Arsenal Debate on how fan bias (or tribalism) can bring fans together and also be harmful at times

The important reasons why GENERAL fan bias is useful to football, but why at times that bias is harmful. Including a mea culpa! by Jon Fox

My fellow Gooners, I freely admit to being biased in favour of our club. I have been since very early childhood, still am, and doubtless will remain so til I die.

In this article I intend to explain my belief that fan bias is, in general, a good thing. But I also wish to discuss my view that AT TIMES it is harmful, both to our club and to us personally.

I of course realise that pieces about our human nature are not for everyone, so please, if you want to ignore this piece or section of my piece and to ignore commenting on something you don’t care about, feel free.

At the heart of fan bias is tribalism. We all belong in life to various “tribes” if you really think about it. To our family, to our country, to our football club and to those who share our many other various interests, hobbies or even our job or profession.

‘Birds of a feather flock together’ is the well-known and true saying. Of course, in matters of romantic love and physical attraction, for most of us opposites attract, as a generality.

But dig deeper into that and you will find human relationships that are destined to last for ever, begin to morph in time into shared interests, as time together brings people closer still, be that family, hobbies or shared interests of all types. We need to belong to our own, simply put.

And that is a worldwide human instinct that somewhat bizarrely, when you really think about it, sometimes divides those tribes from each other. When after all, we all have in common that we all belong to tribes.

And as devoted Arsenal fans, OUR club is of massive importance to us all, as all clubs are to their own fans.

And as fanhood IS the true lifeblood of all clubs, and without us they would not last long at all, it is our continued lifelong fanhood that is the ONLY true reason why Arsenal Football Club is now 138 years young and as healthy as it’s ever been.

Quite a thought and all down to ALL OF US my friends. Not only us of course but MAINLY because of us. Kroenke, Arteta, Saka, will all one day be gone for AFC. But WE COLLECTIVELY, WILL NOT BE!

Tribalism, however, is how wars begin and how hatred of other fellow humans remember, harms us all, even though we all, VIRTUALLY ALL of us belong to “tribes”. Our common nature means we have little choice but to do so.

Which, in reality, means we share our human nature and therefore ought to make us more inclined to friendship with our fellow humans.

But generally speaking, it leads to divisiveness, to suspicion of others whose personal “wrapping” or “packaging” is superficially different from our own.

Stupid and unthinking then? I SHOULD DAY SO!

That unthinking suspicion of so-called different human “wrappings”, which can mean age, skin colour, nationality, religion, fitness or disability, how we speak, different football teams, and how we look and present in general, is PLAINLY FOOLISH.

That very foolishness is the root cause of racism and think of the immense harm that has done to our species throughout history!

You might think that, realising that, we would try to understand more about each other.

I suggest that our species HAS evolved markedly, at least since I was a boy, sixty years ago. At least in the free world. But NOT in all countries.

In England, the country I know best, we now have IN BROAD GENERALITY, a far kinder, more relaxed and inclusive attitude to people from other “tribes” who live in England and who wish to integrate by speaking English.

The HUGE exception to this welcome increased tolerance is among football fans, in their view of rival clubs and their supporters.

When verbally attacked, generally on social media or the print media, we come together against the common enemy, our rival tribes.

However, when the far larger tribe of ALL football fans everywhere is attacked or under threat, as was the case with the recent repellent idea of a proposed European Super League with its closed shop, then suddenly and heart-warmingly the entire larger tribe of football fans everywhere came together as one and, in a few hours, effectively speaking, WE defeated this detested interloper into our much larger tribe; that tribe being the love of football with fairness for all.

Suddenly and thrillingly, we threw off our individual club tribes and banded together as one against that vile and common enemy.

And though I would suggest it is not as yet ENTIRELY dead, it is severely disabled, ridiculed and unlikely in the near future to be able to defeat our common football tribe. I say hurrah for that!

At this point then, I hope I have convinced you all that banding together in tribes is a very helpful and vitally important need for our species and, provided that we can stop and think a little, before our football tribes start to taunt and be hateful to other football tribes (a common but larger tribe) how far more enjoyable football could be.

However, on the flip side of that coin is the darker side of human nature itself, and throughout human history, mankind – which more generally means MALE KIND – has shared the urge to fight other tribes.

You probably do, as I do, despair at the many wars currently waging around our shared globe and wander how and if we can ever evolve sufficiently to control the common, mostly male, urge to fight other tribes and thus to be aware 24/7 of the far larger tribe of humanity itself and to concern yourself with that, instead of fighting other, though similar in our case, football tribes.

It is even possible I ask myself, to fight our football rival teams (tribes) with all our might while on the pitch, while still seeing the commonality of football, fans, and the game we ALL, throughout our football loving world, truly love?

Is sport, and especially Prem level, itself mentally healthy for our human evolvement, involving as it does the need to “defeat” other human tribes on the pitch, or cricket field, boxing ring etc, etc.

Well, YES of course it is, provided we never lose sight of the wider picture. Sport is of vital importance and for a variety of reasons; for our physical wellbeing and fitness, for being able to “defeat” our other tribal “enemies” but in an arena of control, meaning referees, umpires and so on. And for using our excess of male testosterone in sporting arenas rather than in wars and other ridiculous hatreds, born of ignorance and stupidity.

Witness the countless human tyrants throughout history and ask yourself has there ever been a group of people so evil, so ridiculous, so unthinking and so plainly STUPID?

I say of course not, as a warlike nature and the urge to kill your fellow creatures makes anyone into the lowest human it is possible to ever be, which is why virtually all of us are not a bit like that. Mercifully!

So then, we have demonstrated that fan bias, which means tribalism, is a natural and vital need for football fans. By indulging ourselves freely in it, as we on JA do all the time and with each other in the main; therefore attacking our own tribe, we are demonstrating shallow thinking but at the same time, using up our natural esp MALE aggression against each other but not in fighting for REAL.

Social media of all kinds has many problems; we all know that, and it can be dangerous, for timid souls especially.

But it also plays an important role for good, in letting people, mostly but not exclusively male, let off our steam in print, while safely patrolled by the ever-vigilant Ad Pat, as I know better than most.

For I have been among the very MOST aggressive and demanding among all JA users and this piece is, in part, a mea culpa from me to say how stupid I personally have been.

Sometimes in life, my friends, it is only when one actually writes down the truth and then reads it back and deeply considers HOW true some of it is personally, that we, I in this case, begin to recognise our own shortcomings and to resolve to do something, urgently too, to change that and to become as evolved myself as I constantly urge others to be.

For not mentioning Arsenal much, I naturally apologise, esp to Ad PAT.

Though I do really hope you agree that this piece has been as different from the norm on JA as its possible to be. And I hope too that I may have sowed a seed of deeper thought into at least some of you.

Thanks for reading it and finally I say, with confidence of entire agreement on THIS phrase, though possibly this phrase only, “Come on you Gunners”!

Jon Fox

ADMIN COMMENT

So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….

You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.