Leeds United send disgraceful, victim-blaming email to supporter who suffered abuse in draw v Plymouth
At a time when abuse in the stands, abuse of players, and abuse of officials seems to be reaching new heights of depravity, football clubs – including Leeds United – should be doing all they can to tackle the issues.
There was an incident in the League One clash between Port Vale and Portsmouth on Saturday (27 January) where a Vale supporter ran onto the pitch to chase referee Craig Hicks in ugly scenes that should not be occurring in 2024.
When awful situations like that arise you need football clubs to be strong and decisive in their condemnation.
Which is why something that has circulated on social media involving Leeds following the 1-1 FA Cup draw with Plymouth Argyle on Saturday (27 January) was bitterly disappointing.
Twitter user Jo, with the handle @El_Loco_Jo wrote the following: “Never in 42 years have I been to a #lufc game & wanted to leave after 15 minutes & never come back! Until today. ALAW? Nah. 100 mins of constant snide remarks, harassment, physical & verbal abuse, and then threats at the end of the game with one of them with his head in my face.”
The claims of physical and verbal abuse are bad enough and should, of course, be taken extremely seriously by the club. The response that came fell painfully short of what is expected.
A screenshot from the supporter of Leeds’ reply read: “Thank you for your email. So sorry you had this experience, this is not normal practice here at Elland Road.
“We are a little disappointed that this came through after the match as we would certainly have dealt with this in real time. We do not tolerate this kind of behaviour. It is extremely difficult to deal with people after the event however, we need to deal with these people in real time and gather witness statements and camera evidence. One thing we will do is monitor this area and these seats at the next match.”
I’m sorry what? This is sort of disgraceful, victim-shaming reply will only serve to put people off reporting such incidents in the future.
For one thing, it’s not always easy to report things during the game but for the club to actually say they are “disappointed” by the timing of a report of abuse is absurd.
Frankly, the club has to do better with sort of thing.
In other Leeds United news, the club are finally on the verge of making a January signing.
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