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One of the most attention-grabbing bios on X, or Twitter as we all know it, was that of a sports writer for one of the UK’s largest national newspapers. It was clear and simple and boiled down to five words: “Partisan towards your football club.”
which one is correct. If you’ve followed football for any length of time, you know that every organ of the media is out to get the club you support. you should see athleticMorning meetings where we plot against the teams we most want to unify (obviously all of them). Just because you’re mad doesn’t mean we’re not trying to ban Mikel Arteta from the touchline. Or to maintain a bias in favor of London. Or Everton planning more points deductions. It’s All the President’s Men Meet 24.
In truth, the subsidized croissant gets more attention, but let’s not let the truth spoil the fun. Conspiracy theories are everywhere in football and why wouldn’t they be? This is an environment ripe for conspiracies to flourish: tribalism, partisanship, anger and distrust. They’re not just for supporters either. Players and former players are on the bandwagon, some in ways that aren’t entirely ridiculous or healthy. Rickie Lambert on climate change, Matt Le Tissier on COVID-19; Like the first time Arnold Schwarzenegger told someone he was leaving Skynet and entering politics.
But accept it. If you follow a certain club, from time to time you have the suspicion that something or someone is deliberately hindering it. And those suspicions are actually clearly founded. They are all true. Even those that completely contradict each other.
For example, and as a start to 10, this comment from a Chelsea message board last year: “Can’t this guy referee another Chelsea match again? Too many times at this point.” We’re here at Anthony Taylor and referees are a good place to start as journalists are not as rampant in their biases as match officials. Leeds United, the club I’m writing about, has many on their dartboards. The referees are: Ray Tinkler, Michel Kitabjian, Christos Michas. Has a team ever had it this bad? Michas, who (dubiously) officiated at Leeds’ 1973 European Cup Winners’ Cup defeat to AC Milan, was accused of corruption. He was banned from refereeing any UEFA games in the future amid the allegations. Which makes you think.
Obviously, Taylor is doing this to Chelsea and we can’t do that. But he’s a busy man because at other intervals, he’s beating Manchester City (perhaps that’s why City and Chelsea played out a 4-4 draw in November; an impossible decision as to who to nominate). And Everton too, apparently. Which begs the question – if Taylor is biased towards everyone, isn’t she really 100 percent unbiased? But naturally, none of this is due to Taylor being on leave or being a Select Group official with flaws. This is because, as everyone knows, he has Manchester United sheets. Visit a blue moon forum and everything will become clear – that is, until Dzeko’s right boot puts a spoke in the wheel: “Okay, so: the United-supporting referee was trying to make Liverpool win?” fair point. Someone else supports him by daring to say that it may be a dull case of incompetence. Don’t let him stop you.
Antony Taylor – This may or may not happen at your club (Rich Linley – CameraSport via Getty Images)
However, what do the numbers really say about Taylor? Since the start of the 2020–21 season, City have won six and lost five of the 15 matches they have played; It’s a mixed record for such an impressive team, admittedly, but not a splashy gun. Chelsea has lost one out of 13 matches. Scandal. Manchester United have won four out of 14, mainly because they are not very good. And Liverpool? Sixteen games with Taylor in between, one defeat and in the middle of it all, a 5–0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford. Perhaps this is a good way for Taylor to disguise her loyalties. As far as Everton are concerned, few are going to describe their crisis as everyone else’s fault, even though the Premier League clearly did it for them on the financial fair play front.
We could go on and on with the refs all day. In Spain, supporters of smaller clubs think that the 50–50 always goes the way of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Scotland has long been considered Glasgow-centric, where everything is in favor of the Old Firm and the Old Firm thinks everything is in favor of each other. Rangers have not conceded a penalty for a run of more than 70 league games. Celtic are taking that statistic well. Their chief executive, Peter Lawwell, said at their recent AGM that the last time a penalty was awarded against Rangers, “John Greig handled the ball”. Greig’s distinguished career at Ibrox ended in 1978, shortly after the end of Celtic’s first nine-in-a-row. Since then both of them have been feeding on the sprinkles of success.
At Liverpool, there is a slight discomfort about the 12.30pm Saturday kick-off – a cross they often have to endure after the international break. This is the Premier League’s way of deliberately handicapping them when their players are jet-lagged and leggy because in the corridors of power in the Premier League, they want someone else to win the title. But then the Premier League hates Newcastle United, as shown by the delay in allowing the Saudi takeover of Newcastle. Although not as much as City, which is why City is facing all those allegations.
Meanwhile, VAR = blatant fraud, which has only given more oxygen to conspiracy theories. A study conducted after the 2018 World Cup found an increase in theories related to VAR calls made during that tournament, especially after African countries were eliminated. One conclusion was that belief in conspiracies appears to be encouraged by perceived threats to the poster’s identity. And therein lies the rub.
Karen Douglas is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent. Currently, she is also the director of a project funded by the European Research Council, looking into the rise and effects of conspiracy theories; Why they develop, why they persist, when and how they become effective. Soccer, she says, is prone to conspiracies because of its tribal “group-against-group type of feeling” and encouraging strong emotional investment. The irony is that within football, there is no greater prejudice than that held by supporters. And it has to be said that football discussion has never been so fierce.
In the EFL, “the corrupt of the Football League” is a familiar chant at Elland Road, partly due to what happened in 2007 when Leeds went bankrupt and, to the surprise of many, were sold back by administrators to those who It took them into bankruptcy in the first place. 15-point reduction started. Here you will find people who genuinely think that referees, officials, absolutely everyone, will do anything to see Leeds escape the EFL because the club is a beefy cash cow at this level, not least for TV rights contracts. They achieve the kind of viewership that most EFL sides cannot, so Sky Sports is always disrupting their programme. But that’s another story.
As a rule, the shorter or more vague the conspiracies, the better. The BBC can’t disagree with Crystal Palace, which is why Palace are repeatedly thrown into the graveyard slot of Match of the Day. Dull, boring, goes to trash after 30 seconds.
Palace fans are sick of staying up late for the last few minutes of match day (Sebastian Freese/MB Media/Getty Images)
Palace have also felt like a lab rat over the past few years when it came to new rules or changes in circumstances. The 1990–91 season was the only time Palace finished in the top three of the top flight. A month before it ended, UEFA decided to re-admit Liverpool to European competitions following Heysel’s ban, meaning Palace would have no European adventure. UEFA is brave enough to do this to a club like theirs. no one cares. But Arsenal in the same situation? Or Chelsea? certainly not. Then came 1995 when the Premier League reduced its number of clubs from 22 to 20. Palace finished fourth and were relegated; At least save Match of the Day from getting into action.
All kidding aside, what is it about football that creates complaints that then turn into full-blown conspiracies? What is it about this game that takes the inevitable kicks in the teeth and turns them into a big, dark-art picture? It has become so ingrained in the minds of some Tottenham supporters that whenever an image is needed for a negative, general football story, the editorial staff automatically use Spurs to illustrate it. Disappointing, so let’s go with Tottenham. Is it like that? Or are people often vocalizing their own irrationality in response to underlying irritation at their club’s performance?
“Research shows that people are attracted to conspiracy theories when one or more of their psychological needs are met,” says Douglas. “The first of these needs epistemology, relates to the need to know the truth and have clarity and certainty. have other needs ExistenceRelated to the need to feel safe and have some control over what happens around us, and Social, is related to the need to maintain our self-esteem and feel positive about the groups we belong to. People may be attracted to conspiracy theories to satisfy these needs.
“What this essentially means is that if someone has psychological needs that are not being met at a particular time then they may look for conspiracy theories. Perhaps this is an explanation for why we see a lot of conspiracy theories when celebrities die suddenly or things happen during the pandemic. People are looking for ways to understand what is happening and to cope with difficult situations – anxiety, fear, social isolation. Even a simple explanation is often not very attractive. People believe that any major event must have a bigger or more sinister reason. (Conspiracy theories) can turn people away from mainstream politics and science, in favor of more radical ideas and actions. Or away from the bleak possibility that your team is guilty.
Experts say some conspiracy theories may be based on facts or reality. Those facts are then exaggerated or distorted to such an extent that they get out of hand. Unfortunately, football has no record of being absolutely clean or free of corruption and as such, it cannot always tell those who follow it that their paranoia is just that. But there has rarely been a time when a simple explanation had to struggle more to make its point.
Take the leads again. Firstly, there was a gypsy curse, which was allegedly placed on Elland Road several decades ago. Then, during the Don Revie era of the 1960s and 70s, there were claims and counter-claims about tilted referees, alleged bribes, and Southern media that resented his success and tried to stifle it. Following consecutive FA Cup draws last month, Leeds were sent away to Peterborough United, their 13th consecutive away tie. The possibility of this? Not far from 9,000 to one, or so my father – a mathematician by profession – tells me. But as someone told me the other day, there is no conspiracy here. It’s absolutely very, very leads.
(Top photos: Getty; Richard Sellers/Allstar, Shawn Botterill, Robbie J Barrett/AMA; Design: John Bradford)
