Growth of Habit of Barracking

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 113, 3 August 1927, Page 7

Growth of Habit of Barracking

Canker in Sport (By J. M. McK.) In a letter published in THE SUN yesterday, a correspondent refers to demonstrations which have been made against prominent Rugby League players and referees at Carlaw Park. Apart from the merits of a particular case which is quoted, it is common knowledge that an under-current of feeling seems to be creeping into club matches. In most cases, it manifests itself by barracking, which is utterly devoid of the saving grace of humour, or even cleverness. Sometimes, it has gone even further than that. In the Rugby game, four players were ordered off the field in one match at Onehunga on Saturday. Prom the evidence of eye-witnesses, there is reason to believe that but for the prompt and decisive action of Mr. W. Meredith, who controlled the game, an ugly situation might easily have developed. This germ of unrest in sport was also in evidence at the Soccer match between Canada and Auckland on Saturday, when the referee and the visiting team were the recipients of a number of compliments from sundry leather-lunged barrackers round the playing area. Perhaps the weather has something to do with this nagging atmosphere in sport. In any case, such incidents as these will do no good to any game. Where players are concerned, it is not so much the men on the field who are to blame as the violent partisanship of a few on the bank. There is far too much trouble stirred up before important matches by club supporters, who allow their tongues to run away with them. Somebody has heard someone else say that such-and-such a team is going out to kick the other off the paddock: and in more cases than not, that’s how the trouble starts. When bad feeling starts to creep into a game of football, then it is high time for the controlling body to take steps to stamp it out. It is also as much the duty of clubs to rid themselves of cantankerous supporters as it of governing bodies to see that a small minority of spectators are kept in their place. Auckland crowds have a reputation for fairness, and a few irresponsible ones should not be allowed to besmirch it.