That favourite ditty of the English away fan, 'No Surrender to the IRA Scum', got another airing in Turin last Tuesday (and where better than Turin to belt it out, I hear you ask).
But the custodians of English football are deeply concerned that it will receive it's most rousing rendition yet at the Aviva Stadium on June 7 - that the versions heard in Glasgow and Turin were merely preludes, merely dress rehearsals for the lung-bursting hearing it's going to receive in these parts.
It certainly seems to be going that way.
The Football Supporters Federation of England's confirmed the fears of the FA and Roy Hodgson. They have argued that while singing about the IRA is not 'helpful' it is nonetheless not illegal.
Racist and discriminatory chanting is illegal; the advice that we have received however is that anti-IRA and World War II-related chanting does not fall foul of the law and would be unlikely to lead to successful prosecutions under the current legislation. Knee-jerk calls for bans or a “clampdown” are therefore unlikely to deliver any meaningful productive outcome.
In spite of their general hostility to Irish nationalism, English fans did express support for the cause of Scottish nationalism ahead of the referendum last year.
H-T: Independent
