Five of the most famous football protests in recent history

Spanish club Malaga’s failure to sign players this summer has seen their fans take to the airport to protest by celebrating random tourists as if they were a new signing.

It was a creative way to show their discontent, and it got us thinking, what are some of the other times football fans took matters into their own hands to take a stand?

Here’s five of the top fan protests, what happened, and what the outcome was…

The Super League

One of the most important protests in the history of football, and unique in that it did not just belong to one club but a whole host of fans who gathered in their numbers to make their voice heard.

The Super League proposal saw some of Europe’s biggest clubs join forces to throw their weight behind a new league, which sparked enormous backlash from the world of football because of the threat it posed to the domestic leagues of the clubs of those involved.

Fans of various clubs called for an end to the proposal and for their respective owners to leave the clubs they support, starting at Anfield, before Liverpool’s clash against Leeds United, where fans joined forces to demonstrate their anger.

It then moved to Chelsea where Petr Cech tried to calm down the growing crowd who halted the team bus before their key match against Brighton that evening. That day, Arsenal fans also met in their thousands to protest outside the Emirates against the Kroenke family.

Within 48 hours of the news breaking, the protests, combined with the online reaction, had forced those involved in the project to backtrack and abandon the idea for the time being at least.

Ticket price boycotts

In February 2016 both Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund fans boycotted their games over high ticket prices. Reds fans staged a mass walkout in the 77th minute of the game against Sunderland over plans to charge up to £77 for a ticket. The Liverpool owners, Fenway Sports Group, later issued an apology for the proposed plans.

Similar scenes then took place at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Stuttgart when they hosted Dortmund in the DFB Pokal. The away fans intentionally missed the first 20 minutes of the game after their tickets were priced at £32.50 – £59. A banner was placed before the game which read, “Football must be affordable” and after ending the boycott, the Dortmund fans then threw tennis balls onto the pitch which forced the referee to pause proceedings.

Glazers out

Manchester United fans have launched various protests against the Glazer family’s ownership of the club over the years, but one of the biggest came just after the collapse of the Super League.

Around 10,000 fans gathered to show their discontent towards the Glazer ownership, with some fans even making it into the stadium and onto the pitch ahead of their game against Liverpool.

It’s only this year that the Glazers have debated selling the club but this protest will go down as one of the most famous in history.

How did the chicken cross the pitch?

During Blackburn’s must-win Premier League game against Wigan Athletic, a chicken strolled onto the pitch draped in club colours, halting play in the seventh minute.

The gesture was a protest against the owners of the club, the Venkys, who owned a poultry business in India.

The chicken, however, did not spell good fortune for Rovers who lost to Wigan, relegating them to the Championship, and they haven’t returned since.

Pigs head

In 2000, Barcelona’s most admired player, Luis Figo, left the Nou Camp to join Real Madrid. It was the highest order of betrayal and in October 2002, tensions boiled over.

As the game went on, the emotions in the stands rose. Then as the second half began and Figo went to take another corner, a pigs head was thrown amongst a shower of other objects. Riot police gathered to try and deter fans from throwing more and Carles Puyol gestured wildly for calm amid the chaos, with the referee suspending the match for 16 minutes.

When the match resumed, the throwing stopped but the words continued, and to this day, it remains one of the most hostile scenes the footballing world has ever seen.