Everton will continue to advertise charity foodbanks on the Goodison Park scoreboard as a direct response to opposition fans’ ‘poverty chanting’, after it was praised on social media this weekend.
Following similar chanting during the previous matches against Manchester United and Newcastle at Goodison Park, Everton had engaged with the fans’ advisory board and fans’ forum to discuss what could be done.
In a planned move, it was decided the message of ‘fans supporting foodbanks’ would be displayed on the big screen inside the stadium whenever the chants – such as “Feed the Scousers” and “sign on” – were heard in Sunday’s Premier League match against Chelsea.
They are songs specifically aimed at Everton and Liverpool fans by rival supporters mocking Merseysiders around the theme of unemployment.
In total, the message flashed up three times during Everton’s 2-0 win over Chelsea – the first coming after just 34 seconds – and the club said this will continue throughout the season.
Fans Supporting Foodbanks is a joint initiative by Everton fan group Blue Union and Liverpool’s Spirit of Shankly in the city and Everton said on social media it was “proud” of the “vital” work being done in their communities.
Fans Supporting Foodbanks said: “A club and its fan base standing together as one. It’s not big or smart to chant about poverty and food insecurity.”
Goals from Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin gave the Toffees the victory and after the opening goal, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said: “Delighted Everton have gone in front after the nonsense getting sung by the Chelsea fans.”
Natalie Smith, an Everton fan from Liverpool who was at the match, told the BBC’s Newsbeat program: “I thought it was brilliant by Everton Football Club to put the picture up. I think the right way to respond to it was to raise awareness.”
The move was backed by other fans in the city too. Dan Morgan, a Liverpool fan, said he had experienced the “very dated, very unfunny, very boring” chants following his team “in stadiums up and down the country”.
“I don’t think it’s something you can just say is just fair game in terms of tribalism and how supporters communicate to each other,” he added.
“It’s really sad to hear the chants on Thursday from the Newcastle supporters and then hearing it again on Sunday from the Chelsea supporters,” said Liverpool West Derby MP and Fans Supporting Foodbanks campaign co-founder Ian Byrne.
“We’ve been going for eight years now, and we’ve done lots of work with Newcastle and Chelsea fans. It’s not as if those supporters aren’t living in areas where they’re seeing the cost of living crisis in their communities.
“It was extremely disappointing to hear, but I thought Everton’s response was phenomenal.”
