King Galoot
Football bad-boy Marlon King is out of jail and looking for a new club. QPR boss Neil Warnock is casting an eye over the lanky ‘hit’ man but QPR’s fans are not amused, so much so that they have started an online petition to stop their club signing the out-of-work striker.
King just finished serving a 9 month sentence for assaulting a woman in a Soho (London) nightclub, but this wasn’t King’s first offense: the player has been in and out of trouble before, most notably in ’03 and again in ’05 when he spat at a woman and chased two others down a street with a belt buckle wrapped across his knuckles.
While a Guardian article today by John Ashdown says that King has served his time and should be handed a second chance, I can see where Hoops fans are coming from, as I wouldn’t want this guy playing for my team for a number of reasons.
First, football fans are fiercely loyal and once a player joins your team, he is yours and to be supported as such, something QPR fans feel uncomfortable doing given King’s disgusting and criminal behavior on more than one occasion.
The other side of this is the that fans fear King’s influence and effect on other players in the dressing room: will his love of booze and bad behavior rub off and ruin the chemistry of their squad, hampering chances of success?
This isn’t the first time a player has seen a move fall through after bad behavior, in 05 Birmingham fans were outraged that their club wanted to sign Lee Bowyer, a player who has seen his fair share of ‘off the field’ antics. Bowyer was convicted for affray in ’96 after an incident in a McDonald’s where an Asian employee was racially abused and chairs were thrown.
In 2000, Bowyer was charged with grievous bodily harm after a street altercation in Leeds that left an Asian lad with horrible injuries. If you are a Birmingham fan, from an area with a large Asian community, would you want Bowyer at your club? Bowyer did finally join Birmingham 4 years later in 2009.
When Lee Hughes was released from Prison, after killing a man with reckless driving, there was plenty of debate as fans of various clubs across the country made their feelings clear about him joining their team.
In 2008, when Matty Pattison was pulled over in his car by the Police, drunk in his underpants, Norwich fans were appalled and glad to see the back of him when he was handed a transfer.
QPR supporters feel that to allow King into their fold is to accept him and endorse his behavior and I can understand that, for many footy fans, their local team should reflect their morals and values as it represents them and the area they come from and live in.
It’s territorial, yes but that’s the way it is, a very different scenario to other sports in other countries like the U.S, where several states support one team. In England, every town has a team, and regardless of whether they’re in the Premier League or in League Two, that team thrives and survives on local support. The message is clear: represent the local community, its people and its history.
Win or lose, people are proud of where they are from. It’s in their blood, handed down generation after generation, and they expect their local club to be in tune with their opinions and beliefs, respecting them accordingly. Owners come and go but the people of these towns and cities will be there for the long haul, and so will their children’s children.
Not to mention that outside of mega-teams like Manchester United and Chelsea, the fans are key. Every dime that rolls in is vital to the running of the club and every bum on every seat counts, unlike a giant franchise of the Yankees’ ilk, where empty seats are of no concern in the grand scheme of things and fans’ opinions are completely irrelevant.
If enough Hoops fans are unhappy, then King will be passed on, whether he deserves a second chance or not.
