Yobs are caught on video directing anti-Semitic chants including 'You're getting gassed in the morning' on tram ahead of Manchester City's match with Tottenham Hotspur 

  • Chanting is heard on a tram in Manchester on the way to club's Etihad stadium
  • City fan Anthony Fallon was so shocked that he recorded it on a camera phone
  • One fan shouted 'F*** off you f****** y**s. F****** gas isn't good enough for ya'
  • Police are now investigating and tram company agreed to co-operate in probe 

By James Dunn For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Shocking footage has revealed yobs singing vile anti-Semitic chants on a tram ahead of a game with Tottenham Hotspur, a club with traditionally Jewish link s.

Fans were heard singing 'you're getting gassed in the morning' on a tram to Manchester City's Etihad stadium ahead of their clash with the north London club. 

One man can be heard shouting: 'F*** off you f****** y**s. F****** gas isn't good enough for ya' at around 5.10pm, just before the game kicked off on Saturday.

Shocking footage has revealed yobs singing anti-Semitic chants on a tram ahead of Manchester City's game with Tottenham Hotspur
Fans were heard singing 'you're getting gassed in the morning' on a tram to Manchester City's Etihad stadium ahead of their clash with the north London club, pictured on Saturday

Shocking footage has revealed yobs singing anti-Semitic chants on a tram ahead of Manchester City's game with Tottenham Hotspur

Horrified City fan Anthony Fallon witnessed the incident while travelling on the Metrolink and was so shocked that he pulled his camera phone out to film the abuse.

Mr Fallon, a 50-year-old father, called the chants 'a throwback from the 1980s' and says he will send the footage to Greater Manchester Police to investigate.

He said: 'I'm not sure if there were Tottenham fans on the tram or if it was just City fans trying to cause a melee between themselves or a raucous atmosphere, but they started saying "come on you Spurs".

'The City fans next to me, two men in their 50s, then started chanting "You're getting gassed in the morning".

FA WARNS SPURS FANS OVER 'YID ARMY'

Spurs fans have referred to themselves as the 'Yid Army' for decades but in 2013, the Football Association set guidelines outlawing the anti-Semitic term.

The FA even threatened fans with bans for using the term, which it said could be a 'criminal offence'.

But they defied the rules, famously singing 'we sing what we want against Norwich just days after the threat.

And in 2014, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that it was not considered an arrestable offence, after being asked by a Tottenham fans group.

The force said it makes a distinction between the chant and Holocaust-related songs sometimes sung by opposing fans. 

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'It was making people very uncomfortable and there was a guy who obviously couldn't wait to get off the tram.'

The footage shows a group of older men chanting while one man can be heard telling Mr Fallon: 'Ey mate, don't be f****** filming everybody. I'm f****** camera shy me, do you know what I mean?

'You need permission to film in public. It's a fact so don't do it.'

Mr Fallon, from Whitefield, added: 'It was like being back in the 1980s. I went to a game in Leeds in 1983 where fans were throwing banana peels at a black player. This was like a throwback to the 1980s.

'I haven't heard anything like that, certainly not in the last decade. I was completely taken aback.

'They need to be identified. This was not just borderline racism, it was bile and hatred.'

Kevin De Bruyne scores a second goal for Manchester City, who were dominant in the game 

Kevin De Bruyne scores a second goal for Manchester City, who were dominant in the game 

The tram was on its way to Manchester City's Etihad stadium, pictured with manager Pep Guardiola standing outside

The tram was on its way to Manchester City's Etihad stadium, pictured with manager Pep Guardiola standing outside

A Transport for Greater Manchester spokesperson said: 'We're extremely disappointed to see this kind of mindless behaviour taking place on a tram.

'This vile and hateful language has no place on football terraces, public transport or anywhere else.

'We will gladly work with police to bring these individuals to justice so we strongly urge anyone with any information about the incident to come forward.'

Manchester City and Greater Manchester Police have been contacted for comment.

TOTTENHAM'S JEWISH ROOTS 

Tottenham has always drawn support from the Jewish community of north London and the club’s fans still refer to themselves as the ‘Yid Army’.

There was a surge in the number of Jews in the area from 1880, when many fled Russia, and again in 1905 and 1906 when the persecution they suffered in the region intensified.

From that point onwards, the established Jewish community attracted more Jews from other parts of London and many of the area’s flourishing businesses were owned by Jews.

For many, football was a simple way to integrate into British society, and Tottenham Hotspur became a way of life for Jews in Britain.

Support for the team filtered down to second generation Jews, so there was outrage when in 1935, White Hart Lane was chosen as the ground for England’s match against Germany.

Fans vowed to stop the game and climbed on to the roof and pulled the Swastika flag down after the players did the Nazi salute on the pitch.

In the 1970s, football chants about gassing Jews became commonplace from opposing fans, but the Tottenham fans embraced anti-Semitic abuse, giving birth to the ‘Yid Army’ identity.

Thought the Jewish support base has been diluted, now thought to be around five per cent, the religion is now intertwined with the clubs’s identity.

Since 1989, three Jewish businessmen have been chairman of the club and, despite warnings from the Football Association, fans continue to chant ‘Yid Army’ on the terraces.

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