Why the Y-word debate is such a tough one to tackle

The first time I ever heard the word "yid" I was at school. A girl in my class, who happened to be a Tottenham fan, called a Jewish girl, who had no football allegiance, a "yid".

I didn't know what that meant then but I knew it must be a bad word because of the way she sneered when she said it. The incident was reported and the school took action.

I didn't think of the football connection at the time but afterwards, remembering the way the girl used to stand on the classroom tables at break-time defiantly waving her Tottenham scarf to a room full of Arsenal supporters, I did wonder if it was through football that she first learned the term.

Certainly she would have heard it on the terraces, sung proudly by Tottenham supporters all around her, a positive reclamation of the word. So how did it happen that she came to use it as an insult against a Jewish girl in her class?

Therein lies the muddle of this great "yiddo" debate, given fresh impetus following the release of David and Ivor Baddiel's campaign film. While you would be a moron to excuse any kind of overt antisemitism such as the horrific gas chamber noises recorded at Stamford Bridge, when it comes to the Y-word things get a little bit more complicated.

Many Tottenham fans – Jewish included – identify the word as a badge of honour, Spurs fans united in defiance against all those who hate the club and all those who hate Jews. They might say that, just as the gay community and sections of the black community have reclaimed derogatory words used against them, so too have Tottenham fans turned an insult into a unifying cry.

There are other arguments too – surely "Yid" is just short for Yiddish, so where's the offence? (Try "Paki" is just short for Pakistani and that argument dries up pretty quickly.) And the age-old lament that football is a game, a place to enjoy yourself, so why should we be told what we can and can't shout?

But as long as Tottenham fans can chant "yid", the question will always arise: why can't Chelsea or Arsenal or any other fans do the same? On the football message boards this very debate has raged for years. I recently read one Chelsea fan's tale of watching his fellow supporters get arrested for chanting "yid" – and receive three year bans from attending matches – while over in the away end Tottenham fans chanted the same word without consequence.

Many will argue that it is the intent of a word that informs its meaning but try telling a policeman or club steward that they will need to apply semantics on a matchday to decide whether anyone needs ejecting from the ground.

Amid it all are the clubs themselves. Tottenham and Chelsea in particular have cooperated in trying to raise awareness on this issue but, without clearer guidance from the Jewish community and football's governing bodies, what stance exactly should they take?

Some years ago I attended a debate on the subject, hosted by football's anti-racism campaign Kick It Out. On the night the loudest voices came from Tottenham supporters who did not want to stop using the word but in the days and weeks that followed I received many emails from Jewish Tottenham fans who said they were offended by the chants but felt unable truly to speak their minds. No one wants to be the party pooper.

This seems to be a large part of the problem – just as in the 1970s and 1980s it was difficult to recruit black and Asian voices brave enough to speak out against racism in football, so the same can be said now for antisemitism in the game.

Why, for example, are there no Jewish voices in the Baddiel film? There are plenty of high-profile Jews in football; why did they not add their names to the campaign?

Four years ago I set to work on an article about antisemitism in the professional game but I didn't get very far because a vast number of the Jews I approached for interview refused to talk about it.

Off the record their reasons came thick and fast: they had plenty to say but wouldn't risk upsetting anyone or ruining their careers over it; maybe they would speak out when they retired or maybe the public didn't perceive them as Jewish and they would rather it stayed that way.

Feeling a bit fed up I contacted the Chief Rabbi's office for a quote – if the Chief Rabbi can't settle a Jewish dilemma, who can? Having read that he is a keen football fan I thought he surely must have something to say. Sadly he was too busy to accommodate my request and in the intervening years does not appear to have tackled the issue.

I do sympathise. No one wants to be the lone campaign voice. Despite the success of the anti-racism campaign in football even now many black figures in the game are still reluctant to discuss the issue openly.

So whatever your views you have to admire the courage of the Baddiel brothers in making – and publicising – this film. They are both season-ticket holders at Stamford Bridge and it will be interesting to hear how their fellow supporters react when Tottenham visit Chelsea at the end of this month – especially the bloke that sits a few rows behind them shouting antisemitic abuse.

Watch the full Y-word video here