The days between England’s semi-final victory over Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final on 7 July 2021 and the final on 11 July, both held at north London’s Wembley Stadium, saw a massive outpouring of patriotism and optimistic predictions of an English victory, thereby fulfilling an elusive promise of “Football Is Coming Home”. Great things were expected of the Three Lions in their first major final appearance since 1966, by both media and a Covid-weary public, and not just on the football field. Pubs and bars anticipated massive profits on the day, while an English victory promised a major boost to the wider economy. Such was the optimism, there was even a popular petition to declare a bank holiday on the day after the final.
On the day of the final encounter, hordes of England supporters poured into central London. As is usual on these occasions, there was much drinking, merrymaking, and casual violence. Maskless, sometimes even shirtless, fans took over the streets, alleyways, squares and parks. St George’s flags were seen everywhere. Beer cans and bottles and food packages littered public spaces. Skirmishes broke out, lamp posts and monuments were scaled, ticketless fans easily breached lax security at Wembley stadium, riot police were kept busy, nineteen police officers were injured, and forty-nine supporters were arrested.
The game started promisingly on the night. The English and Italian teams took the knee, expressing solidarity with Black Live Matters. The ritual booing of Italy’s national anthem was more subdued than usual. An English goal at 1 minute 57 seconds uplifted spirits to new heights of ecstasy. But things went steadily downhill thereafter. Italy equalised in the second half (67 minutes). A 1-1 draw at the end of extra time was followed by the dreaded penalty shootout, an occasion when performance anxiety can afflict even the most experienced of players. Bukayo Saka, a 19-year-old member of the England squad failed to convert a sudden-death penalty, and Italy won the shootout 3-2. It did not escape the attention of some sections of England supporters that the trio of England players who had failed to convert from the penalty box were all black members of the team, the other two being Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho. Within no time, online social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter were deluged with abusive posts directed at the three unfortunates. This online abuse was soon condemned by the Football Association, the England team manager, politicians of various affiliations including Prime Minister Johnson , and assorted celebrities.
This racist backlash against the black England players was not entirely unexpected, judging from past trends. Football in England, once a predominantly working-class game and increasingly prone to capitalist influences, has always attracted a hard core of supporters opposed to participation by people of colour, ever since they began joining major football teams. The first three black players to be capped for England- Viv Anderson (1978), Laurie Cunningham (1979) and Cyrille Regis (1982)- were thus regularly abused both on and off the field.
From the 1970s onwards, football stadiums served as recruiting grounds for racist far-right groups, while firms of travelling “hooligans” travelled far and wide, inciting violence with rival supporters and attacking people of colour, both casual passers-by and the members of minority communities that lived close to football stadiums. On the field, black footballers were treated to racist chants, monkey noises, and had banana skins and various more substantial missiles thrown at them. The violence has somewhat abated in recent years, partly in response to better policing and security arrangements, only to be replaced by growing abuse from social media warriors far removed from the scene of action. But despite various anti-racism initiatives, from the 1990s onwards, much work still remains to be done to improve the situation.
Football isn’t coming home, and neither is racism going away. Nothing much is likely to change in the near future. You can condemn what happened, ban some racist season ticket holders, and even prosecute the worst offenders, but this will have little effect on the large majority of supporters espousing racist views . Besides you cannot easily change ingrained attitudes dating back generations. If anything, today’s culture wars have only provided further justification for continuing racial strife. Indignation over the events following Euro 2020 will gradually fade away, although not disappear entirely, the media and politicians will lose interest and move on to the next big story, and things will remain largely unchanged until the next major upset.
Ashis Banerjee