On Saturday at Huddersfield, like on every other Saturday, Tuesday, and Friday when Leeds United plays football, the chant that everyone has come to expect was heard once more.
When the Jimmy Savile song was played early on at Plymouth Argyle in a recent Championship match by home fans closest to the visiting support, an audible wave of laughter spread around the stadium. Adults, barely situated in their chairs, burst into song about a man who molested children. Making light of innumerable victims’ abuse and the destruction of young lives in the sake of ‘banter’ and point-scoring. A match is rarely very old before you hear it, others have got stuck in earlier than the Plymouth fans did, but hear it you almost certainly will. Everyone does it when they come to Elland Road. And it’s grim. The response from Leeds fans is, inevitably, just as grim, and just as consistent. Two wrongs do not make a right. But you can say with certainty that if the man’s name was not uttered by the opposition, then it would not be uttered at all.
Last week, when Leeds, as part of their action plan in the aftermath of last season’s depressing homophobic chanting event, correctly issued a statement regarding the ‘Chelsea rent boy’ song, some of the reactions inquired about the location of the Savile chant statement. Whatabouttery? Yes. In that case, it was. Likewise, when calamity chanting warnings are issued. However, there must come a moment when Leeds fans’ protests are taken seriously on this issue. There must be a discussion about how football can free itself of songs about a predator whose crimes were probed by 28 police forces, making it possible that his victims are sitting in any of Leeds United’s stadiums.
Right now, it appears that few people want to be a part of this discourse in public. Late last year, the YEP approached numerous charities that assist with victims of sexual and child abuse on a local and national level, but none would comment on the record. Perhaps football’s tribal nature, combined with the social media pushback from those wanting to protect their freedom to shout filthy rubbish, makes this a struggle unworthy of commencing for under-funded or under-staffed non-profit organizations. The EFL made no official response other than to say it was a chant they were looking into, but not as part of their efforts to eliminate tragedy chanting.
What Savile inflicted on his numerous victims was a nationwide tragedy. In 2015, after a Daily Mail columnist used Savile’s name in a political piece, Gabrielle Shaw, CEO of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, warned: “What may appear to one person to be a throwaway, joke comment, can act as a real trigger to survivors and not just people abused by Jimmy Savile.” It can be as powerful as a physical strike, resetting everything.It’s tasteless and callous at best, but it could do serious harm. I feel for the survivors who may be harmed by this.”
Along with this one, there are other cries that should be banned, and a small percentage of Leeds fans are no exception. It would be blatant hypocrisy to express revulsion for the Savile song with one side of your mouth while singing identical lyrics against opposition personalities with the other. Savile’s actions, as well as rape and sexual assault, are not remotely humorous. I sympathize with any parent who has to explain this to a son or daughter who is taking their initial steps in sports. Making fun of the opposing team will always be part of the game, both on the field and in the stands, and long may it be so. There is always so much to get at without sinking this low. How Savile came to have a position in the sport is a source of shame, and the sooner its officials respond, the better.
