Opinion: Football fans are hypocrites when it comes to player abuse

Reports that police are investigating West Ham striker Craig Bellamy for allegedly verbally abusing Ipswich games during the clubs' pre-season friendly last night highlights one of the biggest examples of hypocrisy to be found in football.

Namely that fans are great at dishing out abuse, but can't take it.

Not that I'm condoning players retaliating, of course: the game's current emphasis on respect has to apply off the pitch as well as on it.

But that said, respect is a two-way street, and football fans that spend 90 minutes giving opposition players dogs' abuse from the stands shouldn't play the innocent ingénues and go running to the authorities the minute one of their targets shows a moment of human weakness and answers back.

One of the most shameful exhibitions of this double standard I've personally witnessed occurred at a QPR vs Barnsley FA Cup tie back in 1997.

For reasons too convoluted to go into here, I was sat just behind the goal in the midst of the travelling Tyke army, a couple of thousand hardy northern souls, most of whom spent the entire first half subjecting QPR keeper Tony Roberts to a pretty much non-stop torrent of abuse.

It was all reasonably good natured until QPR scored, at which point Roberts momentarily forgot himself, turned to the massed ranks of the away fans and let them know exactly what he thought of his team taking the lead.

As impressive and impassioned a display of fist pumping and incoherent shouting as Roberts put on, it still didn't warrant the reaction of those sat around me.

In an instant the brave and bullish Barnsley fans were transformed, their faces switching from twisted masks of hate to something resembling a small child who just heard his first swear word.

A significant number of them even tried - unsuccessfully - to report Roberts to the stewards for incitement.

Now, I wasn't at Portman Road last night, so can't comment on what provoked Craig Bellamy's alleged reaction, but I'm willing to bet that the fans in question weren't complementing him on his former exploits for hated local rivals Norwich City.

The witty banter between crowd and players has always been one of the most enjoyable aspects of watching football, and long may it continue.

But some football supporters need to have a long, hard look at themselves. If you spend the best part of 90 minutes giving a footballer the kind of abuse that would likely lead to a full scale barfight if directed at someone you didn't know in a pub, then you shouldn't go running to the authorities if they occasionally give something back.

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