Football and politics

[ad_orientem]

I have two Twitter accounts (one football, the other politics) and a Facebook account (both football and politics). I've come to the conclusion that too many football fans are complete morons. But why is this? Too many of them attach themselves to the extremes of political opinion. Mostly far right, though not exclusively. Is it the tribalism of football? Lack of education? Status? Is this unique to football? It seems to me, at least, that football fans are disproportionately represented in the extremes of political opinion. It's something that bothers me and has forced me to keep some people at arms length, so to speak.

[ad_orientem]

As a West Ham fan, it's quite relevant. Back in the late 70's, West Ham had a far right problem. Now, especially the old school (though again, not exclusively) are attaching themselves to organisations like the Football Lads Alliance.

[Nearly Sane]

I think that social media pushes people to extremer positions than before and that it's easier to see. I think that football fans may have had more extremists in their number than say Doctor Who fans previously but I find Doctor Who fans more to different extremes than we used to be.