Fans barracking their "own" players: what makes them do it?
By
Mickey Blue Eyes.

CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY: "barrack2 /bærak/ v.Brit. 1 tr. Shout or jeer at (players in a game, a performer, a speaker, etc.) 2 intr. (of spectators at games, etc.) shout or jeer. [app. f. BORAK]"

Moaners and barrackers will always be with us as they are in every other professional entertainment spectacle. Indeed, in everyday life too. For those of us who wish to apply common sense to our existence it merely becomes a case of how to subdue the low background whine. Therefore, barrackers are the tinnitus of our species.

On a more serious level it is virtually impossible to analyse the subject in any sort of academic detail. There are no formal papers or studies, no statistics and few essays except those similar to this…………………replete with anecdotal background and polemic opinion and therefore little evidence you could use. The nearest you can get to it are various analyses of crowd misbehaviour but this deals almost exclusively with physical action. A major sociological prize awaits the first intrepid, in-depth investigator.

You are left with statements like this: after a lifetime of watching footy I can safely say every football club has it's so-called "boo-boys" and no club is better or worse than anyone else. It only tends to vary due to circumstances. It usually worsens when a club has a run of bad fortune or a sudden fall from grace. Someone, it seems, has to pay the price for the disappointment. But you can also be sure even a club enjoying success still has to contend with a measure of the same kind of thing.

As an example, earlier in the season I was a guest in the main stand at the pinkies' home game with Newcastle. My host was a good friend from New York, long exiled from his home city but with an enduring if baffling attachment to Dracula's Castle. It was an absolutely superb match, a great advertisement for the game, which the pinkies should have won by a street and then some. Unfortunately for them they let in two late goals and only drew.

Even before the late goals a loony somewhere to the rear of us was having a go at some pink player or other. It was incredible. I can't tell you why because all the pinkies played really well even though they had some appalling luck. As it got worse, mystified, I just shook my head at my companion, who said, "You think that's bad, you should've heard some of them at Blackburn." Sensible Blue Bellies can empathise with this completely. You couldn't help querying what the guilty parties would do if they were watching the kind of stuff served up at most GP home games.

Coincidentally, quite the worst barracking I have ever heard of a player was also at the pinkies. Years ago, they had a brilliant inside forward named Jimmy Melia, a local lad from Scotland Road. There's no question he would have been a permanent England player if his time hadn't coincided with the great Johnny Haynes and the pinkies' long sojourn in the second division. He and Alan A'Court made a tremendous left wing pair, but he could play in either of the old inside forward positions. Everyone acknowledged it. Except, for some reason, some elements of the pinky crowd. Why, I will never know, not to my dying day. Nor will sensible pinkies.

The treatment he got was so bad even the Echo felt moved to publish a defence, something unheard of in those days. The thing is, Jimmy was a magnificent player who would have graced the first division. Occasionally he thought far too quickly for the dross around him and that seemed to me to be the only fault in his game. It made no difference whatever. He got barracked mercilessly. By the time the pinkies eventually got out of the second division Jimmy's best years were behind him. Later he went on to accomplish minor if unlikely miracles as manager of Brighton, including what should have been an amazing F.A. Cup Final victory over the Mancs.

So what makes some fans take off on one of their "own" players? Of course if I could answer that question definitively I would be worth a fortune. I would have cracked one of the great mysteries of human behaviour. Sadly, all I can offer is the kind of light and fluffy guesstimate which might or might not be accurate. Once again your guess is as good as mine. Like you, I am not an expert in psychology. Which is just as well because the behavioural professions have been in intellectual disarray ever since Freud was deemed to have feet of clay.

The question has more of an imperative because of the continuing rise in barracking of Kevin Campbell. This is now very close to the Jimmy Melia level of abuse. I have written of this in detail before, principally on the racist angle. But this time I want to dismiss those evil idiots to the lunatic asylum where they belong and deal in a more general consideration. Eventually, organised racists will be isolated and dealt with by the club. Their days are numbered.

Before this kind of madness settled on Kevin there were two other main targets, Mark Pembridge and Paul Gerrard. There were other variants in David Unsworth, Scott Gemmill and Nic Alexandersson. So in the current era there's nothing new about it. In fact there's nothing new about it in the history of the game. It has always gone on and doubtless it always will, to a greater or lesser degree. Nor does this sort of thing respect any sort of national border. Human nature is much the same everywhere. Which is why no club's fans are "better" or "worse" than any other. People who peddle that kind of muck are the kind of empty-headed self-righteous goons the game can do without.

Of course a good deal of it can be put down to straightforward disappointment. I suspect the majority of it is so inspired. But that doesn't explain the nob'eads behind me at the pinkies match, nor any other examples I quote.

Let's stick with the nob'ead variety for the moment. These are people who appear so inadequate they have to replace any sense of loyalty with a weird hatred, the long clichéd thin line between love and hate. Sometimes I get the feeling this is actually a feeling of fear of facing reality, or a misguided attempt to short change fate. If the latter holds good, in some cases they could do worse than imbibe Hindu religious transcripts on the subject. It is perfectly possible to remain loyal, acknowledge reality and do without the failure of common sense. That of course assumes they can read……………no, REALLY read.

There was an interesting example of how to deal with this in our away match at Fulham last season. It was one of our poorest performances in yet another very poor season. Next to the directors' box one of our fans took off on Bill Kenwright. At which he got out of his seat, put his arm around the guy and took him off somewhere for a subdued chat. I have no idea what he said. Afterwards, the media (so take this for what it's worth) quoted Kenwright as saying, "The guy was in pain." Weren't we all.

At the same time, a tiny minority of our fans were engaging in the kind of racist behaviour which helps only our club's enemies and the self-righteous phonies who abound in any group of humans. It was a seminal moment which led to long overdue action by the club.

I have recounted elsewhere my own individual recent reaction to nob'eads in my vicinity. What is almost comical about them is how they mostly look stunned that someone else not only has an opposing opinion but has the temerity to give it back to them in spades.

In the home fixture against Birmingham, one nob'ead just wouldn't lay off Kevin Campbell even though he was having a good game. Had the culprit been engaged in conversation with his neighbour it would have been easy to ignore. Unfortunately he shouted his crap every time Kev went near the ball and it went on for almost half an hour before I responded. The guy was making everyone's life a misery. Then SuperKev made a really clever move, so I shouted, "Well done, Kev! That might shut up some of the moaning twats!" Which brought the nob'ead to a shout intended to drown me out, "He's garbage - " And he got no further. I was out of my seat like a shot and turned on him and gave the bullying scumbag his own treatment at close range.

What's interesting about the situation is how nob'eads like him can't stand anyone else exercising their own opinion. But I had listened to his muck long enough and made it plain to him. There are of course strict limitations to this way of dealing and it should only be used when the situation becomes completely intolerable. And don't do it unless you have complete confidence you can look after yourself.

The point of this is that there are a variety of ways of dealing just as there are shades of opinion. In our area of the Lower Street End some of our regulars have a low opinion of Kevin Campbell. Even though I disagree, I can see why. The difference is they don't barrack him continually. Not him, not anybody. The only anti- thing you get is at times of extreme frustration. And as we all know there have been far too many of those in recent years. I have no problem at all with that since it is something all humans suffer from, me and you included. Where it crosses the bounds of sanity is when someone shouts, as someone did against Boro', "I hope he gets injured and taken off." At which point, well, the limits have been reached. Enough is enough. You have to make SOME sort of effort to stop it reaching an evil crescendo.

The thing is, though, once they lay off Kevin Campbell, or he leaves, someone else will become their target. Inadequacy must always seek a bolt-hole. If we had a great team the same people probably would still seek out the least capable player and have a go at him.

By and large we can put up with the occasional nonsense because we are all guilty of it. The success of "Me Arl Fella's Shouts" on this site bears witness thereto. And as we all know, the human race is never funnier than when it is being spontaneous or pompous. Such is life. The limits are reached when it becomes a continuous theme with an obvious and easy target. At that point it can be poisonous.

Players are mostly in no position to do anything about it. And when they do it is used by the media to crucify them still more. There are limits there, too, never better demonstrated than Eric Cantona's crazy feet-first launch. My take on that was I had no sympathy at all for Cantona but a good deal less for the prick in the crowd who was taunting him. And, on an even wider and more lunatic stage, who can forget the madmen at the last European Championship when England exited, the certifiable loonies who shouted at David Beckham that they hoped his infant son got cancer and died? See where this nonsense inevitably leads us if unchecked?

Let me too eliminate from consideration the deeply English cultural specialty of satire, irony or lampooning. These all have their place and we're pretty good at each of them, as the magazine "Private Eye" demonstrates, as did the much-missed "Spitting Image" TV series. Other cultures still can't begin to conceive why the English go into transports of delight when trousers end up around ankles a la Paddy "Pantsdown" Ashdown, or when David Owen is shown with a miniature David Steele in his pocket or in the pannier of his bicycle. In our culture if you're up there you're there to be jeered at…… if only to make sure you don't get too big for your boots. All of which is still no excuse for a spontaneous or organised lengthy campaign of barracking on the footy field. But there's no doubting that is one of the roots. Some people just don't know, or don't WANT to know, where lies the limits.

So far I have commented on how individuals react to events and personalities. There is a chance to change things at individual level, but only if it is headed by a genuine and open campaign to educate. In which case you are in the dangerous territory of Burgess's "Clockwork Orange." Nobody sensible I know wants that extremity, though gawd knows we've come precious close to it in the last generation - egged on by the likes of Murdoch's right-wing media. Fact is, it would be all too easy to over-react.

What intrigues me is how such individual action enlarges to a wider scale. The Jimmy Melia example I quoted earlier stuck in my mind because of the way it was expressed at its peak. If he tried something ambitious which didn't come off you could hear a section of the crowd let out a long, drawn out, "Meeeeeeliaaaaaa!!!" Those of us who have looked reasonably closely at the Kevin Campbell saga will see uncanny parallels. What starts out as an individual mutter can grow into widespread staccato vocal abuse. It leaks quickly, like a cheap rumour or evil propaganda.

Sometimes it is reminiscent of the old hoary military tale from the First World War. An order was issued to the first man in the trench-line, "We're sending up the pickets. Get ready to advance. Pass it on." By the time it reached the last man ten miles away it was, "They're sending up the tickets. We're going to a dance." Somewhere along the line someone didn't tell the truth.

The methods used to spread this kind of thing can vary. The most despicable example I can cite came in the home League Cup match V Crystal Palace with Kevin given a runout after recovery from that dreadful knee injury. The entire team played badly, not excluding KC. He was no better or worse than anyone else. But seated behind me in the Park End - the first and last time I sat there - was an individual who plainly hated his own centre forward. And I mean HATED. From the beginning he was on KC's back. Not only that, he kept up a running commentary to his companion of "See what I mean!? See what I fucking MEAN!?" until the hapless individual, instead of saying, "Just grow up will you," came out with a pathetic, "Yes I do, unfortunately." The key there is the word "unfortunately." But the true meaning went straight over the culprit's head. Listening to him was as boring as listening to an untalented geographer. The match went to penalties and, yes, you could write the script, Kev missed his. I don't need to tell you what the barracker said, or should I say blew hard about. By which time his friend had joined in with him.

So spreading this kind of garbage, consciously or unconsciously, can be a form of verbal and emotional bullying. If the target is having a bad game it becomes much easier. A run of bad form makes it a cinch. And then it grows from there, almost exponentially. Some people are so weak that if they can't jeer the opposition, they'll jeer one of their own players. Fortunately it is less easy to do this and hide these days. When standing terraces were in vogue it was possible for the culprits to do it and hide in a pressing mass. New circumstances might make it easier to identify but it also makes it a good deal more sinister. When someone's inadequacy is so potent they can't resist displaying it in public then it is surely time to have them visit a consultant.

In fact, barrackers are the paparazzi of the game, at least as bad as our widely distrusted media, and just as ugly. Persistent offenders appear to live off misfortune and/or fame for their own masochistic or sadistic satisfaction. Unable to accept sporting adversity they will turn on anybody and anything. If it isn't on the field it will be off it. Emotionally, they are bullying children in a schoolyard. Some people just can't or won't grow up. For them, there is little or no understanding that disappointment and tragedy are major factors in everyone's life which cannot be avoided. The true measure is how we come through it not how we give in to our worst instincts. Sensible people use it as a catalyst for revival of their will to make things better, not linger in inevitable self-pity.

In Kevin Campbell's case, what I think has happened is that too many people have found a scapegoat for our current mediocrity. This has been egged on by a hundred or so organised racists. It is quite true that racism plays a relatively small part in it, but it is not insignificant and it can't be overlooked. After all, English society is still racist in its leadership and policies. Every football club suffers from it. We still have fascist and racist organisations. Which is why I have dealt with that element in a separate essay posted before the Fulham away match last year. KC's case is actually worse because those who indulge in barracking him are helping the racists whether they want to or not. In short, they are suckers, fall guys, patsies and, ultimately, stupid. They have only themselves to blame.

If past experience is anything to go by the current session will ebb away as the majority of culprits get bored with sounding like a simian chorus, or Kevin's last hurrah leads to a goal scoring run. Hardly anyone barracks Unsy these days, largely because he has battled himself back into form. In the end, of course the best answer is for a player to do it out on the park, preferably the way David Beckham did. And there has never been any case of barracking worse than that dealt out to one of our best national players. Which really just goes to help prove my point that nobody is immune and no set of fans is completely innocent. The treatment of Becks was a national disgrace and that included the campaign of barracking led by the print media. There are many other examples.

It is no reassurance at all to know our fans are no different. Getting a picture in perspective is just the beginning. It would help if the culprits could grow up, and that right quickly. But there's no guarantee they will and no prospect of a miraculous transformation of human nature. All you can do is make your own opinions known to the barracker. After which, watch the face of the culprit. It can be the funniest part of a distasteful experience, rather like watching Jeffrey Archer get carted off to jail. Come to think of it, he was a bully too. (26/09/02)