The first post of the new year and yesterday was my first live match in a while, having been self-isolating with a very mild bout of Covid. There’s plenty already said online about Forest v Arsenal, for which my seat had to remain empty. Whatever the ins and outs of the line-up Arsenal fielded, total value was well over 200 million up alongside our bunch of frees, loans and academy graduates.
The only real controversy here seems to have been the opinions voiced online about the jeering of Bukayo Saka. Racist or not? Personally, I’m pretty confident on this one. Not. Forest fans, with the odd (horrible) exception perhaps a few years back against Leicester, have a pretty decent track record to fall back on. I’ve never heard a player racially abused by Forest fans and we’re pretty much well behind the taking the knee, judging by the overwhelming applause for it each and every time it happens. Was the getting at Saka any different to the years of grief Stuart Pearce endured after his penalty catastrophe? Probably not. DId any individual jeering Saka have racist thoughts? Possibly. Collectively though, I’m sticking to not. It would make no sense given our history on and off the pitch and the composition of our team and fan base.
From another point of view, Stuart Pearce was and is not Bukayo Saka. He doesn’t carry the same burden of experience. Many things may have happened in Psycho’s life but he has not walked in the shoes of a young, black guy. Only young, black guys have done that. Even extremely wealthy ones, not that that should make any difference.
So is it a different case? Given recent events, high strength of feeling and sensitivity around Black Lives Matter, should there be a recognition that black players should not/cannot be jeered? Where does that leave us? The extreme of that would be Black players get a free pass to act however they want on and off the pitch with no comeback, which presumably isn’t desirable.
I genuinely can‘t figure it out, which I suspect is a problem for a lot of us. Jeering anyone isn’t nice, but when has being a football supporter been about being nice? There needs to be limits. Racism, poverty and tragedy related nonsense, for example as targeted at Liverpudlians must all be off limits, but take out any edge and the match experience isn’t the same. Stick to football related stuff? Probably. Which brings us full circle to Saka and the likelihood that anything he experienced last week was football related and fair game. Not nice, but…
On matters sort of political, on the long, foggy drive back from Emley yesterday, I caught an extended interview with Gary Neville with Nick Robinson on Radio 4 - it was that or Rylan. Here’s a guy with a massive social media platform who is focussing very much on political thought of late. Not his place, some say. Go Gary, say I. Neville’s politics are interesting. Here’s a hugely wealthy man, entrepreneur, media type and the accusations of ‘champagne socialism’ come out every time he speaks or writes. Sounds familiar to Forest fans, echoing a certain Brian Clough, of course. Cloughie famously promoted the cause of the striking miners, vehemently opposed the media barons Maxwell and Murdoch and exposed a brand of old fashioned socialism. Any LFC fans here, Shankly was also very clear about the kind of socialism he believed in: people working together and looking after one another. Neville‘s views seem similar.
Neville talked eloquently about the possibility of being well off but still showing empathy and understanding for others. He spoke about levelling up in a meaningful way, both geographically and in terms of ending the obscenity of there being a minority of people with so much money they don‘t know what to do with it, effectively taking it out of circulation, whilst others may be homeless and/or rely on food banks.
Even Sam Allardyce, bless him, has made the case:
Neville clearly loathes the Prime Minister and the current regime. He was also critical of Keir Starmer, who he feels has missed an opportunity to further the cause of working people. His vision seems to be of a more caring, even, fair society in which people can still do well for themselves, but would then be expected to support the less fortunate. I’m not quibbling with that, even from an ex United player! We live in a world where rich people literally eat gold (watch Masterchef if in doubt) whilst others go hungry. I’m with Brian, Bill, Sam and Gary here.
Whilst top level football lives in its own bizarre universe, surely at some point there has to come a point where we stop paying players sums of money they will never spend. Money that will never trickle down into the community. A rough calculation on the top ten salaries in the Premier League for 2021 comes to a shade over £175 million. That’s salaries, not image rights, bonuses, endorsements, business deals, just basic salaries. That money is largely gone. Offshore, tax haven, wherever. No one can spend that. The least the lucky recipients could do would be to pay the bloody tax on it, but many take enormous and sometimes shady steps to protect themselves from even that (See Football Leaks).
Back in the real world, Saturday for me brought a first ever visit to Emley AFC, a club with a long and proud history. Situated in a small village just outside Huddersfield/Wakefield, right under that massive TV mast you can see from the M1, Emley were founded in 1903. For some time, they were the most successful non-league team in Yorkshire, playing in the Northern Premier. You may recall a fantastic cup run in ‘98, which only ended in a narrow 3rd round defeat at West Ham. There has also been an FA Vase final.
Following that, the club relocated to Wakefield, in an attempt to bring first class football to what must be one of the largest places in the UK without it. This was also motivated by the possibility of demotion by dint of the standard of the ground. This club dropped Emley from the name and this gave the opportunity for supporters to start a new club, AFC Emley, back in the village. Promotions and changes with league re-organisation have moved the club up into the Northern Counties Eastern League. As recently as 2019, the club reclaimed the old name Emley AFC and they currently sit towards the lower reaches of the NCEL Premier Division.
First impressions here, a terrific ground with a big main stand and a proper covered terrace behind one goal, home to a few ultras and a decent collection of flags. As ever at this level, the club seems to be run by warm-hearted, welcoming people and those on the gate, in the Dugout Diner and in the club bar were all thoroughly lovely.
Emley played some decent football and dominated possession throughout most of this one. Maltby took an early lead with a break away goal, Emley equalised after a lot of pressure. Maltby went 2-1 up with a hotly disputed goal, described over the tannoy as a “goal, in inverted commas”, though from my vantage point looking right along the goal line from near the corner flag, it was well over. Most nearby agreed.
Emley continued to dominate the 2nd half as Maltby struggled to get going. An equaliser seemed inevitable and came in the 77th minute. “We’d take a draw here,” the most common opinion amongst the travelling support of a dozen or so humans, plus Nevis the Labrador.
Against all odds though, two Maltby break-aways both led to penalties and it ended up 4-2. Harsh on the home side, but as Main manager Louis Axcell messaged me, “We’ve played worse than that and lost, so it all evens up.” Very true, Louis!
Emley look to good to go down - now when and where have I, a Forest fan, heard that before? - and at ten points clear of the drop zone will surely stay safe, Good luck to them. Next up for Main, a Yorkshire Senior Cup semi at home to Parkgate on Tuesday. I hope to be there…
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