Concept of QPR in US....Anti-Semitism in English Football

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[UPDATE: See Also: QPR America and QPR USA]

The Times - Why Premier League would love New York - Gabriele Marcotti

Last night, at Wembley Stadium, the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins contested the first NFL regular-season game outside North America. It is part of a not-so-secret expansion plan by the league that would, potentially, result in all 32 NFL franchises playing one game per season outside the United States (they would move from 16 to 17 matches a year, ensuring that each club would maintain the same number of home and away games in their country).

Some Barclays Premier League club owners are watching developments closely. Eggert Magnússon, the non-executive chairman of West Ham United, and Stan Kroenke, a minority shareholder of Arsenal, have welcomed the idea. After all, as a promotional tool it makes sense.

Audiences are global, so why not give them a taste of the product in the flesh? Clubs have been going on preseason tours for years, but, precisely because far-flung audiences are becoming savvy, they know that a midsummer friendly is, ultimately, a meaningless exhibition match. There is nothing like the real thing - when points are at stake – to satisfy the craving.

But what if, in the search for new markets, they went one step farther? This year I had lunch with a former Major League Soccer (MLS) executive with plenty of connections in football. While emphasising that, at the moment, it is only talk, he outlined a potential future scenario that would revolutionise the sport: a Premier League club based in New York City.

Leave aside the inevitable (and largely justified) opposition from Fifa, the sport’s world governing body, and anybody with an appreciation of the history and traditions of the game. Remember instead that, throughout history, most of the seminal – and previously unthinkable – changes have been brought about by economics. If the potential profits are there, people will chase them, particularly many of the owners of Premier League clubs, nearly half of whom are from overseas and most of whom are quick to emphasise that they are “investors”. Investors, by definition, chase profits. And these investors, like it or not – in their guise as shareholders – “own” the Premier League.

So how would it work? First, you need a club willing to move across the Pond. A decade ago, Sam Hammam allegedly tried to move Wimbledon to Dublin or Belfast. His idea was shot down, but the club ended up in Milton Keynes. Most likely it would have to be a smallish club, perhaps one with a crowded catchment area such as, say, Fulham, or, if they win promotion, Queens Park Rangers. Not coincidentally, both clubs sit on valuable real estate and have high-profile owners.

Then there is the issue of logistics. New York is a seven-hour flight away from the UK, with a five-hour time difference. But that is less of an issue than it appears. While it is not ideal, you can fly out on Friday morning, arrive by noon local time and keep the whole squad on UK time while you are there (which means lights out at 7pm). You play at 12.15pm US time on Saturday (which is 5.15pm in England, perfect for television) and then fly back immediately afterwards.

You will get home in the early hours of Sunday (but that is no different from what happens after certain European ties). And, besides, it is only one league match a year. The Premier League owners could all chip in and buy a kitted-out 747 that everybody could share to make things smoother.

Admittedly, the fixture list would take some rejigging. You may want to ensure that the New York team gets a few more back-to-back home or away matches to lessen the impact of travel. And you would need some flexibility for European and cup-ties, particularly in midweek. But it is possible.

Beyond that, financially at least, things get attractive. Playing in the biggest media market in the world would raise the profile of the team and the Premier League instantly. Without getting too far into the argument of why the US has not fully embraced “soccer”, one big factor is that people want to watch meaningful games with recognisable stars. The MLS is not seen by many casual supporters as a top-class product. The Premier League is a whole different story.

What kind of crowds could be expected? It is difficult to say. The New York Red Bulls attendance numbers (about 14,000, unless David Beckham is in town) offer little indication. Consider instead the fact that more than a million people in the New York metropolitan area were born in Europe. Throw in those born in other football-mad continents such as Africa and South America and the figure rises to more than three million. And there are more Britons residing in the New York area than there are in Wigan, Bolton or Reading.

But the main economic lure comes from television rights and sponsorship. With a proper foothold in the world’s largest economy, one taken seriously by supporters and local media alike, the Premier League’s revenue prospects would rocket.

Back to reality. It will not happen for a while, perhaps it will never happen. But the harsh truth is that, if the Premier League ever choses to do this, the only organisation with any clout standing in its way would be Fifa. And history shows that, if it makes economic sense, people usually find a way around all the obstacles. Times


Article focuses primarily on Spurs and Chelsea and no reference to QPR

The Observer - Alive and unchecked - a wave of anti-Jewish hate Action demanded on problem that brings echoes of the game's bad old days, reports Anna Kessel
'Spurs are on their way to Belsen, Hitler's gonna gas 'em again...' It's not a song you would expect to hear on a family day out at a Premier League game, but it is one of several anti-Semitic chants still heard at some top-flight grounds. While the message about anti-black abuse is in the public consciousness, campaigners say that anti-Semitism is alive - and unchecked.
The past few months have featured several high-profile recorded incidents of anti-Semitic abuse, alongside growing evidence from lower levels of the game. The problem centres around clubs in London - where there are large Jewish communities - where songs about concentration camps and gas chamber hissing noises are a regular feature at certain games. The government recently reported a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in wider society and, with the appointment of Avram Grant as Chelsea manager, the issue in football has been brought into focus after the club received anti-Semitic hate mail.
Britain's Jewish sports group says action is overdue. Martin Berliner, chief executive of Maccabi GB, says: 'I'm a Chelsea fan and I can't listen to songs about concentration camps any more. My father's parents died in the Holocaust. When Avram Grant was appointed, fans came on Chelsea TV and asked why they had appointed a Jew who would not work on Yom Kippur. There's a lot of Jewish conspiracy-theory talk kicking about, like Ben Haim only being picked because he's Jewish. The other week Haim made a mistake and someone behind me stood up and shouted, "You stupid Yid!" Nobody complained.'
Comedian and author David Baddiel agrees. 'Literally every week there is some anti-Semitic chanting at Stamford Bridge. It often takes place regardless of whether Tottenham are playing or not. It's even happened to me. I went to get a hotdog in an area where I don't usually sit and they started chanting "Yiddo" at me.' Baddiel says he can understand the humour in some of it, but feels that a serious side of the issue is too often overlooked. 'Can you imagine if the Chelsea crowd was shouting "Nigger" or "Paki"? People would actually be talking about taking legal action.'
Abuse has been heard at Premier League grounds from Arsenal to Wigan. A complicating factor is Tottenham's close association with the problem - whether they are playing or not, many of the chants are directed at the club or their former players. Their fans' self-identification as 'Yids' - a derogatory word for a Jew - is problematic. Last week fans and representatives of the Tottenham Supporters Trust, Maccabi GB and Kick It Out debated the issue. Supporters say the term is used as a 'badge of honour', which aligns Jews and non-Jews in a proud allegiance to the club, but campaigners say it provokes and legitimises abuse from rival fans. As both sets of fans often interchange 'Yid' for 'Jew', or words depicting a relationship to Israel or Palestine, the demarcation lines separating football from religion, race, politics and anti-Semitism are decidedly blurred.
Chelsea want the term 'Yid' eradicated from their ground. 'We make it clear that we have a policy of zero tolerance,' says Simon Greenberg, director of communications. 'There is no justification in our eyes. We're not going to get into a philosophical debate about it.' But Tottenham insist the FA should be taking the lead and are wary of being made a scapegoat. 'It is a complex issue and there are strong feelings on both sides. But the fans themselves have not raised it,' says their spokesperson.
And that may be a key part of the problem: a scarcity of high-profile voices from within the Jewish football community. Many of those approached by Observer Sport declined to be interviewed for fear of alienating themselves in the football world. Others did not want to draw attention to their Jewish identity and in some cases clubs felt it too controversial for their staff to discuss. The reticence reminds some of the days when black players were too frightened to speak about racism.
One man who is happy to be the lone voice is lawyer and Kick It Out board advisory member Jonathan Metliss. A lifelong football fan, Metliss has been campaigning against anti-Semitism since the early 1980s. 'My father fought the Mosleyites. When I started campaigning nobody would take it seriously, but I've since put this issue on the map.' Metliss says 'Yid' is unquestionably offensive. 'It's like calling a Pakistani a Paki. A lot of guys I know won't take their kids to football because of it.'
Simon Johnson, the FA's director of corporate affairs, concedes that there is a problem. 'We have not yet made it as taboo to abuse somebody who is Jewish,' says Johnson. 'People do not understand that it's offensive to call someone an 'effing Yid', or to hiss: they think it's funny. Our challenge is to make it a taboo - and I accept we've got some catching up to do.'
Some of the recorded incidents of anti-Semitism in England this year

· 'I'd rather be a Pikey than a Jew' - plus Nazi salutes and gas-chamber hissing

Southend fans at Spurs, January

· 'Spurs are on their way to Auschwitz, Hitler's going to gas them again'

Chelsea fans v Sheffield United, March

· Video of fans chanting 'I'd rather be a Paki than a Jew' posted on YouTube

West Ham fans v Tottenham, March

· 'We've got Cesc Fabregas, you yids are scared of gas'

Arsenal fans at Spurs, September

· 'We'd rather have Mourinho than a Jew'

Chelsea fans v Fulham, September Guardian