Louts?
Remember that human rights lawyer who followed Chelsea home and away, who posted all sorts of crap about other fans. He was outed when he posted about Liverpool, including some slurs about Hillsborough and even brought Jimmy Savile into the conversation. Turns out he was an award winner for his work and on mega bucks.
Hardly the type…?
I remember him. I think it's easy to assume that everyone who does things such as chant about Hillsborough and other disasters are simply drunken idiots, but I think there's much more to it than that.
Of course, some people will indeed have been on the beer, but I don't even think that plays much of a part in stadiums anymore. Can you even get in if you're steaming drunk these days?
When you have almost an entire away end singing this shite it's not down to drunkenness, and I'd bet anything that the majority of those singing it are generally normal people you'd come into contact with anywhere in the course of your normal week.
Crowd dynamics and peer pressure play their part. People often act very differently in groups than they would individually. I used to have a girlfriend whose brother was a Blue. A nice guy one on one. Usually kind and generous with a decent nature about him. Thing is, I once saw him and his blue mates in a pub in town, and they were all acting like scum and singing vile shite. He didn't know I was there.
What I'm saying is that people can change when in groups. Herd mentality can act like an intoxicant all by itself. This is why when we see some people held to account for their behaviour at football grounds, people who know them will say that it's out of character for them.
I know a Red who has been prosecuted for football-related stuff following us. Thing is, he is a dedicated worker in the caring profession and is the type of fella who helps old ladies across the road. I've never seen him pissed-up either.
Prejudice plays a big part too. We all hold prejudice. I remember we had to do a lot of work around our own prejudices when I was training to be a counsellor. We often believe we aren't prejudiced ourselves, but when we scratch the surface it's not really so. It's so easy to buy into stereotyping too, and even moreso when in a crowd with something in common such as following the same football club. Prejudice, peer pressure, crowd dynamics, a sense of anonymity etc can all see people acting differently in a crowd than they would individually.
99.99% of people wouldn't dream of hurling abuse at bereaved people and disaster survivors face-to-face in daily life, yet many will do so when in a crowd of their peers. For some, drink may fuel it somewhat but, for most, it's not about the drink. There's so much more to it than that.
For it to stop, it has to have consequences for the individual. Then, the mentality within the group may shift like it has with racism. Individuals got dragged out and identified after airing their racism. Offenders lost jobs because of it. This helps change the mindset within the group where, now, fingers will be pointed at offenders by fellow fans.
Currently, the group mindset suggests singing songs about disasters and taunting bereaved people is acceptable. The way the media ignore it also helps condone it too. As it stands, people within the group are more inclined to join in than call it out. That will only change when individuals start being held accountable like they were when racism was finally addressed in stadiums.
