Everton football club has released a statement condemning the chanting as “unacceptable” behaviour on social media.
Everton FC has publicly criticised the language and chant used by fans toward a Chelsea player during a Premier League game.
“Everton condemns the homophobic chanting directed towards Chelsea players this evening at Stamford Bridge. Such behaviour is unacceptable and does not represent the values of our club or our wider fanbase,” the club posted online.
The team spotlighted their All Together Now campaign which launched in 2018 and aims to “encourage inclusion and celebrate equality” in the game.
The club posted on Twitter: “Through our All Together Now campaign we promote and celebrate the diversity and inclusivity within our club, our game and our community.
“We expect fans to reflect those values by refraining from any discriminatory chanting in the future.”
LGBTQ+ football fan group, Rainbow Toffees, publicly criticised the use of the chant on social media.
“We’ve been informed of the ‘Chelsea Rent Boy’ chants. This is something we totally condemn. It’s wrong, it’s homophobic & needs to stop. We have brought this up with the club in the past & will be bringing it up again,” Rainbow Toffees posted.
The origin of the chant directed at the Chelsea players is believed to stem from the 1980s. The term “rent boy” is a derogatory phrase used to refer to a male prostitute.
The song is rumoured to have been popularised after a newspaper reported that a Chelsea hooligan was found in bed with a “rent boy” during a police raid.
During that period, a notorious Chelsea hooligan firm, the Chelsea Headhunters, had a popular chant named Chelsea Aggro. Chelsea rivals adopted the chant and switched up the lines to include the phrase “rent boy”. The homophobic chant is still used in football games today.
The chair of the Chelsea Supporters Trust Tim Rolls said he has reported the used chant to stewards on numerous occasions at different games.
“They just laughed and, at the latter, I was told that the stewards in our section were policing us, not Liverpool supporters and that if I persisted in complaining I would be ejected from the ground.”
You can read Everton FC’s statement in full here or below.
— Everton (@Everton) December 16, 2021
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