An example of so-called "Normal" behaviour was seen on the evening of Sunday, 29th March 1998 and the following week. Read about it here
In the UK TV soap Coronation Street, the character John Lindsay falsely jailed a character called Deirdre Rachid, formerly Ken Barlow's wife, for fraud. After her conviction, a lot of people rang up the switchboard, so much in fact, it was jammed that night, in tears demanding "Rachid's" release.
According to the newspapers in April 1998, the actor who played Lindsay received death threats, bullets and razor blades in the post. I don't know if that was true or not, but there was a campaign with banners in public places such as bus stops (I saw one myself on Laithes Lane a few days after Rachid was jailed), saying "Dierdre is innocent" and "Free the Weatherfield one".
I saw a banner at a soccer ground on Match of the Day on the evening of Saturday, 4th April 1998. A question was asked in the House of Commons about it to the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair. A wealthy businessman, (Obviously he had more money than he did sense) gave £5,000 to the free the "Weatherfield one" appeal. A sandwich bar in Lancashire put bread and water on their menu in sympathy with Rachid's plight.
After the outcry, Rachid was released after three weeks. Whether she was jailed, hanged, sent to the electric chair or released on the soap made not one bit of difference to my life whatsoever. I wish I had erected at a banner at a bus shelter saying "Hang Deirdre Rachid" or "Hang those who want her released". In fact, I wish I had done both. If this is sanity, be very grateful indeed, that you are mad.
In more recent years, Bruce Jones, the actor who played Les Battersby between 1997 and 2007, revealed in 2008 that during his time in Coronation Street of being attacked several times by women with handbags, who told Jones that he and the Battersby family had "Ruined the Street".
On the evening of Tuesday, 30th June 1998, England played Argentina in a soccer world cup match in France. Diego Simeone, an Argentinean player, brought down the England midfielder, David Beckham, after 47 minutes. As he lay on the ground, Beckham impulsively kicked Simeone on the leg. It was a stupid and reckless reaction, but hardly, in my view at least, constituted a vicious assault.
Simone went down as if he'd been shot and Beckham was shown the red card. I wondered whether, if Simone hadn't reacted so dramatically, that this action would have taken? Personally, if I had been the referee that evening, I would have given out a caution or gave Beckham a yellow card, and would have also booked Simone for play acting. The result was a 2-2 draw but England lost the match 4-3 on Penalties after Sol Campbell had a goal disallowed, from what I remember.
Afterwards, many supporters and journalists blamed Beckham for England's elimination and he became the target of criticism and abuse for weeks afterwards. As the 1998-1999 season started, effigies of David Beckham were hung outside football grounds all over England, including the hanging of an effigy resembling Beckham outside a London pub. Beckham, also received death threats after the World Cup.
The Daily Mirror, a newspaper I usually read during the week, and have done so for many years, printed a dartboard with a picture of Beckham's face centred on the bulls eye after the match.
I could understand fans anger about towards the player over his actions, or about England getting knocked out of the World Cup, or even venting their anger towards Simone and the ref concerning his over-the-top sending off, and their disappointment, but to send death threats to someone who lashed out in a moment's madness and was wrongly sent off, or to hang effigies, to me, is totally and utterly irrational behaviour. If that is how people react to football, then I strongly advise them to stop watching it altogether.
