Tottenham condemns homophobic chanting by Spurs fans at Stamford Bridge

Tottenham Hotspur issued a strongly worded official statement condemning its own fans on Thursday, after multiple incidents of homophobic chanting from away supporters at Stamford Bridge were reported Wednesday evening. The incidents took place during Spurs’ 2-0 loss to Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinals.

The Club is extremely disappointed by homophobic chanting from sections of our support at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

We work closely with our LGBTQ+ fan group Proud Lilywhites to create a welcoming and inclusive environment at our Club and are proud to display the Progress Flag in our stadium on matchdays.

No one should suffer discrimination because of their sexual orientation and/or their gender identity, and we urge supporters not to use this chant.

Homophobic chanting at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium should be reported by texting HPH and location details to 07537 404821. At other stadia, it should be reported to the nearest steward or via the home club’s reporting number.

There is no place for discrimination at Tottenham Hotspur.

—Club Statement, Tottenham Hotspur

Segments of Tottenham’s away support section were heard repeating variants of the “Chelsea rentboys” chant, an especially pernicious homophobic chant that has been levied at Chelsea fans for decades.

It’s still strange to me that in the Year of Our Lord 2022 we are still writing articles about how bad actors within segments of Tottenham fandom are ruining things for everyone else, but here we are. It’s doubly strange that a club with a fanbase so inextricably tied to a minority group that itself suffers regular abuse would be so blinded as to try to inflict abuse on a different minority group.

Proud Lilywhites, Tottenham’s officially recognized LGBT+ supporters group, said it better (and likely much nicer) than I ever could:

It goes without saying that, on behalf of the staff at Cartilage Free Captain, we stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ+ siblings in condemnation of these hurtful incidents. My heart is sad this morning, and it’s difficult to reconcile that for all the progress we have made on LGBTQ+ issues over the past number of years, there’s still so much further to go.