Stars turn their backs on respect

Showing the bad side: Ashley Cole turned his back on referee Mike Riley after a booking at Tottenham

13 April 2012

Shock new figures today highlight the lack of respect London's footballers are showing towards referees.

At a time when on-pitch behaviour has never been so scrutinised, the 2008 London Football Report reveals that 67 per cent of the capital's fans witnessed a player from their club confronting an official in an "unacceptable manner" last season.

The figures appear to justify the Football Association's "Respect" campaign, which was launched earlier this year to target the shameful abuse of referees.

Standard Sport's fourth annual survey also highlights fans' concerns about players cheating and the rising cost of going to matches.

More than 2,800 fans took part in last month's poll - undertaken by research company Football Fans Census - with a minimum representation of 100 from each of the capital's 14 professional clubs. The results will be published in two parts, starting today with the fans' verdict on four major talking points - player behaviour, pricing, racism and hooliganism.

Tomorrow, part two features approval ratings for London's managers and chairmen, plus an in-depth look at the clubs the fans love to hate.

Player Behaviour

The FA launched their "Respect" campaign shortly before the Cole-Riley encounter but that did not stop Liverpool's Javier Mascherano sparking more controversy by embarking on a running battle with Steve Bennett to earn a red card against Manchester United.

London fans are clearly fed up with such antics. Deliberately asked about their own team to get a more accurate result, 67 per cent recalled "a player from their club protesting to a match official in a manner they believed was unacceptable".

A staggering 18 per cent confessed to seeing such clashes more than 10 times last season. When broken down by club, 91 per cent of Chelsea fans admitted their players were guilty at least once. That was the highest score in London ahead of Arsenal (74 per cent) and Leyton Orient (69 per cent).

Some 76 per cent of fans recalled an incident "where a player from their club deliberately dived to win a free-kick or penalty". This is a one per cent increase on last year and the highest since the survey began.

Diving was most apparent at Spurs (88 per cent), Arsenal (87 per cent) and Chelsea (85 per cent) while the best-behaved players were at Dagenham & Redbridge and Barnet (both 50 per cent).

Pricing

Taking into account ticket prices and other key expenses such as transport, merchandise and refreshments, the average cost for adults went up at every London club last season.

It equated to an overall rise of 5.5 per cent. On the face of it, this figure doesn't sound too outlandish but, when last year's astonishing 22 per cent hike is taken into account, it is clear fans are still being hit hard in the pocket.

Chelsea is the most expensive day out, with a trip to Stamford Bridge breaking through the £100 barrier. It now costs adult Blues an average of £102 per match.

Despite freezing ticket prices for a second successive season at Emirates Stadium, the cost of going to Arsenal has risen from £89 to £92 a match. Spurs and West Ham were also more expensive for fans after both raised admission prices for the start of 2007-08 campaign, but the biggest Premier League hike in London was at Fulham where fans reported a 9.8 per cent increase.

Queens Park Rangers fans were hit with a 15.6 per cent rise which is set to be higher next season after the club's new owners, Flavio Briatore and Bernie Ecclestone, announced season tickets are going up by as much as 36 per cent.

As Standard Sport reported last week, Rangers are one of seven London clubs raising prices for their most loyal followers.

The report also asked fans if the cost of tickets would put them off going to games or renewing their season tickets. Six per cent revealed they would not be renewing and 15 per cent claimed they would be attending fewer games. In total, 73 per cent said ticket prices were too high.

Broken down by club, West Ham (10 per cent) and Fulham (9 per cent) are threatened with the largest exodus of season-ticket holders due to prohibitive costs.

A further 24 per cent of Hammers fans said cost meant they planned to attend fewer games next season, the largest figure in that category ahead of Chelsea (20 per cent), Spurs (18 per cent) and Arsenal (16 per cent).

Racism and hooliganism

The problem of hooliganism in London has also not gone away. Reports of trouble in and around grounds rose from 17 per cent to 23 per cent this year.

For the third year in a row, QPR were the worst club for hooligan incidents (48 per cent from 30 per cent last year), followed by Orient (46 per cent) and Palace (42 per cent).