Let me start by making the obvious point that the details of what happened on Saturday 7 December are not known. There will be very few people who really know the chain of events that led to the death of Nathan Shaw. We should all hope that the police investigation and subsequent trial will establish the facts and that justice will be done. In the meantime, without knowledge, and pending that trial, it is not proper to speculate about events.
I should also, once again, offer my condolences to the victim's family and friends. A terrible thing has happened, and no words can soften the blow.
Nevertheless, this is, I feel, an appropriate time to ponder the consequences of this tragedy for Burnley and Burnley supporters. I must admit that, after shock, my next reaction was despair. After everything else, not this too. The reputation of the town and the football club is already low. Efforts to raise the town and team’s standing are now freshly set back.
Much of this is perception, it’s true, and it is chiefly perception that concerns me here. We might not agree with the perceptions people hold, but we have to acknowledge that people will hold them, and be prepared to challenge those people, with reason. While we know that the reality is more complex, many people will now regard Burnley as a dangerous place to go and its supporters as dangerous people to encounter. That is the perception that will have been fostered by a sequence of events - events which are not necessarily connected, but which together leave a powerful impression. It's perhaps trivial, but exiles can illustrate this. The reaction you get now when people know you come from Burnley is different from a couple of years ago.
As Burnley supporters, perceptions of Burnley will affect us. Whether we like it or not, and certainly regardless of whether we think it’s true, we have to accept that in the minds of many, Burnley will now be on a level with Cardiff or Millwall. Burnley – that’s the racist, violent town where a football supporter got killed, isn’t it?
As supporters, we are already encountering this perception. There are plenty of anecdotal stories of Burnley supporters being called murderers this past week. I suppose we are going to have to expect this, in the same way that, following the riots and the BNP votes, it became a handy insult to label Burnley supporters as racist. On lowest common denominator message boards and in chants, this is what we'll get. It’s sometimes difficult to react with dignity, but dignity is what is called for.
We know that the reality is there are Burnley supporters who are the nicest people you could meet, just as there are brain donors who follow the fortunes of 71 other Football League clubs. It’s just that not many of those clubs have a reputation as bad as Burnley’s at the moment. We’re forced, then, onto our best behaviour. We’re required to be cleaner than clean, because we have something to prove.
Perceptions are important because in some ways they will shape the reality. How people see us will determine how people treat us. If Burnley are thought of as a public order problem, we can expect to be treated as a public order problem. We can expect heavier handed policing and greater restrictions on our freedom of movement. We may find ourselves banned from more grounds. We are already banned from Millwall. It would not be surprising if we were to be banned from Forest.
Then a precedent will have been set. What would there be then to stop further bans being extended for potential flashpoint fixtures?
The fall out affects us. The perception creates the reality. Burnley supporters are yobs, so Burnley supporters will be treated as yobs. This then creates injustice, resentment, reaction. We will be treated unfairly, which offers a convenient excuse for unrest. I fear a spiral of bad behaviour, leading to rough policing, leading to further bad behaviour.
And perception creates the reality because, if Burnley are 'known' to be yobs, the opposition's yobs take an interest. Our visit becomes a test of strength. Our reputation precedes us, and helps to create more situations where we can prove our reputation. At the same time, people who're too young or too dim or just too bored to know better are attracted to join our gang. If you want to attract yobs, get a reputation for being a club supported by yobs.
That's the gloomy scenario, anyway: that we drift into a cycle where violence breeds violence and little by little we get used to having the same reputation, and being met with the same treatment, as supporters of Cardiff and Millwall.
It's possible, however, to imagine a more optimistic scenario where this young man's death becomes a low point from which things improve. Again, it's wrong to speculate about what went on, but is it too much to hope that what happened will shock some of the yobs to their senses? They thought they were playing some kind of game defined by a hazy code of conduct, inept websites and an expensive and naff uniform. According to yobs who try to justify themselves, it's all ritual these days and no one really gets hurt. Huh.
Beyond that, it's over to the rest of us now. It falls to us to demonstrate that most Burnley fans are okay. Most Burnley supporters are, as it happens, like most other supporters. We shouldn't have to prove that, but now I think we have to. We have to show we're not scum. We must strive to create a good impression of Burnley.
It's down to us to make efforts to reach out to the opposition and show we don't all have horns. How do we do this? How can we make people feel welcome in Burnley? How can we find opportunities to socialise with opposition fans at away games? How can we prove that there's more to Burnley than racism and violence?
As southern-based exiles, we're lucky, because we often come into contact with supporters of the team Burnley are playing. All our clubs are members of an association - APFSCIL - for exiled supporters, and there are regular opportunities to meet. Economic necessities and the unpopularity of Burnley as an away match venue happen to bring us together; we often have one or two supporters of the team we're playing joining our organised trip from London to Turf Moor. Whatever the reason, this gives us an opportunity to encounter the opposition, realise what we have in common - and so many of us support clubs facing identical problems - and even, on the way home, once the passion of the afternoon has died down, talk about the day's game.
That said, I also have to admit that I've always rather enjoyed the confrontational element of football. I like the banter that goes on between rival fans, when it's creative and funny, and enjoy the atmosphere of a match where two sets of supporters have something to shout about. But maybe it's time to grow up. Maybe it's time to play down rivalries and not assume we're superior to anyone else. If this sounds a little hair-shirted, then perhaps it's because I think a little humility is what we need right now.
Is it too much to hope that we might begin to try to understand the opposition? The other lot aren't from another planet. They're just like us, but born in a different place. I'm struggling to express this, but perhaps it's time for the culture of confrontation that surrounds football to change. Perhaps what we need is a greater understanding of what we have in common with the opposition. It isn't necessarily about boozing, as some people rather hastily concluded, but rather about an oafish culture which delights in its own blinkered nature.
Perhaps we need to cut down on the abuse in the ground. Perhaps we need to expend our energies on supporting our team instead of verbally sparring with the opposition. Perhaps we need to make this game of ours less confrontational. I don't know the answers, but I'm forced to question the basis on which I've watched games and backed the team in the past. We need attitudes to shift. We need less hate.
The irony is that the reaction to this trouble is likely to be stricter measures to keep Burnley supporters away from the opposition. I would suggest that it is more contact that is needed, not less.
I've dwelled on perception here because that seems an appropriate reaction to this event. Just look at the message boards. Supporters of every club have been shocked by what happened and have reacted to it, often with hostility towards Burnley. There are supporters of every club who will, as a result of this, have formed the opinion that Burnley and its supporters are to be avoided, although I should say I've been heartened by the reaction of Forest supporters, many of whom have been quick to express the view that Burnley supporters as a whole are not to blame.
In focussing on the perception, however, let me make clear that I am not one of those people who deny there is a problem. We do have hooligans. Obviously it's important here to repeat that I don't know the circumstances of Nathan Shaw's death, and ahead of the trial cannot speculate about them here. But Preston away convinced me the problem is real.
That evening I saw a potential for serious disorder. A lawless element dominated the away end and caused unrest. While there has always been a yob element in Burnley's support, what I saw then was different: that element was visible, cohesive and it seemed to be growing.
The supporters can, of course, play a part in dealing with this. I love this club, and I guess if you're reading this you do too, and I'm assuming we're not prepared to see a minority drag this great club into the gutter. That said, I'm sympathetic for anyone who doesn't see why their day out should include standing up to hooligans. Ultimately people go to football matches in the hope of enjoying themselves. They don't go in the hope of having an argument with a yob.
The supporters can play their part, but it must be in co-operation with the club, police and stewards. I urge Burnley Football Club to call a meeting - whatever happened to our once regular meetings? - between club, supporters' representatives and the police. We need to work out what roles we can each play to control hooliganism. Supporters can take a stance at the ground, but they need to know that the stewards will back them rather than turn a blind eye for the sake of a quiet life. In any case, we know that outside the ground is where it matters, and there the police need to act sensitively. We need firm policing, but one that distinguishes between the hooligans and the soft targets. We can help the police to avoid mistakes and pick out the real yobs. How do we get them to listen to us?
As individual supporters, there are some easy things you can do. This is going to sound like self-interest, but why not join a supporters' club? There is usually one near you, and they give you a chance to feed views to Burnley FC, and generally try to support Burnley in positive ways. I can't speak for them all, but this club tries to give a good account of Burnley and its supporters, and will not tolerate hooliganism amongst its members. You can join the 'I Support Burnley' campaign of the Clarets Mad website. This is a supporter-led initiative which is giving Burnley supporters the chance to say that they are opposed to racism and violence, and to show that they are not alone in doing so. I believe this campaign has the potential to turn into a mass movement of people publicly taking a stance - but only if many more of you join up. These are small steps, but they will count if enough of us take them.
There must, admittedly, be more than this. I don't pretend to have all the answers. That's why we need a meeting and a debate where we can sort these things out and plan. For starters, though, we do need to admit that we have a problem, and to back actions that are taken to address that problem. There is no point sticking our heads in the sand about this. At the same time, we do need to demonstrate that there are other aspects to Burnley than our hooligan minority. Let us go on from here to showcase what is good about Burnley and its supporters, and to start making friends out there.
