until a snowflake is 'offended' though?).... right here in Oxford the first documented use of a certain currently regarded by some/many as offensive was first in written usage .... during 1230 a thoroughfare off High street in Oxford city centre, which was frequented by ladies of the night, was called Gropecunt lane, during the latter end of 13th Century its name was shortened to Grope lane, then in 17th Century it was renamed Magpie lane. Documented history that cant be conveniently airbrushed away to suit the intolerant, uneducated or very easily outraged. Isn't there an old adage that goes ' sticks n stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me' ? why then the offence at what are only words? ...In the pre sanitised all seater stadium eras of football, the good old days of terraces, it was easy to move away from others who were not behaving in a manner that some of those close by wernt comfortable with, it was easy to move elsewhere . Unless an away section is totally sold out, if it's unreserved ticked, it's equally as easy to changes seats to move away instead of attempting to impose narrow views and standards on others. Live and let live, it seems, has been outdated?

I can remember when going to watch my team was a fun, enjoyable way to spend a saturday afternoon, where the frustrations of the week could be dispensed with through singing, chanting and vocalising of opinions for the 90 min duration. Preferably on the London Road terrace.
Like the old London Road end favourite from late 60s - mid 70s goes ( Mary Hopkins and Sandi Shaw both had chart hits with the song too)' those were the days' (my friend)

Im sure other posters of a similar vintage as me (@amershamdave for certain) can recall tongue in cheek mock chanting , with pseudo , posho accents, 'Oxford, Oxford rah, rah , rah' at away fans who wrongly decided Oxford United fans were all University graduate academics.

Perhaps only permitting 'Oxford, Oxford, Rah , Rah Rah' to be exclusively sung at OUFC games excluding absolutely everything else song n chantwise will suffice.... I doubt it though. 'Rah -rah' being chanted might offend as it gender sterotypes, as in being reminicent of an 80s skirt fashion, and we can't have any of that can we?!

Watching my team play, as mentioned earlier, used to be fun... all seater stadiums, bully boy stewarding, ott rules n regulations imposed only on football supporters & not supporters of other spectator sports, gentrification of football in general in England, have all contributed considerably to, certainly for me, making supporting my team, home or away, more than a bit of a chore. If I hadnt grown up supporting OUFC from an early age (easter monday, first season after changing names from Headington United to Oxford United v Bath at the Manor was my first game- we lost!), and instead was a youngster today, I really dont think Id particularly be wanting to pay to be treated like a third class citizen while watching my local team very often certainly not every match, its not much fun anymore generally speaking, gentrification has one hell of a lot to answer for to football supporters of certain generations. Supporting Oxford United is what I do, Im far to old n long in the tooth to change that habit now. I just wish some fellow OUFC supporters would perhaps show a bit of tolerance & understanding that all football supporters are not identikit emotion & passionless clones.
Click to expand...
I commend you Sarge on your post, a great read and I wholeheartedly agree with you ?
 
Sarge said:
Getting caught up in the emotion and passion of watching your team, and at times vocally chipping in with encouragement, disbelief and frustration (depending on how the game is progressing) is an integral part of supporting your team .... or at least it has been for as long as I've been going to watch the U's..... I personally have no interest, affiliation or links to any other football club, nationally or internationally.... Oxford United fc and England national team and that it for me..... times change , not always for the better either, ditto watching football. Since the advent of all-seater stadiums and the 90s arrival of prawn sarnie types , who blanch if the referee is called so much as a rascal, bounder or scoundrel (or similar! ), or even report a fellow supporter to stewards for offending their delicate ears .... we have family areas where good old anglo saxon words are a no-no, which is where to go if individuals feel offended or even threatened by the general language used in an everyday manner elsewhere in the ground.' Industrial language 'is in common usage everyday and every night in Britain, Oxford, outside of the academic areas of the city centre, provides a large amount employment in the car factories , and related industries in the area, where, so Im led to believe, anyone who manages to articulate a sentence without including an anglo saxon word or five in their workplace is in line for some sort of award !

Awaydays invariably attract a number of groups of predominately males on a day out, with mates, few drinks, few laughs,support their team at the match, and maybe a few more drinks after the match, celebrating or commiserating depending on the match result.

Football, supporting your team in person, is an emotional rollercoaster of 90 mins or so duration .... where at times individuals do get caught up in the moment & vocalise their views at the time. Live football in England has slowly been sanitsed by corporate types with no understanding.... look at Wembley stadium, rubbish attempts to orchestrate the crowd with cheerleaders prancing about and really cringeworthy loud 'music', most of which is truly dire, played to 'get the crowd going'. Demonstrating the powers that be haven't a clue. football supporters have been quite witty with various popular chants n songs, yet at the national stadium not a snowball (or snowflake's) in hells chance of football supporters at any match there building an atmosphere naturally, its all drowned out by glitz and naff music. has nobody told the Wembley plc company that we are not Americans?

If any supporters of OUFC going to away games are easily offended snowflake like delicate souls perhaps if they lobby OUFC, EFL etc for travelling away support to be provided with a family area at grounds visited for away games? if successful then they wouldnt have to hear or mingle with those nasty, working class individuals who use elements of the English language that are currently deemed 'offensive'... albeit not always the case!

Lets not forget that ALL English language words have been, in different times, in common everyday usage over the centuries, EG - during Shakespeare's time calling someone 'naughty' was regarded as rather risque, not so today (well, not until a snowflake is 'offended' though?).... right here in Oxford the first documented use of a certain currently regarded by some/many as offensive was first in written usage .... during 1230 a thoroughfare off High street in Oxford city centre, which was frequented by ladies of the night, was called Gropecunt lane, during the latter end of 13th Century its name was shortened to Grope lane, then in 17th Century it was renamed Magpie lane. Documented history that cant be conveniently airbrushed away to suit the intolerant, uneducated or very easily outraged. Isn't there an old adage that goes ' sticks n stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me' ? why then the offence at what are only words? ...In the pre sanitised all seater stadium eras of football, the good old days of terraces, it was easy to move away from others who were not behaving in a manner that some of those close by wernt comfortable with, it was easy to move elsewhere . Unless an away section is totally sold out, if it's unreserved ticked, it's equally as easy to changes seats to move away instead of attempting to impose narrow views and standards on others. Live and let live, it seems, has been outdated?

I can remember when going to watch my team was a fun, enjoyable way to spend a saturday afternoon, where the frustrations of the week could be dispensed with through singing, chanting and vocalising of opinions for the 90 min duration. Preferably on the London Road terrace.
Like the old London Road end favourite from late 60s - mid 70s goes ( Mary Hopkins and Sandi Shaw both had chart hits with the song too)' those were the days' (my friend)

Im sure other posters of a similar vintage as me (@amershamdave for certain) can recall tongue in cheek mock chanting , with pseudo , posho accents, 'Oxford, Oxford rah, rah , rah' at away fans who wrongly decided Oxford United fans were all University graduate academics.

Perhaps only permitting 'Oxford, Oxford, Rah , Rah Rah' to be exclusively sung at OUFC games excluding absolutely everything else song n chantwise will suffice.... I doubt it though. 'Rah -rah' being chanted might offend as it gender sterotypes, as in being reminicent of an 80s skirt fashion, and we can't have any of that can we?!

Watching my team play, as mentioned earlier, used to be fun... all seater stadiums, bully boy stewarding, ott rules n regulations imposed only on football supporters & not supporters of other spectator sports, gentrification of football in general in England, have all contributed considerably to, certainly for me, making supporting my team, home or away, more than a bit of a chore. If I hadnt grown up supporting OUFC from an early age (easter monday, first season after changing names from Headington United to Oxford United v Bath at the Manor was my first game- we lost!), and instead was a youngster today, I really dont think Id particularly be wanting to pay to be treated like a third class citizen while watching my local team very often certainly not every match, its not much fun anymore generally speaking, gentrification has one hell of a lot to answer for to football supporters of certain generations. Supporting Oxford United is what I do, Im far to old n long in the tooth to change that habit now. I just wish some fellow OUFC supporters would perhaps show a bit of tolerance & understanding that all football supporters are not identikit emotion & passionless clones.
Click to expand...
Favourite post of the season so far and while I concur with the post, I would only add that I find bad language is more prevalent in society now and PC has gone to far, that’s Political Correctness not our beloved PC.
 
amershamdave said:
Shabby Yellow. I do not know you and I should imagine you don't know me. I don't know how old you are, either.
An interesting, heart-felt post you wrote there.
I don't know how long you've been a football (and United fan), but I feel that I should explain, on behalf of all supporters of this (what used to be working-class, but has now attracted many greedy, oportunistic bastards) game.
Do you like rugby union, shabby? You know, the game where players go: "ok yah!" and set fire to their farts. They do other 'manly' things which are weird and disgusting. Do you condemn that type of posh behaviour?
Cycling. You know, the sport that has caught quite a few out, for taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Snooker, where only yesterday it was reported that a female snooker player has withdrawn, because she wasn't allowed to play with men in certain competitions. Does being a man make you a better player than a woman.............in snooker?!
Golf. How many golf clubs do or did ban women as members?
Fox hunting. Do you agree with the ethics of this posh-people scumbag 'sport' ok yah!
Darts. Beer-bellies, burping and farting on stage.
Tennis, with the brat-like behaviour of its participants (oh, I say, Mr. McEnroe!) You need a mortgage to buy strawberries and cream. Ok yah! Talking of f*****g tennis, I really hate the sexist attitude of the game, when they call men players by their surname and women players by 'Miss' or 'Mrs'.
After reading that little list, I've come to the conclusion that if anyone ever comes up to me and calls me a c**t for following Oxford United....................I'll buy them a pint and we'll just laugh it off. Its only posh bastards, who should stick to rugger, hockey or stamp-collecting who have a problem. So there.
Click to expand...
Shabby was voicing his view regarding the continuous, repetitive use of foul language at football matches and in particular whilst supporting Oxford United.
The other sports and events at same are irrelavent.
They are though, in the main conducted with respect.
Respect for the players,officials and most importantly,once self and your fellow fans.
Not at football though.
I was recently at the Tuesday evening game at Rochdale.
From the first whistle, vocal contribution from a group of “fans” a few rows behind me, amounted mostly of a tirade of abuse to both our players and the opposition.
The odd f word I can forgive, but the continuous use of “c- nt” is IMO a step to far and should be reserved, by those that use it, to the confines of there homes,where it clearly is the norm.
After 20 minutes,I lost it turned and requested it to cease.
On Saturday at Coventry, in a mixed crowd with many families present,a group sat in immediately behind and along side.
After an early mistake, Dickie was loudly called a “C-nt” - two 8-10year olds in front.
The above is oft’ repeated week in,week out.
People often talk of cleaning up sport, but most choose to sit cringing in silence.
IMO, the club should take steps to remind persistent offenders as to the error of there ways and if necessary evicted.
 
Notaswindonfan said:
Favourite post of the season so far and while I concur with the post, I would only add that I find bad language is more prevalent in society now and PC has gone to far, that’s Political Correctness not our beloved PC.
Click to expand...
Agree with most of what you speak Sarge.
There’s nothing better than a good away day crowd,chanting,banter etc.
The odd expletive
I just don’t enjoy machine gun repetive foul language .
 
Shropshire U said:
Completely unreasonable response to the bloke's original post, which was well expressed and full of good points.
Inverted snobbery too...Rugby League crowds are every bit as feisty as the average football crowds.
Click to expand...
How is it unreasonable? He's listed things he's unhappy with which are rightly or wrongly part of football culture so I've suggested he tries watching a sport where I believe the behaviours he's outlined would be seen unacceptable. As for the inverted snobbery comment, you'll have to explain that one further
 
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Oxford Aesthete said:
I've suggested he tries watching a sport where I believe the behaviours he's outlined would be seen unacceptable.
Click to expand...

Maybe on the surface. but for they that are talking about racism & inequality, they're just hidden better. Rugby Union is a hotbed of nudge-wink racism and sexism and escapes mention of inequality because poor people are cold-shouldered and thus excluded. Rugby League is a different thing, in fact, when they tried to remove inequality by giving players money to compensate for lost shift payments they were told to go play by themselves.

Give me the people's game, warts and all.
 
Interesting post.

I personally think there will always be a bit of bad language at football, you can't avoid it. Hopefully people with half a brain know when you can swear (down the pub with your mates, at the football) and when you probably shouldn't (visiting your nan at the old people's home, at a job interview)

I for one love the atmosphere at a game when the crowd is riled up at an opposition player, or the ref, everyones on edge, the crowd is chanting 'w****r! w****r!' and the players are getting stuck in, some pushing and shoving breaks out, the manager is sent off... It's all part of the game, we don't want sanitized games where there's gentle clapping and murmuring when a good shot comes in. That's good for test cricket say, a sport I also enjoy, but there needs to be horses for courses.

I would add the caveat that racist or homophobic chanting, or anything which attacks a specific group, is never ok. And I agree, when an individual or small group is just constantly shouting sweary abuse at someone, it gets old fast.
 
Oxford Aesthete said:
How is it unreasonable? He's listed things he's unhappy with which are rightly or wrongly part of football culture so I've suggested he tries watching a sport where I believe the behaviours he's outlined would be seen unacceptable. As for the inverted snobbery comment, you'll have to explain that one further
Click to expand...

Have you actually ever been to a rugby match? There's plenty of foul-mouthed rants there, too. This myth that rugby is in some way a sport just for posh people is ridiculous. I've played for a number of clubs and the vast, vast majority of people I played with were builders, chippies, factory workers, etc. as were the people I went to Leicester games with. Same with all the cricket teams I've played with.

As for the original point of the debate, I've no problem with most of the swearing, though I don't like use of the c word around my kids in the family stand. As for anything racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. that's simply unacceptable and I would report it. I have to say, though, that I've not heard anything racist for years and homophobic chants seem to have largely gone out of the window, as well.
 
To answer those who appear a little too keen to dispatch those who don't like their views to rugby - I've attended two rugby matches Bicester vs Bradford Salam and London Welsh's first at Grenoble - didn't really enjoy either as sporting events due to not understanding the finer points.

I agree with those who are accepting of passionate, occasional bad language but similar to South Lower I have in the past asked those who use it randomly and offer to be considerate of those around them. What I do find sad is in this age of wanting to expand our fanbase (as any club would) we are running the risk of alienating those who could be our future.

I'm all for passion, but it doesn't mean it's sterile if the abuse isn't with it.
 
Briggsy said:
Have you actually ever been to a rugby match? There's plenty of foul-mouthed rants there, too. This myth that rugby is in some way a sport just for posh people is ridiculous. I've played for a number of clubs and the vast, vast majority of people I played with were builders, chippies, factory workers, etc. as were the people I went to Leicester games with. Same with all the cricket teams I've played with.

As for the original point of the debate, I've no problem with most of the swearing, though I don't like use of the c word around my kids in the family stand. As for anything racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. that's simply unacceptable and I would report it. I have to say, though, that I've not heard anything racist for years and homophobic chants seem to have largely gone out of the window, as well.
Click to expand...
No, I've never been to a rugby match., but I'm pretty sure the standard of behaviour is better than that of a football match. No aggression between opposing fans, more respect for officials and players etc
 
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