- Feb 18, 2006
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It‘s very real it’s just that what lies beneath the surface and can be contained by perceptions of acceptable norms can come out into the open in the environment of a football match. If you don’t inside think negatively of black people you would never make monkey noises at a football game no matter what was going on around you just like if you aren’t anti-semitic inside you would never countenance making hissing noises even if 5,000 people around you were.True, but in the cauldron of football it’s not really real, I was at a local NI match last year where a *protestant team* was playing a *nationalist team* and the nationalist team was chanting “you fenian bastard” at a player on the protestant team. It’s honestly wierd what our sport does to some people. Also drink and bravado has a massive part to play.
The cauldron isn’t an excuse it just strips away the pretence and exposes people for what they really are as they perceive that they have a licence to behave in a way they really want to but wouldn’t otherwise do for fear of public reaction.