Something Nasty on the Bottom of your Shoe

From the Rage Online newsdesk Monday, February 1st, 1993  

Something Nasty on the Bottom of your Shoe

Many fans will remember that in the late 1970s, a particularly slimy and unpleasant form of political life tried to attach themselves to English football. While their leaders dreamed of being some sort of British Hitler, their boneheads were sent to matches to throw bananas and chant at black players. They went by names such as ‘National Front’ and ‘British Movement’ and though they never got any support at the Manor, at some clubs they managed to build a bit of a following among fans.

For a few years. At the end of the ’70s the Nazi dreams of their leaders became well-known and they went into decline. In the ’80s they concentrated on going to a few clubs like Leeds United, and following the England team round Europe to the embarrassment of all real England fans. But even at Leeds, as Whyte, Fairclough and the Wallace brothers came into the side and they won promotion and then the Premier League, the Nazis got pushed off the terraces.

But in the last few months, at many grounds, they have been trying to make a comeback. One bonehead has turned up pretending to be an Oxford supporter and distinguishing himself by trying to start fights with Raging Bull people (see issue 22). At the Newcastle match last month, a couple of them went round to the London Road to try to give out leaflets: within a few minutes they got moved on by the boys in blue, so God knows what they tried to start with the Oxford fans.

These days they don’t go on about immigration so much. They make more of a fuss about the IRA, and say we should support the Protestant extremists of the UDA. They don’t tell you that the UDA has its own terror gangs, who murdered more people in Ulster than the IRA did last year.

These people have never had any support in Oxford. When they tried to stage marches here in the early ’80s, Oxford’s young people, black-white-pink-blue-you-name-it, chased them out of town. They’re not a threat yet at the Manor, just an occasional irritation – so we’re grateful to Raging Bull for being prepared to publish this article.

We don’t want Ulster extremists in Oxford. We don’t want East-German-style firebombings in the Cowley Road. We don’t want Bosnian-style ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Oxfordshire. We don’t want Blackbird Leys lads like Chris Allen sent ‘back home’ to God knows where.

So if you pick up something nasty on the bottom of your shoe, either inside the Manor or on your way in, give it the brush-off. Don’t just ignore it. You don’t want to end up standing ankle-deep in it on the London Road. It’s no way to enjoy your football – ask any real Leeds fan.

Oxford Anti-Nazi League

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 1993 at 12:00 am and appears under Archive. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

© Rage Online 1998 - 2024 All rights reserved. If you want to copy stuff, please quote the source

another fine mash from ox9encoding