The past year has felt like a pretty dire one for the reputation of football fans.
Dreadful scenes at last summer’s Euros final gave way to a season marred by pitch invasions, projectile-throwing, assaults on players, racial abuse and drug-fuelled violence outside grounds which saw a huge leap in arrests.
And although excuses were offered, such as clubs struggling to recruit stewards, a euphoric post-pandemic sense of release, social media ratcheting up hate, the truth is a very small minority are dragging the reputation of football fans back to the dark days. And we need to get a grip.
