Almost two-thirds of English soccer fans now oppose players taking the knee before matches, seeing the anti-racism gesture as superficial, a paper co-authored by an academic from the University of South Australia (UniSA) has found.
Starting in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in 2020 and the subsequent reignition of the Black Lives Matter movement, dropping to one knee before games has not translated into any real-world action by football clubs to tackle racism, a survey of more than 1,000 soccer fans have shown.
The survey, conducted by British academics from Teesside and Aston universities, as well as UniSA senior lecturer in Sport and Management, Jamie Cleland, invited fans to share their views on the ritual, with 65 percent opposing the gesture and questioning its actual effectiveness in fighting racism. It was also seen as “window dressing” by clubs to cover up football’s failure to combat racism in any meaningful way.
Cleland said in a UniSA release on Friday that it has become common to hear booing from English soccer fans when players take the knee prior to matches.
“Initially, after the police killings of African Americans George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the US, soccer players aligned themselves with other sports codes around the world in taking the knee. It was seen as a powerful symbol in the fight against racial inequality,” he said.
“But given the lack of any real action to combat racism in the intervening time, players are now often jeered at when they routinely take the knee.”
Cleland said he believed that fans feel the initial conviction that inspired the endeavor has withered, leaving it a hollow gesture performed by players who are just going through the motions without any care for the symbolism behind the initiative.
“By positioning itself as a sport that champions diversity, praises inclusivity and embraces universality, soccer can be a powerful force against racism,” he said.
“However, taking the knee has replaced practical action rather than reinforced it and fans see right through it.”
Fans Feel Players Used as Puppets
According to the paper, many survey participants who don’t align with players taking the knee agree with Brentford striker Ivan Toney’s comment in February 2021 that players are “being used as puppets” in the anti-racism movement.
“We take the knee so that the people at the top can rest for a while now. . . nothing is changing,” Toney said.
The paper concludes Toney is indicating that taking the knee is convenient to maintain the status quo and players are going along with it “perhaps out of fear or calculated self-preservation.”
One 23-year-old respondent from Brentford said many players like Toney had spoken out against kneeling and, “as brave as he is for doing so, I’m sure there’s plenty of other people secretly against it but (who) feel pressured to continue—who wants to be the odd one out?”
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, another premier league player who refused to take the knee early on, dubbed the act “degrading.”
“We’re starting to forget the meaning behind the whole thing. It’s becoming something that we just do now,” he said.
The survey findings also show a suspicion among fans that self-interest is the driving force behind taking the knee and the opposition to racism by football associations and clubs in general.
“This means that the FA, UEFA and the federations that have accepted kneeling are involved in a kind of mutual self-congratulation,” the paper reads.
“By positioning itself as a sport that champions diversity, lauds inclusivity and embraces universality (as exemplified in referring itself to ‘the football family’), soccer appears to be at the forefront of metropolitan liberalism.”
It goes on to say that many fans feel that taking the knee has replaced practical action rather than enhancing it, with the so-called fight against racism becoming mere virtue signaling designed to create a favorable impression.
By September 2021, one in three English Football League teams had abandoned taking the knee, and in early August 2022, Premier League captains agreed not to perform the gesture before every match, but rather reserve it for special occasions such as season opening matches, Boxing Day, and racism awareness weeks.
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Steve is an Australian reporter based in Sydney covering sports, the arts, and politics. He is an experienced English teacher, qualified nutritionist, sports enthusiast, and amateur musician. Contact him at [email protected].
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