scum
n.
1.A filmy layer of extraneous or impure matter that forms on or rises to the surface of a liquid or body of water.
2.The refuse or dross of molten metals.
3.Refuse or worthless matter.
4.Slang. One, such as a person or an element of society, that is regarded as despicable or worthless.
It probably hasn't escaped your notice that we play Manchester United tomorrow in the FA Charity Shield.
As ever when we play the Mancs there has been the usual media agitation of the rivalry between the two great traditions of our clubs. To exacerbate matters, the customary inflammatory sensationalism by a handful of moronic journalists has unfortuitously coincided with the leaking of Man Utd's own internal safety report for last season which highlights the fact that hooliganism is not altogether extinct amongst their fans. Thanks a lot journos : I can just see you all salivating at the prospect of a good old-fashioned rumble in Cardiff tomorrow : you've certainly helped fuel the expectation, and perhaps planted the idea firmly in the minds of a few dunderheads who otherwise might have stayed at home. The Football Supporters' Association pre-empted the anticipated tensions in noble fashion, arranging some time ago to deploy their Fan Embassy at the game and organising a fans' five-a-side competition and a free fanzine in which supporters of each side extoll the virtues of the other.
A crucial factor about the Charity Shield nowadays is that, moreso than ever before, it doesn't attract a 100% turnout from otherwise regular matchgoers, certainly not amongst the Liverpool contingent : we have had a couple of days out in Cardiff already this year, not to mention Dortmund. In addition, the event itself seems pointless and even discredited : there have been revelations of how little of the cash actually goes to charities, rumours of an investigation by the Charities Commission, coupled with the fact that it's only another pre-season friendly and one that, as such, is less attractive to many than the Amsterdam Tournament. The match has seldom been a great spectacle, is not hugely competitive, and it would be no surprise to see both sides fielding less than their strongest eleven or sixteen. But Cardiff is a good day out, the Millennium Stadium is a great venue, and it's the perfect opportunity, for example, to take the nephew and niece for their first match.
A lot of regulars are clearly not going : facts are hard to establish from Liverpool FC ticket office, but the usual rumour sources claim that take up from season ticket holders was less than 11,000 of the allocation of 26,000 +, and there is a strong rumour that 3,000 tickets were returned - but to whom ? I'm not convinced ... It will come as no surprise that ticket distribution suffered from the usual Liverpool difficulties for major games at other stadiums (see the FA Semi Final - unsold tickets returned but thousands unable to buy tickets; ditto the UEFA Cup Final, etc) : the sale announcement was made nearly two weeks after Man Utd began sales, and the information flow was customarily poor. If you already knew how to get info out of Liverpool FC ticket office you were sorted, but less regular fans were left in the dark ...
And yet interest in the game has been high, and it's clear that much of it is not from normal match-goers who know the score. That's perhaps a good thing, inasmuch as it gives new fans a chance to see a game in great surroundings. But given the hype about the nastiness between our rival fans, there's something niggling at the back of my mind.
Why am I so convinced that there are a lot of armchair fans going ? There is a lot of evidence for this. I can see this by looking at the referer statistics to this website, for example : internet searches for Charity Shield Ticket Sales have become by far the highest referring search phrase, with many hundreds of hits in recent weeks. Elsewhere, at a time when thousands of face value tickets remained unsold at Liverpool FC, people were happily bidding three or four times face value for tickets on internet auction sites such as Ebay.
The other UK internet auction giant, QXL, to their enormous credit, remove auctions of touted tickets for Liverpool FC games. Ebay refused to remove auctions for Charity Shield tickets despite it clearly stating on the ticket that resale makes the ticket invalid. The FA made some attempt to address this with Ebay but did comment that their main concern was reaching an understanding with internet auction sites prior to the release of Germany v. England ticket sales : they did not succeed in preventing the exploitation of unwitting and uninformed people prepared to use Ebay to buy tickets for the Charity Shield. Whilst the application of Section 166 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act to internet sales is a grey area of Case Law which needs clarification in line with the principle of the legislation (ie to ensure the safety of fans), the terms and conditions of sale should have sufficed. This might seem trivial, but Ebay was being promoted by a leading independent Liverpool fan site as THE recommended way to buy tickets for the Charity Shield !!! The site, which recently ran an editorial feature claiming several million page impressions per month, led users to Ebay by posting a link claiming to lead to a site selling Charity Shield tickets for non-season ticket holders. Elsewhere, the site stated that it gained financially from every registration at Ebay that resulted. All this at a time when Liverpool FC ticket office had hundreds if not thousands of tickets available on general sale (ie to anyone, not just Season Ticket holders.)
And so we have become aware of a number of inexperienced fans who now hold tickets for the non-Liverpool areas of the ground. (If you are one of these, click here for unofficial advice based on experience.) That adds to concerns about the situation.
Especially as it's the newer, less regular fans who have this odd obsession with Man United. For one thing, they tend to refer to the team and their supporters as The Scum. It's become almost common parlance to do so, but to me it's out of order. It's inappropriate, too. This website gets some crackingly good, erudite, witty and incisive contributions from Liverpool fans; I seldom edit much of anything submitted - but this site doesn't carry articles referring to the Mancs as Scum. Because they are not The Scum.
To me, The Scum is something else altogether. The Scum was the name given to a certain contemptible newspaper throughout the Thatcher years, the Miners' Strike and especially in the aftermath of Hillsborough. The lies, the stereotypes, the evil, and the complicity in the perversion of my concept of justice earned them that title. To refer to another football team or their supporters as The Scum undermines and trivialises the righteous contempt for that publication's actions.
Let's get this in perspective. Liverpool FC are the most successful club in English football history. Eighteen Championships, four European Cups, etc ... no other English football club comes anywhere close. Nottingham Forest were pretty good in Europe for a while, but the Mancs have done well in the league in the past decade and are now the richest club in the world and have the best recent domestic record. That makes them decent rivals, and it is understandable why they see their success in terms of ours : we are the target.
If you ask people anywhere in the world to name two English clubs the likelihood is that they will name Liverpool and Manchester United : both clubs are world famous. To the outside observer we are similar ! Rivalry is celebrating the differences - including four real European Champions Cups to one ! Decent rivalry respects successes and traditions. To the Mancs who paid their respects after Hillsborough should go nothing but respect in return : to call them Scum is a disgrace. And when a club has the song tradition of Liverpool FC it is a sad sound to hear the obsession of the ignorant with insulting, disrespectful songs. It's a sign of ignorance of the traditions of your own club, and let's hope that the presence of so many less-than-regular matchgoers tomorrow does not bring it to the fore. And when rivalry is exaggerated to the point of moronic violence it ceases to be a difference : it's just more unwanted Scum.
And so a plea from an old bastard : let's have some dignity tomorrow. Let's all realise that our clubs are giants of world football born in the industrial north of England, with distinct cultures and traditions. They are OUR clubs, despite the fact that they are fawned over at times but toyed with at others by a self-serving media who thrive on our disunity. There probably will be some Scum around - people looking to cause shit for decent football fans, and people looking to film it, photograph it, sensationalise it, and lie about it. So let's look after everyone, regardless of team, and have another great day out in Cardiff. It was great with the Brummies, and better still with Arsenal. Let's make an effort, but be careful. Stick to the pubs at our end of the ground, for example.
Oh, and what should we call the Mancs, if not the Mancs ? I liked the suggestion from Scally Bob on RAOTL : Scum is very Peeeeortsmouth or Leeds: certainly wooly.
I prefer "That Shower", not to be confused with our brethren across the Park, who are of course "That Rabble".
© Bob Kurac 2001
