http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5601915.ece

can we not get rid of this game and everything associated with it. when i’m in charge it’s gone……probably be here forever then……

why do these people keep getting themselves in such a mess? i know there are plenty of girls throwing themselves at them and then shouting rape but shouldn’t they have enough common sense to see through it?

Got to have something to keep the great unwashed occupied!

It’s nice to see him settling into the English footballers way of life.

Sorry,how about playing that game where they behave,and only try to brake necks,poke eyes out and have punch ups.if you dont like football its easy not to watch it,its not like you can subscribe to it on accident?

It’s not so easy to avoid the twunts from killing you by drink driving on the motorway or raping women in night clubs though.

Good old STW. Nothing like a lynching first thing in the morning. 🙄

You are right about the drinking and driving anyone who does that are scum and need banning for life but im sure more people who aint footballers do it.the rape thing im sure they get so much puussy thrown at them on nights out they must have the pick of women so i dont really belive he would risk it prob just some binge drinking tramp didnt like getting a knock back.

Shreck…Re that game… rugby players don’t try to break/brake!! necks they are mostly the result of scrums collapsing…eye gouging is dying out but proper punchups… do flare up! at least it’s not not girly handbags, spitting,acting/diving, swearing at refs and the general lack of respect that just because you earn an obscene amount and your boss will back you up, you think you can get away with.

I know which one I’d rather my kids watch!

eye gouging is dying out

Story in the media yesterday, after an England player is up on charges of eye gouging, that it’s making a comeback due to the fact such close scrutiny by cameras is making it so difficult to get away with the more obvious stuff like stamping and punching. Apparently a ‘skilled’ player can conceal an eye gouge really quite well.

Hmm.

The news story is about a man with more money than sense putting himself in a compromising position, it’s nothing to do with football, rugby or any other sport!

So whats spear tackling is that an accident.yep i saw that too at the weekend with the eye gouging,oh yes when was the the last time an england football player failed a drug test for doing a bit of snifter?

Some people on here just can’t bring it upon themselves to give football the credit it deserves.
Let’s face it, without it, you wouldn’t have a vehicle to display your hatred of the working classes and would have to do it openly. 😉

The on pitch “activities” that go on are just part and parcel of the game. It’s entertainment, that’s all. There are goodies, and baddies…it’s just a distraction from the daily grind. Don’t let it wind you up.

As for the other stuff; too young, bored, too much money and spare time.

Its just another chance for the people on here who dont like football to have another go at it,they dont like the game but love telling us,who do how crup it is.

English football players…infact all football players seem to fail very few drug tests…of any description…..my cynical head says they either aren’t tested enough or they get tipped off about them in advance… too much power and money in the game to risk losing a player for 2 yrs

Spear tackles..can be an accident depends on how low you go in….I’ll see your spear tackle and raise you Two footed leg breakers?

As for the Wonder dust…the English players are under a lot of pressure to perform…..6 nations round the corner and judging by recent results they need all the performance enhancing stimulants they can get!

Re working class….where I come from it’s THE game of the working class!

Mrdoubletake; well said. Nowt to do with football, other than it’s the profession of the accused. Bit like saying get rid of all doctors, because of Harold Shipman, Dr. Crippen, etc…

Stupid to say it’s ‘football’s fault’. It’s not. More likely greed and excess. Which can be present in all sorts of activities.

As for the drug test thing; they are probably more stringent than in any other sport, as footie is in the public eye so much. And clubs can keep a much closer eye on players, than in sports such as cycling and athletics, where athletes have their own nutritionists, medical advisers etc.

RudeBoy how can you say it’s not the fault of football when it’s football that provides the platform, the publicity/celebrity, access to nightclubs etc and most of all the wealth to get themselves into these situations?

Where else can people who are still kids effectively be on incomes most people can only dream of…they lack the common sense and maturity needed to handle the fame and fortune and offer some very cynical Women/tabloid journalists a soft target.

Drug tests wise…I don’t think they are tested anything like as much as cyclists. I can’t see how a sport that generates that level of income based on performance hasn’t cottoned onto EPO etc…Operation Puorto sp? unearthed atheletes, swimmers, tennis players, football players and cyclists…cyclists got named and shamed the rest was hushed up and quickly closed down…Why?…it’s all down to the money and power in the game

Well I have yet to hear about racist insults around a rugby pitch. I have yet to hear about the same number of car/crash drunk driving or rape allegation in rugby.
Funnily enough the wendyball seems to attract all the nastiest guys.

I’d happily see soccer banned. The amount of hassle, dirt, crime and disturbance caused by each and every game in London is tiresome beyond belief.

And yes, I know that the clubs contribute to policing at the ground, but they do not contribute to policing the hordes of great unwashed vomiting and fighting their way around town.

Vile, despicable sport.

That said, I’d love to see the game itself survive. Odd? Well no, not really. The game is a great game, it’s the associated social mores and rubbish that goes with it that needs to change.

Good point Juan I think it boils down to respect…any game where a 20stone prop accepts a sin-bin and says “sorry sir” to a 5ft ref has to influence its fans

Thankfully it’s mostly free from racism and fans can sit side by side with the opposition and win or lose the post game atmosphere is always friendly

I’m with Captain F too….the game itself can be enjoyable to watch, but has a very clear ugly side to it… The refs should MTFU and have a zero tolerance policy on swearing, abuse, mobbing refs, managers openly questioning decisions and diving/acting. By all means have a video ref for questionable goals/fouls etc but the players should accept they have influence over kids watching and their behaviour should set a good example

As for the drug test thing; they are probably more stringent than in any other sport, as footie is in the public eye so much. And clubs can keep a much closer eye on players, than in sports such as cycling and athletics, where athletes have their own nutritionists, medical advisers etc.

😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

Very good joke – well done.

any game where a 20stone prop accepts a sin-bin and says “sorry sir” Ahhh the good old Rugby ref myth…That one went a very long time ago, watch any 1st class rugby match, and see how much stick the ref gets.

Personally, I think it’s down to “scoring events” In rugby, losing a couple of points for a penalty, isn’t that much of a big deal, as there are so many ways and times one can get some points on the board, so contentious Ref decisions aren’t challenged as much. Football is the opposite, scoring is rare, so any decision that means an opportunity is lost, or given to the opposition is challenged hotly.

Capt, you seen Twickenham after a match then? Thing is, there’s litter and shite after every gathering of humans, you just notice more with football as it goes on more than anything else.

watch any 1st class rugby match, and see how much stick the ref gets.

Really? How come teams aren’t defending every penalty/scrum from behind their own goal line, as that’s the sanction available to refs if they get dissent?

Nickc I do and don’t…the “sorry sir” reference was actually from Gavin Henson pretty recently

As for a “Couple of points” it’s 3 actually or possibly a lineout in a good attacking position which can be worth 7 points!

Plenty (too many) games of rugby are won or lost on penalties these days for your arguement to be valid..it’s simply a lack of respect in football exacerbated by refs being scared to send off players

Litter people can live with..it’s violent and threatening behaviour that spoils peoples day!

Capt when i used to go out to the pub and local night clubs when i was a young un,whenever it kicked off you could always bet on it that it was the local rugby team involved it some way,most off them couldnt take their drink or just drank too much,then the big i am kicked it and pity anyone who got in their way usually the smallest bloke doing nothing wrong.

whytetrash, I haven’t seen violence after football for years now. There’s lots of shouting and finger pointing, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was.

Agreed. Football is a wonderful game, to play badly, to watch other people playing well. BUT:

1/ The giant circus of top level professional football strikes me as pretty off-putting,
2/ the spectacle of insanely wealthy young men endlessly raping, speeding and fighting is sordid; and
3/ I do not understand the impulses that drive people to have a fist fight because a group of millionnaire brazilians playing for a corporation owned by a Qatari sovereign wealth fund lost a game to a group of millionnaire italians playing for a corporation owned by a US entrepreneur.

This demonstrates my dislike of the “working class” as reliably as my dislike of virulently homophobic jamaican rap music demonstrates my dislike of negros. 😐

So when was the last time a prem footballer was charged with rape?

This demonstrates my dislike of the “working class” as reliably as my dislike of virulently homophobic jamaican rap music demonstrates my dislike of negros.

Maybe you’re not one of the posters I was alluding to. The good Cap’n weighing in with……………………….

the hordes of great unwashed vomiting and fighting their way around town

……………………..is more the sort of distasteful comment that I knew we would see, and is exactly the kind of stereotyping that lot’s of folk on here often jump to everytime the sport is mentioned.

For what it’s worth though BD,this comment :-

young men endlessly raping, speeding and fighting is sordid

is priceless. Is it a quote from the Mash ?

Shreck when was the last time a premiership footballer failed a drugs test?…just cos accusations like that can be made to dissappear by the liberal application of funds doesn’t mean it doesn’t occur.

Nickc agree violence is down over the worst excesses of previous years but Cardiff is a nicer place on rugby days than footie days…better vibe and I know which ones the police prefer

As I said the threat of violence can be enough to make the general public (not just Mail readers) uneasy on their own streets

Im sure if the drugs thing got covered up it would come out in the end,i wonder how much the press would pay for that kind of information,did chelsea not have enough money to pay someone off when mutu got done for coke,wait a minute that was an in house test oh what corruption there is in football.