Racism and Homophobia announcement - Was it us?

[Croesy Blue]

Jacqui Oatley definitely hates Cardiff, it’s very weird. I always liked her until I followed her on Twitter, so biased it’s painful.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Birmingham has a massive multi cultural fan base. Their hooligan element was also multi cultural.

My cousin used to play for them in the 90s and I went to a lot of their games home and away and whilst their fans had a reputation for trouble, same as ours, endemic racial abuse was certainly not something I would associate Birmingham City with.

My father was a blues fan before I converted him to the city

Whilst like cardiff , birmingham has a multicultural support , the football club in the 80s and 90s had a terrible reputation for racism , leeds is also a multicultural city but had similar problems

Birmingham city has always been the football club of the white working class in the city , Aston villa the more multicultural

Birmingham city is based in small heath , a large Asian area of the city , birmingham do not have a big Asian following , they do have a black following some of whom sadly took over the zulus hooligan gang but most of Birmingham's black community have aston villa as their club , hardly surprising when you think of the proximity of handsworth , aston and lozells to villa park

[soulsurfer3]

There was a “Racism and Homophobia will not be tolerated” announcement on the Tanoy. Was it us or them?

I watched the game on a good stream yesterday and heard the announcement followed by chants of sheep shagging bastards we know what we are I heard no offensive chanting en masse by the faithful and if this outcry is for a bit of anti English banter then Reading FC need to be wrapped in cotton wool every time they play us, poor little lambs.The City support was fantastic !!!

[celticknight]

Jacqui Oatley definitely hates Cardiff, it’s very weird. I always liked her until I followed her on Twitter, so biased it’s painful.

All I can remember was her getting a cob on regarding Warnock moaning about Chelsea's offside goal last season.

That said, she might not be the best judge of character.

[Rock_Flock_of_Five]

My father was a blues fan before I converted him to the city

Whilst like cardiff , birmingham has a multicultural support , the football club in the 80s and 90s had a terrible reputation for racism , leeds is also a multicultural city but had similar problems

Birmingham city has always been the football club of the white working class in the city , Aston villa the more multicultural

Birmingham city is based in small heath , a large Asian area of the city , birmingham do not have a big Asian following , they do have a black following some of whom sadly took over the zulus hooligan gang but most of Birmingham's black community have aston villa as their club , hardly surprising when you think of the proximity of handsworth , aston and lozells to villa park

There's a huge difference - Leeds might be a multi-cultural city, however, they have never had a multi-cultural following; perhaps they were deemed to have a racist element amongst them. Birmingham City, on the other hand, have had a large black following for many years. If you'd ever seen their away support in particular, you'd have noticed how they all mix without problems.

[Croesy Blue]

All I can remember was her getting a cob on regarding Warnock moaning about Chelsea's offside goal last season.

That said, she might not be the best judge of character.

She really doesn’t like Warnock either

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

There's a huge difference - Leeds might be a multi-cultural city, however, they have never had a multi-cultural following; perhaps they were deemed to have a racist element amongst them. Birmingham City, on the other hand, have had a large black following for many years. If you'd ever seen their away support in particular, you'd have noticed how they all mix without problems.

I am afraid you are incorrect , the Birmingham hooligan gang , the zulus , was notoriously racist up until the min 1990s when the gang was taken over by the local afro Caribbean nutters

I have seen their away support many times , my father was born and brought up in small heath he was a birmingham city fan before I made him see sense , it's not as multi cultural as a club with Birmingham's demographic should be

Mind you , nor is Cardiff's , if we are being honest

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

I don't know where Sludge is getting his idea that Birmingham is/was a racist club - he couldn't be any further from the truth, for reasons that you pointed out in your first paragraph.

I said it WAS

And up until local black hooligans took over the zulus in the 1990s , that along with leeds , Pompey, millwall , stoke etc , it very much was

As I say my father was a blue nose and he told me of horrific racist abuse on the terraces of st Andrew's

[dembethewarrior]

If this is true that’s disgraceful.
A lad off our bus was detained until late last night, I was told at 1AM he was released without charge due to ‘mistaken identity’.

His father has to drive to Reading to pick him up as his wallet was on the bus.

No attempt was made toco tact us about his whereabouts ( he is an adult by the way) and even our own police seemed to know very little about it.

Farce.

That's ****ing shocking

[dembethewarrior]

My father was a blues fan before I converted him to the city

Whilst like cardiff , birmingham has a multicultural support , the football club in the 80s and 90s had a terrible reputation for racism , leeds is also a multicultural city but had similar problems

Birmingham city has always been the football club of the white working class in the city , Aston villa the more multicultural

Birmingham city is based in small heath , a large Asian area of the city , birmingham do not have a big Asian following , they do have a black following some of whom sadly took over the zulus hooligan gang but most of Birmingham's black community have aston villa as their club , hardly surprising when you think of the proximity of handsworth , aston and lozells to villa park

By working class you're referring to poor white people I guess..

[B. Oddie]

The anti-English stuff is frustratingly stupid, regardless of whether or not its related to this incident, singing it shows a complete lack of either education, narrow mindedness or both.

Our club was founded by an Englishman, is managed by an Englishman, has mainly English players and competes in English leagues.

The fact that the majority of people in society are unwilling or unable to think beyond superficial level is alarming. This also applies to politics too.

[Baloo]

Report on arrests: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51251551

Four Cardiff City fans were arrested for "alleged racially aggravated abuse" during Saturday's 1-1 FA Cup draw at Reading, Thames Valley Police said.

The four males have been released under investigation.

Two of the four, aged 15 and 24, are from Caerphilly, with a 16-year-old from Abergavenny and a 21-year-old from Crickhowell arrested too.

Thames Valley Police said: "The force will continue to work in partnership with the clubs and South Wales Police."

Warnings relating to the alleged incidents were issued via the public address system at Madejski Stadium.

On Saturday, Cardiff City said in a statement they were aware of the allegations.

"We will be speaking with Reading Football Club, Thames Valley Police and South Wales Police - in attendance with our travelling support - to ascertain the facts of the matter," said the Bluebirds.

"We will conduct these conversations with the relevant authorities before making any further comment."

A Football Association spokesperson said the body is aware of the allegations and will also be investigating.

[StraightOuttaCanton]

I know, we have to go to places like stoke, Swansea, Luton, Barnsley, Blackburn and boro just to name a few who must hear this every week

🤣🤣... with the exception of Swansea and maybe Barnsley the rest are probably the top 4 of shitholes I’ve visited in the UK. Boro and Stoke are definitely 1and 2

[surge]

The racist chanting thing is interesting because a lot of the chants Cardiff fans use, and that are used against them, are racist, but they’re wheeled out every week and common place. At what point do you decide they’re no longer acceptable and for what reason? ‘Same old English, always cheating’ is racist. Is anyone taking offence to it though? Probably not. Swing Low is not a racist song, but is used against Welsh sides in a racist way. The Washington Redskins is a racially insensitive name too. Where do you draw the line though?

Scott Johnson's (Walesonline writer) take on matter: https://twitter.com/roathboy

This does give us a chance to review the songs we are singing and update songbook if any are inappropriate. At the moment some of our favourite responses to away fans singing about England (and that's becoming more rare) is to sing about football hooliganism or how England fecked up the World Cup - the latter being a different kettle of fish but considering they have a great chance of winning the Euros it may come back to bite us - and one of the loudest songs this season has been about child abuse. It would not be a bad thing to start singing pro-Cardiff City songs or pro-Welsh songs instead, or even abusive songs which don't make light of such personal and damaging things such as child abuse.

I've seen some posts in this thread highlighting that Cardiff is largely a city without a racism problem which may be true in comparison to some others, but I also remember the twitter feed highlighting racism in Welsh football when our away fans were banned from Hungary, which itself was about a month after two boys got attacked in South Wales and told to go home in a matter unrelated to football. The English media's starting position for their recent game marred by racism was to deny there was any issue at home and that's simply inaccurate, especially given that the majority were able to "factor in" Boris Johnson's racist statements and still vote Tory plus how media have traditionally reported on Raheem Sterling etc. We all still have steps to take to stand against racism.

If it does turn out to be typical anti-English stuff then maybe it can spark a wider conversation about xenophobic attitudes across borders within the UK? Members of the UK government jeer anytime an SNP MP suggests conversation about independence and Tories consistently vote against increasing presence of Welsh language but Cardiff City fans singing songs is picked up instead? And if a hasty announcement on the Reading tannoy is the start of a conversation about Brexit was partly built on fear of Scotland having louder voice in UK (and therefore UK as it is today is based on established xenophobia) then all power to the biscuit-men,

[City123]

I am afraid you are incorrect , the Birmingham hooligan gang , the zulus , was notoriously racist up until the min 1990s when the gang was taken over by the local afro Caribbean nutters

I have seen their away support many times , my father was born and brought up in small heath he was a birmingham city fan before I made him see sense , it's not as multi cultural as a club with Birmingham's demographic should be

Mind you , nor is Cardiff's , if we are being honest

I'd say that's because a sizeable chunk (maybe even a majority) of Cardiff's support aren't from Cardiff but from the surrounding, whiter areas

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

I'd say that's because a sizeable chunk (maybe even a majority) of Cardiff's support aren't from Cardiff but from the surrounding, whiter areas

I think a survey showed that the majority of our support came from cardiff but we undoubtedly get a large following from areas with little ethnic minority population eg bridgend , the valleys etc

Apart from arsenal , which is located bang in the middle of one of the worlds most cosmopolitan cities , football is or was generally a white working class game in the uk

[A Quiet Monkfish]

🤣🤣... with the exception of Swansea and maybe Barnsley the rest are probably the top 4 of shitholes I’ve visited in the UK. Boro and Stoke are definitely 1and 2

My father used to travel all over the UK in the 40's and 50's. I remember asking him what were the worst places he'd stayed in. He told me "Two. Stoke and Middlesbrough".

[splott parker]

I think a survey showed that the majority of our support came from cardiff but we undoubtedly get a large following from areas with little ethnic minority population eg bridgend , the valleys etc

Apart from arsenal , which is located bang in the middle of one of the worlds most cosmopolitan cities , football is or was generally a white working class game in the uk

The football club Dial Square was started by Surrey factory workers the century before last, so I’d have thought Arsenal’s roots were white working class.

[goats]

I think a survey showed that the majority of our support came from cardiff but we undoubtedly get a large following from areas with little ethnic minority population eg bridgend , the valleys etc

Apart from arsenal , which is located bang in the middle of one of the worlds most cosmopolitan cities , football is or was generally a white working class game in the uk

Surely spurs too? It’s next to broad water farm estate isn’t it?

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

The football club Dial Square was started by Surrey factory workers the century before last, so I’d have thought Arsenal’s roots were white working class.

That's before they moved to north london

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Surely spurs too? It’s next to broad water farm estate isn’t it?

Indeed , spurs has a large black , asian and Cypriot support , matching the local area

[richard.]

I think a survey showed that the majority of our support came from cardiff but we undoubtedly get a large following from areas with little ethnic minority population eg bridgend , the valleys etc

Apart from arsenal , which is located bang in the middle of one of the worlds most cosmopolitan cities , football is or was generally a white working class game in the uk

I'm from Bridgend, and certainly amongst my generation you'd get your head kicked in there for saying anything racist.

Plenty of old racists around, but I still doubt they're brave enough to do it at a City game.

[insider]

My recollection of the Birmingham Zulus in the 80s was one with a large afro Caribbean contingent.
So i wouldn't think they'd have a large racism problem.

[soulsurfer3]

Indeed , spurs has a large black , asian and Cypriot support , matching the local area

I think you might have left out quite an important North London community there Sludge.

[splott parker]

That's before they moved to north london

You did say ‘is or was a generally white, working class game’, so I’d say Arsenal fall into the ‘was’ category given their roots.