Verbal abuse shouted at football players

Yeah, come on, these guys are paid a small fortune. I'd happily take all the shouted insults at a football match for a fraction of what they earn. It's the mentality of the game anyway!

For a footballers wages,I would willingly run around a football pitch and let the crowd shout at me and call me anything that came into their heads.

Well they should put up with it, it get picked on at times for my wealth, and I put up with it. I don't work becuase I am still at school but my parents do, and they put in alot more hours than these 'footballers' do, hell I spend more than 90minutes in the gym doing a hell of a lot more than they do in 90minutes. Now if you are as well paid as they are (for no apparent reason) they should but up with abuse hurled at them. I am a big rugby player and a fan, and the players don't get nearly as much money as these 'footballers' do and I'm not trying to change that, and when was the last time you heard someone shout abuse at a 6ft 7", rather large, bald, rugby player?? exactly.

Adey...the point being that most of the unsavioury comments come about as a result of people feeling passionate about their team. It is common or this passion to spill over into abuse and it will never stop happening. As long as the man in the street can afford to go to football matches there will be those that hurl abuse.
Do you disagree that:-
1. These people put themselves up there and it is the nature of the football fan to put them down. I don't condone it but I accept that it will always occur.
2. These players become role models for our children and have a responsibility to act as such.
3. The behaviour and arrogance of some players is utterly disgraceful and they deserve to be told. (and I don't mean by abuse from the crowd there.)

I should have made my point a little clearer than I did,so here it is.I DID NOT say that you believe abusive chants to be acceptable so why I should apologise for something I havent done is beyond me.You have made it obvious that you do not agree with abusing players,but my point was in your original post you went off on a complete tangent to what Tomo was trying to say and wrote about the passion of football fans like yourself ( which was never questioned, it was a post about this passion becoming something a whole lot more unpleasant ) so that is why I said you missed the point.You have accused both myself and Tomo of not reading and understanding your posts,but before you do this may I suggest you do the same thing.?

Adey...take a minute out of your busy day and read my post again.
When done please apologise and admit that I clearly stated that I do not find personal abuse to be acceptable. I said that it is reasonable to criticise players for under performing etc. At no time did I condone personal attacks.
I'm also a season ticket holder at a premiership club and have been for twenty five years (long before it was fashionable). The club I support has a system whereby supporters are actively encouraged to report inappropriate behaviour by anonymously texting a steward. the stewards will then deal with the offender. Attacks based on race, sexuality etc. are not tolerated by my club and are never heard coming from me personally.

I agree with Tomo.There is a big difference between supporting your own team and abusing an opposition player with the kind of chants he mentioned."A footy fan" like the one on here seems to have missed that point somewhat.Before you bracket me as someone else who has never been to a game,I am a season ticket holder at a Premiership club who first attended a game at the age of 12 and became hooked.Yes,you do have a right to criticism of under performing players but like Tomo says,the abuse given to opposition players has me cringing with embarrassment or downright angry at the mentality of these people.

Tomo, I clearly said in my post that when it gets personal it is not okay! Read first-criticise later!

I'm Inclined to agree with David Mellor I can't stand football with a passion, I find it the dullest most boring game around, but a lot of people seem to like it just wish they would stop banging on about David Beckham every minute of the waking day.

I'd rather throw my money in the lake, at least I'm not squandering it!

They aren't worth a penny of my hard earned money. All these idiots that pay silly amounts of money to see them kick a pig's bladder about for ninety minutes need protecting from their own stupidity.

I'm not one of them.

Whatever flicks yer switch I s'pose.

Dear 'footy fan' let me first start by saying far from reading rubbish in the media as you say, the first game I attended was in 1973 and since then have been to hundreds of games and visited 32 grounds in the UK, attended the the world cup finals in Italy along with numerous internationals at Wembly so I feel a little qualified in having an opinion. I fully agree we have a right to criticise but to give just one example of what I meant, the chants to David Beckham at an England game when the 'fans' hoped his family died of cancer. I dont care how much they paid that was disgusting at best. What if the people who pay your wages said that to you, thats ok I take it.

I don't think there is anything wrong in verbally criticising a player that is not performing but it should not get into the realms of a personal attack. As football supporters we have a right to criticise and make our displeasure known but we don't have the right to insult people.
Its fair to say that supporters pay these players their wages by spending increasingly high amounts of money on their tickets, at some clubs it can be as much as £90 per game, and as such we have the right to expect a certain level of effort. These players are nothing without us. If we didn't pay to go to matches they would not have the lifestyles they currently enjoy and as such they owe the supporters something.
The original poster of this gripe is obviously not a football supporter and therefore cannot understand the passion we feel for our teams, the delight we share with them and the agony of defeat. When our teams lose we hurt. When it is because the players have not tried we are angry. Nobody criticises them when they give their all but are outplayed by a better team.
The supporters do not accuse players of inciting the crowd when they celebrate a goal. This is done by the media and normally the other teams manager.

To the original griper I say this:-

Go to a game and see for yourself. Don't rely on all the rubbish you are clearly reading in the media.