Football fans boo own team for taking knee
THE BBC’s Gary Lineker last night led condemnation of Millwall supporters for booing their own players as they took the knee at a football match yesterday in support of the fight against racism.
As part of a relaxing of Covid restrictions, spectators have been allowed back into English football stadiums in tier 2 and tier 1 areas for the first time since March.
About 2,000 Millwall fans – who have a reputation for being confrontational – were let into the club’s stadium, The Den, in SouthEast London, for their Championship game against Wayne Rooney’s Derby County. But jeers rang out before kick-off as the players took a knee – a custom that teams have adopted since June in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in America.
Match Of The Day host Lineker took to Twitter with a wry remark, saying: ‘Let’s be fair, it only appears to be a small minority of Millwall fans that didn’t boo the players taking the knee.’
But former England striker Dion Dublin was more direct, saying: ‘To me, they are racist. They don’t agree with taking the knee, which means they’re racist.’
Ex-England defender Micah Richards demanded ‘punishment’ for the culprits, adding: ‘They know exactly who it is – they need to be punished.’
And Inbetweeners actor Blake Harrison said: ‘Sad and embarrassed to be a Millwall fan today.’
After the game, which Millwall lost 1-0, former England captain Rooney said: ‘Everyone at Derby County has been in full support of taking the knee, so it was quite surprising and I’m sure for our players, it could have been difficult to hear that.’ Millwall’s manager Gary
Rowett said he was ‘disappointed’ that the return of fans had been overshadowed.
‘We should be talking about the fact we are all back and we want to enjoy the football match again,’ he said. He added that the club supported anti-discrimination initiatives.
The Football Association issued a statement, saying it ‘supports all players and staff that wish to take a stand against discrimination in a respectful manner, which includes taking of the knee, and strongly condemns the behaviours of any spectators that actively voice their opposition to such activities’.