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Football Fandom Sexualities and Activism A Cultural
Relational Sociology Critical Research in Football 1st
Edition Peter Millward Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Peter Millward
ISBN(s): 9781032447018, 103244701X
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 9.06 MB
Year: 2023
Language: english
Football Fandom, Sexualities, and
Activism

This is the first book to examine the growing movement of organised networks
of LGBT+ football supporters, exploring activists’ biographies and the meanings
they ascribe to participation in identity politics-centred social movements.
The book draws upon in-depth original research into the Pride in Football
LGBT+ football supporters’ network in the UK, alongside comparative mate-
rial from other countries. It is also the first book to apply a cultural relational
sociological framework to the study of football fans and supporters’ groups, mark-
ing an important theoretical step forward that opens up new perspectives in the
sociology of sport, the sociology of collective action and social movements, and
the sociologies of genders and sexualities in the twenty-first-century world. As
the struggle for cultural rights and recognition of LGBT+ communities contin-
ues, with football fandom providing an important site for understanding these
issues given its historically embedded hegemonic masculine culture, and in the
aftermath of gay male football player Jake Daniels’ ‘coming out’ in May 2022, the
book offers timely insights into new social movements, the consumption of sport,
and the experiences of people from a diversity of sexualities.
This is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the sociology of
sport, football, fandom, gender, sexualities, social theory, or social movements.

Peter Millward is Professor of Contemporary Sociology at Liverpool John Moores

University, UK.
I got fully involved with challenging discrimination in football in 2006. I
thought it could be hostile to LGBTQI+ people and in many ways, it was,
and still is. Back then there were no LGBTQI+ fan groups in the UK, and
there wouldn’t be for a few years. So, there was no visibility and because of
that it was hard convincing people in football that an LGBTQI+ community
exists in football – because they were just invisible. […] And people thought
homophobia in football was a victimless crime, in that if someone was hurling
homophobic abuse at a player, everyone assumed there were no gay people in
football, so it didn’t matter.
Lou Englefield (Personal Interview, 2 September 2020)

For a long time, the question I’ve been asked has always been: ‘When is a male
player going to come out?’ But that just isn’t our priority and we [Arsenal fan
group Gay Gooners] thought a better question was: ‘When are the fans going
to come out?’ We wanted visibility because that’s key for inclusion and that
means the dialogue between clubs and their LGBT fans has rapidly become
constructive and productive.
Dave Raval (Personal Interview, 11 August 2020)
Critical Research in Football
Series Editors:
Pete Millward, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
Jamie Cleland, University of Southern Australia
Dan Parnell, University of Liverpool, UK
Stacey Pope, Durham University, UK
Paul Widdop, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK

The Critical Research in Football book series was launched in 2017 to showcase the
inter- and multi-disciplinary breadth of debate relating to ‘football’. The series
defines ‘football’ as broader than association football, with research on rugby,
Gaelic and gridiron codes also featured. Including monographs, edited collec-
tions, short books and textbooks, books in the series are written and/or edited
by leading experts in the field whilst consciously also affording space to emerging
voices in the area, and are designed to appeal to students, postgraduate stu-
dents and scholars who are interested in the range of disciplines in which critical
research in football connects. The series is published in association with the
Football Collective, @FB_Collective.

Available in this series:

Football and Risk

Trends and Perspectives
Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen

Diego Maradona
A Social-Cultural Study
Edited by Pablo Brescia and Mariano Paz

Critical Issues in Football

A Sociological Analysis of the Beautiful Game
Edited by Will Roberts, Stuart Whigham, Alex Culvin and Daniel Parnell

The UEFA European Football Championships

Politics, Media Spectacle and Social Change
Jan Andre Lee Ludvigsen and Renan Petersen-Wagner

Football Fandom, Sexualities, and Activism

A Cultural Relational Sociology
Peter Millward

https://www​.routledge​.com​/Critical​-Research​-in​-Football​/book​-series​/CFSFC
Football Fandom,
Sexualities, and Activism

A Cultural Relational Sociology

Peter Millward
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Peter Millward
The right of Peter Millward to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance
with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form
or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Millward, Peter, author.
Title: Football fandom, sexualities and activism: a cultural relational
sociology/Peter Millward.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2023. |
Series: Critical research in football | Includes bibliographical references and
index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2022050879 | ISBN 9781032447018 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781032447032 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003373490 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Soccer–Great Britain–Sociological aspects. | Soccer
fans–Great Britain. | Sexual minorities and sports–Great Britain. |
Sexual minorities–Great Britain–Social conditions.
Classification: LCC GV943.9.S64 M59 2023 | DDC
796.3340941–dc23/eng/20221116
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022050879
ISBN: 978-1-032-44701-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-44703-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-37349-0 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003373490
Typeset in Goudy
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
This book is dedicated to the memory of Llewellyn Richard
Johnson (1946–2022). To Anna, Dad. To Layla and Jack, Grumps. To
me, Lu. A generous family man who will be forever in our hearts
and minds.
Contents

Acknowledgements x

1 Introduction 1

2 LGBT+ Communities’ Experiences of Following Football 21

3 The History and Emergence of the Supporters’ Network:

Putting Pride in Football 46

4 The Protagonist LGBT+ Supporter Clubs in the Pride in

Football Movement 73

5 Pride in Football as a Relational Social Movement

Organisation 113

6 Pride in Football’s Social Worlds of Conventions and

Resources 137

7 The Outcome and Tactics of Visibility: Forms, Politics, and

Relationships 169

8 Pride Events: Urban Spaces to Be Proud in Football 192

9 The Geographies of Pride in Football: A Britain Beyond

England, a Movement Beyond Britain? 214

10 Conclusions: Football Fandom, Sexualities, and Activism 249

Index 271
Acknowledgements

Researching and writing this book has been a moving experience, and that is
because of the inspirational work – often in the face of adversity – undertaken
by those in the Pride in Football network. The people involved often think of
themselves as ‘ordinary people’, but in the most positive and uplifting sense, they
are much more than that. They are heroes in the voluntary work they carry out.
I interviewed 55 people in this project, and I deeply thank them all. Stating that
the book would not be possible without them is making the most obvious point,
but also the reassurance and warmth they give to others – often when they need it
most – would not exist without the collective work across the whole movement.
Deep thanks are due to John Hancox for reading and providing feedback on a
very early draft, Cristina Silvestri for research assistance in putting together the
reference lists in the book, and Elizabeth Fryers for undertaking a huge volume
of transcription as the data was gathered. From Routledge, Simon Whitmore and
Rebecca Connor have been outstanding sources of support. From Liverpool John
Moores University, I thank colleagues from the School of Humanities and Social
Sciences, in particular, David Chalcraft, Jan Lee Ludvigsen, Paddy Hoey, Alex
Miles, Cassie Ogden, Maike Pötschulat, Lois Thomas, and David Tyrer. From the
wider scholarly community, gratitude is due to Jamie Cleland, Mark Doidge, Laura
Dixon, Danny Fitzpatrick, Borja Garcia, Lindsey Gaston, Katherine Harrison,
John Hayton, Joseph Ibrahim, Anthony King, Dan Parnell, Stacey Pope, Aarti
Ratna, Fiona Skillen, Karl Spracklen, Jack Sugden, Mark Turner, Dave Webber,
and Paul Widdop. There are many others, too – ideas are rarely individual but
collective and relational and that is absolutely the case here.
A special note of gratitude is due to The British Academy for funding the
core of the book’s research through its ‘Mid-Career Fellowship’ scheme (ref:
MD19\190003). I hope I have done the scheme justice.
And of course, the biggest ‘thank you’ is owed to Anna, Layla, and Jack for
your support, love, and patience. I could not do this work without you.
Chapter 1

Introduction

On 16 May 2022, a landmark moment arrived in understanding LGBT+ peo-

ple’s experiences of sport. Blackpool Football Club’s (Blackpool) Jake Daniels
became the first male professional player to ‘come out’ as gay while still involved
in his sporting career in the UK since Justin Fashanu on 22 October 1990.
Almost 32 years had passed in that period, and in that time ‘progress’ had per-
haps been made, but on an uneven terrain where moments of regress were also
evident. Legislative changes, for instance, achieved through the passing of par-
liamentary Equalities Acts and the removal of 1988’s ‘Section 28’ (Dixon 2021;
Waites 2000, 2003; Wise 2000) had been beset by conflicting accounts about the
scale and intent of LGBT+ prejudice in that period. Notably, in the context of
Daniels’ ‘coming out’, Fashanu had suffered vilification from his manager, fellow
players, football fans, and even members of his own family (Magrath 2017) and
he took his own life on 2 May 1998 after being accused of sexually assaulting a
17-year-old male, fearing prejudices around his sexuality meant he would not
be trialled without discrimination. A small number of professional male football
players later would ‘come out’ as gay after plying their trade in the UK in the
intervening years, but these were few and far between. Robbie Rogers had only
felt comfortable reporting his sexuality shortly after moving to play football in
the United States (in 2013) and Thomas Hitzlsperger did likewise less than one
year after retiring completely from his professional athletic career (in 2014). It is
unlikely they were lone cases of men identifying their sexualities to be alternative
to heterosexual in those three decades but – at least publicly – silence and invis-
ibility prevailed. Just nine days after making his first team debut, 17-year-old Jake
Daniels emphatically broke that silence:

I’ve hated lying my whole life and feeling the need to change to fit in. I want
to be a role model myself by doing this. There are people out there in the
same space as me that may not feel comfortable revealing their sexuality. I
just want to tell them that you don’t have to change who you are, or how you
should be, just to fit in. You being you, and being happy, is what matters most.
(Jake Daniels, www​.blackpoolfc​.co​.uk,
16 May 2022)1

DOI: 10.4324/9781003373490-1
2 Introduction

The platforms through which Fashanu and Daniels publicly disclosed their sex-
ualities also differed. The former had only publicly come out under duress, after
learning that details about his sexuality were about to be revealed in The Sun
national newspaper. Subsequently, Fashanu tried to assert some control over
the story by agreeing to an exclusive – and paid – interview with the news
outlet, whose headline read: ‘£1 m Football Star: I AM GAY’. Reflecting on
the ‘exclusive’, Marshall (1991: 4) said: ‘The Sun dragged out the tale with
titillating stories of sexual encounters with unnamed MPs, football players and
pop stars, which, he claims, were largely untrue’. The latter came out with inter-
views to the Blackpool website which was simply entitled ‘A Message from Jake
Daniels’ and contained only words attributed to him, the piece signed off simply
by ‘Jake’. This was immediately followed up by an interview with Sky Sports,
that – as noted across the book – has a recent history of supporting LGBT+ peo-
ple in football, where the player said that ‘it is time to tell people about the real
me’. Daniels telling his story appeared to be on his terms, counter to Fashanu
22 years earlier.
This book is not explicitly concerned with Justin Fashanu nor Jake Daniels,
but their stories are important to its context and backdrop. Instead, it breaks
new ground by exploring activists’ participation in identity politics-centred social
movements, using the case example of the LGBT+ football supporters’ networks
in and beyond the UK by critically adopting a cultural relational sociological
theoretical framework (see Cleland et al. 2018; Crossley 2011). In doing so, it
particularly focuses upon the collective actions of those involved in the ‘Pride in
Football’ (PiF) movement.
This chapter progresses through five parts: first, it details the empirical land-
scape from which the book emerges, in turn presenting the rigour on which
claims are premised. Second, it details five clear reasons why researching LGBT+
football supporters’ networks holds paramount sociological importance. Third, it
introduces Pride in Football (PiF) in its various manifestations – as an organisa-
tion, network, a series of social worlds, and a mobilisation – discussing it as an
example of cultural relational sociology in practice. Fourth, some of the meth-
odological considerations I faced while undertaking this research in the ‘extraor-
dinary’ Coronavirus-19 dominated times are outlined. Finally, fifth, an organising
structure for the monograph, with a breakdown of issues explored in each chap-
ter, is detailed.

About the Research

This monograph emerges from a British Academy ‘Mid-Career fellowship’ I held
from September 2019 until August 2020 and then was extended in the light of
Coronavirus-19 upheavals to run again in the spring of 2021. It is also informed by
material and contacts made in the Erasmus+ funded project ‘Queering Football’
that ran from January 2016 until December 2017 (Millward 2018). As such, this
book is empirically driven by narrative interviews undertaken with 55 of those
 Introduction  3

associated with the ‘Pride in Football’ (PiF) network of LGBT+ football fans,
geographically spread across the UK, other European countries, and across the
world. This material is supplemented by a qualitative secondary data analysis (see
Heaton 2008) of 78 fully transcribed podcast episodes featuring those positioned
within the ‘social worlds’ (Becker 2008 [1982]) of PiF, 62 interviews undertaken
by others on similarly positioned LGBT+ football fans in the movement, and
85 blogs/fanzine pieces which those in the network had written themselves. This
swell of data is further boosted by fieldwork observations undertaken in six years
between 2016 and 2022 and social network analysis conducted through NodeXL
(Hansen et al. 2019) set around hashtags used on Twitter to capture events those
LGBT+ football supporters said were important to them and the movement.
Additionally, this material is garnished with national and local media articles
featuring PiF, any of the LGBT+ football supporters’ groups and individuals
involved in them, that were located using both LexisNexis and Google News
search engines (Weaver and Bimber 2008). Each time a new name emerged in an
interview, podcast, blog/fanzine piece, newspaper article, or other media report,
it was added to my list of supporters in the network. I would often connect with
those individuals on social media platforms, especially Twitter, and, where ethi-
cally appropriate, use communications published on those public forums to fur-
ther shape my understanding of the network and its operations. In total, this gave
259 LGBT+ football supporters included in the research project. Networks are
often loose in composition and without boundaries (Castells 2000, 2011 [1996],
2011 [1997]; Delanty 2009 [2003]; Melucci 2013 [1996]) and this means that the
number of actors associated with what might be termed the ‘PiF social world’ was
omitted, but the number and quality of data produced over a prolonged period
encompassing two separate projects yield a highly rigorous dataset on which this
book is premised.
I use the acronym ‘LGBT+’ in a way that mimics many of those in the PiF
social worlds. Across the research, others used acronyms that included ‘LGBT’,
‘LGBTIQ’, ‘LGBTQI’, and ‘LGBTQ’. I did not find that the omission of some
letters was set out to exclude from participation in the network, but there was
no absolute uniformity in which acronym was utilised. For the point of clarity,
LGBT+ includes those self-identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
questioning, intersex, asexual, pansexual, kink, politically queer, and hetero-
sexual allies. Outside and even within LGBT+ communities, there is sometimes
confusion about what some parts of the various acronyms ‘mean’. This was high-
lighted in a Twitter discussion between two Charlton Athletic Football Club
(FC) supporters, one of which was not part of the PiF social world and Sam
Clarke, who is a vice-chair of Proud Valiants supporters’ group that follows the
football club (club) and FootballvHomophobia (FvH) Youth Panellist:

Charlton Athletic FC fan: What does the QI stand for?

Sam Clarke: Q is queer and/or questioning, queer has been reclaimed to in com-
pose the whole community, questioning includes people who aren’t too sure
4 Introduction

or just don’t want a specific label. I is for intersex, a person who is born with
both male & female anatomy in some form.
Charlton Athletic FC fan: Sweet, didn’t know that. I thought queer was an insult-
ing term.
Sam Clarke: It still is used as that, and traditionally is, normally easy to tell if it’s
intended that way. But yeah the term has mostly been reclaimed by the com-
munity. I normally use it instead of the saying acronym, some people prefer
not to use it, it’s just down to a preference.
(Twitter Interaction, 22 August 2021)2

The interaction highlights an uncertainty and potential inconsistency in the use

of the term ‘queer’, which does not find unambiguous consensus in the academic
press (see Gamson 1995 and McCormack 2011, for differing positions). Many
football supporters – across the research I found some of those self-identifying
as from the LGBT+ communities – are often unsure about how to use such lan-
guage. However, conversations such as those led by Sam Clarke and the other
Charlton Athletic fan help to bridge this unease, hinting at the embarrassment
about causing offence and how to neutralise any such feelings and intent to facili-
tate inclusion amongst football cultures. This could not happen if LGBT+ foot-
ball fans were either invisible or silent, or if interactions were more adversarial
than the above online conversation.

The Sociological Significance of Researching LGBT+

Football Supporters’ Networks
The material embedded into this book holds prime sociological significance
because voices such as Sam Clarke’s need to be heard. As both Lou Englefield
and Dave Raval, who have been important figures in the emergence of PiF’s
social world, note in the vignettes that open this book, the presence of LGBT+
football fans should be visible and not ignored. LGBT+ football fans’ existence
in stadiums is longstanding, but they have been an ‘invisible population’ within
a traditionally masculine terrain in which ’everyday’ homophobia and other
sexuality-themed prejudice (Essed 1991; Norman 2012) can be both widespread
and commonplace (Magrath 2017, 2018, 2021). This means LGBT+ prejudice
has been normalised as a ‘victimless crime’. However, even beyond this, I now
outline five additional reasons why researching LGBT+ football supporters’ net-
works holds leading importance to twenty-first-century sociology.
First, no survey data exists to show the prevalence of LGBT+ football sup-
porters, but Statista (2022) shows that in the 2021/2022 season, 20 Premier
League clubs had an aggregate attendance of 14.5 million people and in the
three divisions below it, 72 English Football League (EFL) clubs had an aggregate
attendance of 18.39 million in the same period. Similarly, the Premier League is
broadcast in 212 territories around the world (Millward 2017), with audiences
so enormous that in the 2019/2020 to 2021/2022 seasons it received domestic
 Introduction  5

broadcast deals worth £4.3 billion and overseas broadcast arrangements worth
another £4.2 billion. People around the world watch, and support, English – and
British – football clubs. At the same time, the Office for National Statistics records
that the proportion of the UK population aged 16 years and over identifying as
‘heterosexual’ or ‘straight’ stood at 93.7 per cent in 2019, this figure reduced from
94.6 per cent a year earlier (Sharfman and Cobb 2021). Given the fluid nature
of sexuality, criticisms can be made of a statistical approach to capturing sexual-
ity (Moore and Stambolis-Ruhstorfer 2013); however, the figures clearly show
those identifying within the various genders and sexualities of LGBT+ are a size-
able minority – and many of those people are football fans, identifying as such
through its different range of commitments and consumptions (Giulianotti 2002;
King 2002 [1998]; Millward 2016). At the time of writing, in the UK, there are
52 LGBT+ football supporters’ clubs organised through the ‘Pride in Football’
association on which this book focuses. The UK is not the only, nor the first,
country to have LGBT+ football fan groups with the mostly German associa-
tion Queer Football Fanclubs (QFF) containing over 30 additional groups. Away
from these two countries, LGBT+ supporters’ groups exist in Switzerland, Spain,
The Netherlands, Italy, and the United States. They vary in size and participa-
tion with Arsenal’s Gay Gooners claiming to be the world’s largest with nearly
1,000 members, while others are comprised of only a handful of people who tie
with ranging strengths to the wider network. Therefore, the first reason why this
research is significant is that such populations are significant in size, even if they
have not always been visible.
Second, the study of LGBT+ football fans holds prime sociological signifi-
cance by trying to understand the much-aired, but little understood, prejudice
and discrimination they experience. Data collected from football fans who
identify as LGBT+ shows that they continue to experience homophobia and
transphobia at both home and away games, with 63 per cent of supporters expe-
riencing incidents of physical and verbal abuse, comments from other fans, and/
or homophobic/transphobic chanting (Goldring 2018: 3). During the Erasmus+
funded project ‘Queering Football’, where I initially met some of the key people
involved in the PiF social worlds, I was repeatedly told that LGBT+ football
supporters keenly wanted to have their ’voices heard’ (see also Plummer 2002
[1995]). By giving a platform and listening to the little-heard voices of those who
have routinely heard prejudice directed at – even in the abstract sense, since they
are ’invisible’ as LGBT+ people – the communities they belong to are sociologi-
cally important and far-reaching.
Third, this book focuses on fan groups which individually but – more often –
collectively, through the networks of LGBT+ football supporters’ groups, provide
spaces of safety and recognition through which LGBT+ people can watch sport.
From an outside position, the social significance of providing a space in which
people can consume sport might sound of marginal sociological significance.
However, as Mills (1959) taught us, the sociologist’s quest is to listen to the
stories of those in the populace and make sense of those narratives through both
6 Introduction

history and biography. The programme of activity provided by groups within the
PiF network’s activities stretches far beyond a simple act of consumption – it
drives at the act of recognition and identity politics, provides validation, and
grants much-needed legitimacy through the ‘power of identity’ (Castells 2011
[1997]). Trivialising these feelings is trivialising the concerns and identities of
LGBT+ people who are football fans, as Jim Dolan, founder of West Ham United
FC (WHUFC) fans’ group, Pride of Irons, noted:

One of the things we’ve realised is we’ve changed lives. There are people
who have literally said to us ‘we wouldn’t come to games if your group didn’t
exist’. It’s a wonderful reality, it’s a wonderful by product of just trying to
bring some people together initially for kind of safety reasons and to make
people feel less nervous and it’s turned into something completely different.
Jim Dolan (Personal Interview, 8 June 2020)

Understanding sociality in its multiple forms is the core tenet of sociology

(Durkheim 1915; Maffesoli 1989). LGBT+ football fan groups are forms of
sociality in action, without them friendships and communalities would not be
made. Jim Dolan points out that the development of such supporters’ groups has
‘changed lives’. Sociality is powerful, and of utmost importance to sociologists,
underscoring the value of understanding relationships in the PiF social worlds.
Fourth, those who are deeply involved in PiF see it as a social movement.
For instance, at Queering Football’s end-of-project meeting in Ljubljana, Di
Cunningham, then chair of PiF’s organisation, described the LGBT+ fan group
network as ‘a movement. And as a movement, it must be one of, if not the
fastest growing fan movement in the world’ (Fieldnotes, 18 November 2017).
Accordingly, discussions in this book contribute to the sociology of social move-
ments and collective action in four ways. First, the activist biographies of those
who emerged as key to PiF’s social world are explored and discussed next to the
various ways they discuss their anti-discriminatory actions in the consumption
of football. In many cases, these ‘fan-activists’ tell stories about their lives as
LGBT+ activists in spheres removed from sport but often step back from the
idea that action undertaken in the context of football is ‘activism’. Yet, the foot-
ball supporters who are part of PiF’s network are collaborating to raise aware-
ness, recognition of rights, and visibility for LGBT+ people through non-state
means. In other words, they are mobilising to operate in the way ‘activists do’
(Lichterman 1998). This raises an interesting situation of partaking in activism
without actors who are self-defining as activists in that given context. Second,
relatedly, this book discusses an example which – largely for reasons related to
material, social, and cultural resources – can be presented as ‘progressive’ but not
‘radical’. As such, this book profiles PiF as a movement that must make incre-
mental steps, relying on building relationships, to make overall gains. Third,
this book helps to understand the structures through which collective actions
mobilise. Social movements literature, including that offered by Castells (2011
 Introduction  7

[1997]; 2013 [2009]; 2015 [2012]), has emphasised such actions to be informal in
organisational structure, with non-hierarchical and networked formations out-
moding more formalised social movement organisations (SMOs). However, PiF
provides an example of a movement that operates as both an SMO (Zald and Ash
1966) and a network, underscoring an additional sociological contribution of this
book. Fourth, in providing a cultural analysis of social movements, Jasper (1997,
1998) and Jasper and Poulsen (1995) advanced the term ‘moral shock’ as the
emotional responses that bring about action. I draw inspiration from this idea,
but in doing so also look to bring together ideas from seemingly opposed lenses to
understanding mobilisations from political opportunity (Tilly 1978, 1995; Tilly
and Tarrow 2015; McAdam 1985; Tarrow 1988, 1989, 2022) and resource mobi-
lisation (McCarthy and Zald 1977; Zald and Ash 1966) schools of thought to
analyse an inherently relational new social movement.
Finally, this monograph contributes to the furtherance of a ‘cultural relational
sociology’ project I advanced with Jamie Cleland, Mark Doidge, and Paul Widdop
(see Cleland et al. 2018). Delanty (1998, 2006) offers European social theory to
be a set of ideas focused on culture and process rather than the outcomes and
policy-focused ideas, as is the trend in North American sociology. Cultural rela-
tional sociology fits the European dimensions of the theory. However, it borrows
an ontology from its North American equivalent ‘that transactions, interactions,
social ties and conversations constitute the central stuff of social life’ (Tilly 2002:
72) and a rejection of ‘the notion that one can posit discrete, pregiven units of
analysis such as the individual or society as ultimate starting points of socio-
logical analysis’ (Emirbayer 1997: 287). To do, this cultural relational sociology
derives influence from Nick Crossley’s (2011) Towards Relational Sociology, which
synthesised a range of ideas with the aim of developing a relational sociology
that focuses on the mechanisms of interaction, network, and relationship that
shape society and sociality. This is ‘cultural’ because it provides a useful way of
explaining social worlds without reducing them to individuals or collectivities.
Social structures may enable or constrain actors but are the product of conven-
tions and resources that emerge from sociality people and groups of people in the
social world. ‘Culture’ is the things people do in common and derives its meaning
through emergent interaction between individuals and groups. As such, Crossley
argues (2011: 13) that ‘society is not a thing but a state of play within a vast web
of ongoing interactions’ and a coordination of efforts. He takes three empirical
case examples which concretely illustrate his relational approach: gym practices
and behaviours (Crossley 2008b), social movements (Crossley and Ibrahim 2012;
Stevenson and Crossley 2014), and, most clearly, music scenes, especially those
from ‘punk’ and ‘post-punk’ periods (Crossley 2008a, 2009, 2014, 2015b; Crossley
and Bottero 2015; Crossley and Emms 2016; Crossley, McAndrew, and Widdop
2014; Hield and Crossley 2014). Crossley (2018: v) congratulated us (as Cleland
et al. 2018) on account of our ‘decision to take relational sociology out of the
realm of pure theory, where it still largely resides today, into application and
empirical analysis’ by analysing football fandom and a wide range of collective
8 Introduction

actions they partake in. Here I continue to take this theory from the abstract to
understand the lived experiences of those LGBT+ football fans involved in the
various manifestations of PiF which provides a fifth reason why debates in this
book hold strong sociological significance. Accordingly, it can be said that the
material that follows in this book is important across the discipline of sociol-
ogy, as it makes important contributions to its sub-disciplines and fields of (a)
the sociology of sport, (b) the sociology of collective action/social movements,
(c) cultural relational sociology, and (d) sociologies of genders and sexualities in
twenty-first-century Britain.

A Cultural Relational Sociology of Pride in Football

As noted, PiF has multiple manifestations that are often complementary, over-
lapping, but also, in some contexts, distinct from each other. I follow Crossley
(2015), who in turn follows Becker (1974; 2008 [1982]), by approaching the
development of a social world – or scene – as a coordinated form of ‘collective
action’ comprising networks of both cooperating and competing individuals (who
under some conditions, both cooperated and competed). For Becker, art comes
from ‘art worlds’ and these are comprised of all social actors who are involved in
the commission, promotion, production, presentation, criticism, and chronicling
of fine art who work together, even if this collaboration is not always intentional
or necessarily in the same physical space. Art worlds are not just made up of
artists. Crossley (2015) says similar about ‘punk’ and ‘post-punk’ music scenes,
especially profiling those in northern English cities in the second half of the
1970s. Musicians, record promoters, venue organisers, artists, clothes designers,
and even some music fans are all actively part of the production of a sub-cultural
social world. At face value, the scene of LGBT+ football fans has little com-
monality with those involved in art or sub-cultural music scenes in the 1960s
and 1970s, existing in different leisure, temporal, and sometimes geographical
spaces. Yet on closer inspection, there is much in common with PiF that immedi-
ately meets the eye, giving value, depth, and extension to Becker’s and Crossley’s
works. Here I offer five immediate observations.
First, PiF has its own social world, or scene. Discussions about this are cen-
tralised in Chapter 6, but the ‘scene’ is not only comprised of LGBT+ football
fans but also journalists and others who work in the media industries and who
raise the visibility of LGBT+ concerns. This scene sometimes also includes those
that work for other fan organisations such as the anti-discriminatory charity
Kick It Out (KiO) and the Football Supporters Federation (FSF), along with the
Gay Football Supporters’ Network (GFSN) and FootballvHomophobia (FvH).
LGBT+ pressure groups and charities that are not mainly concerned with fight-
ing prejudice in sport, and football club personnel – who, in other circumstances
might have represented the organisation’s action was targeted against – such
as Supporter Liaison Officers (SLOs) or those employed to support Equality,
Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) objectives may also be part of the PiF social world.
 Introduction  9

These social worlds are not necessarily geographically bound, either, with indi-
viduals connected to LGBT+ networks and organisations in other parts of Europe,
such as Fuβball fans gegen Homophobie (FfgH) and Queer Football Fanclubs
(QFF), sometimes entering the fluid social worlds. On occasions, those in the
scenes may utilise it as a social space for friendship and comradery (Shepard 2011,
2015), but an architecture of communications through face-to-face and social
media contacts exists to mobilise into action, should a situation require. These
situations may involve lobbying football-governing body officials, football clubs,
and external sponsors such as betting companies. Those in the social worlds can
also mobilise to support those who have suffered prejudice, too. Therefore, the
PiF social worlds may rise as a movement when ‘moral shocks’ develop (Jasper
1997, 1998, 2018).
Second, PiF also exists as a social movement organisation (SMO; Zald and
Ash 1966) which was formed on Sunday 16 November 2014 when LGBT+ fans
from across the country met at The Grange St. Paul’s Hotel, in central London for
the first-ever national LGBT fans’ group conference, entitled #PrideinFootball.
The full story of this conference is given in Chapter 5, but it was hosted by the
Fans for Diversity campaign, a collaboration between KiO and the FSF, along
with support from the GFSN and FvH. The meeting comprised individual fans,
the members of 20 different fledgling supporters’ groups including Gay Gooners
(Arsenal), Proud Canaries (Norwich), Canal St Blues (Manchester City), and
Proud Lilywhites (Tottenham) who had already established at that point. The
agenda was set around issues affecting LGBT+ fans and the future of LGBT+
fans’ groups and, crucially, to establish informal networks and contacts with like-
minded people. Symbolising PiF as an SMO, it has an elected board including a
chair. The SMO chairs have been co-founders Chris Paouros (Proud Lilywhites
chair) and Di Cunningham (Proud Canaries chair), while Rishi Madlani (Foxes
Pride) and Joe White (Gay Gooners) have shared the role since September 2021.
However, between September 2019 and September 2021, and throughout my
British Academy-funded fieldwork period, Stephanie Fuller (Proud & Palace
chair) held this elected position. Rather than describing PiF as an organisation,
she called it:

A network of all the LGBT fan groups that are aligned to professional foot-
ball clubs in the UK. We have now around just over 50 groups as mem-
bers. The movement started in 2013 when there was the Gay Gooners, then
Norwich City [Proud Canaries] and Manchester City [Canal Street Blues]
and Spurs [Proud Lilywhites] came along pretty much all at the same time
and then from that point onwards it started to sort of gather momentum, you
know, that it was good to have LGBT fan groups visible at football grounds
in England and amongst their respective fan bases. Pride in Football has
become the result of all of those things happening.
Stephanie Fuller (Personal Interview,
30 June 2020)3
10 Introduction

Third, corresponding with Stephanie Fuller’s words, PiF is a network. In the

crudest sense networks are the patterns of connection across society and Mische
(2003: 258) argues they are composed of ‘culturally constituted processes of com-
municative interactions’. For Castells (2000, 2011 [1996]), the ‘network society’
consists of ‘local’ interconnected points, or nodes, that are defined by symbolic
and communicative codes rather than territory. Resources, as mobilised capital of
people, money, and information, can flow between potentially spatiality distant
points (Sheller and Urry 2006). PiF constitutes its own network society within
its social world, allowing resources to flow between nodal points, which are often
fan groups, who are then comprised of networks of individuals. As such, PiF is
comprised of its networks of networks of networks.
Fourth, there has been an attrition of some of the early groups from the PiF
organisation as Bradford City LGBT fans have formally left it, while Manchester
City FC (MCFC) group Canal Street Blues helped to form it, resigned member-
ship, and later re-joined. Networks are often unbounded, or at least have elastic
borders (Castells 2000, 2011 [1996]). So, while Bradford City LGBT fans and
Canal Street Blues have spent time without PiF membership, they continue to
engage within the communicative processes in so far as key members continue to
have ‘live trajectories of iterated interaction’ (Crossley 2011: 28), or expressed
more simply, relationships with those who are engaged with PiF’s collective
activities. As such resigning membership from PiF as an organisation does not
automatically equate to withdrawing from PiF’s social worlds or network. Nor
does it mean self-removing from any potential mobilisation around PiF activities,
as members in such groups continue to share a vision by challenging LGBT+
discrimination in football. Other groups have withdrawn, for instance if they
announced their wind-up, often by deleting social media accounts or simply
becoming inactive. However, the number of groups in its association has grown.
According to Stephanie Fuller in June 2020, it stood at ‘just over 50 groups’
and since that interview further groups have launched including those who are
part of the organisation and others who are not, but part of the wider network and
social world. Jon Holmes, a journalist from the LGBT+ community who works at
Sky Sports, is strongly connected to several members of the groups through both
friendship ties and co-membership of PiF and the network he leads, Sports Media
LGBT (discussed in Chapter 7). He reported, ‘[PiF has] really been snowballing
down the years and has a lot of momentum with it’ (Level Playing Field Podcast,
9 July 2019).
Fifth, Crossley concludes Towards Relational Sociology (2011) with the follow-
ing statement:

Connections matter. Indeed for sociologists they are or should be ‘what it is

all about’. This is often recognised in relation to the microcosm but is no less
important in relation to the macrocosm. Social life doesn’t cease being about
what actors achieve in interaction, whatever scale we choose to analyse it
and whatever abstractions we bring to bear. From children in the playground
 Introduction  11

to the ‘world economic order’, societies are networks of interacting and co-
constituting actors, orientating to conventions, exchanging resources and
more generally ‘being social’.
Crossley (2011: 206)

By developing his ideas into a cultural relational sociological frame, we moved

beyond Crossley’s statement to offer those connections that are more important
than just ‘mattering’ in the social worlds that involve the consumption and pro-
duction of football (Cleland et al. 2018: 190). Therefore, throughout the various
manifestations of PiF, connections, relationships, and networks make up the social
form. However, such connections are not only interactive, because they broadly
endure – even if they change shape as actors ‘mutually tune in’ to one another,
each having ‘a feel’ for what the other will do and at what point in time (Crossley
2011: 32) – and so are inherently relational (Prandini 2015). The #PrideinFootball
conference (2014) saw PiF’s organisation born from rhizomatic circumstances
and fits into a wider network that is supporting LGBT+ football fans and chal-
lenging the discrimination they face (as discussed in Chapters Three and Five).
Connections more than matter, and in a piece for the Sky Sports website to mark
PiF’s 2016 conference (discussed in Chapter 5), Jon Holmes noted the genesis and
aims of the networks of supporters’ groups inside the network of PiF as:

Some began as social gatherings for LGBT fans to meet fellow supporters
in a safe and welcoming atmosphere, as stadium environments home and
away did not always meet that criterion. The majority, however, were set
up with the aim of lobbying club officials to improve the matchday expe-
rience for lesbian, gay, bi and trans fans. […] By being visible and vocal,
Pride in Football’s nationwide network of groups are changing the minds
of those in football who would let abusive behaviour go unchallenged or,
at worst, are responsible for it. They’re also mobilising more supporters, gay
and straight, who want a more convivial match-going climate devoid of any
discrimination.
Jon Holmes (2017)

Therefore, the aims and activities are stated: to provide social gatherings, offer
a safe and welcoming atmosphere, lobbying – or preferably working with – club
officials to improve match experiences for LGBT+ fans, offer visibility, not allow
abusive behaviour to go unchallenged by mobilising LGBT+ supporters, and
encourage heterosexual football supporters to become allies. Throughout the
research LGBT+ supporters in all manifestations of PiF repeatedly said that their
aim was ‘not to somehow make football gay’ to the exclusion of fans from outside
this community (Paul Amann, Kop Outs!, Liverpool LGBT+ supporters’ group,
personal interview, 2 June 2020). Although there is no absolute consensus across
the PiF network, even before Jake Daniels revealed his full-self identity in May
2022, supporters did not necessarily see:
12 Introduction

A gay footballer in the top four leagues in England as the holy grail. It’s
inclusivity to start with and it will be a natural progression where there’ll be
a more comfortable atmosphere to come out as a gay footballer
(Andrew Smith, The Proud Ox, Oxford United
LGBTQ fan group, BBC Radio Oxford, 18 May
2017)4

Methodological Considerations
The first time I met LGBT+ football fan groups was at the Fuβball fans gegen
Homophobie (FfgH) congress in Berlin on 8–9 October 2016. At the time I was
working alongside the Austrian-based anti-discrimination non-governmental
organisation FairPlay and the continent-wide fan union, Football Supporters
Europe (FSE) – both of whom were tied to FfgH – by carrying out research evalu-
ation on the Erasmus+ funded project ‘Queering Football’. Around 150 delegates
attended the congress, spanning at least 29 countries which included Russia,
Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Norway, Poland, Italy and
those associated with PiF, from the UK. As Chapter 3 will explain, PiF is pre-
dated by the Queer Football Fanclubs (QFF) association, which is comprised of
fans spanning Switzerland, The Netherlands, Bradford City LGBT Fans from
the UK and, mostly, those connected to German football clubs. Reflecting on
the conference, Sven Kistner (from QFF and Bayern Munich LGBT+ fan group,
Queerpass Bayern) said it ‘was really special because so many people from so
many different groups and organisations came together’ (Personal Interview,
4 January 2020). Although I spoke with fans from the LGBT+ football network
individually over the next months, the next time I met them collectively was on
24 June 2017 at PiF’s inaugural ‘#callitout’ conference at Manchester’s National
Football Museum. This event was not part of ‘Queering Football’ project, mean-
ing that I attended as an independent researcher and lay delegate rather than
being part of the project team. Gemma Teale from Brentford fan group The
LBeeTs reviewed the event for the FSF’s blog, calling it ‘energising’ and pro-
viding a ‘renewed motivation to make watching football as an LGBT+ fan a
safe, and enjoyable experience’ (7 July 2017). At the time, Jon Holmes (2017)
recorded that:

In the last three years, the number of LGBT fan groups affiliated with Pride
in Football has increased from four to nearly 30, with some still in various
stages of development. Of those groups, 27 are officially recognised by their
clubs

Perhaps buoyed by the feelings Gemma Teale recorded, the number of LGBT+
football fans’ groups grew by 12 by the end of the calendar year. Indeed, LUFC
fan Andrew Tilly said that the event:
 Introduction  13

Provided the final momentum to set up the group [LGBT+ Marching Out
Together] because talking to others in the Pride in Football network excited
and inspired us [Andrew Tilly and his long-time friend Drew Harrison] to
contact the club and it all happened rapidly from there.
(Fieldwork Notes, Leeds, 1 February 2020)

My fieldnotes do not record meeting Andrew Tilly or Gemma Teale at the event,
but they document a palpable sense of supporters’ sadness and anger at stories
changing into feelings of hope for a more equitable football world during the day.
I shared those emotions, but as a heterosexual, cisgender man my field diary also
recorded other feelings:

I felt inspired by the event. The talks were highly interesting, and the atmos-
phere was good. It was nice to meet Alexander [Agapov, from the Russian
LGBT Sport Federation] in person [after we connected on Facebook]. In fact,
everyone was nice, supportive and really welcoming. But I also felt a sense of
strangeness – I’m not exactly sure how to capture this – but being straight in
an LGBT+ space was really eye-opening. The conference definitely wasn’t
exclusively for LGBT+ people but football fans from that community had
organised it and it was under their banner. The session on LGBT+ fans going
to the Russia World Cup [held in 2018] was a case in point – in the discus-
sion [then PiF chair] Di Cunningham asked me would I be interested in
attending as a ‘gay football fan’. Should I have ‘come out’ as heterosexual?
Would that have been appropriate? I’m certain all Di and others were look-
ing for was just respect but for some reason I found it easier to decline by
saying I wasn’t a big supporter of the English national team. […] As I left the
National Football Museum to catch the train home, I felt a bit different on
the outside of the building to in it. Outside it I didn’t feel anyone assumed
me to have a different sexual identity to my own. Inside it I felt like I was
lying to others. Why is this? Am I accidentally homophobic? Have I just
walked a mile – just a few hours in one day, really – in an LGBT+ person’s
‘shoes’? If so, it didn’t always feel comfortable.

I still cannot answer the questions I asked myself in the fieldnotes, but my
thoughts in connection to them impassioned my research. While undertaking
an interview with Martin Endemann, a heterosexual FfgH co-founder who is
employed as a project manager at FSE, he recalled becoming a young adult in
the 1990s, a temporal biography that matches my own, by saying: ‘homophobia
was, I think it was pretty normal [in the 1990s]. I mean, I can’t really recall
but I wouldn’t rule out that I also chanted about gays or whatever. I mean, it
was a normal thing to shout’ (Martin Endemann Interview, 26 August 2020). I
would also have made ‘everyday’ homophobic comments at the time and now,
like Martin Endemann, I know these would be hurtful. Martin Endemann had
become part of the LGBT+ football supporters’ community as an ally through
14 Introduction

his campaign to say, ‘football fans against homophobia’ (the literal translation
of FfgH) and my roles had transformed to both researcher and ally. But what
does doing so mean? In previous sociological research into football fan cul-
tures, a fierce debate between Dunning et al. (1991)5 and Armstrong (1998;
Armstrong and Harris 1991) emerged as the latter was accused of ‘going native’
with the ‘football hooligans’, some of whom he had lifelong engagements with,
that he studied. But what could ‘going native’ as an ally mean? I can only think
it means a deep respect for other people and their human rights, including the
LGBT+ network. PiF membership is not homogenous, and I discovered internal
politics within the network during the research. This was especially the case
before the 2018 (men’s) World Cup in Russia when betting company Paddy
Power wanted to sponsor PiF for each goal the host country scored at the tour-
nament. This offer created some consternation, which led to the Canal Street
Blues and the Bradford City LGBT fans groups resigning from their PiF mem-
bership (although the former re-joined the organisation in 2021). I listened to
stories such as these and empathised with aspects of all accounts, but they did
not endanger the shared (often informal) aims of supporting LGBT+ people in
football and finding ways of reducing, if not eliminating, discrimination. As fel-
low ally (and FA Wales’ Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Integrity manager)
Jason Webber said:

As straight allies all we need to be aware of our own privileges. We can sup-
port LGBT football fans but ultimately, we must listen to them, because we
can accidentally get it wrong. When we do, we must apologise straight away
(Personal Interview, 7 April 2021).

Across the research, I have tried to listen to, and learn from, those in the LGBT+
football fans network. Much like Plummer (2005 [1995]) I found the best way to
do this was to undertake narrative interviews to capture their stories about their
engagement in the PiF movement to understand the ways in which it works. The
British Academy-funded project began in September 2019 and at that point, I
set up a new Twitter account (@PeterMillward79) for the project and used it to
converse with fans in the social media space. Pride in Football has a Twitter list
in which those accounts that are members have their tweets shared through it
and from there I established who was in the network, following new accounts as
their names emerged and learning more about their life practices and worldviews
through their social media interactions. These communications helped me to
gain richer insights into the groups, individuals, and networks of contacts which
I probed at during interviews. In total, I interviewed 55 people in the LGBT+
football supporters’ network, each interview typically lasting one hour (with the
shortest at 28 minutes and the longest at 2 hours and 34 minutes). After each
interview, I tweeted a note of appreciation to let others in the network know I
was undertaking this research and to build up rapport and trust within it – along-
side non-strategic reasons of human courtesy and respect (see Blee 2013).
 Introduction  15

In December 2019 I began contacting groups through Twitter’s ‘direct mes-

sages’ and interviewing commenced the following month. My first three inter-
views were held in Zurich as I travelled to the annual FfgH ‘Hallenmaster’ football
tournament to carry out fieldwork on 3–5 January. At the end of the following
week, I carried out a group interview with three members of Tranmere Rovers
FC’s (TRFC) fans’ group, Rover and Out!, and spent some time at a social event
Everton FC’s (EFC’s) Rainbow Toffees had organised. A member of Rover and
Out! was anxious about reportage of material after he had felt that a media source
had previously mis-portrayed a story about the group and so asked if he and group
chair, Dave Byrne, could have a copy of the audio recording. I obliged and the
next morning I received enthusiastic text messages from Dave Byrne saying he
had sent the recording to key people at TRFC and they thought it was a great way
to educate fans from outside the LGBT+ community. In many respects, the sym-
pathetic and interesting talking and deep listening of the narrative approach felt
like a methodology which combined data collection and friendship (Tillmann-
Healy 2003).
On 23 March 2020, the UK went into a Coronavirus-19 enforced lockdown,
rendering it impossible to undertake further face-to-face interviews or offline
fieldwork activities. At that point, I had undertaken 27 interviews, 17 of which
had been face-to-face and 10 had been undertaken over the telephone. This ush-
ered in a period of two months of messy qualitative data analysis, undertaken by
hand according to emerging themes in the data. However, I felt that there were
gaps in the data, and after discovering Zoom, the online communication plat-
form, I began interviewing again on 1 June 2020, eventually ending the process
on 7 April 2021. By ‘lockdown’, I had also begun to utilise other forms of data in
a ‘scavenger methodology’ style (Bao 2018). The PiF Twitter list had flagged up
key podcasts, interviews, and blog posts and alongside traditional media sources,
these enriched my data. While I had been previously using such sources to
inform my interview questions, I also decided to use these as qualitative second-
ary data. In total, podcasts – some up to an hour long – often undertaken as dis-
cussions between those in the LGBT+ football fan network enhanced my data
adding both quantity and new textures of quality. These added 78 episodes of
podcasts to the bank of data, along with 62 interviews in print that I had found
online involving key members of the network and 85 items – such as relevant
blog posts or fanzines (see Millward 2008) – that they had written. This felt like
an ‘information age’ (Castells 2011 [1996]) update on the scavenger methodol-
ogy or, as Hine (2020: 65) might refer to it, a ‘networked ethnography’. Finally,
I added to this by taking Twitter scrapes of hashtags the PiF network used at
key temporal moments – such as #PrideinFootball and #callitout conferences –
allowing proxies for various forms of influence and ‘power’ in the network to be
gathered. By combining these sources into a networked ethnographic method,
I followed Crossley and Edwards (2016) in adopting a relaxed position on the
methods utilised to tease out a cultural relational sociological analysis of the
movement.
16 Introduction

Organisation of the Book

This book is organised into ten chapters. Following this chapter, Chapter 2 focuses
on LGBT+ people’s experiences of football fandom, highlighting some of the injus-
tices and anxieties they feel. Chapter 3 moves on to look at the relational and rhizo-
matic roots of the PiF movement, spanning a range of networked organisations, and
focuses on its emergence and meaning that crystallised in November 2014 with the
#PrideinFootball activist conference. Chapter 4 examines the emergence of six pro-
tagonist LGBT+ football fan groups and how they connected to forge the relation-
ships and networks that became PiF. Chapter 5 looks at the emergence of PiF as an
organisation that is embedded within a series of social relations. Chapter 6 borrows
from the idea of ‘social worlds’, as outlined by Crossley and Becker, to consider the
sharing of conventions and resources amongst those associated with the various
manifestations of PiF. Chapter 7 centralises a key aim of the movement – visibility
– to discuss the ways in which fan groups visualise their movement and how they
form distinctions in those actions. Chapter 8 continues the theme of visibility but
in this chapter in the context of Pride events. Chapter 9 progresses the discus-
sion to consider the spatial, football-tiered dimensions of the fan groups ensuring
discussions around lower league clubs, and Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
are part of my analysis. Finally, Chapter 10 sums up the book to underscore the key
arguments discussed across the book.

Notes
1 For full statement, see: https://www​.blackpoolfc​.co​.uk​/news​/2022​/may​/16​/a​-message​
-from​-jake​-daniels/.
2 The initial tweet can be found at: https://twitter​.com​/Sam​_AEC​/status​
/1429209168112758787.
3 With permission from Stephanie and fellow guests Martin Endemann and Max
Bergander, this interview was included as part of the Football Collective’s ‘FBC ses-
sions’ and was made available at: https://www​.youtube​.com​/watch​?v​=18lV8eg9e​-I​
&list​=PLO​rH6S​hzUc​lDCC​Qqse​pqEN​Zl7E​MoQdbXH​&index​=23.
4 Found at: Smith, A. (2017) Oxford United LGBTQ+ on BBC Radio Oxford [online]
Available at: https://www​.youtube​.com​/watch​?v​=9Qasl4WJEHM [Accessed 8/2022].
5 See also Hughson (1998), King (2002 [1998]), and Moorhouse (1991a, b) for more on
this issue.

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 Introduction  17

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Chapter 2

LGBT+ Communities’ Experiences of

Following Football

Introduction
Listening to football supporters involved in LGBT+ fan groups is central to this
book. Experiences are not uniform with some reporting instances of LGBT+ dis-
crimination in the stadium or on online social networks, while others downplay
the significance and frequency of such occurrences. Jasper (1997, 1998, 2018)
discusses ‘moral shocks’ as kinds of visceral unease that capture people’s attention
and encourage them to articulate their moral intuitions to start up or become
involved in social movements. Some fans reported that experiencing or seeing
and hearing LGBT+ discrimination online or in physical settings was the catalyst
for their LGBT+ football supporters’ group, while others will suggest that the
visibility of other fan groups in the Pride in Football (PiF) networks positively
encouraged them to establish their own. This chapter explores these themes
through three main parts. First, it provides a critical literature review exploring
LGBT+ experiences of football. Second, it centrally draws upon a transcript from
The Proud & Palace Podcast, supplemented by other empirical literature I have
gathered to elucidate the experiences of those fans in LGBT+ supporters’ groups.
Third, a platform will be given to understand the transgender experiences of
football fandom. In this chapter I argue against a binary of academics and activ-
ists while also detailing some of the prejudices and positive experiences LGBT+
people have felt as football fans.

‘Academics vs Activists’: Understanding LGBT+

Experiences of Football Fandom
The title of this section directly borrows from Harvey’s (2017: 137) chapter by the
same name and is utilised because it directly addresses a theme across this book,
that of LGBT+ ‘activism’ in football. While the sub-title of Harvey’s chapter
illustrates that analysing homophobia in a male team sport is the aim of his pub-
lication, he offers an interesting binary between LGBT+ activists and academic
sociologists. To do this, Harvey draws upon material from James Taylor, former
Head of Campaigns at Stonewall, and Chris Gibbons, former Inclusion Officer

DOI: 10.4324/9781003373490-2
22 LGBT+ Experiences of Following Football

at the Football Association, while also offering the Gay Football Supporters’
Network’s (GFSN) position on the debate. Stood against this, Harvey (2017:
137) discusses ‘the “Anderson school of sociologists” [who] are announcing a
brave new world of “inclusive masculinities” (Anderson 2009), proclaiming the
end of overt homophobia as we know it’. Such a binary is perhaps an exaggeration,
given that alternative academic perspectives to inclusive masculinity theory exist
(for instance Caudwell 1999, 2007, 2011) while some who tentatively accept it
stress that the value of its application to be context-specific (Magrath 2017a,
2017b). The section begins by outlining the inclusive masculinity approach.
Anderson (2009) proposed inclusive masculinity theory (IMT) to understand
his earlier finding that gay men were increasingly included in mixed sexuality
friendship groups (Anderson 2002, 2005, 2009). Anderson (2009) inductively
developed the theory to explain sports settings where ‘social dynamics were not
predicated on homophobia, stoicism or a rejection of the feminine’ (Anderson
and McCormack 2018: 548). In doing so, he examined the centrality of hom-
ophobia to the construction and regulation of ‘new’ masculinities and then
explored the impact on men in cultures where homophobia had been said to
have decreased. Anderson (2009) argued that inclusive masculinity is charac-
terised by emotional openness, increased peer tactility, softening gender codes,
close friendship and is based on the decreasing significance of homophobia (see
also McCormack 2012). Anderson (2014) later argued that twenty-first-century
sporting ‘jock’ culture had become emblematic of this inclusion. So, while the
jock of the twentieth century was recognised as homophobic, macho, and aggres-
sive, twenty-first-century jocks were not so.
IMT became a theoretical touchstone for a swell of research which mir-
rored Anderson’s (2009, 2014, 2015; Anderson and McCormack 2018) and
McCormack’s (2012, 2014a, b) central claim that new masculinities were ending
– or at least changing the dynamics of – overt homophobia in football participa-
tion from grassroots to the professional levels (Adams 2011; Gaston et al. 2018;
Magrath 2016, 2017c, 2019; Magrath and Anderson 2015, 2016, 2017; Roberts
et al. 2017). IMT has influenced research on football supporter cultures too, with
Cashmore and Cleland (2011, 2012) drawing upon questionnaire data to argue
that ‘contrary to assumptions of homophobia, there is evidence of rapidly decreas-
ing homophobia within the culture of football fandom’ (2012: 370). They argue
many fans from all genders and sexualities would welcome any gay football player
who might ‘come out’. What is more, participants in Cashmore and Cleland’s
(2011: 420) study overwhelmingly claimed to oppose homophobia (93 per cent)
but explained away ‘homophobic abuse as good-humoured banter’. Indeed, quali-
tative comments by Cleland et al. (2018a: 91) show that ‘rather than allow for
covert homophobic hate speech toward those with a different sexual orientation,
98 per cent of the comments illustrate a significant decrease in cultural homo-
phobia’ (see also Cleland 2018; Cleland et al. 2021; Kaelberer 2019).
Based on this growth of IMT-influenced research, it is fair to say that
Anderson’s theory has gained purchase and verification, but it is a step too far
 LGBT+ Experiences of Following Football  23

to parallel it to the entire academic terrain. For instance, O’Neill (2015) argued
that IMT both reflects and reproduces logics of post-feminism in so far as it deem-
phasises key issues of sexual politics and promotes a discourse of optimism about
men, masculinities, and social change. Similarly, De Boise (2015) has questioned
the validity of IMT, offering that it has not outmoded the ‘hegemonic mascu-
linities’ (see Connell 1995; Connell and Messerschmidt 2005) that Anderson
claimed had been largely left in the twentieth century. Harvey (2017: 143) offers
that ‘activist’ research also stands against the findings offered by IMT. In his
chapter, he cites Stonewall’s (2010) Leagues Behind report which found that
70 per cent of fans had heard anti-gay language inside football stadiums in the
five years preceding the survey. Most of this language was aimed at opposing team
players, followed by fans, then referees, and assistant referees. These findings are
consistent with those offered by FootballvHomophobia (FvH) eight years later
(Goldring 2018: 3). Broadly within the IMT paradigm, Magrath (2018) discussed
the prevalence of such language and found that the same supporters accepted
homosexuality but also engaged in homosexually themed chanting. He found
that fans interpreted these chants as a way of attempting to benefit one’s team,
particularly during rivalrous occasions. While this may be true, and supporting an
assertion offered by Eco (1986) that the language and meaning of sport exists in
its own bubble that does not easily transfer to the world outside it, this potentially
overlooks how LGBT+ football fans feel.
There is also a volume of academic work that stands against the strong exist-
ence of the type of inclusivity of the LGBT+ community in football, as argued
in IMT. Harrison and Michelson (2016) used randomised survey experiments to
capture shared identities as fans of professional football. They found that when
fans learn that other fans or athletes are supporters of marriage equality, they
are motivated to normalise their membership in those sports-fan groups. This
offers the potential to challenge, but also reinforce, LGBT+ prejudice through
football support. However, Krøvel (2016) suggests some heterosexual football
fans may position the expression of negativity toward LGBT+ people as a heroic
struggle against ‘political correctness’, or as a defence of ‘freedom of thought and
speech’, and such libertarianism has not abated in the period in which IMT has
emerged (Davies and Gain 2021). Away from the stadium, Kian et al. (2011)
find that many heterosexual male football fans still adhere to a homophobic and
sexist masculine disposition when discussing sports on the Internet. Meanwhile
Hughson and Free (2011) examine contradictory discourses on homosexuality
and football within the British (specifically English) newspaper media. They
find that while on the one hand, the press supports the eradication of homo-
phobia in football, they also continue their promotion of hegemonic masculine
stereotypes, such as the ‘hard man’, thus imagining an ongoing heterosexual
normativity. Furthermore, they argue that the media holds a fascination with
professional soccer players ‘coming out’, which, although expressed in support-
ive terms, may be decoded as an attempt to publicly reveal the ‘deviant other’.
Hughson and Free also find ambivalent representation in coverage of the Kick
24 LGBT+ Experiences of Following Football

It Out anti-homophobia campaign where news releases have been reinterpreted

within media representation to fuel a perceived public interest in wanting to
know which male Premier League football players are gay.
My task is not to argue for or against IMT versus hegemonic/traditional
notions of masculinity. It is, however, to argue against the binary of ‘academics
vs. activists’. By discussing assessments of ‘success’ of social movements, Goodwin
and Jasper (2014: 348) state that ‘scholars of social movements would like to
believe that the mobilizations they study affect the course of history, but usually
they have had to assert this without much good evidence’. The reason this may
happen is that academics can be activists, and vice versa. While the question
of what it ‘means’ to be an activist runs through this book, the story presented
here shows examples of activists who have been part of the PiF social world.
For instance, in Chapter 3, Lou Englefield talks positively about the influence
that well-renowned sociologist Jayne Caudwell had on the emergence of The
Justin Campaign, while Rory Magrath, also a scholar with a strong reputation,
may broadly be an exponent of IMT but has a supportive relationship with PiF
as an organisation, having keynoted its 2019 ‘#CallItOut’ conference. Further,
Juliet Jacques, who in Chapter 3 is discussed to be central to the emergence of
what became the PiF movement, has a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing and
teaches at several higher education institutions, including the Royal College of
Art. Across the research, I also encountered other academic colleagues who were
part of LGBT+ football fan groups underscoring the point that it is misleading to
suggest a detachment from academia and activism (see also Boykoff 2018).
Academic and activist Caudwell (2011: 124) called for ‘detailed analysis of
the intricate ways homophobia is manifest within the spaces of football stadia’,
essentially by following Plummer (2002 [1995]), to listen to the voices of those
potentially experiencing LGBT+ discrimination as football fans. This is advice
worth heeding and so it is based upon this that the next section utilises those
fans’ voices emerging through the story they want to tell in the form of a podcast
conversation.

‘It’s Pretty Out Being Out at Football’: Context,

Prejudice, and Discriminations LGBT+ Many Football
Supporters Face
The title of this section is taken from Di Cunningham in an interview with BBC
Three’s Luke Turner (2019) for an article that used the quote as its headline.
The words are powerful because they immediately capture the difficulties LGBT+
people may experience as football fans. Di Cunningham prefaced the quote by
stating ‘it’s almost in our DNA to be activists’, but prior to the emergence of
LGBT+ groups, such supporters had not been normalised as a visible presence in
football. The extract that is central to this section is taken from Crystal Palace
FC (CPFC) fan group, Proud & Palace, on their podcast and elucidates the feel-
ing of ‘being out at football’.1 The discussion includes Proud & Palace co-chairs,
 LGBT+ Experiences of Following Football  25

Stephanie Fuller (Stephanie) and Emma Wright (Emma), and Rishi Madlani
(Rishi), a London-based member of Leicester City FC’s (LCFC’s) Foxes Pride
group, who succeeded Stephanie as PiF organisation’s co-chair in 2021. Key
points in the text have been italicised and although the text runs as an unbroken
audio extract for the purpose of explanation, it has been divided into sections and
connected with other evidence here.

Stephanie Fuller: I like to think more broadly about inclusion in football, generally
speaking, particularly in South London where we are which is incredibly
diverse, you know and potentially we’re one of the smaller aspects of that
diversity. I think it’s really important to have that conversation. And as
always, you know, we fear and we look forward to the Brighton games, we fear it
from the possibility that we might lose it and we fear it for the possibility of
how it’s going to work out inside the stadium and what kind of language is
going to be used. And I have to say, broadly speaking Palace fans are pretty
good.
Rishi Madlani: Yeah and actually over the last few years we’ve seen a real shift
in terms of attitude from the majority. Certain chants that we won’t go on
about being sung on mass by the support, about the Brighton fans. It is now
not sung as a whole stand, as a whole stadium and that’s massive progress and we
appreciate that progress and actually, there are a lot of people who maybe
sang those songs as part of a crowd and didn’t think about the wider context of
what those words could mean to someone who is LGBT and in a football stadium.
So I think the big picture is, as a supporter base we’ve got a lot better. It doesn’t
mean that there’s no room for improvement.

There are four points for attention in this passage of conversation. First,
although the context in which LGBT+ fan groups operate is badged as opposing
gender and sexuality-themed discrimination, many in the movement stand for
inclusion in its many forms in football. Fan groups, such as Leeds United FC’s
(LUFC) Marching Out Together and West Ham United’s FC’s (WHUFC) Pride
of Irons, have strong connections with their club’s disabled supporters’ groups.
Similarly, Aston Villa FC’s (AVFC’s) Villa & Proud chair Sam Timms and
Tottenham Hotspur FC’s (Spurs’) Proud Lilywhites co-chair (and former Pride
in Football chair) Chris Paouros sit on the Football Supporters Association’s
and Kick It Out’s joint ‘Fans for Diversity’ campaign, tackling multiple forms
of discrimination including racism. Indeed, on this point Chris Paouros said,
‘it’s sort of joining the dots for me as I do all of this work in sort of homophobia
but the intersections are crucial with sexism, misogyny and racism, enablism’
(Chris Paouros, Women in Football interview, 5 June 2020).2 Second, Brighton
and Hove Albion FC (BHAFC) and CPFC have a strong rivalry. While this
means that this match is particularly exciting for CPFC fans, LGBT+ com-
munities are ‘fearful’ of the match because of the homophobic abuse levelled
at BHAFC because of the large LGBT+ community in the city (Browne and
26 LGBT+ Experiences of Following Football

Bakshi 2016). Indeed, corresponding with the material in the previous section,
in 2013 BHAFC Supporters’ Club and GFSN submitted a joint report to the UK
parliament that revealed its fans endured homophobic abuse from 72 per cent of
opponents at 70 per cent of away games and 57 per cent of home matches with
the content of chants ranging from the ‘relatively benign’ to songs referencing
dying of AIDS.3 The frequency and form of this verbal abuse frighten many
LGBT+ football fans although, as Rishi states, it represents ‘massive progress’
that these chants are no longer widespread but associated with fewer fans in
the stadium. But still, they remain without recourse for the emotional damage
caused to LGBT+ football supporters. Third, Rishi is clear that these chants are
usually borne from ignorance rather than targeted homophobia at LGBT+ fans,
underscoring the need to work with supporters to turn cis, heterosexual football
supporters into allies for the LGBT+ community. Fourth, Rishi makes the point
that the social climate has ‘got a lot better. [Although] It doesn’t mean that
there’s no room for improvement’. Other LGBT+ fans framed the debate simi-
larly, too. For example, James Laley, Sheffield United FC’s (SUFC’s) Rainbow
Blades chair, said:

It has changed quite a bit over the years but there’s still a long, long way to go
in terms of LGBT+ supporters feeling completely comfortable in a football
ground. […] The atmosphere is electrifying but it does feel very intimidating,
and it can feel quite laddie, and so as a gay supporter as well it was even more
intimidating and scary.
(Interview, 27 July 2020)

Rishi led the next part of the conversation, which gave rise to three key points:

Rishi Madlani: If you compare to some other London sides, I know we spoke a lot
about going to Pride in London and a lot of the responses to, say, Arsenal and
Chelsea and other clubs, when their clubs re-tweeted or shared images of their fan
bases at Pride in London, a lot of the comments underneath were negative.
Emma Wright: Yeah and I think there’s been a lot of conversation recently about
football, the vocal minority and I think there’s only so long that you can say
‘oh well it’s a vocal minority who are doing this and therefore everyone else is okay
and we can all give ourselves a pat on the back’ because really a vocal minority
is still too vocal and too big. So, you know, obviously I said some things in an
interview with The Telegraph, that a lot of Palace fans going to the game are
quite frankly dreading it because you fear there’s an inevitability that you’ll
hear something. It might not be an organised chant but you might hear one
person say something, I heard things at the Brighton game. The reason that I
said that to The Telegraph was because I’d heard it at the Bournemouth game,
the last home game, and I think most Palace fans quite rightly are shocked
and quite rightly disbelieving to hear that those things are still said but still
hear it at games and whether it’s a vocal minority of 2 people or 2 people
 LGBT+ Experiences of Following Football  27

within earshot. At the Spurs game when people were saying ‘oh there’s one
fan who was being racist’, one fan is still too many fans.
Rishi Madlani: Yeah and I described it as the bigger picture that it is a far more
positive outlook than it was but if you are someone who is LGBT and in
the ground and you hear that one person make that comment, that might
put you off going back again and that is where we are. And that is where we
are. I think us highlighting one or two people isn’t claiming that there’s a
bigger problem, it’s just saying that one or two people are still unacceptable
and actually there is a consequence of the things you say and if you’re in a
football ground and you say those things and people who are at the ground
could be offended by it and affected by it then there’s no place for it and that
is, that’s where we are.

First, the issue of negative responses on social media to football clubs visibly sup-
porting LGBT+ fan groups was raised. This was also a common thread amongst
other supporters who reported that although social media channels had offered
new architectures for grassroots organisations to launch, organise, and then com-
municate, they had also offered spaces for prejudice, discrimination, and abuse
to be received. For example, Neil Beasley from Coventry City FC LGBT fans
reported that ‘we had to come off Facebook because it was just too difficult’
(Interview, 5 June 2020) in light of a barrage of negative comments received.
Further on this point, Chris Paouros (2019) blogged that people engaging in
online hate speech should be banned from such platforms: ‘Social media is a
public place in which people congregate, and whether someone is anonymous
or not, if they spout hate speech they should be removed from that space […].
We shouldn’t accept it on social media’.4 Second, Emma offered that claims to
progress should not mean that vocal minorities engaging in abuse should be toler-
ated, and third, Rishi agreed stating that such abuse makes fans feel unwelcome
and that may alter their relationship with the football clubs they support. As the
conversation moved into its next phase, the theme of negative labels placed on
the group by a section of other CPFC supporters emerged:

Stephanie Fuller: I agree with that and I think just to kind of counter the narrative of
‘oh he’s just a bloody snowflake’ […]
Emma Wright: Claiming we are attention seekers. We’re doing this because we’re talk-
ing about Palace fans who don’t necessarily have a voice, who don’t necessarily
have an identity around the stadium, this is why we first set up Proud & Palace,
right, so that LGBT fans at Selhurst Park didn’t have a visible identity to get
behind or something to say, like, ‘we’re here and we don’t necessarily like X,
Y, Z’ and a lot of people are saying ‘those chants have been gone for a couple
of years now’, well we’ve been going for a couple of years longer than that
so I hope that slowly we’re changing that behaviour and I love that most Palace
fans are, like, ‘we don’t hear that, we don’t recognise that in our stadium anymore’
because, good, that means that we’re not talking to you, we’re not talking
28 LGBT+ Experiences of Following Football

about you and the people that sit around you but I heard it at Brighton, I
heard it at Bournemouth, other Palace fans heard it and talked about it on
social media.

Four points are noted. First, Stephanie talks about the resistant counter-narra-
tive that football supporters opposed to the LGBT+ fan groups regularly make,
which is to put further labels those on supporters who are offended by their nega-
tive dispositions toward the LGBT+ community – in this case using the term
‘snowflake’, which is a ‘dehumanising metaphor to create derogatory descriptions
used to disparage one’s political opponents’ (Prażmo 2019: 372) or, as Emma
adds, that by drawing attention to discrimination such supporters are ‘attention
seekers’. Homophobia is not a monolith but comes in many forms, ranging from
the extreme to the everyday, and in a range of manifestations spanning ‘jokes’
and ‘banter’ to physical violence to the denial of prejudice (Denissen and Saguy
2014; Lawless and Magrath 2020; Plummer and DeCecco 1999). This potentially
hostile and defensive response to the questioning of attitudes was a significant
factor at the end of the Sunderland SAFC LGBTQ fan group, as explored in
Chapter 8. Second, Emma then reframes the debate to say why LGBT+ support-
ers have set up fan networks which are to give recognition, identity, and visibility
to LGBT+ supporters. This theme is picked up across the book and central to
Chapter 7. Third, Emma reframes her communication to explain the aims of the
group, which centre on guiding behaviour away from the various manifestations
of homophobia. Across the research, fans regularly picked up on this point: the
aims of groups are often diffuse and sometimes not formally recorded, but they
often indicate that through co-operation they want to gently reorientate football
away from its set of homophobic language to be more inclusive. This point is
neatly captured by Adam Siddorn from Tranmere Rovers FC’s (TRFC) Rover
and Out! group: ‘We’re not the homophobia police. We’re not there to try to
drag people out of the ground: “oh, you’re homophobic, get out”. We’re trying
to educate people. We’re trying to make people feel more included and comfort-
able’ (EFL Rainbow Laces, 29 November 2019).5 Fourth, continuing this theme
of gentle education, Emma suggests that most CPFC fans are supportive of Proud
& Palace’s existence and want football to be free of gender and sexuality-themed
discrimination. Given the various forms and manifestations of homophobia, it
is difficult to test this claim, but it underscores the preference for collaboration
rather than confrontation in action across the PiF network. The purpose of this
approach is to recruit those from outside of the LGBT+ communities to be allies
rather than opponents of the movement. Stephanie picks up the next extract
from the conversation by continuing Emma’s thread of describing why the fan
group was formed:

Stephanie Fuller: When we set up Proud & Palace it was really to give an identity
that Palace (CPFC) has LGBT supporters and actually it was always anti-
Brighton and it was always about the same old, same old nonsense quite
 LGBT+ Experiences of Following Football  29

frankly. And I don’t think you would ever necessarily believe that everybody at
the stadium was profoundly homophobic. I don’t think we ever believed that
but equally it’s really unwelcome when, Emma’s right, when the Brighton
game comes up you do sort of dread it a bit, you think ‘oh God, I’m going
to be stood there and I’m going to have some moron behind me shouting, in my
case, this last game, stuff from the 1980s to which my son said “I haven’t heard
that comment since primary school, no-one even uses that language now”’. This
was a man in his 60s and you think this is ridiculous, we shouldn’t be hearing
this but what really gives me heart and I think Palace fans are pretty good
actually, I have to say, but what I’d really like to point out is that we get a
lot of people sign up to our mailing list for Proud & Palace and in recent
times I would say the majority of the people that have signed up to our mail-
ing list are parents of Palace fans that have just come out. And we’ve got
a lot. We’ve got a lot of dads actually who have signed up going ‘I’ve been
following Palace since 1970 or 1960 and my son or my daughter’s just come
out and I’ve been quite dreading taking them to a match because I don’t
know how the language is going to be and now I’ve seen that your group
exists’ and we’re not a bastion for everything, we’re just trying to make the
place more comfortable for Palace (CPFC) fans, as simple as that, all Palace
(CPFC) fans.
Rishi Madlani: And if I may chip in there as a Foxes [Leicester City FC] fan as a
guest here, is that we’re actually trying to make football better for everyone
because actually the fact is that if it’s not a horrible experience, if you’re
not abused, if you can actually enjoy the football, don’t get me wrong, we
will not be friends for the 90 minutes that we’re playing you, you know, but I
will welcome you to the pub in Leicester after and before but the fact is […] But
I think what I must say, you guys and I must say, Proud & Palace, from the
outside in, it’s not that I’m a Proud & Palace member but I’m a supporter of
you, of the work that you do, but actually you are making that difference and
this is why we all exist and all the fan group exist and Steph is being far too
modest, she’s chairing Pride in Football now to try and make football better
for everyone. But then it means a difference, it means that actually when
you’re an away fan going to any ground, knowing that they’ve got a group
and knowing that they’re trying to improve that culture so that it’s inclusive
for any fan to enjoy football, like we all do. The first thing that brings us
together, the fact that we’re having a laugh today is because we love football,
first and foremost. […] And then this is the bit, this is what we all empower,
whether it’s you at Proud & Palace or us at Foxes’ Pride, is that all those LGBT
voices that we, 1 in 10 of every row, there’ll be an LGBT person or someone who
has some contact with an LGBT person and actually let’s change that culture that
all of us can come and enjoy the game that we do. We love this game, we are
ridiculous […] This is how football fans get demonised in society as well and not
to bring up Hillsborough and all that stuff but actually we have more in common
[than different.]
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 CHAPTER XXIX.
Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—O great king! one day Nund Jee
abstaining from food, observed the fast of the eleventh day of the
lunar fortnight. He spent the day in bathing, meditation, worship and
prayer, and the night in vigil. When six ghurees of the night
remained, and the twelfth day of the lunar fortnight had begun,
having got up, and purified his body, and perceiving that it was day-
break, he took a bathing cloth and ewer, and went to the Jumna to
bathe: many cowherds followed him. Having gone upon the bank,
made a salutation and taken off his clothes, as Nund Jee went into
the water, the servants of Varoonù, who were guarding the stream,
that no one might bathe at night, went to Varoonù, and said, “O
great king! some one is now bathing in the Jumna: what are your
orders to us on the subject?” Varoonù replied, “Lay hold of him, and
bring him here.” On receiving this order, the servants returned to the
spot where Nund Jee having performed his ablutions was standing in
the water, muttering prayers. The servants coming, and having
quickly thrown a noose over Nund Jee, took him to Varoonù. Then
the cowherds, who accompanied Nund Jee, came to Krishnù and
said, “O great king! the attendants of Varoonù have carried off Nund
Rae Jee from the banks of the Jumna to the region of Varoonù.” On
hearing this, Shree Krishnù got up enraged, and went off, and
arrived in a second at the abode of Varoonù. On beholding him,
Varoonù rose and stood up, and joining his hands, said in a
supplicating manner, “My birth has this day been propitious, (that is,
all the objects of my present birth have been gained to-day,) by my
having obtained a sight of you, O lord of the Judoos! Put away far
from me all my crimes, I have circumvented Nund, your father, with
this object in view. You are celebrated as the father of all. We know
not your father. Seeing Nund bathing at night, my attendants
through ignorance laid hold of him. Well, by stratagem, I have
obtained a sight of you; be pleased now to have mercy on me, and
do not think of my crime.” Being thus humble, and having brought
many presents, which he placed before Nund Jee and Shree Krishnú,
when Varoonù with hands joined, and having bowed his head, stood
before them, Shree Krishnù, having taken the presents, returned
thence to Brindabun, accompanied by his father. On seeing them, all
the inhabitants of Bruj came crowding together. The cowherds
enquired from Nund Rae, “Where did the attendants of Varoonù
carry you to?” Nund Jee replied, “Shree Krishnù arrived just as they
had laid hold of me, and taken me to Varoonù’s. On seeing him,
Varoonù having descended from his throne, and fallen at his feet,
said with the greatest supplication of manner, Lord! pardon my
offence, I have committed this crime through ignorance, which be
pleased not to cast a thought upon.”
Hearing this speech of Nund Jee’s, the cowherds said to each
other, “Brother! when Shree Krishnù Chund by supporting the hill
protected Bruj, we knew that Vishnù had descended on the earth in
the house of Nund, our chief.”
Conversing thus amongst themselves, all the cowherds with hands
joined, said to Shree Krishnù, “O great king! you have deceived us
for a long time, but now we have found out all your secrets, you are
the creator of the world, and the remover of all affliction. O lord of
the three worlds! be so kind as to show us the paradise of Vishnù.”
On hearing this, Shree Krishnù Jee, having in a second made a
paradise, exhibited it to them in Bruj. On beholding it, the
inhabitants of Bruj became possessed of knowledge; and they said
with hands joined, and bended heads, “Lord! your greatness is
infinite; we cannot speak of it, but through your goodness we have
this day discovered, that you are Narayun, and have been born in
the world to remove the burthens of the earth.”
Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—O great king! when the inhabitants of
Bruj had thus spoken, Shree Krishnù Chund, having brought them all
under the influence of charms and fascination, carried off the
paradise which he had just created for their inspection, and made
his own deceptive power vanish. All the cowherds thought what had
happened a dream; and Nund Jee, being under the power of
delusion, regarded Shree Krishnù as his own son.
 CHAPTER XXX.
Having narrated thus much, Shree Shookdeo said,—I will relate, in
five sections, according to the light of my understanding, the
manner in which Huri engaged in pleasures and festive songs and
dances with the cowherdesses.
When Shree Krishnù Jee stole the clothes, he gave a promise to
the cowherdesses, that he would engage with them in festive songs
and dances in the month of Kartik. From the time the promise was
made, the cowherdesses, entertaining a hope of its accomplishment,
and of engaging in festive songs and dances with Krishnù, became
dispirited in mind, and constantly endeavoured to propitiate the
month of Kartik. By lucky accident, while they were engaged in
propitiation, the pleasure-giving season, including Assin and Kartik
came.
From the time the month of Kartik commenced, heat, cold and
rain were destroyed. Tanks were filled with pure water. Lotuses
flourished in full bloom. The white lotus, partridge and loving
couples are filled with delight on beholding the moon at night. The
female ruddy goose is dirty, and the lotus withered, who regard the
sun as friendly to them.
Shree Shookdeo, the sage, then said,—O lord of the earth! Shree
Krishnù Chund having come forth on the night of the full moon in
the month of Kartik, saw the stars scattered in the sky—the light of
the moon was spread abroad on all sides, a cool, fragrant, gentle
breeze was blowing; and on one side a thick forest of great beauty
exhibited its many ornaments. Beholding such a scene it came into
his mind, that he had made a promise to the cowherdesses to
engage in festive songs and dances with them in the season,
comprising the month of Assin and Kartik, and that it was necessary
for him to fulfil this promise. Thinking of this, and coming to the
jungle, Krishnù played upon the flute. Having heard the notes of the
flute, all the young women of Bruj, who were filled with desire of
Krishnù, on account of their separation from him, were very much
frightened. At length having laid aside all feeling for kindred and
family modesty, abandoning their household occupations, they put
on their ornaments and came forth in the greatest confusion. One
cowherdess, in attempting to go off, was stopped by her husband on
the road, who brought her back home, and would not allow her to
go. Upon this she meditated upon Huri, and having quitted her body
arrived before them all. Shree Krishnù Chund having seen her
affection immediately granted her deliverance of the soul from the
body, and exemption from further transmigration.
At this point of the history, Raja Pureechit said to Shree Shookdeo
Jee,—“O lord of kindness! the cowherdess did not esteem and
regard Shree Krishnù Jee as the deity, but merely as an object of
sense, for which she felt desire in her mind; how came it to pass
that she obtained this state of deliverance and exemption? Please
explain this to me, that the doubts of my mind may disappear?” The
sage replied, O incarnation of justice! even mortals, who without
knowledge celebrate the greatness of Shree Krishnù Chund, obtain
without doubt this religious deliverance and exemption. Just as a
man who drinks the water of life without knowing it, will be
immortal; in like manner he who knowingly drinks it, will derive full
benefit from its excellent qualities. All men are aware, that the
virtues and benefits of blessings must manifest themselves. And the
same holds good with reference to the glory of the adoration of Huri.
In whatever manner a man may worship him, he will obtain
deliverance. Muttering prayers, rosaries, sectarial marks on the body
and forehead, are all utterly useless and unprofitable, if the mind is
wavering and infirm. But if the mind be true, Ram is pleased with
them. And I will explain the various ways, in which different persons
have acknowledged Shree Krishnù, and obtained deliverance. Nund
and Jusodha looked upon him as their son; the cowherdesses as
their gallant; Kuns worshipped him through fear; the cowherds’
children prayed to him as their friend; the Pandoos regarded him as
their most dearly loved; Sissoopal acknowledged him as an enemy.
The descendants of Judoo made him one of their own family—and
jogees, and devotees with long hair, and sages meditated on him as
the deity. But in the end, all obtained the blessing of deliverance and
exemption. What reason is there for wonder that a single
cowherdess should have obtained this blessing by meditating on
Krishnù?
Having heard this explanation, Raja Pureechit said to Shree
Shookdeo, the sage, “O lord of favour! my doubts have vanished: do
me the kindness to proceed now with the narrative.”
Shree Shookdeo said,—O great king! The meeting of the
cowherdesses with Krishnù, the light of the world, and sea of
beauty, to meet whom they rushed forth in crowds, may be
compared to the violent rushing of rivers in the rains to mix with the
sea.
The splendid manner in which Shree Krishnù was decorated,
baffles description. Ornamented from head to foot, and in the guise
of a juggler, he appeared so fascinating, beautiful and elegant, that
the women of Bruj were lost in delight at beholding his splendid
appearance. Mohun, having enquired after their health, asked them
in a rather dry, rough manner, “Whether they had been very much
frightened travelling at night, when goblins and spirits appear
abroad, over a dreadful road, and with all their clothes and
ornaments put on in the greatest disorder?
“How did you come to this immense forest, abandoning all
affection for your relatives and family? Such obstreperous, violent
conduct is unbecoming in women. It is said, that a wife should
perform her duties with strict obedience to her husband, whoever he
may be; whether she marry one who is a coward, wicked, foolish,
deceitful, ugly, a leper, one-eyed, blind, decrepit, lame or poor. From
acting thus, her welfare and reputation in the world are derived. It is
the highest excellence in a high-born, chaste woman not to leave
her husband for a second. And the wife, who having abandoned her
own husband, goes to another, obtains in each birth a residence in
the regions below.” Krishnù added, “You have come here and seen
the thick forests, pure moonlight, and the beautiful banks of the
Jumna; you had better now return home, and minister affectionately
to your husbands.”
 On hearing these words from the mouth of Shree Krishnù, all the
cowherdesses at once lost their reason, and were overwhelmed with
the boundless sea of thought. Afterwards they looked down, and
heaved deep sighs, and dug up the earth with their toes. The tears,
which streamed from their eyes, were like the falling pearls of a
broken necklace.
At length being much depressed with grief, they said weeping to
Krishnù, “You are a great impostor; first of all by playing on the flute
you stole away, unawares, our mind and thoughts, now being
altogether without compassion, and practising deceit, you wish to
destroy us by harsh speeches.”
Again they said, “We have left our families, relatives, homes,
husbands, and have put out of our minds the reproach of our
relations, to which our conduct has exposed us. We are deprived of
our husbands: there is no one to protect us. Grant us an asylum, O
lord of Bruj! persons who live under your protection, desire not
wealth, corporal form, modesty or greatness. You are their lord in
each successive birth, O god, in the form of life! To what home shall
we go: our souls are wrapped up in affection for you.”
On hearing these words, Shree Krishnù smiled, and calling the
cowherdesses said to them, “If you really have such great affection
for me, engage with me in festive songs and dances.”
On hearing these words, the cowherdesses abandoned all grief,
and gathered round him with delight from all sides, and began to
feast their eyes with beholding the face of Krishnù.
The cloud-coloured Krishnù stood in the midst; and the women,
engaged in diversions, appeared like golden creepers, growing from
under a dark-coloured hill. Shree Krishnù had before intimated to his
delusive power, that he would engage in festivities, and had ordered
the power to raise a fine building, remain in it, and grant all the
desires and wishes, which any one might form.
O great king! the delusive power, on hearing the order, went to
the banks of the Jumna, and having made a large, round golden
terrace, studded with pearls and diamonds, and surrounded it on all
sides with pillars of sprouting plantains, in which were wreaths and
garlands of flowers of all kinds, came and informed Shree Krishnù
Chund of what he had done. He was delighted at hearing it, and
taking all the women of Bruj with him, went to the banks of the
Jumna.
On arrival, they saw that the splendour of the circular terrace,
which had been made for their festivities, was four times more
brilliant than the moon’s orb. The sand, which surrounded it,
appeared like the light of the moon. There was a fragrant, cool,
sweet breeze blowing. And on one side the verdure of all the forests
displayed its numerous beauties in the brightness of the night.
On viewing this scene the cowherdesses were highly pleased, and
having gone to the bank of a tank, named Manusrowur, which was
near the terrace, and putting on pleasing, elegant dresses and
ornaments, adorning themselves from head to foot, they brought
sweet-toned lutes, timbrels and other musical instruments; and
being intoxicated with love, abandoning all reflection and modesty,
they began to play, sing and dance with Krishnù. At that time, Shree
Gobind, in the assembly of cowherdesses, appeared as beautiful as
the moon amidst stars.
Having recited so much of the history, Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—
O great king! when the cowherdesses, having utterly abandoned
reason, looked upon Huri in the course of their festivities, as their
natural husband, and considered him as subservient to themselves.
Shree Krishnù Chund reflected in his mind,—“The cowherdesses now
think me in their power, and regard me, in their minds, as their
natural lord; they have become ignorant, abandoning all modesty,
and twine themselves round my neck, and embrace me with great
affection; they have all utterly forgotten knowledge and meditation;
I will now leave them, as they have increased their pride; I will see
what they will do, and how they will live without me in the jungle.”
Having thus reflected, and taken Shree Radhika with him, Shree
Krishnù Chund disappeared.
 CHAPTER XXXI.
Shree Shookdeo, the sage, said,—O great king! all at once on their
not seeing Shree Krishnù Chund, darkness clouded the eyes of the
cowherdesses; and being much troubled in mind, they were agitated
in the same degree, as a snake is alarmed at having lost the jewel
on its head.
Upon this, a cowherdess began to say,—“Tell me, friend! where
has Mohun gone, after having dispersed us. He was caressing me
with his arms round my neck. He was but now engaged with us in
festive songs and dances. Where has he gone, and did not any of
you see him, while he was going away?”
On hearing these words, all the cowherdesses were exceedingly
sad at their separation from Krishnù, and said, heaving deep sighs,
“Where shall we go, what shall we do, to whom shall we call out? No
one knows where he is, how shall we find Krishnù?”
Speaking thus, and being inflamed with the love of Huri, all the
cowherdesses began to search for Huri in every direction: and
singing his praises, (celebrating his many good qualities,) and
weeping exclaimed, “Why have you left us, O lord of Bruj! we have
given up every thing to you?”
When they did not find Krishnù where they first searched, they
advanced some distance, and said to each other, “We can see no
one here, from whom shall we enquire where Krishnù has gone?” A
cowherdess said, “Friends! a thought occurs to me, that all the
beasts, birds and trees in this forest are saints and sages. They have
descended upon the earth to behold the sports of Krishnù, enquire
from them, who must have seen from their present position, and
who will be able to point out where Huri has gone.” On hearing this
suggestion, the cowherdesses, who were very uneasy in their minds
in consequence of their separation from Krishnù, began to question
every animate and inanimate object:—“O fig tree and other trees!
you have obtained your present lofty form through the performance
of acts of virtue. You have been beneficent to others, assuming on
earth the form of trees. You have endured the pains of heat, cold
and rain, and remained standing for others’ advantage. O bark,
blossoms, roots, fruits and branches! with which you benefit others,
be so kind as to tell us, whether Huri, who has stolen all our
affections and wealth, has come here. O palm, mango, and
kuchnari! have you seen Moorari going off in any direction? O
chumpa and other trees! have you seen Bulbeer any where? O full
blown toolsee! much beloved by Huri, whom he never allows to be
separated from his body, have you met Krishnù to-day? Who will
point out to us where he is? O jasmines of different kinds! has Shree
Krishnù come in this direction?” The women of Bruj called out to the
deer, “Have you seen Krishnù pass in this direction?”
Having recited thus much, Shree Shookdeo Jee said, O great king!
the cowherdesses, enquiring in this way from animals, birds, trees
and creepers, where Krishnù had gone, began, after the manner of
Shree Krishnù to represent the death of Pootna, and to go through
all the sports and amusements, which Huri had engaged in, and
continued to search for him.
At length after searching some time, and having gone some
distance, they beheld the marks of Krishnù’s feet, his lotus banner
and iron goad, glittering on the sand.
The women of Bruj seeing the dust, which gods, men and sages
search for, made an obeisance to it; and having placed it upon their
heads, and entertaining a hope of meeting Krishnù proceeded
onward; when lo! the traces of a woman’s feet became visible near
the marks of the feet, which they had first beheld. They were
surprised at the sight, and advancing further, they found a beautiful
looking glass, studded with gems, on a bed of soft leaves. They
began to question it. When it would not speak in consequence of the
pain of separation from a loved object, they asked each other,
“Friend! why did he take this with him?” Then, one, who knew the
mutual feelings of lovers and their beloved, replied, “Friend! when
the lover sat down to plait the hair of his beloved, and his lovely
form was concealed from sight, his beloved then took the looking
glass in her hand, and showed it to her lover. Then the image of
Shree’s face was reflected from the mirror.”
The cowherdesses were not at all angry at hearing this remark;
but began to say, “She must have worshipped Shivù and Parvuttee
well, and performed great penance, to be able to enjoy diversion
with the lord of life in this retired manner, without fear.” O great
king! all the cowherdesses, intoxicated with love, were thus idly
talking, and wandering about in search of Krishnù, whilst Shree
Radhika Jee, deriving great enjoyment from Huri, and thinking her
beloved in a state of subserviency to her, considering herself greater
than all others, and indulging in great presumptuousness of mind,
said, “O beloved! I am not able to walk, please carry me on your
shoulders.”
On hearing this, Shree Krishnù Chund, the annihilator of pride,
and acquainted with the secrets of the heart, smiled, and sitting
down, said to her, “Come and sit on my shoulders.” When she put
forth her hands to climb up, Shree Krishnù disappeared; and she
remained standing in that posture, with her arms stretched out; just
as lightning forces its way presumptuously from the clouds, or the
angry moonbeams separate themselves from the moon. And the
splendour of her fair form, escaping and spreading upon the earth,
displayed as much beauty, as an elegant woman, standing upon
ground of gold. Tears streamed from her eyes; and she could not
drive away the bees, who overpowered by the sweet smell came and
settled near her face. And heaving deep sighs, she wept so violently
in her solitude in the jungle, distressed by the separation from
Krishnù, that the animals, birds, trees and creepers, hearing her
lamentations, began weeping also.
And thus she exclaimed, “O lord! best of lovers, where have you
gone, O self-willed Beharee! I am the slave of the asylum of thy feet.
O sea of beneficence! have compassion on me.”
In the mean while the cowherdesses, continuing their search,
came up to where she was; and throwing themselves on her neck,
embraced her with the same degree of pleasure, as a man, who had
lost great wealth, would experience in the midst of his losses, in
recovering half of it. At length, observing that she was very much
distressed, the cowherdesses, taking her with them, went in the
great forest, and searched for Shree Krishnù Chund as long as the
moonlight lasted. When they could not find their road in the jungle
on account of the darkness, they all returned thence with a
confident hope of meeting Krishnù, and came and sat down on that
bank of the Jumna on which Shree Krishnù Chund had afforded
them very great pleasure.
 CHAPTER XXXII.
Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—O great king! all the cowherdesses,
sitting on the bank of the Jumna, and intoxicated with love, began to
sing the exploits and virtues of Huri: “O most beloved! since you
came to Bruj, you have diffused new pleasures there. Luchmee in
the hope of your protection, has come and taken up her fixed abode.
We, cowherdesses, are your slaves; show compassion, and quickly
take thought of us; since we have seen your elegant, dark-coloured,
beautiful form, we have become your slaves without purchase. The
arrows of your eyes have pierced our breasts. Beloved! in what way
and manner are we not yours? Have mercy on us, as our lives are
ebbing out. Lay aside relentlessness, and be pleased to present
yourself soon to our sight. If your wish was to destroy us, why did
you save us from the poisonous serpent, from fire and from
inundation; why not have allowed us then to die? You are not merely
Jusodha’s son. Bruhmù, Roodrù, Indrù and all the gods, humbling
themselves before you, have brought you on the earth for the
protection of the world.
“O lord of life! it is a subject of great wonder to us, whom you will
preserve, if you destroy your own! Beloved! your are acquainted
with the secrets of the heart; why do you not put an end to our
affliction, and grant the accomplishment of our hopes! What,
beloved! do you wish to display your heroism towards us weak
women? What pain do we not suffer, when we behold your gentle
smile, your affectionate glance, the bend of your eye-brows, the
coquetry of your eyes, the undulating motion of your neck, and the
splendour of your discourse? And when you used to go to the jungle
to give pasture to the cows, the stones and thorns of the forest gave
pain to our minds when we thought of your soft feet. You went early
in the morning, and returned in the evening: but still these four
puhurs appeared to us like four ages. When sitting in your presence,
we gazed on your elegant form, we thought in our minds, that
Bruhmù was very foolish in having formed the eye-lid, to prevent our
fixed and uninterrupted gaze.”
Having told so much of the story, Shree Shookdeo Jee said, O
great king! the cowherdesses, distressed at their separation from
Krishnù, continued in this disconsolate manner to sing his exploits,
and were worn out by their exertions in doing so; but still Beharee
did not come.
At length, being utterly without hope, and giving up all
expectation of living, they became quite senseless from total want of
resolution; and falling down, wept so violently and with such
lamentations, that all things, animate and inanimate, on hearing
them, were very much afflicted.
 CHAPTER XXXIII.
Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—O great king! when Shree Krishnù Chund,
who is acquainted with the secrets of the heart, knew that the
cowherdesses would not survive without him, then appeared
amongst them the son of Nund, just as a juggler would appear
again, after having been concealed, whilst a person shut his eyes.
When they saw that Huri had come, the senses of all of them were
revived, just as the organs of perception are restored to animation,
when life is revived in a dead man. Whilst they did not see him, their
minds were in a state of agitation, as though they had all been
bitten by the mind-agitating snake. Their troubles were ended on the
arrival of him they loved, as creepers are revived by being sprinkled
with the water of life. In the same way that the lotus appears
withered at night, but revives on beholding the splendour of the sun,
the large eyes of the women of Bruj were restored to animation on
beholding Krishnù.
Having recited thus much, Shree Shookdeo Jee said, O great king!
the cowherdesses, on seeing Shree Krishnù Chund, the root of joy,
being all at once released from the sea of despondency, approached
him, and were as much rejoiced, as a man, drowning in the
unfathomable ocean, would be to find a shallow place. And they
collected round him on all sides. Then Shree Krishnù took them with
him to the place where they had first engaged in festive songs and
dances. On their arrival, one of the cowherdesses took off her scarf,
and spread it for Krishnù to sit down upon. As he sat down upon it,
many of the cowherdesses were angry, and said, “O great king! you
are very deceitful, and steal away the minds and wealth of others,
but do not respect the good qualities of any one.”
After this, they said to each other, “He has abandoned what is
good, and embraced what is bad. Deceit suits his mind. Consider,
friend! how can we possibly form an association with him.”
 On hearing this, one of them said, “Friends! do you remain apart;
as we derive no benefit from our own speaking, I will make Krishnù
himself speak.” Saying these words, she smiled and enquired from
Shree Krishnù,—“O great king! explain to us who is a good man, and
who a bad man in the four following instances:—One, who without
having done a good action, shall expect good actions from others,
(or shall expect to have his non-performance of good actions
considered in the light of the performance of them:) a second shall
make a return for a good action: a third shall return evil for good: a
fourth shall take no thought whatever of any good, that may be
done to him.” Shree Krishnù Chund replied, “All of you listen with
attention, whilst I explain who is the good, and who the bad man, in
the cases mentioned. The best is he who does good without
receiving any, as a father loves a son. It is no virtue to return good
for good, in the manner that a cow gives milk for the food she
receives. Consider as your enemy one who regards good and evil
alike. The most ungrateful of all is he who forgets good done to
him.”
When the cowherdesses, on hearing these words and looking at
each other, began to laugh, Shree Krishnù Chund was frightened,
and said, “I am not to be reckoned amongst any of these four kinds
of persons, which you seem to think by your laughing; moreover, it
is my custom to grant the accomplishment of any wish or desire a
person may ask from me. Perhaps you will say, if this is your
practice, why did you abandon us in the jungle? The reason was,
that I made trial of your affection. Do not think ill of me for this, but
believe what I say.”
After this, he again said, “I have now tried you: remember and
meditate upon me. You have increased your affection for me, who
am like a poor man that has obtained wealth. You have met my
wishes in every respect; and in doing so, have foregone the
reproach of the world, and the Vedas; just as a religious devotee,
who abandons his home, and entertains a love for Huri with sincerity
of mind. If I should live for a hundred years of Bruhmú, I should
never be quit of my debt to you.”
 CHAPTER XXXIV.
Shree Shookdeo, the sage, said,—Raja! when Shree Krishnù Chund
had spoken in this agreeable manner, all the cowherdesses, laying
aside their anger, and being greatly rejoiced, arose, and having
united with Huri, began to indulge in every kind of pleasure, delight
and pastime; when Krishnù had recourse to his deceptive power, and
divided his body into numberless particles, desiring to give pleasure
to them all; and engaging in their sports with the greatest affection,
Shree Krishnù Chund, having assumed as many bodies as there were
cowherdesses, took them all with him to the circular terrace, where
he had before gone; and again began engaging in festive dances
and songs.
The cowherdesses, in pairs, joined their hands, and Huri was in
the midst of them. Each thought he was at their side, and did not
recognize him near any one else. They placed their fingers within his
fingers, and whirled about with the greatest enjoyment, taking Huri
with them. The son of Nund in the midst of the cowherdesses was
like thick masses of clouds, surrounded on all sides by lightning. The
dark-blue Krishnù amongst the fair women of Bruj was like a
sapphire on a necklace of gold.
O great king! standing thus together, the cowherdesses and
Krishnù began to tune various kinds of musical instruments,
preluding difficult airs, and played and sang, producing great
varieties of tone, and singing whilst they danced. And so delighted
were they, that they seemed to lose all recollection of their very
existence. Sometimes the breast of one was uncovered, and the
diadem of another slipped off. At one place, the pearl necklaces of
some were broken, and the pearls fell on the ground: at another,
garlands of flowers were strewed about. The drops of perspiration
on their foreheads glittered like strings of pearls; and the ringlets of
the cowherdesses were spread in such a loose and dishevelled
manner over their faces, that they resembled young snakes, who
had flown up, and then become fastened to the moon, from an
eager desire to obtain the water of life.
Sometimes a cowherdess, singing in high tones, accompanied
Krishnù’s flute: and sometimes one of them sang without
accompaniment. And when any one of them, having stopped
Krishnu’s flute, poured forth the same notes from her own voice, he
was as much fascinated as a child on beholding its own image in a
mirror.
Thus singing and dancing, and practising all kinds of coquetry and
ogling, they passed the hours in mutual enjoyment, and being
pleased with each other, they laughed and embraced and made a
propitiatory offering of their dresses and ornaments. At that time,
Bruhmù, Roodrù, Indrù and all the gods and celestial musicians,
seated in their chariots with their wives, looked down upon the
festivities, and showered down flowers with delight. And the wives,
gazing on this scene of pleasure with eager desire, thought to
themselves, that if they could be born in Bruj, they also might join in
festivities with Huri. And to such a pitch were the musical notes and
tones carried, that on hearing them, the air was stilled, and water
ceased to flow; and the moon, together with the whole of the stars,
was astonished, and poured down the water of life from its rays. The
night was prolonged so that six months passed away, whence that
night was named, Bruhmù’s night.
Having proceeded thus far with the history, Shree Shookdeo Jee
said,—O lord of the earth! whilst engaged in these festive sports, a
whim seized Krishnù, and he went with the cowherdesses to the
banks of the Jumna. Going into the water and engaging in aquatic
pastimes, after he had got rid of his fatigue, he came out; and
having accomplished the wishes of them all, said to them, “There
are four ghurees of the night remaining; go all of you to your
homes.” The cowherdesses were sad at these words, and said,
“Lord! how shall we go home, leaving your lotus-like feet? Our
greedy minds do not approve of what you have suggested.” Shree
Krishnù replied, “Meditate on me in the manner that religious
devotees meditate; and wherever you may be, I will always be with
you.” They were gratified at these words, and taking leave returned
home; and no one at their houses was aware that they had not been
all along at their respective house.
Having heard thus much of the history, Raja Pureechit said to
Shree Shookdeo, the sage,—“O kind to the poor! Shree Krishnù
Chund had come upon the earth to destroy evil spirits, and remove
the burthens of the world, and, having conferred happiness on saints
and religious men, to promote piety. Explain to me, why he engaged
in festivities with other men’s wives; as it is the act of a dissolute
person to enjoy himself with another man’s wife?” Shookdeo Jee
replied, Raja! you do not understand this mystery, and regard the
deity as a mortal. His body is glorious and pure, by remembrance of
whom sin is obliterated, just as any thing falling into fire, itself
becomes fire.
What cannot the powerful do? because by their acts they
overcome fate: as Shivù took poison, and after having taken it made
of it an ornament for his neck, and formed a black snake into a
necklace. Who can understand his actions? Beings with power do
nothing for themselves, but confer boons on all petitioners, who
worship and hold them in remembrance.
The nature of Krishnù is this; that he seems to associate with all:
but if you consider, you will perceive, that he appears as separate as
the lotus leaf from the water. I have already narrated to you the
history of the cowherdesses’ birth, and that Dewee and the mystical
prayers of the Vedas were born, and came to Bruj to see and touch
Huri. And in this manner Shree Radhika also, having obtained a
blessing from Bruhmù, was born to be a servant to Krishnù Chund;
and remained in the service of her master.
Shree Shookdeo Jee continued, O great king! we are told to
believe all the acts that Krishnù performed, but not to turn our
thoughts to the manner in which, and the means by which, they
were performed. Whoever celebrates the fame of the lord of the
cowherdesses, obtains, fearless and unmoved, the highest dignity.
And the same benefits which are procured by bathing in the sixty-
eight places of pilgrimage, are procured by celebrating the great
renown of Shree Krishnù.
 CHAPTER XXXV.
Shree Shookdeo, the sage, said,—Raja! listen with attention, and I
will relate to you, how Shree Krishnù Jee released a celestial dancer,
and destroyed Sunkhchoor. Nund Jee one day called all the
cowherds, and said to them, “Brothers! when Krishnù was born, I
made a vow to my family Dewee and Unbika, that I would go in
musical procession with all the city, and perform poojah on his
twelfth birth-day. As, through the mercy of Dewee, I have lived to
see his twelfth birth-day, which is to-day, we must go and perform
the poojah.”
All the cowherds arose, on hearing these words of Nund Jee, and
immediately brought forth from their houses all things necessary for
the poojah. Nund Rae did the same, and loaded carts and bhangees
with milk, curds and butter; and accompanied them with all his
relations, and arrived at the abode of Unbika. Having gone and
bathed in the river Suruswutee, Nund Jee sent for a family priest,
and went, accompanied by all his retinue, to the temple of Dewee,
and performed poojah. And having placed before her all the different
articles they had brought to offer, and having performed the act of
going round to the right by way of adoration, they exclaimed with
joined hands and in a supplicating manner, “O mother! through your
beneficence, Krishnù has attained the age of twelve years.”
Having thus spoken, and bowing their heads, they quitted the
temple, and fed a thousand Brahmins. In consequence of the delay
which this caused, Nund Jee remained there with all the inhabitants
of Bruj, and they fasted, as they would at a place of holy pilgrimage.
As they were sleeping at night, a boâ came and seized Nund Rae’s
foot, and began swallowing it. He was alarmed at seeing this, and
called out, “Krishnù! Krishnù! take thought of me quickly: otherwise
the snake will swallow me up.” On hearing his voice, all the
inhabitants of Bruj, both men and women, started from sleep, and
came to where Nund was. Having struck a light, they saw a boâ
lying on the ground, having hold of his foot. In the meantime, Shree
Krishnù Chund Jee having arrived, placed his foot upon its back in
sight of them all. On which the snake, immediately abandoning its
former body, was transformed into a handsome man; and having
made an obeisance, stood before them with joined hands. Then
Shree Krishnù enquired, “Who art thou, and explain for what crime
thou wast transformed into a snake?” He, bowing his head, said in a
supplicating voice, “O thou who knowest the secrets of the heart! all
the circumstances of my origin are known to thee. I am a celestial
dancer, named Soodursun, and dwelt in the region of the gods; and
through pride thought myself superior to all others in beauty and
excellence of mind; I went forth one day, seated in my chariot, to
the place where Angira, the saint, was sitting, engaged in religious
devotion. And I went backwards and forwards a hundred times over
him. Once on seeing the shadow of my chariot, he looked up, and
being angry pronounced a curse upon me, saying, ‘O presumptuous:
be thou changed into a boâ.’ As he uttered these words, I fell to the
earth, in the form of a boâ.
“The saint told me at the time that my release would be
accomplished by Shree Krishnù Chund. For this reason, I came and
seized the foot of Nund Rae Jee, in order that you might come and
grant me release. O lord of compassion! you have come, and
mercifully released me.” Thus having spoken, the celestial dancer
circled to the right by way of adoration; and having obtained
Krishnù’s permission to depart, ascended his chariot, and went to
the region of the gods.
On beholding this wonderful act, all the inhabitants of Bruj were
astonished. In the morning, having gone to see Dewee, they all
returned together to Brindabun.
Having recited thus much of the history, Shree Shookdeo, the
sage, said,—O lord of the earth! Huldhur and Gobind one moonlight
night were singing in the forest with the cowherdesses, and enjoying
themselves, when a demi-god, attendant of Kooverù, named
Sunkhchoor, who had a jewel on his head, and was very powerful,
came forth amongst them. He saw the cowherdesses engaged in
sports on one side, and in another direction Shree Krishnù and
Buldeo intoxicated, and singing in a state of great delight. A thought
having occurred to him, he collected all the women of Bruj together,
and drove them before him. The women were frightened, and called
out to Krishnù and Bulram to protect them. The brothers having
heard the cries of the women, uprooted a tree, and seizing it in their
hands, rushed forth as drunken elephants rush upon lions, and told
the cowherdesses not to be at all alarmed, as they had arrived. The
demi-god, looking upon them as the agents of his destruction, was
filled with fear; and ran off for his life, leaving the cowherdesses.
Nund Lal left Buldeo with them, and went after Sunkhchoor himself,
and seizing him by the hair behind, brought him to the ground. After
this, lowering his hand, he cut off his head, and taking possession of
his jewel, gave it to Bulram.
 CHAPTER XXXVI.
Shree Shookdeo, the sage, said,—Raja! whilst Huri remained in the
jungle pasturing the cows, all the women of Bruj went and sat near
Nund’s wife, and sung the praises of their lord, and related the
sports in which Shree Krishnù had engaged in the forest.
“Friend! when he plays on the flute, animals and birds derive
pleasure. Dewee, seated with her husband in a chariot, is fascinated;
hearing the notes with the greatest delight. The bracelets and rings
on his hand steal away all sensation from the agitated mind and
body.” Then one of the women of Bruj said, “The clouds were so
overcome, that they ceased to thunder. Huri sings joyfully standing
in one position, and makes his eye-brow, feet and cheek keep time.
The doe and deer are fascinated with the notes. The Jumna is
turned from its course; and the cows gather together. The charmed
clouds cast a shadow, and form a canopy over Krishnù’s head. At
one time Krishnù retired to arbours with thick foliage; at another, all
sat with him under a fig tree. The cows roamed about behind him;
and when they were collected, he took them to water. In the
evening Huri returned, and the cows lowed on hearing the sound of
the flute.”
Having proceeded thus far in the narrative, Shree Shookdeo Jee
said to the Raja Pureechit,—O great king! in this manner the
cowherdesses constantly celebrated the great fame of Krishnù
during the whole day: and going forth in the evening to meet Shree
Krishnù Chund, the root of joy, derived the greatest enjoyment from
his society. And at the same time the Ranee Jusodha, having wiped
the dust-covered face of her son in a most affectionate manner, was
delighted to embrace him.
 CHAPTER XXXVII.
Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—O great king! one day Shree Krishnù and
Bulram, having given pasture to the cows, were returning home in
the evening from the jungle, when a demon, in the form of a huge
bull, came amongst the cows. His body reached to the sky; his hard
back was like a stone, his two sharp horns were standing erect: and
blood-red eyes filled with rage. Raising his tail, he wandered about
bellowing, sometimes he stopt, and then roamed about again, letting
fall dung. He made his shoulders writhe, and ears shake. All the
gods left their chariots, and ran off. With his hoof he dug up the
bank of the river, and upset a hill with his back, and cast it on the
ground. All were in consternation at that time; the supporters of the
world, and the guardian deities of the ten quarters trembled. The
earth quaked: the king of the serpent race, on whose head the world
is supported, trembled. Cows dropped their calves, and women
miscarried. On seeing the bull, the cows dispersed in every direction;
and the inhabitants of Bruj ran off to where Krishnù and Bulram
were coming up behind them. Making obeisance they said, “O great
king! a little distance in front, there is an immense bull, standing in
the road: save us from it.”
On hearing this, Shree Krishnù Chund, acquainted with the secrets
of the heart, said, “Do not be afraid of it. It has come upon the earth
in the form of a bull, because it desires its destruction from me.” On
saying these words, he went forward, and on seeing the bull,
Krishnù exclaimed, “Come to me; you, who have assumed a
treacherous form? Why do you frighten any one else, why not come
near me? The so-called lion’s enemy runs not after deer. Behold! I
am Gobind, in the form of death, and have utterly destroyed many
like you.”
He again called out, striking the upper parts of his arms in
preparation for battle, “Come and fight with me.” On hearing these
words, the enraged demon rushed forth with such impetuous
violence, that it seemed as if a thunderbolt of Indrù’s were hurled
upon the earth. As often as Krishnù drove him back, he recovered
himself, and rushed on again. At one time, when Krishnù had dashed
him upon the earth, he rose up in great fury, and pinned Huri
between his two horns. Then Shree Krishnù Jee, escaping with
activity, and placing his foot on one of the legs of the bull, laid hold
of his horn, and twisted it in the same way, that a person would
wring wet clothes. At length, the bull fell down, and its life ebbed
out.
At this time, the gods seated in their chariots, were so rejoiced,
that they began to rain down flowers; and the cowherdesses and
cowherds, to celebrate with songs the great renown of Krishnù. In
the mean while Shree Radhika Jee came and said to Huri, “O great
king! you have committed a crime in having killed any being in the
form of a bull. For this reason go and bathe in some place of holy
pilgrimage, then you may touch other persons.” Krishnù replied, “I
will summon all the places of pilgrimage to Bruj.” Having thus said,
he went near the hill Goberdhun, and caused two deep pits to be
dug. And the places of pilgrimage came there in bodily shape; and
having mentioned their names, and thrown water into the pits,
departed. After this Shree Krishnù, having bathed in the pits, on
coming out, made an offering of a great many cows, and having fed
many Brahmins, was purified. And from that day, the two pits
became famous as the pit of Krishnù, and the pit of Radhika.
Having finished narrating this incident, Shree Shookdeo, the sage,
said,—O great king! one day, Narud Jee, the sage, came to Kuns;
and when he had explained to him the secrets of the birth of Bulram
and Krishnù, and of the coming of the delusive power, and of the
going off of Krishnù, Kuns was angry, and said, “You speak truth. At
first, he brought his son and gave him to me, having by that means
increased the confidence of my mind: as a thug, who shows you
something, and afterwards runs off with all your property.”
On saying these words, having sent for Basoodeo, he had him
bound down, and putting his hand on his sword, said with great
agitation of mind, “I have discovered that you acted with great
treachery towards me. I looked upon you as a good and virtuous
man. You sent Krishnù off, and gave him to Nund; Dewee has come
and shown me. Your words corresponded not with your thoughts
and designs; I will certainly put you to death to-day on this spot. A
friend, relation, attendant or person professing great regard for
another, who practices deceit, is very sinful. Your words were sweet,
but your mind filled with poison. You were intent only on deceit. An
evil spirit is better than one who acts maliciously in affairs which
concern himself.”
Speaking in this vain, foolish manner, Kuns said again to Narud
Jee, “O great king! I have not yet found out the secrets of his mind:
a boy was born, and he came and showed me a girl. The child,
which he mentioned as having died in consequence of the mother’s
miscarriage, was born at Gokool as Buldeo.” Thus having said, he
gnashed his teeth with rage: and as he raised his sword to kill
Basoodeo, Narud, the sage, having laid hold of his hand, said, “Raja!
keep Basoodeo a prisoner for the present, and arrange so that you
may lay hold of Krishnù and Buldeo, (or so that Krishnù and Buldeo
may come here.)”
When Narud Jee had made this suggestion and departed Kuns
shut up Basoodeo and Dewukee in a room; and being distracted
with fear, sent for a devil, named Kesee, and said to him, “O
possessed of great strength! you are one of my retainers. I have
great confidence in you. Go at once to Bruj, and having killed Bulram
and Krishnù, show their bodies to me.”
Kesee, on hearing this speech, and receiving the order, bowing his
head, took leave, and went to Brindabun. And Kuns summoned Sal,
Toosal, Chanoor, Arisht, Byomasoor and all his other counsellors. On
their arrival, he explained to them and said, “My enemy has taken
up his abode near me; reflect and deliberate how you can draw out
the thorn which is pricking my mind.”
The counsellors said, “O great king! you are very powerful, whom
do you fear? What great difficulty will be in destroying Bulram and
Krishnù? Be not at all anxious. We will counsel you, how, by means
of stratagem and force, they will come here. First of all we will cause
to be built such a beautiful and elegant theatre, that on hearing of
its splendour people will crowd from towns and villages to see it.
After this, do you cause a sacrifice to be made to Muhadeo, and
procure goats and buffaloes for the burnt-offering. On hearing news
of this, all the inhabitants of Bruj will bring presents, and Bulram and
Krishnù will come with them. Then some wrestler will throw them
down, or some other very strong man will kill them at the gate.”
On hearing these suggestions, Kuns assenting to the advice, said,
“Counsellors! you have given good counsel.” He sent for a wrestler,
and having treated him with great respect gave him a beera of betel.
After this, holding a court, he began to say to his powerful devils,
“When my nephews, Bulram and Krishnù, come here, one of you
destroy them, that the apprehensions of my mind may be removed.”
Having thus explained to them, he sent for a mahout and said to
him, “You have a must elephant under you, take it to the gate and
remain there. When the two brothers come and attempt to enter,
have them torn to pieces by the elephant, and do not give them a
chance of escape. If you will destroy them both, I will give you
whatever wealth you may ask for.”
Having thus explained to them all, and determined upon a
sacrifice to Shivù on the fourteenth of the dark part of the month
Kartik, Kuns sent for Akroor in the evening; and having given him a
most civil reception, took him inside his house; giving him a seat on
a throne near him, and laying hold of his hand, he said with the
greatest affection, “You are the greatest in the family of Judoo;
intelligent, religious and resolute; and, therefore, all know and
respect you. There is no one, who is not pleased at seeing you. For
this reason, as a dwarf, (the fifth incarnation of Vishnù,)
accomplished, an important business for Indrù, having by stratagem
taken possession of the whole government of Bali, the sovereign of
the infernal regions, and made it over to Indrù; so do you perform
an important action for me, and go at once to Brindabun, and bring
the two sons of Dewukee here; in whatever way the affair may be
managed, whether by artifice or force. It is said, that the great
endure difficulties themselves in accomplishing the objects of others;
you have the same interest in all my affairs as myself. What more
shall I say; bring them here in any way you can, and they will easily
be destroyed. Either Chanoor will throw them prostrate, or the
elephant Koobliya will lay hold of and tear them to pieces. If not, I,
myself, will kill them, and accomplish my object with my own hand.
And after having destroyed them, I will put Oogursen to death;
because he is very deceitful and desires my destruction. And after
that, having first burnt Dewukee’s father, Dewuk, I will drown him.
Having thus put Basoodeo to death with him, I will thus destroy by
the very roots all the worshippers of Huri. Then, if you will but bring
Bulram and Krishnù, reigning without any opposition, I will unite
with my very powerful friend, Joorasindh, from dread of whom, the
nine divisions of the world tremble; and with Nurkasoor, and
Banasoor, and other great and mighty demons, who are his
attendants.”
Kuns continued to urge Akroor, saying, “Go to Brindabun to the
house of Nund, and tell him, that a sacrifice is about to be made to
Shivù; the bow has been placed upon it, and that there will be all
kinds of sports and pastimes; on hearing this Nund and Oopunud
will come with the cowherds, and bring goats and buffaloes to offer
as presents, and Krishnù and Buldeo will accompany them to see
what goes on. This is the plan I suggest to you for bringing them
here. Hereafter, as you are possessed of great knowledge, if it
should be necessary to make up any other story, do so, and act
accordingly. What more need I say? There is a saying, If the
ambassador is a man of wonderful capacity, who possesses
understanding and power himself, and is bold in others’ affairs, place
implicit confidence in him.”
On hearing these speeches, Akroor thought to himself, “If I were
now to speak honestly to him, and give him good advice, he would
not listen to it: wherefore, it is better that I should now say what
may be flattering and agreeable to him. There is also a saying,
applied in another sense, that we should make speeches, which will
please.” With these thoughts in his mind, Akroor joined his hands,
and bowing his head, said, “O great king! you have given good
advice. I give my most full consent and approbation to all you have
said. We have no power over the future. Man busies himself forming
many projects: but those alone, which are written in fate, are
brought to completion. The event does not always correspond with
our thoughts; and no man has all his wishes fulfilled. You have
considered this business, predicting the future: we know not what
may happen. In compliance with what you have said, I will go off to-
morrow morning early, and bring Bulram and Krishnù.” On saying
this, Akroor having obtained the permission of Kuns to depart, came
to his own house.
 CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—O great king! listen attentively, and I will
narrate how Shree Krishnù Chund killed Kesee, and Narud came and
eulogized the act; and afterwards how Huri destroyed Byomasoor. At
dawn of day, Kesee came to Brindabun in the form of an immense
horse of terrifying aspect; and began to paw the ground, and dig up
the earth; having blood-shot eyes, and uplifted nostrils, and ears
and tail erect; and continued neighing and writhing its shoulders and
kicking.
On seeing the animal, the cowherds’ children were frightened, and
ran off and told Krishnù, who came to the spot: and on beholding it,
made preparations for an encounter, and striking the upper parts of
his arms, roared like a lion, exclaiming, “If you are a great friend of
Kuns, and have come here in the form of a horse, why do you run
after others? Come and fight with me, that I may see your strength?
How long will you wander about, like a moth circling round a lamp?
Your death is at hand.” On hearing these words Kesee was enraged,
and began to say to himself, “To-day I will make trial of his power,
and laying hold of him and chewing him like sugar-cane, will do
what Kuns wishes.” He then rushed forward with his mouth open, as
though he would devour the whole world. On his first approach he
attacked Krishnù with his mouth, who drove him back; when he
rushed forward the second time with his mouth open, after having
recovered from the first shock, Shree Krishnù thrust his hand into his
mouth, and so enlarged his hand, which was like an iron club, that it
blocked up the ten passages of the horse’s body. Kesee was
alarmed, and began to say to himself, “My body is now bursting,
how has this happened? I have admitted my own death into my
mouth, and have lost my life, as a fish loses its life by swallowing a
hook.”
He then attempted many plans of extricating the hand, not one of
which succeeded. At length, he ceased to breathe, and his belly
burst, so that he fell backwards. The blood streamed from his body
like a river. At this time the cowherds’ children came to see what had
happened; and Shree Krishnù Chund advanced into the jungle, and
stood under the shade of a kudum tree. In the mean while Narud,
the sage, arrived with a lute in his hand. Having made an obeisance,
he stood up, and playing on the lute, and singing of the past and
future sports and exploits of Shree Krishnù Chund, he said, “O lord
of compassion! your sports are unlimited. Who has power to
describe your actions? But through your favour I know so much, that
you frequently descend and are manifest upon the earth to confer
happiness on your worshippers, protect virtuous men, destroy
demons and evil spirits and remove the burthens of the world.”
On hearing these words Krishnù permitted Narud, the sage, to
depart; and he bowed his head and went away. Krishnù took all the
cowherds’ children and his companions with him; and sitting under a
fig tree, he made one a minister, another a counsellor of state, a
third the chief of an army, and being himself a Raja, they all began
to play a game in imitation of royalty, and afterwards at blind man’s
buff.
Having recited so much of the history, Shree Shookdeo Jee said,—
O lord of the earth! Kuns having heard that Kesee had been killed,
early in the morning, raving and trembling, said to Byomasoor, “O
powerful Byomasoor! the extirpator of enemies, great is your fame
in the world! As the son of Poonuvú (the ape Hunooman) is Ram’s
messenger of death, so are you mine. Destroy the sons of Basoodeo,
effect this object for me to-day.”
Byomasoor with joined hands said in reply, “O great king! to-day I
will do all in my power. My body is yours. They, who are fond of life,
shrink from sacrificing it for their masters. The good name and virtue
of servants and wives consist in giving up their lives for their lords.”
Having thus spoken, and taken up the beera of betel in token of
undertaking the project, proposed by Kuns, against Krishnù and
Buldeo, Byomasoor made an obeisance to Kuns, and set out for
Brindabun. On the road he assumed the appearance of a cowherd,
and arrived in that disguise at the place where Huri was playing at
blind man’s buff with the cowherds’ children and their companions.
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