I support Port Vale!!

[SourceOfTheTrent]

I thoroughly enjoyed our performance at the Hawthorns last night and I thought our fans were generally superb in their support for the team, I love our awaydays when we travel in numbers and always have. However, sometimes a small element of our support seriously offends me and I'm not just referring to the purely hooligan element.

 

I am a Vale fan from Stoke-on-Trent, that's my team and when I go to support them I wear Vale colours and demonstrate my affection for Port Vale in an apolitical manner. I appreciate that although I share my political opinions with many Vale fans there are many others who have completely different views and outside supporting the Vale we may have little or nothing in common. So be it. Football is a social activity and the vast majority of English clubs have no political alligence and that's how it should be, a common social bond encompassing everyone within society who wishes to enjoy it.

 

Therefore I find the waving of a flag showing the Red Hand of Ulster and a Glasgow Rangers badge alongside the letters 'PVFC' at Vale games deeply offensive. I do not wish to be associated with such bigotry and fascism whilst supporting my local team who have no association whatsoever with Ulster, loyalist politics or Glasgow Rangers. I would feel no differently if someone were to wave an Irish tricolour with 'PVFC' and a Celtic badge on it, those things are nothing to do with the Vale.

 

If someone turned up with a Nazi ensign bearing 'PVFC' it quite rightly wouldn't be tolerated, nor would a BNP / EDL flag or any other political banner, so why are we sometimes subjected to being associated with the symbols of loyalism?

 

The Vale are supported by Protestants, Catholics, atheists, Muslims, Jews, Tories, Socialists, Liberals, Fascists, Communists and every other category of person you can think of. What we have in common is being Vale fans and that is what I like, an all encompassing club where you are welcomed as a fellow Vale fan and not judged or discriminated against because of the views you hold outside football.

 

I would like to see the club have an apolitical policy that bans this type of offensive symbolism.

[Jinkin John Jeffers]

Superb post.

[mr.hobblesworth]

Thought the IRA stuff yesterday was embarrassing and did absolutely nothing for the atmosphere or to gee the team on. 2nd half I didn't hear it at all and the place was rocking.

[Memphis]

Correct.

[Valiant62]

I've just"liked the last four

posts" well said gents (or ladies as the case may be).

[24November92]

I am a Catholic. My family originate from Southern Ireland. I respect everybody's religious, political, cultural views. The diversity should and must be embraced. At a football game watching the greatest club in the world play I feel that we are all one. It embodies exactly what I believe should be happening in the world outside of football. Anybody who wants to create a division should be ostracised from the Vale community. That goes for Catholics, homophobics, racist as well. At worst leave that bigotry at your home before coming to support the Vale. We are one and that is the end of it in my opinion.

[Dastardli]

I thoroughly enjoyed our performance at the Hawthorns last night and I thought our fans were generally superb in their support for the team, I love our awaydays when we travel in numbers and always have. However, sometimes a small element of our support seriously offends me and I'm not just referring to the purely hooligan element.

 

I am a Vale fan from Stoke-on-Trent, that's my team and when I go to support them I wear Vale colours and demonstrate my affection for Port Vale in an apolitical manner. I appreciate that although I share my political opinions with many Vale fans there are many others who have completely different views and outside supporting the Vale we may have little or nothing in common. So be it. Football is a social activity and the vast majority of English clubs have no political alligence and that's how it should be, a common social bond encompassing everyone within society who wishes to enjoy it.

 

Therefore I find the waving of a flag showing the Red Hand of Ulster and a Glasgow Rangers badge alongside the letters 'PVFC' at Vale games deeply offensive. I do not wish to be associated with such bigotry and fascism whilst supporting my local team who have no association whatsoever with Ulster, loyalist politics or Glasgow Rangers. I would feel no differently if someone were to wave an Irish tricolour with 'PVFC' and a Celtic badge on it, those things are nothing to do with the Vale.

 

If someone turned up with a Nazi ensign bearing 'PVFC' it quite rightly wouldn't be tolerated, nor would a BNP / EDL flag or any other political banner, so why are we sometimes subjected to being associated with the symbols of loyalism?

 

The Vale are supported by Protestants, Catholics, atheists, Muslims, Jews, Tories, Socialists, Liberals, Fascists, Communists and every other category of person you can think of. What we have in common is being Vale fans and that is what I like, an all encompassing club where you are welcomed as a fellow Vale fan and not judged or discriminated against because of the views you hold outside football.

 

I would like to see the club have an apolitical policy that bans this type of offensive symbolism.

 

Good post

[TJHValiant]

That is historically ignorant. It isn't a superb post. I'm a Vale fan of Northern Irish heritage and the red hand of Ulster is the county symbol which is apolitical. The Ulster rugby team are proud to use the red hand and it is on the National Flag of Northern Ireland. Glasgow Rangers is another matter but they are just another football club in my eyes and no more bigoted than Celtic.

 

I know a number of Vale fans with strong Ulster connections (Martin Paterson is a high profile local example) as the Burslem area especially saw a lot migrate to the area from Northern Ireland to share their pottery skills during the boom years. Vale have had more Northern Irish internationals play under the Red Hand of Ulster on the St George's cross than from any other country. Are they bigots for proudly playing under such a flag? David Healy, Ryan McGivern, Little, Danny Sonner, James Laurie in recent years have all attracted interest in Vale from Northern Ireland.

 

Calling The Red Hand of Ulster which is a county symbol of one of the ancient kingdoms on the Ireland of Ireland is really dim. A Glasgow Rangers football logo is not an offensive symbol unless you are a bit touchy towards unionism and cannot tolerate it. Which is no different from bigots who hate Irish Nationalism.

 

We have a lot of fans with Protestant, Northern Irish connections historically. Their families are from there and frankly Vale would be a very different club historically without them. It isn't going to go away and depriving Vale Fans to share their cultural identity is in itself fascist.

[mr.hobblesworth]

That is historically ignorant. It isn't a superb post. I'm a Vale fan of Northern Irish heritage and the red hand of Ulster is the county symbol which is apolitical. The Ulster rugby team are proud to use the red hand and it is on the National Flag of Northern Ireland. Glasgow Rangers is another matter but they are just another football club in my eyes and no more bigoted than Celtic.

 

I know a number of Vale fans with strong Ulster connections (Martin Paterson is a high profile local example) as the Burslem area especially saw a lot migrate to the area from Northern Ireland to share their pottery skills during the boom years. Vale have had more Northern Irish internationals play under the Red Hand of Ulster on the St George's cross than from any other country. Are they bigots for proudly playing under such a flag? David Healy, Ryan McGivern, Little, Danny Sonner, James Laurie in recent years have all attracted interest in Vale from Northern Ireland.

 

Calling The Red Hand of Ulster which is a county symbol of one of the ancient kingdoms on the Ireland of Ireland is really dim. A Glasgow Rangers football logo is not an offensive symbol unless you are a bit touchy towards unionism and cannot tolerate it. Which is no different from bigots who hate Irish Nationalism.

 

We have a lot of fans with Protestant, Northern Irish connections historically. Their families are from there and frankly Vale would be a very different club historically without them. It isn't going to go away and depriving Vale Fans to share their cultural identity is in itself fascist.

 

Clown.

[Lyrical Tea]

Really glad that this has been raised. The opening post is bang on in my opinion. What the hell has loyalist sentiment got to do with PVFC? What proportion of those unfurling those flags and singing those songs understand the intricacies of the circumstances surrounding the troubles? I'd like to see the club take a stand on this. Has anything been done about it before?

[Hagrid]

This was the only thing that marred last night for me. Idiotic chants of 'No Surrender' and '**** the IRA'.

 

Morons.

[bycars rob]

Too right we don`t need any of that sectarian nonsense.

[Regal Beagle]

If James McClean has the right to not wear a poppy in protest as he doesn't agree that it is a symbol of peace, then surely anyone who wants to turn up has the right to protest against his decision.

 

For the record I didn't join in with any booing of McClean or anti Ira songs, mainly because I simply do not care.

[valetillidye]

It sounded louder than it should have as the 95% of us not singing it basically had to sit silent until it died down. I try to ignore our idiots but it does bother me about the reputation it gives the well behaved majority.

[smithie]

If football becomes any more sanitised, it will resemble midweek county cricket matches.

 

If someone chants or displays something you don't like, you're not "associated" with that - would you say all Liverpool fans are associated with Munich chants, or all Man Utd fans associated with Hillsborough songs?

 

For as long as I can recall (40 years upwards), Vale have had an edge to their support. It's not always politically-correct, it's not always pleasant and sometimes downright embarrassing.

 

But nights like last night show our support at its noisy, belligerent, passionate, old-school best.....give me that over modern football fan culture any day!