Female Arsenal fans branded ‘dirty f*****g Yids’ after standing up to racist chants
Katie Price, 26, a Jewish comedian, and her friend Lily O'Farrell, faced violent threats from a group of men after raising concerns about 'Yiddo' chants in a pub during Sunday's north London derby between Spurs and Arsenal
Two female Arsenal fans were branded “dirty f*****g Yids” after they challenged a group of men for yelling the race hate slur “Yid” in a pub during Sunday’s north London derby clash against Spurs.
In shocking scenes, a group of five men approached Jewish Arsenal fan Katie Price, 26, and her friend Lily O’Farrell in threatening to beat them up and accusing them of being Tottenham fans for objecting to chants using the slur “Yiddo.”
The two women, who were both wearing Arsenal shirts to watch the match, say they were made to leave The Cally pub, on the Caledonian Road, north London after an altercation broke with a group of males.
Price, who told Jewish News she always proudly wears a Star of David necklace, O’Farrell, who is not herself Jewish, and another male friend Jamie D’Souza to vile chants of “Yiddo go home.”
The incident is now being investigated by Metropolitan Police officers after Price contacted the Community Security Trust.
The two victims say they have notified Arsenal Football Club about the incident, but have yet to receive a response.
Price, a professional comedian, told Jewish News:”The thing I really want to stress about all this is how, in a pub in north London, a group of about 40 men were all chanting ‘Yiddo go home’ at a 26 year old woman.
“I just think that is really shocking, most people wouldn’t believe that.”
She added: “I hate this thing that it’s kind of OK to say the word ‘Yid.’ Then suddenly there’s someone looking me in the eyes calling me a ‘dirty f*****g Yid.'”
Recalling the incident, Price added:”The atmosphere was great, 2-0 up with three minutes to go.
“I then heard the ever-familiar ‘what do we think of Tottenham…’ chant.
“What I did not expect was the conclusion of the chant with ‘Yiddo, Yiddo, Yiddo’.
“I decided, to my shame, to ignore it and hope they wouldn’t say it again. Within 30 seconds, around 10 men were chanting ‘yiddo’ repeatedly, with more folk from the pub joining in.
“At that point, I had to say something. I walked over and said ‘look, don’t use that last bit’ and walked away.
“Not asking, telling. He then came back with another mate who, within seconds of finding out I am Jewish shouted the ever familiar ‘You dirty fucking yid’”
Her friend O’Farrell also tweeted about the incident writing:”Some friends and I went to The Cally to watch the North London Derby.
“An Arsenal pub in an Arsenal area, wearing our Arsenal shirts and cheering throughout for Arsenal.
“At around the 89th minute, a group of men behind us start chanting ‘we hate Tottenham’ and we all join in.
“They end the chant by repeatedly chanting the slur ‘Y*ddo’, which, as a Jew is incredibly offensive. My friends and I heard but ignored, rising above it. Two minutes later, more start joining in with the chant.
“I turn around to the instigator, say ‘look, mate, no need to say that last bit’ and walk back to my friends and the remaining 3 minutes of the game.
“He then comes up to me, questioning why I said that. I tell him I’m Jewish and that’s an offensive racial slur.
“His friend then comes up to me, looks me in the eyes and says ‘you dirty fucking y*d’.
“I push him away and tell him that he can’t say that.
“The men come at my friend, pulling my (Arsenal) shirt, repeatedly threatening to “beat us both up” .. that I was a dirty Yid Tottenham fan and that my male friend should ‘take his girl out of his pub’.
“They are five older men attacking a 26-year-old Jewish woman and her friend, being incredible hostile.
“I take myself to the other side of the pub to calm down and gesture to them to leave us alone. We wanted to watch the last seconds of the game and leave on our own terms. The manager of the pub then comes up to my friends and asks us to leave.
“We leave to chants of ‘Off you go’ and ‘Yiddo go home’.
“The pub chose to remove me, putting me in an even more vulnerable position and protecting those who attacked me. I spend so much of my time explaining how football can be an opportunity to unite people but yesterday I was let down.
“Let down by The Cally, let down by the forty other people in that pub who stood by, many of whom joined in with the group’s chants of ‘Yiddo go home’.
“Let down by my own fans, who are supposed to stick together, united by our love of football.”
Jewish News contacted The Cally pub where a man who identified himself as the manager denied that the two females had been asked to leave the premises by either himself or his staff.
He accepted there had been an altercation, and said the pub staff’s main concern was preventing any violence breaking out.
The pub manager said he did not hear any of the taunts made by the group of men on Sunday.
He said the pub would co-operate with any police investigation, and confirmed CCTV would be made available.
The CST’s director of communications Dave Rich later tweeted:”I hope the racists in this story are identified and prosecuted, and I also hope that everyone else finally understands why the Y-word needs to disappear from football forever.”
Arsenal Football Club and the Metropolitan Police have also been contacted for comment.
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