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London fans blame Boris Johnson as they miss World Cup big screen action
Duncan Smith15 Jun 2010
Boris Johnson was accused today of being hypocritical for failing to erect giant TV screens across London for the World Cup — on the day he flew out to the tournament.
Fans say outdoor screenings are the nearest they can get to the atmosphere of being at the matches and claim the capital has been embarrassed by cities which have organised big screen events for England games.
They said London has been outdone by Leeds, Manchester and Bristol where councils are showing England matches in city centres.
Last week the Mayor promised to set up big screens if England reach the latter stages but has refused to say why earlier matches are being ignored.
The Greater London Authority had planned to erect a big screen in Regent's Park which would allow up to 20,000 fans to watch matches.
But the GLA ditched the move because of a “range of factors” including cost and “practical considerations”, a spokesman said.
Criticism intensified as the Mayor flew to South Africa to press home London's claim as a World Cup city in his role as part of the 2018 bid team.
Garford Beck, official spokesman of England Fans, said: “I urge the Mayor massively to have a rethink on this. His decision to fly out to South Africa to promote England as a future World Cup venue is hypocritical.
“He's seeking all the glory but not prepared to share a bit of cheer with the England fans who are not fortunate enough to be out there.”
Mr Beck added: “Come back Boris, reverse your decision and let's all have a good time together. London is the place where if England were to win there would be massive celebrations. The city should be strongly supporting the lads during the tournament.”
Mark Perryman, author of Travels with a Football Nation, said: “There is something seriously wrong with the governance of London if we cannot manage to put on such a festival.”
A spokesman for the Mayor's office said: “We won't be screening England's early matches but should the team reach final stages of the World Cup, the Mayor would be extremely keen to see a suitable celebration in London.”
Speaking in front of a big screen in Trafalagar Square, set up for the opening ceremony last Friday, Mr Johnson said: “When England cruise through to the final, as I'm sure that they will, I've absolutely no doubt that there will be a big crowd here.”
Reader views (39)
As a New Yorker, I agree with Mayor Johnson's decision not to fund large screeen viewing for Londoners. I would be angry if Mayor Bloomberg were to provide free viewing of a sports event here in NYC because I would be paying for it. If the event is on television, people can see it publicly or privately. Government should be spending less, not more. The era of bread and circuses is over.
- Jim Silberman, New York City, 11/07/2010 16:03
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Bully for Boris. Surely whave eough football on at the moment. I will watch all the England games right to the end but as it is on every day, doubled up with tennis I like many other women will be pleased when we finally WIN. There, I am patriotic. It is on ITV and BBC every evening next week and many afternoons also so why do we need to have it on giant screens? We are already paying for the Olympics which I personally do not want as I can see nothing in it for South London at all. Only for Seb. Coe and his high salary.Does anyone seriously think that a child/teenager is going to trek from South to East London to go swimming when it is all over?
- amber in Mitcham, Mitcham Surrey, 26/06/2010 20:46
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Having dreaded the likely cost to London council tax payers of the 2012 Olympics, without any choice in the matter, I do not want England to win their 2018 World Cup bid.
For what? Even more fiddling politicians and business people getting their noses deeper in the trough than the existing bunch have already done.
Boris Johnson is simply doing a Conservative version of what we have witnessed and been charged for by the previous mayor, Ken Livingstone. Boris is now demanding an even longer list of powers for his office.
Does anyone for a moment believe he will not be touring the world avoiding earning his salary, and all at our expense?
Boris is a first class hypocrite and no doubt that is exactly how has just travelled, first class.
If it is a choice between Boris's jolly's, and giant TV screens for those unable to travel. No competition.
If people are annoyed, ensure Boris finds out at his next attempt to be Mayor of London, the PM or any other public office.
He is a fraud.
- Curious Observer., Harrow, 16/06/2010 23:29
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WHO CARES. HAVENT SEEN ANYTHING WORTH WATCHING YET. USUAL RUBBISH. FOUR PASES TAKING THE BALL FORWARD. THEN PASS BACK TO THE GOAL KEEPER. THEN START AGAIN. THEN FOUR OVER PAID PUNDITS ANALYZE THE PASSING. BORING.
- ALAN., ENGLAND., 16/06/2010 19:44
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Er whats wrong with the local pub?
- Dirk Diggler, Soho, London, UK, 16/06/2010 04:10
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ITS A MESS JUST LIKE OUR COUNTRY WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT WE DONT GET WE NEED TO MAKE A STAND. PUT UP THE BIG SCREEN. FOOTBALL IS THE ONLY THING KEEPING ME PROUD TO BE ENGLISH AT THE MOMENT COS ITS THE ONE THING THE PMS HAVE NOT TAKEN AWAY YET BUT THE WORLD CUP WITH OUT BIG SCREENS IN LONDON AND WE WANT 2018 MPS YOUR A JOKE BACK THE BID UR HAVING A LAUGH U ANT DONE THAT YOUR SELF 2012 STICK IT UP UR BUM HOLE
- MARTIN, NORTHOLT WEST LONDON, 16/06/2010 00:25
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If cost is an issue, just charge a fee to those who want to see it on a giant screen to cover the overheads and may be even make a profit ?
- Thierry, Clapham, 15/06/2010 23:59
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No one has suggested the obvious solution and that is for giant screens to be erected in the unused footbal grounds like Arsenal and Chelsea etc where the apmosphere would fit in perfectly.
Someone could also arrange a supply of those horns to be flown over!!!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 15/06/2010 18:49
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Paid for by tax payers?
Sponsorship and advertisers could cover the cost of such an event in London.
Really? If Sponsorship/Advertisers were queueing up to cover this event don't you think Boris would have already explored this? Maybe it's because the whole thing isn't financially viable.
- mike stern, london, 15/06/2010 18:15
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Stu the squalid vagrant..Sorry old boy but i feel the ever sensible James has got you by the short n curlies...if the bovine dimwits want to watch these tedious slightly homeo- erotic Soccer games they can go to some rancid hovvel of a pub, better still sit in doors...alas you cannot....however James...I really do enjoy the punch ups...lets hope we can all sit comfy in our riverside appartments (unlike Stu) watching some thorough nasty beatings given out to all nations supporters......marvelous!!
- Terry Davis The "I`ve got a bull whip" Guvnor, London East, 15/06/2010 17:42
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Boring, boring Stu!
Boring, boring Stu!
- ST, London, 15/06/2010 15:59
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Calm down lads, did you know that other people can 'read' your comments?
- bobby, berks, 15/06/2010 15:44
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Paid for by tax payers?
Sponsorship and advertisers could cover the cost of such an event in London.
- Peter, London, 15/06/2010 15:12
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"The UK has no money. Boris Johnson wouldn't be paying for it - the taxpayer ie all of us would be. "
That'll be the Boris who's just signed off £100k of your money to pay for an American Football event in Trafalgar Square in August (Mayoral Decision 536)? Any comment on that?
- Tom, London, UK, 15/06/2010 15:02
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FAO: STU - ALLEGEDLY HOMELESS
You are so full of hatred, that your temper gets the better of you, and quite frankly you are a mildly if not alarmingly amusing to us all! Two replies of pure vindictive hot air!
The section on football screens is on the news section - in fact on the very first page of the website and not in the sports/football section. If you can't negotiate your way around this website then obviously you cannot construct a valid argument - this is evident!
You have too much time on your hands, my good man,as you complain here, there and everywhere about anything on this news website. Little Sir Echo, you are! Quite a few regulars here are aware of your tactics. You do realize you are being monitored? I will be sad to see you go if you don't buck up.
I wrote earlier that I wished Ronaldo good luck to him and his country in the SPORTS section. Hardly anti-football rhetoric, is it?
And another ludicrous accusation that you made is that I wrote Boris is a yobbo! Eh? Hardly! He is very intelligent and popular! Two attributes you do well to acquire.
But go ahead and view my every comment as you are following my every movement; very flattering I must admit.
Have a glass of cold water, sit down and breathe-in slowly. Try and relax and don't let the pomposity of your ridiculous hot headed arguments self-worth get the better of you!
I just feel pity for you, I wish you well in all senses of the word.
- James from Camden, London, 15/06/2010 14:36
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@ Stu, Homeless,
i hate to enter your petty toy throwing out of prams with james but...
This article is not in the football section. you go to the home page and click onr 'NEWS' it is about the third or fourth story! so i think James is within his rights to comment!
- JH, London, 15/06/2010 14:34
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I've had enough of tracking this James and Stu blog. The bars are open and I'm off to a non footie venue for a relaxing G&T with a nice bit of yellow velvet.
- Peter M, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 15/06/2010 14:31
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Well done Boris.
- Sally71, Bedford, 15/06/2010 14:17
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There was a huge screen in Trafalgar Square for the opening ceremony & SA v Mexico game. As the Square is next door to the SA embassy no doubt they arranged it; but the screen was taken down next day.
As with all these things the major expense is erecting and dismantling the equipment.
Boris would have had to given permission to use the Trafalgar Square, so perhaps a little foresight and co-ordination with the embassy would have been in order from the Mayor?
- Mark Myword, London, 15/06/2010 13:52
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"The truth" - this article is about Boris Johnson going to the World Cup. According to you, he is a yob and a chav.
"Respect" - for someone who is prejudiced against everyone on this site? THAT makes you sound like the type of yob you're supposedly so against.
"you support yobbo behavior (sic), yet I'm the one who needs reading glasses?? Where, exactly have I said that?
"This is not a football website". Yes it is. It is the football section of the Evening Standard newspaper's website.
James you have the attitude of a neanderthal, the argumenal capabilities of a baby and the intelligence of a crayon.
You carry on personally abusing everyone on this site for kicks, because in all honestly you're the biggest yob on here...and quite frankly you'll get laughed off the board.
Pathetic.
- Stu, Homeless, 15/06/2010 13:47
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I'm glad there aren't giant screens in the parks. You can watch the football at home, at a mates or in almost every single pub in the country. Leave the parks peaceful so that people not interested in football (believe it or not there are rather a lot of them) can escape to the park for some peace. And unfortunately there is large element of hooliganism that goes hand in hand with football (though of course not every fan is like that), but there are plenty of trouble makers who are!
- Kathy, London, 15/06/2010 13:45
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James, this is the football, not the sport, the FOOTBALL section, and you are commenting on football matters, such as the Ronaldo article, with an anti-football supporter attitude and generalising everyone on here with your appalling attitude.
Your idiocy seemingly knows no bounds. I'm not on benefits, yet you assume as I say I am "homeless" that I am, and that somehow you, the great James, is paying for everyone and we should be glad of the rubbish you're posting.
If you are so offended by football fans, perhaps YOU should not be posting and reading OUR pages.
Take your disgusting attitudes and prejudices elsewhere James.
- Stu, Homeless, 15/06/2010 13:39
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FAO: STU HOMELESS(I wonder why?)
You need reading glasses mate! This is not a football website but a news website and the article is about the yobbos who are upset about not getting big wide screens for their big wide beer drunken bellies!
If you support yobbo behavior then you must be a yobbo! Anyway how can someone like you claim to be homeless be on the net all day! I am paying taxes to keep you on benefits so a bit of respect wouldn't go amiss!
If you don't like the truth why do you comment on my every comment I make? Just don't read it!
- James from Camden, London, 15/06/2010 13:24
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The UK has no money. Boris Johnson wouldn't be paying for it - the taxpayer ie all of us would be.
We shouldn't have any giant screens. People can watch it at home or in a pub. Get a grip.
- Sensible, London, 15/06/2010 13:24
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BJ, and James from Camden - what exactly are you doing on a football website then? Neither of you seem to have any idea whatsoever about the game, preferring instead to use offensive generalisations about everyone on here. James in particular, how dare you expect someone to provide "evidence" they aren't the sort of person you have generalised them to be.
Why don't you do everyone a favour, and clear off.
- Stu, Homeless, 15/06/2010 13:12
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The damn matches are on TV in every damn pub and bar that I go into. If the footie morons can't watch a match without holding their friend's hand then all stand outside a pub and block the pavement. Oh, yes they do that anyway.
- BJ, East London, 15/06/2010 12:52
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James (Camden), I am neither a yob or a chav- I'm with you, disliking both- but I do like watching football and when we have good weather it would be nice to be able to watch it outdoors in the parks. They are big enough to hold large groups of people and the majority of people are well behaved and enjoy the game.
Having worked in pubs during previous world cups I've not seen any of this loutish behaviour you so often talk about,but may I suggest that you stay away from areas that could be an intended target for bad behaviour? Yes, there are people who will always behave in a nasty way, but why should the masses be blamed for the few? It would have been nice both last Saturday and this Friday night to have watched the games after work with friends in the sunshine, having a few beers/glasses of wine in the fresh air, not sat in some stuffy, overcrowded pub, where it's more likely to get violent as people wait to get served, can't see screens etc.
- S-M Hearmon, London, UK, 15/06/2010 12:50
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Last World Cup they held a Big Screen event at Canary Wharf. It was stopped after 30 mins because of drunken yobs. Never to be repeated for any other match.
Families ran in fear as idiots threw abuse and bottles at each other before the serious violence started.
I'm with the autorities on this one.
- Hansel, London, 15/06/2010 12:47
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FAO: VM
I was on the Charing Cross road last Saturday and all these yobbos were shouting and screaming on the streets and threatening people. That is how I know! I suggest you get out more and see real life!
- James from Camden, London, 15/06/2010 12:38
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James from Camden
Why do you think it is appropriate to characterise football fans as yobbos?
Have you ever been to a football match in the last 20 years? It's not like the 70s.
I think there is more trouble on Primrose Hill on New Year's eve, frankly.
Miserable spoilsport.
- VM, North London, 15/06/2010 12:23
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Who on earth is this Beck? Who voted for him? Presumably a load of whingers who fancied lying in the park drinking their job seekers allowance funded beer.
Ridiculous, why on earth should the taxpayer cough up for big screen TVs in public places? Get a grip.
- Peter M, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 15/06/2010 12:20
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Good on Boris! Why should my council tax go toward entertaining a bunch of yobs and chavs? It's on TV at home and in the pubs - where publicans will welcome the extra business!
- Mark, London, 15/06/2010 12:20
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Perhaps someone should tell them there's a recession on, it's on terrestrial TV so there's no excuse to watch it in your own home, in the office, etc. Typical football fans, stop whining and grow a pair.
- Bob, Cheam, 15/06/2010 12:06
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London already has some large screens like the one at Woolwich so are they being used?
So Boris is off on a junket to South Africa wonder who is paying?
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 15/06/2010 11:59
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One of these giant screens would have been pitched in Primrose Hill with loads of drunken yobbos trashing the place, damaging property and making noise all night!
Thank god the application was withdrawn!
If these yobbos want to see it on a big screen: then buy a plasma screen and take it home! I suppose next they will be crying over their human rights been deprived!
There there did dums!
- James from Camden, London, 15/06/2010 11:58
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"Garford Beck, official spokesman of England Fans"
what sort of nonsense is that?
- scotty, london, 15/06/2010 11:53
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No screens for the football fans today , yet they have money for the world cup 2018 bid. Just typical.
- Mr S.Port, London, 15/06/2010 11:50
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No screens for the football fans today , yet they have money for the world cup 2018 bid. Just typical.
- Mr S.Port, London, 15/06/2010 11:50
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Yet another decision Boris has got right.
- Jose Luis, London SW18, 15/06/2010 11:49
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