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Barely a week goes by without an expression of outrage at the latest abuse chanted at a football match. The latest outburst at the North London derby has resulted in a joint statement from Tottenham and Arsenal condemning the culprits who apparently wished that Emmanuel Adebayor had been killed when the Togo team bus was attacked at the African Cup of Nations.

The question of what is acceptable and what isn’t is an exceptionally difficult one for me. There will be many out there who will claim that any kind of abuse is unacceptable and that is a perfectly reasonable argument, but I suspect that those saying it aren’t football fans.

In an idealistic world, what happens in a football ground should mirror what happens outside the ground. It would be totally unacceptable to shout abuse at someone as you pass them in the street so by this argument, the same would apply inside the stadium. The reality, however is that football is often somewhere you go to escape from the real world and the mentality is different once you pass through the turnstile. Football also stirs up a passion that is seldom felt about other pastimes.

When England played in Bulgaria last month the FA complained about the racist chanting that was directed at a number of our black players by sections of the home support. The British press, however, seemed more concerned about anti-Gypsy chants from the England contingent in the ground. My view was that the two incidents were poles apart. When the locals made monkey noises at Ashley Young, they were inferring that because he was black he was not human. That is a disgraceful inference that should not be tolerated. When the England fans retorted with “Where’s your Caravan?” it was a chant based upon stereotyping. This, to me, is acceptable. The fact is, however, that Gypsies are a race and so there is an argument that this was racial abuse.

My broad view has always been that abuse based upon a stereotype is acceptable. You will not see many games between a Lancashire and Yorkshire side where those from the right side of the Pennines will not sing about what the opposing fans do to sheep. I doubt many of them actually think that there are a large number of people in the ground who have partaken in such behaviour but the chant seems like fair game. Likewise, a game against Liverpool, Everton or Tranmere will lead to the assumption that nobody has a job and that your wallet is probably not safe.

What happens, though, when the stereotyping has a racial element? I will return to the case of Mr Adebayor. A chant aimed at him last season was described as “The most racist chant ever heard at a football match”. The chant referred to his parents and used a racial stereotype that people in Africa wash elephants. In many ways, this was no different to the kind of chants I’ve spoken about above but that racist element completely changed the perception of it.

The big story last year was of sectarian chanting at Old Firm games in Scotland. The hatred felt for each other by Rangers and Celtic fans is as strong as any I have witnessed and the venom can be felt in the songs that are sung. Scotland has even brought laws in the specifically outlaw any sectarian chanting. I think this is a particularly complex issue as the clubs are so deeply ingrained in their religious histories. If you were to successfully remove the religious aspects of the clubs, you would remove the soul of the clubs. My view is that while singing songs that abuse the opposition fans for being part of one religion should not be accepted, that doesn’t mean that all religious aspects of chants are necessarily a problem. The problem is that because of the strength of feeling involved, the likelihood of trouble flaring inside our outside the ground is high. It is that volatility of the atmosphere which leads me to the conclusion that this needs to be treated differently to chanting in England and that it is probably right that specific legislation exists.

The chanting at White Hart Lane on Sunday is similar to the other high profile case in recent weeks. The Leeds v Man Utd game in the League Cup was overshadowed by chanting from both sides. While the Leeds fans sang about Munich, the United fans were busy chanting “Istanbul”. All the logic in the world says that both these are despicable. I cannot put up any kind of argument as to why this is not wrong… but I also cannot put my hand on my heart and say that I have not joined in with similar chants.

The truth is that when you are at a game against a team you cannot stand, you will sing whatever will get to them most. This doesn’t mean that you want it to boil over and I cannot condemn enough those who were fighting outside Elland Road, I do, however, understand the chanting without condoning it. It’s probably a sad state of affairs but when you go to a game like that, you want your rivals to have as miserable time as possible.

It seems amiss as a Latics fan not to mention Ian Thomas Moore in this piece. There are many examples of individual players being subjected to torrents of abuse and ITM is probably the best example from an Oldham viewpoint. The fact that the abuse he receives is aimed at his parents is probably the reason that it disgusts some people. It is the prime example of a type of abuse that divides opinion. It is in no way racist/homophobic/picking on a disability etc. What it does do, though, is affect him. Sometimes it can lead to him playing out of his skin, sometimes he went into his shell, but he always reacted to it.

My overriding view is that football grounds cannot be allowed to become too sterilised. After a long week in the office, I want to be able to go and have a rant. Sometimes the ref will be the subject of my wrath, sometimes it will be plastic MK Dons fans and sometimes it will be Ian Moore (OK, not now as he’s retired). There are laws in place to prevent racist and sectarian chanting and I think that’s only right, beyond that though, football fans really need to police themselves. When you chant things that are ‘vile and inappropriate’ you make yourself and your club look bad. That should be encouragement enough to keep things within the realms of decency.