The order of the day for many Leeds United fans was for the Whites to put in a ‘performance’ and, in doing so, begin to wipe out the blemish that was the horror 20 minutes against Brighton that saw Leeds ship four goals. Thankfully they achieved this against Bolton, a 2-1 Elland Road win being testament to that.
However, a side-story was developing outside the ground as anti-Cellino group TimeToGoMassimo (TTGM) put into practice the latest in their set of ‘crowd-funded’ protests as they aimed to press on with their protests against Massimo Cellino’s ownership and running of the club. Beginning with a lightshow of images projected onto Elland Road’s East Stand, today’s protest fare was much more dramatic in a towed hoarding, a funeral procession and a protest fly-by.
https://www.facebook.com/BBCRadioLeeds/videos/10152982364767824/
Now, whilst it may have been ‘much more dramatic’, that doesn’t mean that it was universally received by Leeds United fans, not at all. Whilst the sentiment of the protest is likely felt by many who follow Leeds United, the manner of some of it hasn’t gone down well today on social media.
Has the ‘coffin protest’ become more of a ‘welcome to a black parade?’
Protests are protests are protests. They live by the profile they create, they grow by the intrigue that they foster and proliferate by the word of mouth they develop. What gives a protest both its power and its impetus is the simple agreement and push given by the vox populi – the voices of those that the protest is intending to reach out to. Protests live and grow by either reaching the specific target audience they set out to capture or by appealing to a broader audience outside of what they are aiming for.
However, protests also die by the notoriety and bad press that they, at times, bring with them. Alienating those that you are wishing to reach out to is never a good idea; it doesn’t add legitimacy to any protest to create a feeling of distaste amongst those that you are wanting onside.
A protest such as the one organised and pushed by TTGM needs the groundswell of support to be growing with it. However, instead, the ‘coffin’ element of it has raised a level of indignant condemnation much more than the impact that the ‘stunt’ generated. To be fair, this ‘shock tactic’ has worked and has been picked up by various national media outlets including national print outlets such as The Mirror, local ones such as the Yorkshire Evening Post and even multi-national corporations such as Sky via their Sky Sports channel – even making it beyond these shores and appearing on such outlets as Italian website L’Unione Sarda.it. In that respect, the media coverage that is, it is ‘mission accomplished’ and on to the next stage.
However, some Leeds fans cannot bring themselves to see the symbolic death of the club, as shown in the fake funeral element of the protest, as anything more than distasteful. Now, you can dismiss views by whatever criterion you wish, but dismissing a view does not mean that said view is neither valid nor meaningful.
Dissenting voices of the vox populi
LM – So to the idiots at Elland Road today not only did you disrespect the steward and his family who lost there son to cancer today, you have ruined the Leeds experience for my friends little boy…He recently lost his mum to cancer, I couldn’t attend today’s game due to having surgey so my friend and his son had our tickets…needless to say the tickets weren’t used as the young boy saw the coffin and broke down”
SD – Sadly the people making these protests are not able to see past their own campaign. The protests will be laughed at by the chairman and long term it’ll have no positive effect on the club. Just more negative media coverage and fans quarelling amongst themselves. Hope they realise they’re a small minority.
AW – The coffin stunt was really inappropriate today. Mainly due to the poor steward who lost his son but from a selfish point of view I took my 5 year old boy today. Massive Leeds fan who has no real grasp on issues we have otber than we play boring football ha. He was confronted with the sight of that bloody coffin and the same time one of the lads carrying it made some joke about Mc being in it. I could just about explain the signage on the van and the fly over but how can you tell a five year old that s group of fans think our club is dead and this is why they chose to use a coffin. I never saw the hearse which I am grateful for. I personally think they have scored a massive own goal today. Which is ironic as it’s usually our players doing that. I am appalled that in the brain storming for the protest they didn’t consider people like me taking young children to the game.
MS – You’re a disgrace if you think organising a mock funeral was funny or clever considering the stewards little boy. Simple as that. You’re a minority and always will be, wasting money to make the club a laughing stock, the same thing you anti Cellino lot claim he does… Hypocrites at their finest!
SC – NOT Clever! NOT Funny! NOT Effective! We’re not exactly telling potential buyers to form an orderly queue are we, & these 6th Form Rag week antics will do NOTHING to encourage the BIG SPEND in the summer we do Desperately need. Yes MC is a fruit loop, of that there can be no doubt, BUT he’s what we’ve got & the Bottom line is WE MUST Back the Team, through Up’s & Downs.
IH – Total disgrace could you not have found another way or another day to parade a coffin outside er when we had just lost a young lad to cancer at 14 whatever your motives or agenda this is in very bad taste and makes us a laughing stock once again it’s time to be what the club is name after UNITED
Protesting a point or poor test of a point?
https://twitter.com/hollybuchan_/status/706180068838608896
The protest, in one way, proved the old point that the end justified the means, what with the intended message being spread much further than the LS11 post code – reaching an international audience. However, acceptance of the protest’s ‘end’ wasn’t universal with a fair number of fans disagreeing with the ‘coffin’ element of it.
Just as the TTGM orchestrators of the protest will likely point out, and have done so at times, they represent what they consider isn’t a minority of Leeds United fans. It is their ‘fan activism’ that they say is challenging and subverting the fan apathy that has grown with the club under the two-year stewardship of Massimo Cellino.
However, a coin has two sides and needs to be recognised as such. Just as the views of the protest organisers shouldn’t be ignored by Leeds United fans, neither should the voices of those who disagree with their actions be derided or their opinions denigrated.
Whichever viewpoint that you have, whichever side you take or even if you lean neither way, as a football club Leeds is becoming less united and more untied. As the pro- and anti-Cellinoistas bite and nip at each other, the famous words of Abraham Lincoln anti-slavery speech come to mind: ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’
At the moment, Leeds United is very much a house divided.
credits: James Hedley (@JDHedleyimages) for use of the photographs (featured and in-text images).
