England fans urged not to sing about IRA or World War Two

England play Scotland at Hampden on Saturday. Their supporters have been urged not to sing inappropriate songs. Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images

The Football Association is attempting to clamp down  on boorish behaviour, with lifetime bans from the England Supporters Travel Club dished out for the first time after two individuals were caught making Nazi gestures in March’s 1-0 friendly loss in Germany, with 27 suspended in total and six given written warnings alongside one  pending case.

The conduct of spectators will again be under close scrutiny when England travel to Glasgow this weekend, with the FA understood to be wary of potential punishment  from Fifa if supporters chant about anything deemed to be political.

England have an allocation of 4,761 for Saturday’s match at Hampden Park and the FSF has pleaded with supporters to behave themselves.

“English football fans have a great reputation around the world for the numbers in which we travel, the passion we demonstrate in supporting our team, and our ability to party enthusiastically well into the night,” the organisation said in an editorial in its England fanzine, Free Lions.

“We have made friends in country after country, and when you start to hear the fans of other nations adopting and adapting our songs, you can be sure we’ve made a lasting impression. We have a lot to be proud of.

“We are at our best, though, when our songs are imaginative and witty, and particularly when they’re related to the football and provide real motivation and encouragement to the team on the pitch.

“And that’s why we are firmly of the opinion that we’d be much better off without some of the lame and boring songs about World War Two or the IRA. They’ve got nothing to do with football, and they do nothing to get behind the team.

“Songs about German bombers are out of date, out of touch, and make us look and sound ridiculous.

“It’s over 75 years since the Battle of Britain. The Northern Ireland ceasefire dates back to 1994, and the idea that we need to proclaim our refusal to surrender to a banned terrorist organisation that gave up fighting 23 years ago is frankly tragic.

“Other than chanting which is racist or discriminatory  and therefore illegal, we’re generally believers in freedom of speech, and we don’t  want to see people getting banned.

“But we would really welcome dumping the tedious, prehistoric chanting and replacing it with something inspiring, relevant and football-related instead.”