The knee-taking nonsense prior to the Six Nations match between England and Scotland threatened to overshadow the Scots' surprise victory on Saturday. The media outrage over players refusing to take the knee was predictable, but nothing was said about the other two matches - in which no-one took the knee. So while 19 Scots and seven England players remained standing, the gesture was universally ignored at the Italy v France and Wales v Ireland games.
The Daily Mail even went as far as to name and shame the English and Scottish players who refused to take part. Other news outlets announced that the players had been 'criticised' or 'slammed', but failed to provide details of who was behind the criticism. The Herald clarified that the backlash was in actual fact a social media phenomenon, as per usual. One of the tweets contained in its report came from a BBC reporter who pointed out that it 'would kick off a storm when compared to footballers'.
He was referring to the fact that footballers in Britain universally drop to their knees prior to matches, with just one exception - Nottingham Forest's Lyle Taylor. Of course the BLM gesture was introduced in front of empty stadiums and this has undoubtedly given rise to its bizarre longevity. However, as soon as a limited number of fans returned to stadia briefly in December, the knee nonsense was booed by fans at several matches. This led to Millwall scrapping it altogether at their next match, while Cambridge United vowed to hunt down the dissident fans and either ban them or force them to undergo 'education'. As a struggling outfit that in normal times can muster only a few thousand supporters, that's no way to treat your loyal fans. The Cambridge chairman should also be reminded that most British people are opposed to Black Lives Matter and its racially divisive message.
Make no mistake, as soon as fans are re-introduced to sports stadiums across the country, this disgusting political gesture will swiftly disappear. Yes, let's kick racism out, but more importantly - let's kick Marxism and politics out too!
