At the time, his team was tied 1-1. Late in the game, under the floodlights, they missed a chance to take the lead.
And at that moment, Sheffield United fan Tony got angry and shouted at Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Matt Turner that he would never get back.
“I just missed a shot. The goalkeeper went to pick up the ball from behind the goal and gave a small wave to the away fans. He didn’t mean anything bad or anything to upset, but he lost his cool for 10 seconds. I started shouting, ‘Keep it, this baby.’
“It was 10 seconds of stupidity. The two people in front of me immediately turned around and said, ‘You can’t shout like that, you can’t say that.’ I knew they were right. ‘i know.’ I said, ‘I’m sorry.’ I knew it was wrong and that it could cause problems.”
The next day, Tony, who is in his 50s, was reported by fellow Sheffield United fans. They had his seat number at the Forest City Ground that day and a description of what he looked like. The club contacted him and he immediately accepted that he had committed homophobic abuse.
A letter arrived stating that he had been banned from Bramall Lane pending an investigation and he was summoned to the police station to determine if criminal charges should be laid or if something else could be dealt with.
All of this brought Tony to the attention of Kick It Out, English football’s largest anti-discrimination organization, and invited him to attend fan education workshops as a form of out-of-court restorative justice.
Matt Turner was the target of homophobic insults from ‘Tony’. (Michael Regan / Getty Images)
Tony is not Pan’s real name. He doesn’t want to be identified because of the impact the publicity would have on his family, but he agreed to become one of the first perpetrators of Kick it Out’s anti-discrimination program and talk about how it works, what he’s learned and the importance of education. Criminals believe that their actions have consequences.
“I didn’t know Kick It Out had been operating since the 1990s,” he says. “I thought it was something new and only dealt with racism. Until now, I had never thought about other types of discrimination. I was never the wiser about it. But now I realize that I need to get an education. I learned my lesson, but I learned more.”
We’ll be meeting in Sheffield, and early in the morning Tony bends over to show something to Alan Bush, Kick It Out’s Fan Education and Engagement Manager.
“Look at this.” He spoke with a Sheffield accent.
He pulls up his pant legs, revealing that he is wearing rainbow socks.
“They were a gift. It’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done. My daughter is gay. My stepdaughter too. “I bought you socks as a Christmas present.”
He met Bush for the first time last September. It was four weeks after police intervened following a match at Forest.
It was a two-hour workshop held at Forest’s stadium, the City Ground, and Tony made it clear from the start that he was there to listen and learn.
President Bush briefed him on the various forms of discrimination that taint the game and detailed the impact hate crimes can have on their victims.
Bush described a story about a Tottenham Hotspur supporter who was primarily involved with the Proud Lilywhites LGBTQ fan group but did not attend a match due to homophobic chanting.
In a slideshow, he and Tony spoke about the racist abuse suffered by England internationals Jadon Sancho, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford, as well as Blackpool’s Jake Daniels and the late Justin Fashanu’s experiences as gay footballers. He also talked about his experiences. They spoke about Rainbow Blades (Sheffield United’s LGBTQ group), why it should exist and how members would feel if they heard one of the club’s supporters shouting homophobic abuse.
Sheffield United captain Oliver Norwood is wearing a rainbow armband against Burnley this season. (Matt McNulty / Getty Images)
President Bush then explained what the consequences would be for criminals, including court action, prison sentences, and travel bans.
“Throughout the meeting, (Tony) became more and more aware of his mistakes,” Bush said. “When we got to the hate crimes bill and the consequences, he was shocked at what different consequences he could have had and how it could have changed his life.”
This is Bush’s specialty. Kick It Out’s referrals come from police or football clubs, and it is Bush’s job to meet the offender one-on-one and pass on his referrals to the relevant clubs. Over the past three years, he has conducted over 200 sessions.
“The important thing to remember is that even though this is a moment of madness, it’s still a hate crime,” he tells Tony. It caused harassment, alarm or distress. As a result, you could end up in court and be banned from playing football. You could lose your job and all these other consequences.”
It no doubt helps that Bush is so ingrained in football culture. He dresses like a fan. Because that’s who he is. He has been playing for Newcastle United both home and away since his days on the open terraces at St James’ Park. He’s a big guy with a cropped head, a Fred Perry shirt, and old Adidas sneakers. It’s easy to understand why the average man on the street would sympathize with him more easily than, say, a Premier League executive in a suit.
You don’t have to stay long in Bush’s company to realize that he cares deeply about his work. He received training in hate crime procedures and worked as an anti-social behavior officer in London.
Alan Bush, who runs Kick It Out’s training courses for banned fans. (Kick it out)
“At the end of the session, he asked me what I was going to do when I could play again,” Tony said. “I told him, ‘Just sit back and he’ll run when he scores. ‘This is unusual for a Sheffield United fan.’
“But Alan said, ‘I don’t want you to be like that. ‘It’s okay to jump up and shout as much as you want as long as you’re not against racism, disabled people, transgenderism, religion and beliefs,’ he said. . You know football isn’t just for white heterosexuals. It’s for everyone.”
Of all the people who have attended Kick It Out’s rehabilitation workshops, Bush remembers only one instance where it was difficult to get a message across to someone. One man shouted anti-Muslim terms at his opposing player.
Only one member of the England Supporters Travel Club re-offended. The man has been banned from playing football for three years, and when that period expires, President Bush will likely see him again. However, the majority of people react more positively. Many criminals cannot explain why they did what they did.
For Tony, it didn’t seem to matter that night that the player he abused was heterosexual. The slur was just a thoughtless insult he could throw at anyone at that moment. He didn’t drink and he didn’t consider himself homophobic.
“He couldn’t give a concrete answer about his actions,” Bush said. “He kept saying it was stupid and not thought out and that he was probably just ‘joking’. But he couldn’t find any real reason to feel comfortable approaching him. His main response was that his own actions were wrong and that he wished he could turn back the clock.”
He was also lucky in one way. The people who reported Tony didn’t want to go to court. “I had all those worries,” he says. “Your name was in the newspaper, your address was in the newspaper, you were banned (by the court) from playing football. You were publicly humiliated.”
Instead, it is possible to find some silver lining in Tony’s story. If Kick It Out’s intention is to educate people and make football a better place, Tony shows that it is possible.
Tony talks about passing on what he’s learned to his friends sitting next to him on the Kop at Sheffield United. He acknowledged what he had done and told him to be careful not to repeat his mistake again. This also goes beyond football. “I work with gay people,” he says. “Before I took this course, I would have said it to them as a bit of a joke, but not now. Because it’s not a joke, right? So I took it to work too.”
President Bush concluded that the man sitting before him “did not need any prompting to show what appeared to be genuine remorse, understanding, or empathy as he went through this learning journey.”
“We felt (Tony) was honest with us when he said how shameful he was for his actions,” Bush said. “What I felt as I looked into his eyes for about two hours was that he was truly sorry for the hurt his words had caused. “In this case, a community resolution and a restorative approach outside of court were the right solutions.”
Sheffield United fans fill Bramall Lane. (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
The sport as a whole could probably do with more specially trained professionals like Bush who can impart their knowledge in this field. Ultimately, this is a time when more and more people are heeding Kick It Out’s message to report acts of discrimination. Last season, the number of reports was 1,007, the highest ever. The numbers are still rising, making the role even more important.
Calling out tragedies has also begun to fall into Bush’s remit, and although he is acutely aware of the need for punishment, he is a firm believer that clubs should not impose lifetime bans for all different types of crime. “I hate that term, because there is no coming back from it.”
For those involved in Kick It Out, it is much better to educate the offenders and ensure that those people change their mindset and have a much better understanding of what is and is not acceptable when they are allowed back into the stadium.
Tony is a perfect example. He describes himself as “old school” but is now a man who says he “appreciates and respects underrepresented groups in today’s society and why it’s important to respect them.”
He has been cleared to return to Bramall Lane after signing an ‘ABC’ acceptable behavior contract and said he wanted to meet the fans who reported him. He wants to apologize properly.
He also did something no one had done before on the related Kick It Out course: He emailed Bush the next day and asked if he could meet him again. And for Bush, that should be a sign that a job well done.
“Thank you for inviting me to your Kick It Out session,” it said. “I wanted to learn as much as possible from experts in your field like you. I found this course very informative and a real eye opener.
“I learned a lot of things, from the difference between misogyny and sexism to socially acceptable things to say, yell, and chant.
“I have taken a huge amount of information with me and am much more aware of the impact my comments can have on others. “Once again, I deeply apologize for making an ignorant comment.”
(Top photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
