Content Notice: This article contains discussion of domestic violence, with reference to sexist and homophobic language

Among all of the euphoria and unifying rhetoric behind England’s meteoric success thus far at the Euro 2020 championships, it is imperative that we remind ourselves of the subliminally ostracising expense at which this can come. More widespread than any outright violence, the casual intimidation and misogyny so deeply entrenched in laddish football culture permeates seemingly harmless situations. Not least through popular chants and jeers heard at pubs and football grounds, which can easily alienate and intimidate others. Moreover, with the progress society has made in recognising and tackling discrimination of different kinds, one must challenge the persistence of these comments in the modern day under the guise of banter.

Amidst concerns over the past few years that elements of the football-associated violence of the 1980’s are making a return, The Guardian reported the arrest of thirty football supporters across London on the night of the England v Scotland match (18/06), most of which were down to public order offenses and assault. Furthermore, hospital staff reported “‘frightening”’ scenes in A&E departments last Saturday evening (03/07) when England beat Ukraine in the quarter final, not in the unusually high number of attendees but in their comportment, with racist and sexually inappropriate language used. Even more serious incidents from the past few years include a series of riots across France throughout the Euro 2016 championships involving fans from multiple countries, including England, leading to many arrests, injuries and even permanent disability for one English supporter.

Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise. In the 2019-2020 season there were increased levels of hate crime arrests at live football audiences in England, even with drastically decreased attendance, against a backdrop of the number of matches at which hooliganism occurred in England rising from 727 in the 2012-13 season to 1,128 in 2017-18. Throughout the 2019-20 season there were 35 hate crime-related arrests, at their highest in over five years, and hate crimes incidents recorded at one in ten football games in England and Wales, including the singing of racist and antisemitic chants.

“There still exists a culture in football that normalises inappropriate behaviour”

Even outside of these heinous and illegal occurrences, there still exists a culture in football that normalises inappropriate behaviour, ranging from chanting, thumping, maniacal hooting and wrestling to homophobic jeers and outright female objectification. Such behaviours both inside and outside of the football season are arguably a public nuisance and can be threatening to the general public. So why is it that, throughout the football season, such rowdy and ill-disciplined behaviours are tolerated and even indirectly encouraged through the heavy alcohol sponsorship of tournaments?

As is the case for many football fans, boisterous conversation and celebratory drinking to celebrate a win with friends is harmless and cannot be criticised. However, the line between innocuous fun and intimidation gets crossed often in the context of alcohol, aggressive sport and toxic masculinity. Incidents such as female fans being told to “stick to your makeup tutorials” and offhand use of homophobic terms like “poof” are reportedly not uncommon and seem to be embedded in football vernacular to such an extent that fans do not intend to cause offence when using them, despite the evidently harmful consequences. Verbal abuse in football has continued with force online throughout the age of social media, which begs the question of whether the sport has made any progress in clamping down on discrimination, or if the method of delivery has merely changed.

“There are many examples of both implicitly and explicitly sexist football chants still hollered at matches and pubs today”

Worse than exclusion is the potential this behaviour has to intimidate and threaten, and is especially prevalent against women. There are many examples of both implicitly and explicitly sexist football chants still hollered at matches and pubs today, including the infamous and degrading “get your t*ts out for the lads”. Attempts to justify these as ‘locker room chat’ and ‘banter’ are only more damning to those who use them. It’s not hard to imagine the impact of these comments in the wake of the Sarah Everard case, where the threat of sexual assault on an evening out is never from a young woman’s mind.

Both the past and present of football is rife with misogyny, both in its normal casualised form amongst fans and amongst the upper echelons of the sport industry itself. A survey from Women in Football revealed that two thirds of women working in the football sector had been subjected to discrimation based on their gender, not to mention the sexist media coverage (and derogatory abbreviation) of the team players’ wives and girlfriends, or “WAGs”, who are heavily scrutinised for every fashion choice and reduced to ‘hooligans with credit cards’ . Given the example both the football industry and media lays out for us, it is hardly surprising that some fans of football make such offensive choices in their discussion and treatment of women.

“There may be even more insidious consequences of such attitudes, for example the likely causal connection between domestic violence cases and England’s football success”

There may be even more insidious consequences of such attitudes, for example the likely causal connection between domestic violence cases and England’s football success. Domestic abuse charities have voiced concerns throughout these championships of the effect of football failure on already surging rates of domestic violence associated with lockdown measures over the past year, based on research from past football World Cups revealing a 38% increase in abuse cases on days England lost compared with 26% on days England won or drew. Matches starting earlier in the day are also associated with higher levels of abuse, explained partially by continued drinking and resulting in 8.5% more abuse cases than average 10 hours post kick-off. Due to sponsorship deals, televised football matches are indelibly associated with alcohol, with televised 2016 Euro matches containing an average of 122 references to alcohol brands. Intoxication on top of combative media headlines and video replay of aggressive football plays is believed to aggravate any pre-existing abusive tendencies and has led to calls to rethink such sponsorships.

In some respects, football has become more inclusive over the past few decades. The England men’s team for Euro 2020 encompasses players from a variety of races and backgrounds, providing a more accurate representation of England’s socio-economic milieu than ever before. It is also worth mentioning the honourable efforts made by members of the team to use their presence as a platform for promoting equality, for example taking the knee before matches as an anti-racist gesture and wearing rainbow armbands in support of LGBTQ+ rights. Despite this progress, behaviours of fans, including booing when players taking the knee, and the insulting jargon referenced above, seems to lag behind that of their role models

Given the zeitgeist of the past two years, notably inclusion and equality, it is unacceptable that there has not been much progress in the elimination of laddish behaviour and discriminatory language amongst football fans that excludes and insults many. The upward trend in hate-related abuse, both violent and verbal, in football over the past few years highlights the need for fans to remain mindful of their actions and words and celebrate in a non-threatening manner, especially ahead of what is expected to be an eruption of national joy (or dismay) at Sunday’s historic final. By all means, bring football home: but in the universal quest for gender and race equality, the seeds of violence and intolerance must be left at the doorstep.