Portsmouth and former England defender Sol Campbell caused great debate among football pundits over the Christmas period after he called a BBC Radio show to complain about the abuse that players receive from fans at football matches. He said "If this happened on the street, you would be arrested. This is a human rights situation, where sportsmen and managers are trying to do their job professionally and people are abusing them verbally. It has gone too far".

Much of that is impossible to argue with. Fans frequently do get arrested on the street for abusive behaviour, and abuse targetted at professionals doing their job is a sickly sight in modern society. But, no matter how much journalists pontificate on the nasty depths to which football fans will sink for a song, this kind of outburst isn't going to change the mind of any football fan. In fact, Campbell can probably expect extra songs and chants aimed in his direction from ruthless supporters who aren't willing to accept the merits of his sensitive appeal. As a fan myself, I understand exactly why this call will fall on deaf ears. The fact is that football is more than just a game; it holds deep and complex meanings for communities in many countries like England; and 'footballers' and 'fans' cannot simply be reduced to the respective equivalents of 'professionals' and 'customers' when it is convenient to do so.

Campbell may superficially think or claim that all he does is kick a ball around a field, but tens of millions of men around the world do not dedicate their lives to following football for such simple reasons. The football stadium is a theatre where dramas are played out among familiar and unfamiliar characters, including good guys, bad guys and outright villains. (If anyone has the right to complain about abuse, it's the referee: he takes abuse from both sets of fans, the players, and the media, without generous financial compensation, or the chance to wallow in the cheers or praise that follow a goal or a victory). Just as an audience will boo a pantomime villain, so fans can boo players and officials. But football is a very different kind of leisure pursuit than theatre-going because of the complex nature of what it means to support a club. Real football fans associate their club (and/or national team) with their own identity so strongly that the on-field fortunes of their team have direct emotional effects. This is no slapstick comedy for children. To paraphrase the great Bill Shankly: football isn't a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that.