The moral indignation that greeted Jack Wilshere’s little singsong with the Arsenal faithful at their victory parade on Sunday was a sight to behold. Indeed it “overshadowed” a second successive FA Cup win, if one national newspaper is to be believed.
Having spent years hearing from all and sundry about the crying shame that all the characters have gone out of the sport, and how media training is taking the personality out of football, it seems a bit rich to be greeted with a sea of frothing disapproval at a few fruity words.
I don’t know Jack Wilshere – and I’m certainly not going to defend the smoking, or the nights out in clubs when he should probably be resting up and protecting those oh-so delicate ankles. For all I know he may indeed be a ‘wrong-un’ although I doubt it. But he is certainly not a raging alcoholic, like some of the “characters” of the past that are so cherished. He’s a young man with a lot of money, a great talent and an ear for what to say to please the adoring thousands that were waiting for him at the steps of the Emirates.
The stupid thing about all of the fuss is that it’s unlikely Tottenham fans would take any great offence. They get at least 180 minutes a season to hurl whatever abuse (within the realms of the law) they choose at Wilshere on the pitch. He takes it. Nobody kicks up a fuss. I’m sure they can take a little back. And if not, well then perhaps football fans need to take a good long look at themselves and ask what it is they really want. Do they really appreciate the bland platitudes that are usually to be found spilling from footballers’ mouths, or would they actually prefer someone who may say something worth listening to?
And that’s not to say what Wilshere was coming out with contained any fascinating gems. But a culture which castigates a bit of harmless teasing – with some football-appropriate swearing thrown in for good measure – is surely one which makes it impossible for any player to risk saying anything worth taking an interest in. It’s a culture created by an oversensitive media, and perhaps public too, that is all too ready to make a mountain out of a molehill, leaving little if any space for anything to be said that might upset.
The fact is footballers have been doing this sort of thing for years – to the delight of their supporters. If Arsenal had Ray Parlour to wind up Spurs in the 1990s, he was well matched by the likes of Paul Gascoigne. And that’s how it should be. It’s part of the fun.
There are plenty of Arsenal songs aimed at Spurs that Wilshere could, but wisely did not choose to, belt out. Songs still sung by sections of the Arsenal support. Songs that many find hugely offensive. If he chose any of them, then throw the book at him. But he did not. He did say the f-word. And even the c-word. And while that is perhaps not the smartest thing to do with children around, swearing is a part of the modern world and it is difficult to imagine that Sunday will be the only time a young person present in the Arsenal crowd will hear those words.
So, please, spare me the faux-outrage over one footballer who doesn’t seem to have undergone a personality removal before picking up a microphone in front of the cameras.
