Why Premier League fans are so angry

Telegraph

5 hours ago

So how was the opening weekend of the Premier League for you? Did you actually enjoy it? From Friday night's kick-off at Anfield to the final whistle at Elland Road on Monday evening, it was contentious, controversial and, in the case of the alleged racial abuse of Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo, disgusting.
It was also angry and stressful. That now seems to be a significant factor in the experience of most football fans. Victory is a relief; defeat a disaster. It appears like the blame game never ends and the whataboutery goes on and on. Whatever happened to football being a release away from everyday life?
We pine for three months for the Premier League to return and then when it does, how much fun is there in it? At times it feels like what happens on the pitch is a sideshow. The Premier League remains brilliant, but it has baggage. So here is just a taste of some of the things that occurred in the first round of matches:
An exciting opening game between Liverpool and Bournemouth was overshadowed by a racism allegation against a fan, with the match temporarily halted.
Newcastle United and Aston Villa fans united in protest over profitability and sustainability rules, branding the Premier League 'corrupt as f---'.
Newcastle supporters sung about wantaway star forward Alexander Isak being 'one greedy b-----d' as he refused to play for them, while wanting an attacker (Yoane Wissa) who is refusing to play for Brentford to join them.
Crystal Palace, already furious at Nottingham Forest and Uefa, were angered by the PGMOL pedantically enforcing a little-known, and usually ignored, rule to disallow a potentially match-winning goal by Eberechi Eze in what looked like his last appearance for the club.
Manchester City supporters continued to boo not just the Uefa anthem for European nights but, also, the Premier League theme because of the ongoing investigation into alleged financial irregularities. It is now two years and seven months since that started.
Leeds United fans joined in and booed the Premier League anthem because, presumably, it affects the atmosphere at their ground... even though they were desperate to return back to the Premier League. They also booed not just Everton's Jack Grealish but one of their own, Brenden Aaronson, when he came on as substitute.
And to round it all off, Everton manager David Moyes declared that referees had a poor weekend ahead of his team's game against Leeds, only to lose to a controversial penalty incident which left everyone arguing over what is the rule on handball. Former player Chris Sutton called the decision a 'scandal'.
And breathe. We have had just 10 matches – which include the disagreement over whether Arsenal's winning goal away to Manchester United should have stood – with only the 370 left to go.
Usually, the Premier League as an entity thrives on all this noise and hype. After all there is only one thing worse than being talked about all the time, and that is not being talked about.
But this is not debate. This is, quite often, fury. And these are testing times for the Premier League, which increasingly comes in for constant criticism from what appears to be every quarter.
The coverage plays its part. Watching football, especially on Sky Sports, has itself become a stressful experience. Every incident is micro-analysed and often followed by damning verdicts, with the broadcasters clipping up what the pundits say and claiming, for example, on their social media that Roy Keane and Micah Richards 'trade blows' as they argue over whether United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir was at fault for Arsenal's goal.
"Micah, this is big boy stuff!"
Roy Keane and Micah Richards trade blows over Altay Bayındır's decision-making for Arsenal's goal... 😬 pic.twitter.com/6B0Cb5NpCH
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 17, 2025
The pair are friends. They get on well. This was just a bit of pantomime. There is certainly no animosity, even if it is hyped up as such – and neither did they 'trade blows', although is that the next step?
The language used has just become far too extreme, and that is before considering the damning verdicts delivered.
But that is less important than what it all means for the Premier League, the self-styled biggest and best league in the world, which has brought the noise but is suddenly finding a lot of that noise directed back at itself.
And then there is high prices, loyal season-ticket holders feeling like they are being squeezed out and unwanted. The Premier League admitted last week that more matches will have to be rescheduled at short notice, due to so many teams being in Europe and therefore so many more games. Once again, that will affect the match-going supporter.
In June, Deloitte warned that English football was 'under strain', despite being a booming industry as it struggled to balance out the push for further commercial growth, with the needs of the supporters and – dare it be said – being a community asset.
That strain is everywhere in the game and in every aspect. We fuel it ourselves with the attention we heap upon it, but the concern is the level of discontent that appears to be so close to the surface and so rapidly triggered: from those who play it to those who watch it.