The original Welsh wizard, Billy Meredith, the mercurial talisman of Manchester rivals United and City, was once described by The Manchester Guardian newspaper as having such incredible ball control and trickery that the matches he played every Saturday 'were his (Meredith's) one means of communion with his fellow men.'
His breaking bread with fanatical followers is now stuff of legend - an early example of public relations nous or a natural response from a man so revered that his transfer between local rivals failed to affect his legendary status as darling of the beautiful game? As much as the current crop of runts-of-the-litter wannabees and 'gonna-bes' lend themselves to immediate cynical judgment and condemnation, at the turn of the century, football was played by gentlemen with a sparkle in their boots more so than a glint in their eye. They still had chinks in their armor back in the early 1900s though one must argue that nowhere was it as sharp, formal and immoral as is so prevalent in the modern arena. Meredith was famous for chatting to spectators as the action unfolded on the other side of the pitch but was also implicated in a match-fixing scandal for which he received a two-year ban.
I began thinking of Billy Meredith upon watching the footage of David Beckham's recent confrontation with a group of supporters who attended LA Galaxy's friendly with Milan. Clearly unhappy with the Englisman's loan spell with the Rossenieri, fans of theMLS franchise booed Beckham every time he touched the ball and proudly displayed signs that read - "Go Home Fraud" and "23: Repent", "Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here after You, Here Despite You" and my personal favourite, "Is evil something u are ... or something u do?" As the half-time whistle went, Beckham headed for the vocal band of supporters with a degree of purpose not seen in the player since his now infamous flick-out at Argentine Diego Simeone in Saint-Etienne back in the summer of 1998. He gestured toward one man in the crowd, easily interpreted as 'why don't you come down here and say that to me?', which our merry friend duly did with both a steely eye and rather surprisingly, agility akin to that of a cat. And then security came.
It was nice to see Beckham behave in a manner easily related to. Long since diluted and churned out as a key player in the bland, robotic arm of world football's public relations and marketing department, Beckham finally appeared to behave like an actual human-being. Many will insist that in the situation, he should've turned his head, his cheek and irrational thinking and simply trooped off but many have never found themselves in the same scenario. Sometimes, idiots need to be treated with the derision they deserve and in this case, an idiot wearing a baseball cap back to front should feel the brunt of extra retribution. Like the Cantona incident at Selhurst Park fourteen years ago, many players feel that an eye-for-an-eye response goes a long way to potentially eradicating the virus of disgusting and over-the-line verbal abuse, most notably inflammatory comments relating to ones family, sexuality or personal loss.
Do I think Beckham should've hit him? That depends on what the guy said because if 'supporters' think they have a God-given right to come to a football game, or any type of public display be it sporting or otherwise, and hurl vindictive and hurtful abuse at another individual, they should be made an example of. And I don't mean ejected from the arena and handed a ban for twelve months. These parasites will never learn, clearly displayed by Galaxy 'supporters' interviewed minutes after the incident. One 'fan' actually says 'We boo a lot of players - they don't come out and challenge our guys' before another man, calls Beckham 'stupid' for 'calling out a drunk fan'. He continues by outlining that Beckham is a professional and should've kept himself under control. And right there lies the problem - how dare a footballer react to abuse from a brainless group of stereotypical US sports fans - clueless but ruthless owing to their genetic self-belief that everything they speak is the truth.
If these 'supporters' were asked why they were abusing David Beckham, many would say that it's because of the lack of respect he has paid to the LA Galaxy owing to his loan move to AC Milan. I've got my own thoughts on the Beckham commodity and there's not enough space here to go into it but suffice to say that I think that the experiment hasn't worked and Beckham knows it - the effect the move has had on him as a player is worrying and even short stints training with Arsenal and five months with AC Milan renders a bigger debate - that a country's relationship with a sport cannot be traced to the introduction and subsequent role of one player. It's a short-sighted and unimaginative solution to a problem that's been in existence now since the World Cup of 1994. And if MLS chiefs believe that Beckham, Juan Pablo Angel, Temoc Blanco et al are well-placed to co-exist in a mundane and colourless environment, they really are in dire need of re-evaluating things. The real heroes of the MLS in its current state are players like Kenny Cooper, Ricardo Clarke and Conor Casey - guys who the League should be marketed around. Though it's inevitable that the continued over-reliance on NASL-type big player/big-money transfers and media hooplas is thought of as a necessary evil in order to attract attention and investment. But, the MLS needs to back itself more and have faith in its ability. Sooner rather than later, the US are going to get to the quarter-finals of a World Cup and a conveyer belt of talent will continue to grow as football develops amongst the glitterati of leafy subarbia and taps into the political sphere of 'soccer-Moms'.
Where, you may be asking, does Billy Meredith fit into this diatribe? Well, English League football during his time centred around local figures, loved and appreciated by respected clubs' supporters, no matter what jersey they wore. It was a thread that continued into post-War Wembley days out - the likes of Stan Mortensen and Stanley Matthews were beloved by football fans in general while the outpouring of widespread emotion following the Munich Air Crash was a reflection on how appreciated Busby's Babes were on a country-wide scale. It was really only the political tension of the late 70s and early 80s that pushed hooliganism to an obscene level and paved the way for modern day howling and arms-wide remembrance of the '58 disaster by Manchester City fans as well as 14 year old boys being charged with homophobic abuse aimed at Sol Campbell as well as the incredible ignorance to racism in Spain, as perpretated in the direction of Thierry Henry, Emile Heskey and Lewis Hamilton.
So as much as Meredith nattered to supporters when his side were on the defensive, I wonder how he'd react to the current impasse between players and supporters? He abhorred the influence of money within the game and took a leading role in the formation of the Player's Union but something tells me that he wouldn't have simply stood to one side if a fan aimed some venomous comment in his direction. He'd take the tooth-pick out of his mouth and respond with a clever quip before spending the rest of the game weaving and slaloming down the wing, safe in the knowledge that the game needed him more than he needed the game. Remind you of someone?
