Dear Spurtle
The Scottish Government's attempts to legislate against 'offensive behaviour' at football matches demonstrates their total lack of understanding of what is essentially a working-class sport. Middle-class lawyers and self-styled intellectuals don't understand it.
Intrinsic to Soccer is a tribalism which often spills over into ritualised verbal and physical violence off the pitch. For a significant proportion of match-goers, it provides a weekly safety valve for the pent-up aggression which they are, quite rightly, unable to vent in daily life. The Saturday scrap between opposing supporters is part of the genuine working-class football experience and is well
understood by the real football fans who watch from the terraces rather than on TV.
It is sad to see MSPs buying into commercialisation of the sport which requires a squeaky-clean family image in order to attract major advertisers. They should stick to the violence of Rugby with its off-pitch politesse and stop trying to impose their standards on a milieu of which they are totally ignorant.
John Eoin Douglas
(Spey Terrace)