There is a long history of Jews in association football, including as "club owners, players, agents, analysts, fans, and directors".[1][2] In Europe before World War Two, "Jews played a prominent part in European football as players, coaches, administrators and patrons, not to mention supporters".[3]
In England, Jewish businessmen helped form the Premier League in 1992.[4]
Tottenham Hotspur has a large proportion of Jewish supporters.[5] Their supporters refer to themselves as "Yids", seen as a derogatory term for Jews. The Metropolitan Police have said they will arrest anyone who uses the term Yid.[6] Their previous three chairmen were Jewish.[7]Leyton Orient (originally Clapton Orient) had Jewish players before the Second World War and continued to field Jewish players regularly up until the 80s, with their time in English top flight in the 60s being funded by two Jewish businessmen.[8]
In 2011 Rabbi Alex Goldberg was appointed as chairperson for the Football Association's Faith in Football group[10] and attended an anti-discrimination in football summit hosted by the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street in February 2012.[11] In 2019, he initiated a project that saw the building of a Sukkah in Wembley Stadium, the home of English football.[12] In October 2023, Goldberg resigned from the Faith in Football group following the decision not to light the arch at Wembley Stadium, before upcoming England matches, in blue and white, the colours of the Israeli flag following the Hamas attack on Israel.[13]
In November 2021, two West Ham United supporters were arrested and later banned by the club after singing an antisemitic song as a Jewish man in Jewish religious clothing was walking down the aisle of a plane to take his seat on a flight from London Stansted to Belgium where West Ham were playing Genk in the 2021–22 Europa League. The two men were arrested suspicion of hate crimes, on their return to Stansted.[17] The two, from Essex and from Kent, were later charged with causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress, an offence under section 4A of the Public Order Act. They were bailed to appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court.[18] The court case later collapsed after the CPS could not determine whether the alleged offences took place in British airspace.[19]
Scotland
In Scotland, Third Lanark was predominantly supported by Jewish supporters due to being in a mostly-Jewish area of Glasgow.[20] When Third Lanark dissolved in the 1960s, some Jewish supporters started to follow Celtic due to contemporary successes.[20] In modern times, many Jewish football fans in the city supported Rangers due to gaining support while at Protestant schools which were more open to Jewish students than Catholic schools. Rangers fans also fly the flag of Israel at matches in response to their Old Firm rivals Celtic using the flag of Palestine.[20] This was despite the Jewish Representative Council of Glasgow asking fans to stop due to the mix of politics and football making some feel uncomfortable.[20]
On 1 September 2023, Israeli footballer, Liel Abada signed a new four-year contract with Celtic having joined the club in July 2021.[21] His career with Celtic was affected by the Israel–Hamas war, as the Celtic's Green Brigade fans group demonstrated their support for Palestine by displaying the Palestinian flag.[22][23] Abada met with Celtic senior management after these displays, which had led to him being criticised in Israel. Celtic issued a statement saying that it was "inappropriate" for the fans to show those messages.[24] Abada, injured when the war started, returned to the team in December.[25] Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said in February 2024 that it was "challenging" for Abada to produce his best form in the circumstances,[25] and then confirmed that he could leave the club.[26]On 8 March 2024 Abada left Celtic joining Major League Soccer team Charlotte for a reported fee of £8 million.[27]
Netherlands
AFC Ajax of Amsterdam, like Tottenham Hotspur, has a long history of Jewish support and involvement despite not being an officially Jewish club. The club's former De Meer Stadion was located in the largely Jewish east side of the city. Three club presidents since World War II have been Jewish. Since 1976, some Ajax fans, largely non-Jewish, have dubbed themselves "Super Jews" in response to antisemitic chanting by rivals such as Feyenoord.[28]
On 7 November 2024, supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv who were in Amsterdam to watch their team play Ajax in the Europa League, were attacked in the streets by people shouting pro-Palestine and anti-semitic and anti-IDF slogans.[29] 62 arrests were made and five people were treated in hospital while others suffered minor injuries. The attackers were condemned by both the King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander and the Mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema.[30] In the following days, a further five men, all from the Netherlands, aged between 18 and 37, were arrested on suspicion of "public violence against persons" both before and after the Europa League game. Further condemnation of the violence came form Netherlands Prime Minister, Dick Schoof.[31]
Modern Jewish footballers have said they want to inspire others.[34] Jewish footballers playing in foreign countries have been allowed to avoid playing on the High Holy Day of Yom Kippur, or remain a substitute until the observance has finished.[35][36]
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