Why England football fans have turned on Keir Starmer
'Not long after Labour won in 1997 England won Le Tournoi. It's coming home,' one member of the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC) wrote on its official Facebook group.
That the post attracted dozens of laughter emojis and comments such as 'every cloud I suppose' suggested hopes were not high the party's landslide general election victory would usher in a new golden age for the UK.
At the same time, there was no sign of any open hostility from England 's most loyal fans towards Labour or its leader.
That all changed dramatically on Saturday when many of the 7,000 of them who attended the country's 1-0 World Cup qualifying win against Andorra loudly and repeatedly branded Starmer a 'c---' and 'w----r'.
Never before had a Prime Minister been singled out for that scale of abuse at a football match. Not Margaret Thatcher after the Poll Tax, Tony Blair after the Iraq War, Boris Johnson after 'Partygate' or Liz Truss after she 'crashed the economy'.
Exactly why Starmer was targeted on Saturday is known only to those who took part in the chanting, but the game was played weeks after he lost his first by-election since becoming Prime Minister – as well as scores of seats in local government – to Nigel Farage's Reform UK.
It also took place days after the Prime Minister signed a deal with the European Union that political opponents called a 'betrayal' of Brexit and the crossing of the channel by 1,200 migrants in small boats across a single day.
'Reform have got themselves elected on immigration'
Among those at Saturday's match was Simon Harris, a veteran member of the ESTC who was also, until recently, a Conservative member of Shropshire Council.
Harris, who has followed England home and away for more than a quarter of a century, told Telegraph Sport he did not hear the abuse of Starmer and had not spoken to anyone involved.
But the 67-year-old, a 'one-nation' Tory who voted Remain in the EU referendum, said that much of the England fanbase was pro-Brexit.
He also acknowledged Starmer's ongoing failure to 'Smash the gangs' responsible for small-boat crossings would not have gone unnoticed by those who had put up 'Stop the Boats' stickers in Germany during Euro 2024.
'When the tide goes out, the immigration thing, it's what Reform have got themselves basically elected on,' Harris added.
Watching Saturday's match on television was Richard Caborn, the Labour sports minister for six years in the Blair government.
He speculated the reason behind the chanting may have been either the 'rise of Reform or right-wing nationalism coming back into play', adding: 'We've had the National Front and all them who've tried to infiltrate football.'
Indeed, footage was posted to social media before Saturday's game purporting to show England fans in a bar in Spain serenading far-right firebrand Tommy Robinson.
Downing Street did not respond to requests for comment on why it thought Starmer had been targeted, while Farage told Telegraph Sport simply: 'I have never known a Prime Minister viewed with such contempt by working people.'
Unrest over Starmer's EU deal and small-boat crossings are not the only possible reasons for Saturday's chanting about a Prime Minister who took office four days after Jude Bellingham's dramatic overhead kick rescued England from one of their worst ever defeats.
Their Euro 2024 last-16 victory against Slovakia ensured a dream start to the job for arguably the most committed football supporter ever to become Prime Minister.
Diehard Arsenal supporter Starmer had made his fandom a key plank of his election campaign and he continued to exploit it during England's march to the tournament's final.
After their quarter-final penalty shoot-out win over Switzerland, he joked they had 'not missed a penalty under a Labour Government in 2024'.
He was photographed watching their last-gasp semi-final win over the Netherlands during a Nato summit in Washington.
And he attended the final against Spain, raising hopes of a Bank Holiday if England ended their near 60-year wait for a major trophy – which they did not.
A Euro 2024 triumph was always unlikely to buy Starmer an extended honeymoon given the Southport stabbings that followed days later and the riots that ensued. This violence led to him being branded 'two-tier Keir' by Elon Musk over allegations white protestors were being treated more harshly than minorities by the police.
#TwoTierKeir
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2024
The summer had not yet finished when news first broke of what became known as the Labour freebies scandal.
It was later reported that Starmer had accepted more than £107,145 worth of gifts, benefits and hospitality since the previous General Election in 2019 – including tickets to Arsenal matches and concerts by Taylor Swift and Coldplay. That is two-and-a-half times more than any other MP during the same period.
His use of the directors' box at the Emirates Stadium after becoming Prime Minister caused particular controversy, a move he defended by arguing it would cost the taxpayer more in security for him to sit in his normal seat.
With many seeing Labour's landslide election win as less of an endorsement of Labour and more an indictment of Tory sleaze, the freebies scandal could hardly have been a worse start to life in Number 10 for Starmer.
It has been followed by the likes of further rows and protests over two-tier policing and sentencing, an inheritance tax raid on farmers and the removal of winter fuel payments to pensioners.
Even moves by Starmer to prevent a repeat of the European Super League debacle that caused one of the biggest ever revolts by English football fans has become mired in controversy. An investigation has been launched into accusations of cronyism against Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's proposed choice to lead the game's new independent regulator.
All this and more could be among the reasons England supporters engaged in anti-Starmer chanting less than a year since he took office.
'He needs to convince them he's doing a good job'
How much the Prime Minister needs to worry about that with another four years to go until the next general election – after England co-host the next Euros in 2028 – is even more open to debate.
These are the same group of fans, after all, who continue to sing 'No Surrender' in the national anthem more than a quarter of a century after the Good Friday Agreement and chant 'Ten German Bombers' following Thomas Tuchel's appointment as England manager.
They also unveiled a new song during Saturday's match about Germany having 'never won a war' and, by the end of what was a dull game, were chanting 'Ian, Ian, Ian' at Andorra defender Ian Olivera.
Harris said Starmer should be most concerned about the views of those members of the fanbase who had not abused him on Saturday, particularly those who would have once been seen as traditional Labour or working-class Tory voters.
'I think he needs to win them,' he said. 'The centre, which is Keir Starmer, needs to win and convince those people that he's doing a good job. I don't think that is happening.'
He added: 'I think he does have a problem. I think all centrist politicians have a problem at the moment. And I think what you may be seeing is a sort of reaction to that and that sense of disengagement which people have got.'
Caborn warned it would be wrong to overplay how much those involved on Saturday represented the wider football fanbase, never mind the country at large, but he did say that Starmer should have concerns about his standing among England supporters.
'A Prime Minister that didn't would not be serious,' he said. 'You always take these things seriously and you want to find what the root causes are.'
Stressing why football was so important to governments, he added: 'They see that is where their constituency is. It's as simple as that, in my view. What is it Bill Shankly said? Life, death and football.'
Asked if Starmer would have a real cause to worry if Saturday's chanting spread to the wider fanbase during England's friendly against Senegal at Nottingham Forest's City Ground on Tuesday night, Caborn replied: 'Absolutely, yeah.'
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