KopTalk Earns Wrath After Violet Article

Duncan Oldham, the editor of
Liverpool fansite KopTalk, has
attracted a lot of attention for
posting an article which
encourages Liverpool fans to
“ put the frightners [sic]” on
unloved owners Tom Hicks and
George Gillett.
The ill-judged piece, titled ‘Get the
baseball bats and ski-masks
ready !’, implores Liverpool fans
to exact vigilante justice on the
American duo:
“If George Gillett and/or Tom
Hicks remain in control of
Liverpool Football Club come the
end of the season, I will be
calling for such action to take
place.
“I will be urging every passionate
Red out there who has a ‘set’ and
who is capable of donning a ski-
mask and waving a baseball bat
in a menacing manner, to step
up to put the frightners [sic] on
these two and everyone they
associate with – including any
companies that support them.
“I am sick to the back teeth of
hearing about petitions and
email campaigns. While the
efforts must be applauded and
acknowledged, the only action
that I believe will work is militant.
“Disruption, especially to financial
institutions, is what they are
scared of. And on a personal
level, there ’s nobody in the world
who’s arse wouldn’t collapse if
someone peered over their bed
in the middle of the night armed
with a Texas Rangers baseball
bat or two. ”
It reads like the sort of rant he
wrote late at night, whilst
encouraged by a jar or three. I
can ’t condone such aggressive
militancy and neither should any
self-respecting fan.
Oldham’s piece concludes:
“They [Hicks and Gillett] are
playing with the lives of so many
people and it hurts me to see so
many of my fellow Reds and fans
so upset and destroyed. It has to
stop and it will stop. I can ’t sit
back any more.
“I won’t sign petitions, I won’t
send emails to journalists who
don ’t care, but I will get stuck in
via other methods best not
written about. ”
This isn’t journalism, it’s
dangerous and irresponsible
rabble-rousing. There ’s no place
for it in football, and I say that as
someone who fully sympathises
with the intense frustration of
Liverpool fans.