Father Christmas was called a c*** last Saturday.
This particularly festive incident occurred when Fulham were naive enough to drag cheery Santa Claus along to their supposed friendly match against London neighbours West Ham.
Poor old Santa copped it on the balcony of Fulham’s famous cottage at their cosy West London ground while handing out chocolates to children.
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A four-letter chant was struck up by a noisy and sizable minority among the 3,000 Hammers fans in the Putney End.
It was followed by a brutal chorus of ‘You’re Only Here For The Children’ from the combined voices of the Stratford Male Voice Choir.
For those joining in, it was initially funny in a conspiratorial, teenage kind of way.
But the schoolboy mirth quickly dispersed into the chill December air, replaced by a longer term, deflating realisation that English football is back after the World Cup.
For all its controversies, the month of international football in Qatar passed into history without a single arrest being made for hooliganism. There was no plastic chair throwing, no abusive songs.
But then we had Harry Kane missing a penalty for England. And the reception that awaits him when he makes his comeback for Tottenham.
If big-hearted St. Nicholas can be targeted so easily, what fate awaits the captain of England?
Kane had stuck one spot kick past France keeper and Spurs team-mate Hugo Lloris in a gripping quarter final only to put the second high over the bar.
It was a miss, plain and simple, despite the most senior player in our national team putting his heart and soul into it as he does everything.
You don’t have to like Harry Kane to acknowledge that. He has his faults. He goes over a bit too easily for a start. But there is no doubting the input and the commitment that goes into every second on the pitch whether for club or country.
None of which will count for anything at his first testy match.
There’s a relatively gentle re-introduction away to Brentford on Boxing Day should be comfortable enough at such a small ground with a more reasoned fan base.
But in the first week of January, Tottenham play at home in the FA Cup to Portsmouth - a working class, dockyard club with combative support a bit like West Ham.
There’s a part of me that harbours hope Kane will not be treated to the rabid, inane abuse that feels sadly inevitable after he made a mistake on behalf of the England football team.
Think back to David Beckham’s act of petulance in the 1998 World Cup, getting sent off for a childish kick out at Argentina’s Diego Simeone.
The reaction after that was off the scale with effigies of the England midfielder hung from lampposts as he prepared to face hell on his return to domestic football with Manchester United after that summer’s World Cup.
Extra security was drafted in to protect Beckham when he played at West Ham’s old ground Upton Park. The outrage projected at one man for losing his professionalism for just a split second went beyond reasonable by a long way.
When England fail at big tournaments, as they have done at every one since 1966, there usually has to be someone to blame.
Winking Cristiano Ronaldo in 2006, the referee in 2010 who disallowed Frank Lampard’s goal, Roy Hodgson four years later.
At the Euros final last year it was Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka who copped it for missing penalties - once the full scale riots had finished naturally.
Kane is there for the taking surely?
The fact our fans feel the need to pass the responsibility for another missed opportunity says a lot about our country.
Instead of looking out and absorbing what can be learned from our rivals, eeking out a scapegoat and telling them it’s all their fault.
It’ll probably sound woke to plead for a bit of maturity in the treatment of Kane these next few weeks.
Nobody wants football to become like Wimbledon fortnight when everyone claps everyone and nobody is asking for Kane to be cheered from the rafters everywhere he goes.
But as the UK & Ireland prepare a joint bid to host the Euros in 2028 it might be a wise move to consider growing up a bit and showing that this country can appreciate the efforts of its sports stars even when they cock it up.
Then again it might be easier believing in Father Christmas.
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