Yorke And The Fans

[des]

I was watching it on sky, and I thougth that yorkie and bruce did not help the situation, what the fans did was wrong and out of order and he should be banned untill his attidues changes ( banning peopole for life means that if they do change they is still no way back )

however like all stories like this most of the fans get the mud thrown at them as well. with all the PR about this story it does not help our area

[cletus]

Statistics wouldn't prove that Andy Cole played any better for us then Dwight Yorke...

no......but fans can see the general allround effort for the team that Cole put in.

[waggy]

Then Yorke's interpretation of it looks more like a chicken!

just read through 12 pages off comments and this is the one i wanted to post,saw it on ssn and when i saw yorke doing the funky chicken in front off the camera's i nearly wet myself.

i will not apoligise for what went on yesterday,as most people living in blackburn knows it goes on-why do you think we only get .0000001 % off the asian population coming to ewood,they get abused,black players get abused.

when a recent spate off muggings were going on in blackburn in the small hours off the morning it was a gang of youths,when they were caught it was reported in the let they were all asians,all the victims were white,were they raciast attacks or muggings

[blue phil]

So the bottom line is that one person was ejected . This one person has not conclusively - in my reading of this entire thread at least - been linked with anything of a racial nature at all . Nobody heard him say anything and the Sky pictures seem to be ambiguous (although not being a Murdoch subscriber I personally haven't seen them !)

And yet we now have the world's media , or so it seems , camped out at Ewood building up this non story .

We even have the Chief Superintendent of Lancashire - no less - taking a personal interest in the "case" , meeting with Williams and issuing sanctimonious statements about possible criminal proceedings .

Absolute and total b@llox from start to finish and a wonderful illustration of a crazy society's obsession with appeasing the sensitivities of so called minorities. We're even willing to play along with fictitious and non existent "crimes" in the clamour to prove how "liberal" minded we all are . The fact of the matter is that nothing of any note happened at Ewood yesterday (off the pitch ).

On a vastly more serious note I have to wonder if this Chief Superintendent has taken a personal interest of the very real racist crimes that have been afflicting Blackburn in recent months - crimes in which the victims have suffered slightly more than having a w*nker sign flashed at them....

[1864roverite]

from experience any crimes committed by ethnics on whites are rarely seen as racist whereas on the other hand when its white on ethnic its totally the opposite.

Put this down to beaurocratic policies, failure to take the real issues in hand, the politically correct brigade and the failure of the apparent leaders of this country to take a control of the real causes of trouble within the country.

the powers that be are afraid to call the game when if they did it would instantly solve the situation.

Its a sad indictment on our society.

Another thing is that the general public have rights to see the recorded crimes in the county, its perhaps convenient that this issue never ever raises its ugly head. Now I wonder why that is ?

[roversWASmylife]

The whole story today has been blown out of proportion.

Sky Sports were live at Ewood a bit ago and basically confirmed that it was two/three fans involved in the incident, with one with video evidence that he did racially abuse Yorke.

Yorke was always going to get stick, he's an ex-Rover who didn't achieve, or show any interest in the club, so he's bound to, but not racism.

I'm sure the club will deal with the matter with Lancashire Police properly and we'll have to wait for what they say.

Police probe Yorke 'racism' claim

[krislu]

The whole story today has been blown out of proportion.

Agree, it was just on Norwegian sport news, headline "English Soccer hit by another racism scandal"!

[1864roverite]

Anyone seen Granade reports and the different angle on the "Roma scarfed" idiot ?

it clearly shows him gesturing with both arms.

Does anyone claim to know him ?

Get him identified and get him named and shamed NOW.

Actions like identifying him can only help repair the damage cuased over the weekend

[roversWASmylife]

it clearly shows him gesturing with both arms.

Does anyone claim to know him ?

Get him identified and get him named and shamed NOW.

Actions like identifying him can only help repair the damage cuased over the weekend

I and most will agree with you there.

SkySports also show the 'fan' appearing to doing an impression of a fan.

After the fan was escorted, I don't know it anyone else saw this, but Yorke told various stewards what the fan had done to make him become angry.

That fan deserves to be named and shamed, not the Blackburn fans.

Edited November 22, 2004 by roversismylife

[broadsword]

We even have the Chief Superintendent of Lancashire - no less - taking a personal interest in the "case" , meeting with Williams and issuing sanctimonious statements about possible criminal proceedings

Are you serious?

If true, that is a joke. Rovers can handle it and can surely liaise with the Police at more junior level. It's not as if they're not taking it seriously.

Bewildering. We don't even know if there's been a crime yet.

[Paul]

The police have stated they are launching a criminal investigation. The Chief Super is travelling TO Birmingham tomorrow to interview Yorke.

I'll give you £1 to 1p that if he wanted to talk to a fan it would be the fan who did the travelling!

[1abrover]

why is it that every rovers game lately seems to be spoiled by a few idiots i for one am getting pretty sick of it and if i did not have a season might be thinking twice about coming to the next game i've already decided not to go to crystal palace game . i regularly do nearly a 400 mile round trip to see the rovers play home matches and a fair few away games to it's just a shame these idiots dont realise how lucky they are to have a premiership team on there door step

[mjs]

Anyone seen Granade reports and the different angle on the "Roma scarfed" idiot ?

it clearly shows him gesturing with both arms.

Does anyone claim to know him ?

Get him identified and get him named and shamed NOW.

Actions like identifying him can only help repair the damage cuased over the weekend

I don't know him but I remember seeing him on the concourse at half-time yesterday because he stood out with the Roma scarf on - and because he looked totally plastered as he staggered in front of me!

[booth]

why is it that every rovers game lately seems to be spoiled by a few idiots i for one am getting pretty sick of it and if i did not have a season might be thinking twice about coming to the next game

That's going a bit far. If this hadn't been highlighted by the press you wouldn't have known about it, so how does it affect you enough to not want to go anymore? I wouldn't let a couple of people ruin my entertainment.

And on the wider issue, I think the club needs to make examples of these people as soon as they can be identified. Yorke deserved some grief, he's an arrogant waster who showed no passion for playing in a blue and white shirt - and at the time he was a Rovers player, he was reportedly the highest earner too. So give him some grief by all means, without resorting to the lowest form of insult.

I can't see how having a go at the colour of his skin would reflect quite how crap he was as a Blackburn Rovers footballer. He has more than enough shortcomings as a footballer to take the mick out of which shows that these people are obviously not real fans anyway

[Paul Mellelieu]

One pillock, at least, spoils yesterday's game with his ignorant behavour, which seems to me having seen the TV footage to be a monkey taunt. And after a dozen pages of reasonable discusssion here waggy and blue phil hit the gutter.

"The fact of the matter is that nothing of any note happened at Ewood yesterday."

I'm afraid it did Blue Phil if the footage is to be believed. It seems certain that Yorke was racially abused yesterday.

"i will not apoligise for what went on yesterday,as most people living in blackburn knows it goes on-why do you think we only get .0000001 % off the asian population coming to ewood,they get abused,black players get abused."

Well Waggy that makes it OK doesn't it? Racism happens, so there's no point anyone complaining then is what you're saying.

With fans like these........

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Me thinks good old chief superintendant wants to make a name for himself....what an ideal opportunity for an easy catch infront of a nation wide audience.

BRAVO CHIEFY! BRAVO!!

Racism is wrong but this whole episode is turning into a farce FFS!

Edited November 22, 2004 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[adopted scouser]

What a complete non event the whole 'story' is. Murdoch driven red top trash riding on the back of the real abuse at the England game.

How desperate are these hacks for a little scandal however vague ? If it's true that the Chief Super at Blackburn has taken a personal interest, then that speaks volumes about our PC society being so far up it's arse the molars are rattling.

It could have been two, and one of them was ejected from a building holding around 20 thousand people, lighten up - get over it !

Any road up I heard the more inebriated fans mistook Dwight for MC Hammer and started making Funky noises

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

'our PC society being so far up it's arse the molars are rattling.'

Nice one AS!

[stuwilky]

With all due respect to the Chief Constable I would have thought that they would have had much more important things on their plate this week.

What with reports of a £7million budget shortfall and the likelihood of less police officers next year.

Still if he thinks he has time to deal with what can only be referred to as a relatively minor, isolated incident, who am I as a member of the tax paying public to question that?

[waggy]

One pillock, at least, spoils yesterday's game with his ignorant behavour, which seems to me having seen the TV footage to be a monkey taunt. And after a dozen pages of reasonable discusssion here waggy and blue phil hit the gutter.

"The fact of the matter is that nothing of any note happened at Ewood yesterday."

I'm afraid it did Blue Phil if the footage is to be believed. It seems certain that Yorke was racially abused yesterday.

"i will not apoligise for what went on yesterday,as most people living in blackburn knows it goes on-why do you think we only get .0000001 % off the asian population coming to ewood,they get abused,black players get abused."

Well Waggy that makes it OK doesn't it? Racism happens, so there's no point anyone complaining then is what you're saying.

With fans like these........

the point i am getting over is raciasm happens at ewood,and in blackburn,its not news it happens every day.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

I'm starting to get a little angry at some of the 'storys' appearing, this from AOL news.......

New Soccer Racism - Crisis Deepens

Dwight Yorke: Subjected to racist taunts during the match at Ewood Park

Soccer chiefs moved to stem the tide of racism threatening the beautiful game today after soccer yobs shamed football again.

Sports Minister Richard Caborn backed FIFA chief Sepp Blatter saying players should walk off the pitch in the face of racist chants from supporters.

The call came after Blackburn fans disgraced their club last night, subjecting Birmingham striker Dwight Yorke to a tirade of monkey chants as he warmed up for a Premiership game.

And the grim episode of terrace racism comes only days after England players were subject to identical abuse in a friendly international with Spain.

Police and bosses on both sides were investigating the claims this afternoon.

And a further racism row erupted after former Blackburn and Chelsea star David Speedie reportedly launched into a racist joke at a charity dinner for Darlington Football Club Supporters’ Trust on Friday.

More on Racism in Football

One time Scottish international Speedie allegedly backed Ron Atkinson – who resigned from ITV after racially abusing Marcel Desailly – and peppered his speech with racist language.

Darlington FC’s Kevan Smith, a friend of Speedie, said the player would be ‘upset to be called racist’ but diner Steve Rose said he would be writing to the Trust to express his disgust.

Last night after the match in Blackburn, Birmingham manager Steve Bruce said he had been disgusted by the chants and added: “It is sick. They racially abused Dwight and you cannot accept that.

“When you see what happened in the week and how everyone was sickened by that you can imagine how Dwight feels. It is unforgivable behaviour.”

The last week has seen the spectre of soccer racism return to the game on a level not seen since the 1980s.

Incidents have included:

* Spanish fans screaming monkey chants at England’s black players Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips

* FIFA President Sepp Blatter saying he would sanction the team walking off the pitch in similar circumstances

* Spain coach Luis Aragones branding Arsenal superstar Thierry Henry "a black s***" - and refusing to apologise

* Blackburn fans aiming racist filth at Birmingham striker Yorke

* Pupils in a Leicester school copying Spanish yobs and hurling abuse at a black teacher

Supt Warren Turner, of Lancashire Police, confirmed that a supporter had been ejected from the ground following an incident of a "racist nature" at Blackburn and added: "Police in conjunction with Blackburn Rovers are conducting an investigation into what exactly happened to see what is the appropriate action to take - whether it is a criminal matter or something that the club will deal with.''

But Blackburn fans have hit back at the allegations saying the ex-Rovers player had been singled out because of his poor performances when he had played for club.

One fan, Simon Leigh, said: "My view is that he was getting abuse about being lazy while he was at the club."

TIRADE OF MONKEY CHANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT WAS 1 PERSON DO YOU HEAR, ONE BLOODY PERSON!!!!

Edited November 22, 2004 by SIMON GARNERS 194

[philipl]

This is still the main sports story on the home page of the BBC. What a quiet news day!

It is Sky Sports controversy corner. The comments seem pretty fair.

To sum up, a legless teenager with a strange accent and an even stranger scarf together with his mate jesticulated and shouted causing a 33 year old multimillionaire to lose his cool and jump into a hostile crowd. His boss then told the media saying he felt physically sick by what happened.

The world's media gathered at Ewood and the Rovers have been besmirched.

[Linny8]

As soon as I heard about the abuse he recieved I knew that the media would totally blow the whole episode out of proportion. Now because of one tanked up lad, eveywhere we go we are all going to be labelled racist thugs. How i hate the bloody media.

P.S. When are we holding our next kkk meeting?

Edited November 22, 2004 by Linny8

[1864roverite]

stu

do you honestly think that anyother than a constable wil be doing the leg work ?

Can you ever see a CH Super conducting an interivew ? If so you watch the Bill on TV !

It is more of a media exercise for both Rovers and the Local old bill. I do believe the individual that was ejected was NOT arrested merely removed from the ground. Unless someone knows this idiot then there is a good chance that he will not nor never be identified, especially if he is a one off supporter or even just a simple visitor to the ground.

As I understand it NO complaint has been received at Lancashire Police from Dwight Yorke. So unless we see a complaint then the individual will not face criminal charges, at best he will suffer a life ban from Ewood and a probable banning order from other grounds. Even so in the face of a lack of criminal onviction the banning order will not be granted so he will face little punishment.

name the offender or if the offender is a member of these pages then go to the club and name and shame yourself. It takes a coward to do what you did inside our ground but it takes a man to own up to his wrongdoings.

do us a favour and hand yourself in

[Friarsnig]

'Roma scarf' is obviously a bloody idiot. Racism of any kind, in any direction, is disgraceful. But...

Many people actually seem surprised that this has happened. It seems that blue and white blinkers have been selling well recently. Come on, who hasn't heard racist comments made on the Blackburn End recently, if not about players on the pitch then about the local Asian population? This is also true not only at Ewood but at Turf Moor, Deepdale, and the Interlink.

Does anyone believe that Blackburn as a town is free from racism? Of course not. It's rife, as well you know. So is it any surprise that some of these racist people also like to watch football?

We've come a long way since the 70's and 80's. I for one can remember bananas being thrown from the Blackburn End, and monkey chanting was heard regularly. The same people still support the Rovers, and their attitudes have obviously been handed down to the next generation. The difference now is that they know it's against the law and they'll be thrown out if they do it, and at 20 quid a ticket it's obviously an expensive way to voice their opinions. But as we've just seen it only takes one drunken halfwit to open up what is a very large can of worms.

My point is this. Racism is still alive and kicking amongst British football fans and we must not let ourselves become complacent. Of course we at Ewood are not in the same league as say Millwall, or Burnley, or Cardiff, but an element is still there. Let's root the f*****s out before they dump us all in the mire.

Let's not stick our heads in the sand.

By the way, I agree that Yorke deserved a barracking for his well payed lack of effort whilst in Rovers colours but it had NOTHING to do with the colour of his skin.