Everton ban supporter for Twitter abuse

Well done, Everton, and I hope that Twitter twat realises he is a bell-end of the highest order and changes his ways.

My only concern would be the due process in dealing with any supporters who may step out of line. It may well surprise fans to hear that in many instances the club is the judge, jury and executioner. Supporters have no right to appeal or a hearing.

I have personally made representation to the club on behalf of supporters who have had spurious and malicious allegations made against them with very little or no substance.

The unelected and undemocratic Everton Fans Forum does a dis-service to our supporters and should be campaigning for a fair and just process for fans.

So take a pat on the back Mr Lewis, I support you 100% in your efforts to eliminate discrimination but before we can rejoice we need to introduce an appeals system.

In saying that, I guess there's not much else the club could do.

No Cust Ref Number = No ticket.

What you say is correct (I also have a customer ref number). However, what I meant was that if anyone wanted to get into an Everton game and they were 'banned', then all they have to do is simply get a mate to buy them the ticket – no-one will check at the ground who they are...

Was 'daft tiddly-wink' the full extent of the abuse?

Plus how dumb do you have to be to post stuff like that on Twitter or any other public medium? There's been several cases in the news about this kind of thing for years now.

Changing society's more questionable opinions is a slow process but vigilance and taking action like this does work.

And how do I know it works?

Racism and homophobia seemed perfectly acceptable when I was a kid – on television, in pubs, at the match, in magazines, even in Westminster.

Brave (imo) people decided 'enough!' and decided to speak out and say 'this is not right.'

And despite the desperate 'arguments' of those who were happy with the status quo, ie: 'it's only a joke" (which later became 'it's political correctness gone mad'), changes did happen.

There are of course people who think it was better back then but they tend to be frustrated nob-heads.

http://www.theevertonforum.co.uk/everton-ban-racist-tweet-season-ticket-holder/?

To Denis (I think it was) above talking about needing a customer reference number to go to games – that's not true, mate. You can buy a ticket face value from loads of sites and don't need any sort of ID or reference number. You just buy the tickets with a credit or debit card and pick them up – the card doesn't have to be yours and you don't get asked for any ID other than the card the ticket was bought on, so this guy could still go to games.

If you're going to start banning supporters for things said away from the ground then it's the start of a stupid and slippery slope. Now, if I were to idiotically add in there something along the lines of: 'a bit like Gok Wan greasing up his 6 inch high heels in order to get his left leg in his latex gimp suit' then that statement could see me accused of racism, homophobia and meff mockery. Should it therefore leave me facing a lifetime ban from fucking Sainsburys for slurs against the speccy fashion gadge who advertises their goods, even though the offence didn't occur in, or anywhere near, one of their stores?

We all know such small minded slurs need stamping out, and anyone stupid enough to spout that shite in public, or online (where they seem to think normal rules of society don't apply) gets no sympathy from me, but surely there was no reason at all for the club to get directly involved here.

The statements were made on Twitter, thus the imbecile concerned should face sanctions from them and probable investigation from the police. Everton have no part to play here and there move comes across as a bit of attention grabbing attempt. 'Hey, look how firm our stance and how proactively we pursue the perpetrators of personal abuse on any and every media platform'. Sorry, but you're a football club, not fucking Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Unless it was done during an Everton game, in the ground or the general vicinity of the ground, or on Everton's own website, in the club shop or at an Everton hosted event, then they should be staying out of such matters, surely?

We all know some of the stick people closely connected to the club come in for on here. Although it doesn't stoop to the level of racist/sexist/homophobic abuse it does often involve personal slights against the individual. Now the club have set the precedent, how long until it progresses to trying to dish out bans to supporters posting anything they deem as derogatory or distasteful on a public forum?

nb: my wife is Chinese-Malay and is totally bemused at the way her countryman, Rik Wee, seems to have become fairly well known amongst Evertonians by sheer virtue of (in her words) 'a bit of bloody wind'.

These are Everton fans, and indeed one particular high profile Everton fan because of events last season, involving Everton. These are not comments about unrelated matters and unrelated people, but linked, however vaguely, to the club. I completely back this action, because that is what is needed to overcome racist and homophobic narratives, which are still all too prominent in football. I would go so far as to say that everyone criticising the club's action risks implicitly accepting the normativity of the remarks.

I would ask some questions to those criticising the club's actions: Why should Twitter be dislocated from the football club? Are racist/homophobic comments not potentially more damaging on social media, where they can be read by thousands of people (or more), than when it happens in a stadium? If the person involved had racially abused Distin or Kone on Twitter, would you also argue that he should not be banned from the stadium? Or is it okay to abuse another fan, but not a footballer?

Social media is an intrinsic part of our lives, and of social discourses. If you allow homophobic and racist remarks to continue, then their normativity is promoted whether intentionally or unintentionally. I'm glad my club has taken this action, because it demonstrates that we do not accept this kind of behaviour. The kind of behaviour implicitly promoted by the Liverpool team's unfaltering support of Suarez through the tee-shirt performance, and the lack of condemnation even after Suarez has been found guilty.

My only concern now is that how the club react to every complaint they receive regarding abuse on these sites. Surely the best course of action would have been to report it to the police, let them deal with it, then ban the fool if he's found guilty (Which of course he is)

The fact the club have decided upon his guilt for what is now a crime, is the part of this that makes me think it should have handled differently. Remember the guy who was banned for abusing Saha? He only received his ban after he was convicted in a court. Due process should to be followed in any criminal case, no matter how guilty the accused may seem at the outset.

The club shouldn't be bogged down in these issues, it should be left to the police and the courts. I could call someone something I shouldn't on here, how can a football club deal with that?

Because otherwise, as Twitter seems to be largely populated by tosspots, Plod would be forever chasing down them and not catching the real criminals (you know, politicians and the like).

The Club have previous for banning fans for criticising them already: Richard Knights and banning AGMs spring to mind immediately along with controlling who's allowed to attend the recently reconstituted AGM.

Here's two here;

http://news.sky.com/story/1200521/twitter-trolls-jailed-for-sending-abusive-tweets

http://news.sky.com/story/1257681/ann-maguire-stabbing-twitter-troll-jailed

Jim #24 has it right. Every action has to be viewed in perspective. And the perspective here is a football club doing the right thing for the right reasons. I applaud both the principle and the action taken.

The club have basically set a precedent of involving themselves in online disputes between supporters, who have no official connection to the club, where one of the parties has been subjected to personal abuse.

It wasn't a transgression against a player, club official or employee or even a supporter in or around the ground. It didn't occur on an Everton website or on the clubs own Twitter page. It was abuse dished out online by one odious guy who just happens to be an Evertonian, to another guy who just happens to be an Evertonian.

Both men might possess a shared love of soft rock shitefest 'In the air tonight' and believe 'Buster' to be the best film ever made, but does that mean Phil Collins should step in and ban the offending party from attending any of his future gigs (if he ever gets any)?

Are the club going to take similar action again in cases they believe comparable? Well, they've done it once. It's to be expected of them now. If they're not, then why not? Will they seek to confine it to cases where the abuse has racial connotations? How can they? Are they really in a position to make arbitrary distinctions between different forms of online abuse, the severity of said abuse and any suffering caused to supporters by that abuse?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not seeking to defend the abuser in this story. I just feel the club have stepped into a minefield by making such a gesture, no matter how honourable their intentions may be.

For me, whilst the outcome here is ultimately to be applauded (one less racist gobshite at Goodison on match days), it isn't the clubs place to be policing any Twitter account other than their own.

The police themselves have power to investigate and deal with abuse aimed at individuals on social media sites and do actively utilise those powers in instances where complaints are of a racial or sexual manner.

They're the ones who should be dealing with matters of this nature and making decisions as to guilt and appropriate punishment, not a football club.

Your post goes on and on about the precedent and says almost nothing about the principle. I consider principle far more important. I'm proud that the club does too.

Obviously no idea if it actually is the same bloke or not, but I've just seen that our brief exchange has since vanished from my notifications page and his account appears to have been deactivated.

Anyway, good on Everton for taking a stand. Us Evertonians are well known for their active online presence – mainly in a positive sense I like to think – and any efforts to stamp out clowns like this are more than welcome as far as I'm concerned.

I recall one of the posters helpfully explaining that it was short for Presbyterian.

One is an insult based on a multi-millionaire's miserable demeanour – allowed because the man in question has the choice whether to be a miserable (two-faced) twat or not.

One is a racist/homophobic insult – not allowed because nobody gets to choose their ethnicity or sexuality (so insulting someone because of either is plainly wrong).

Same reason possibly why you might get away with 'You lazy twat' but not 'you lazy French twat.'