Sky Sports are planning to reduce crowd noise during Man Utd's Premier League clash with Everton

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sky-sports-plans-silence-everton-28155918

It's apparently due to the game being shown before the watershed, which to be frank, most games are, and therefore to keep within Ofcom's guidelines. I've often felt that most games broadcast from Goodison, the sound levels are generally a lot less than at other stadiums, and very often it doesn't reflect the noise levels within the stadium.

The crowd will just have to be less 'sweary' and more visual in its protests, in order to get its message across.

Apparently it's only Everton "hooligans" who ever say "fuck" or "bollocks" at footy matches.

"The crowd will just have to be less 'sweary' and more visual in its protests, in order to get its message across."

The cameras though might just not show any of the crowd banners etc.

However, our 10 outfield players might each have on their shirt one letter from the following - FUCKTHEEPL. I'd suggest a 4-3-3 formation for impact.

When they start the coverage of the game itself, they'll manage to mention who the mighty Red Devils are playing against.

The voice won't be silenced. Goodison will be loud and proud. And let them try and quell the voices of the masses around the ground. They have no chance.

They may well think they are a George Orwell Animal Farm type of dictatorship, but they've picked the wrong club if they want silence.

A quote from the novel:

"Napoleon is the dictator of Animal Farm, whereas following the Russian Revolution, Joseph Stalin was the dictator. They were both cruel and oppressive rulers, who exploited their subjects through tyranny and deceit".

How very apt to the Premier League.

I'll repeat. Be loud and proud. Be heard. We are not going down without fighting.

We are not Kopites.

But I would never blame the supporters who travel long and far into the early and late hours.

Those who follow from around the globe at ridiculous hours.

I'll never accept it is the supporters' fault.

On Sunday we march down the Goodison Road. Bold and defiant.

I wonder if the FA had a word! Cannot imagine any outside interference, can you?

We should sue the commission, the Premier League, the other clubs involved, the referees association, VARs, Liverpool for the European ban (loss of earnings) etc..

Let the shit hit the fan and see where we end up. Masters and Co are terrified of bad publicity. Let's take this to the UN, the ICC. the WTO etc… and see if these fuckers like being dragged through the mud.

You know… whirling rotor blades and people in the same area

So maybe even not land but just drop down low and release their banner onto the pitch?

What are Sky actually doing or proposing? I have not seen anything in the popular press.

I believe there is a march organised starting at The Brick.

Incidentally, I don't know if you can make it but there is a protest planned for the Premier League offices in London this evening at 5:30.

Sky have said they will not attempt to silence protest but will comply with Ofcom rules by filtering out anything likely to cause offence, so it won't be heard.

Neither will they allow it on news broadcasts, local or national, MotD2 or anywhere else for that matter. Best you can hope for is a crowd holding up cards in complete silence.

Totally counter-productive in my opinion.

Some in suits are getting rather nervous, I think.

What happens when say, after 17 minutes, or 33 minutes, or 54 minutes, or whatever minute you like a chant of “Premier League Corrupt as Fuck”, suddenly goes up?

Is there going to be somebody in the Sky TV vans outside with his finger permanently glued to the silence button for 90+ minutes, anticipating such a chant?

“Premier League, corrupt as fuck” is never going to be allowed.

It's not live, live.

Apparently he was on the panel that meted out the £300k fine for the 'pitch invasion' at the end of the infamous Palace game.

But they are bound by Ofcom rules so we will have to use a word instead of the one planned; seeing we have some of the most creative supporters, I am sure someone will come forward with a chant that is not breaking any Ofcom rules.

I am sure Neville will repeat what he said in his podcast in that "he would be livid if he was an Everton fan and the Premier League had done this to his club".

He went on to say the "Premier League is defunct, and has become a lawless organisation". I think ever since his brother signed for us, he has always had a soft spot for our club, and usually speaks a lot of sense.

I'm not aware of any broadcaster ever being taken to task by Ofcom for crowd swearing. Their list of closed cases doesn't show any.

Ofcom typically respond to audience complaints and in 2020 they published a report stating swearing isn't seen as much of an issue in the UK, with discriminatory language being seen as much more offensive.

So a decision is made to mute the crowd to avoid swearing that hasn't yet been uttered during a match that hasn't been played to an audience that hasn't yet complained.

Yeah, nothing dodgy about it at all. Sky and the Premier League are joined at the hip.

How about “Premier League Corrupt as (Donald) Duck”, on a banner? Might be a bit difficult in a chant though.

We can turn this around in the faces of the faceless.

Now is the time to stand up, fight and be counted. On the pitch and from the stands first and foremost. But off the pitch as well.

Stephen, I can't make this evening in London, but will see you Sunday.

Ironically, that is 5 stops away from my local station, whereas Goodison is about 250 miles away!!!

The last thing we need is to give the Premier League an excuse to charge us again and dock us more points or have us play matches behind closed doors.

After all, it's the death of football as we know it, that is happening right now. Sly Six favouritism, VARs, Refs looking after their mates - Mike Dean's comment, Awful refs in general, Premier League scared of Sly Six and the Premier League's fixation with destroying EFC.

When the silence ends, really let it rip. Scare the ref, scare the Mancs, let's make them think we are totally nuts and they are not safe being surrounded by us.

I defo think Leicester would have offence and sue knowing their past issues with helicopters and centre circles!

There's no suggestion of disrupting the match. We shouldn't let the corrupt Premier League nor their biased broadcasting pal dictate what we do. We don't need their permission.

They'd like to kill our club quietly and ever so politely in the background with no inconvenient public displays. Tough, it's not going to happen.

How about booing the Fair-play Handshake or whatever the Premier League call it?

Just make a statement.

I think a break out of Spirit of the Blues from all four sides of the ground that we hear passionately in the away grounds would do nicely.

Everton the Gear.

Defiance and fight blues.

Then six years on
We broke some rules
The Premier League shout
Now who's fools?

They hit us strong
They hit us hard
They shout out loud
You did all wrong.

The blue boys cry
"That's what you think,
We're gonna kick
Up such a stink"

The flags and banners
Are coming out
And then you'll hear
The blue boys shout…..

Premier League Corrupt as Fuck!
Premier League Corrupt as Fuck!!
Premier League Corrupt as Fuck!!!
Premier League Corrupt as Fuck!!!!

Anyone know if this is still in operation?

Or do we still need to tone it down a bit?

I can't see a single Evertonian ever forgetting this has happened, nor will anyone of us keep quiet at any game in the future, home, away, televised or otherwise.

There's also a protest planned by a guy on X (Twitter) outside the Premier League offices in London tomorrow at 5:30. Check out @EvertonMontreal on X if you're in London and fancy it.

I read somewhere today that a March is planned. People are meeting at The Brick at 3:45pm. Perhaps we should all meet up there (it will be busy obviously)? They are also handing out cards to hold up at the game apparently.

Cant we just keep repeating CORRUPT

Otherwise we play right into their hands and give them the perfect excuse

To Smell a Rat - The EPL! Subodorare qualcosa- EPL!

It’s possibly the start of the end of the EPL, and the structure of the game, in view if City, Chelsea and the others are shown leniency, in view of the gravity of their respective charges, then the game is finished. The EPL, must be brought to investigation, for corruption, and be sued by Everton, and likely other clubs, on these grounds.

City jeez, what’s their immunity gained from? I think we all know. Definitely stinks all the way.

Everton, must play a clever game on and off the park, hence forth, but justice must prevail for Everton FC and Evertonians.

UTFTs!

I agree with Howard at (15). All we need to do is leave out the ‘F’ word on Sunday and our voices will be heard on TV loud and clear. Is it not beyond the imagination of someone to create a chant which gets the key message across without the use of language regarded as offensive?

I hope there will be no stupid pitch invasions of any kind, before, during or after the game. That would be a nightmare for the club, potentially giving hostile media outlets a story about football hooliganism rather than fan protest.

As for Latin phrases: how about 'Premier League Delenda Est' (to paraphrase Cato...)

or even> 'Nil Satis Nisi Premier League Delenda Est'...

and they say the games not corrupt !!!

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1838093/Liverpool-Barnsley-FA-Cup-tbk

Does Sky plan to put the game on a 7-second delay like radio call-in talk shows so no offensive language will ever leak through?

Does they plan to blank out the signs that will inevitably pop up in the stands throughout the game?

Or the t-shirt Dom will display when he pulls up his jersey after his third goal?

Does they plan to blur the lips of the chanting fans so they can't be read?

Do they have "digital" technology to blur the fans' middle digits?

Maybe colorization technology to turn the blue smoke red?

Well, nobody on TW will miss a thing. USA Network will show the game completely uncensored, and I'll share phone video of the best fan moments with Lyndon for posting here.

Forget Sky, other broadcasters will be around the streets and social media will circumnavigate the supposed Soviet style suppression of the voice.

Be loud and proud blues. We are not taking this without a fight. It's in our blue blood. We shall not be moved.

Just one thing, can we hold up blue cards? It might just be me, but holding up red cards doesn't sit comfortable with me.

I concur.

Wish I could be at Goodison, I'll have the TV cranked up to the max 99 so that my neighbours can hear!

"... And you my Father, there on the sad height,
Curse and Bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night; but
Rage and Rage and Rage against the dying of the light..."

Needs to be visual.

“Turn your backs, give the finger, show your arses (if not too cold). They can't turn the pictures off!! Needs to be visual.”

Sounds like a good craic, Ray.

"Turn your backs, give the finger, show your arses"

Fans need to understand the sequencing is critical.

Anyone gets it wrong... they could be up Shit Creek!

Chants that exclude offensive language should be fine. I'm sure that a crowd that came up with “Dissa” as a nickname for Neil Pointon can find a clever and effective form of words.

But I don't think Sunday is going to be a day for subtlety or nuance. I have thought a lot about how my 7- and 9-year-old grandsons will hear the “Corrupt as fuck” chant, and I wince at it. Then I remember being at the Leeds game as an 8-year-old in 1964, the most febrile atmosphere I have ever known, and remember how much I loved it.

And I remember the boys' great grandad, and great-great grandad, who fought in wars against injustice of all kinds, and think they would be quietly okay with Goodison's hostility.

As an example of how hard it is to be fined, during The Ashes 2019 there were complaints about the Sky Sports commentators swearing multiple times but no fines, no further action.

Worst case for Sky is a few “disgusted of Tunbridge Wells” complaints to Ofcom from RS supporters. The chance of even a slap on the wrist is minimal.

Let's keep this in perspective.

The whole argument is a diversion away from the protest. We'll say what we like and if Sky choose to cut it out so be it.

Sky and the Premier League are joined at the hip. Maybe they'll have to blur out the placards and banners.

I was thinking exactly the same and particularly with Forest being rumoured as one of the sly fuckers after compensation.

For a start, we play Nottm Forest on Saturday 2 December. I'm off to the Caribbean next Thursday for the England cricket tour, with the first game on Sunday 3 December. I'm going to collect as many of these protest cards as I can this Sunday, and take them along with me.

Sky usually cover the England cricket ODIs, so I'll be shoving these cards right in front of their cameras, for the whole of the English viewing public to see.

Maybe even give a cry of “Premier League Corrupt as Fuck” to a nearby camera, but might have to be careful with that, as I don't want to be thrown out! So look out for me!!

I will definitely be tuning in next Sunday now I know that. Give them hell but don't get arrested!

I will sponsor you if you do grow a beard, streak across the pitch while jumping over the wickets, while holding a protest card aloft.

Get enough fund me could pay for a few beers for your trip.

Neil Pointon is a guest at Goodison this Sunday on the lounge circuit before kickoff (well, at least in The Captain's Table in the Park End).

After leaving Everton in 1990 he went on to play at Man City under Howard and then for Joe Royle at Oldham Athletic, so I'm sure he won't be at all disappointed to see us get one (or a few) over Man Utd.

If our superb fans are looking for a chant they can all join in, without any bad language, I wish to suggest, instead of the usual "Champions League, you're having a laugh" replace with "The Premier League, we know you're corrupt."

Just a thought, let them have it on Sunday. COYB.