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I’m not sure how many of you have seen a video going round of former Torquay United player Ben Gerring singing with the fans of his current club, Woking.
But I am sure that the number is much higher thanks to Devon Live’s coverage of it. link here for reference.
When I see this video, I see a football fan in the stands singing songs. He doesn’t hurt anyone. He doesn’t kill an animal. He doesn’t set a building on fire. He simply sings a few football songs.
His only “crime” here is singing “We hate Torquay” along with the fans of his current club while he is in the crowd. Any football fan will tell you that all supporters sing songs together when we’re watching a club we support.
Now, imagine not just supporting a club, but playing for them, in a season where they have one clear rival for the league that they’re in. It’s understandable that he would join in with his supporters regardless of what song they sing.
I noticed that a few Torquay United fans are unhappy with Ben’s actions, which I can also understand. This is fine in terms of football.
But why on Earth did Devon Live, our biggest regional news website, feel the need to write an entire post about it? The article is also completely embellished. It reads…
“Watch as footballer GOADS his former club and sings about how MAGIC he is!”
I don’t see any sign of Ben goading Torquay United. How was he to know that someone would post the video online?
The sad fact is, publications like Devon Live rely on clicks and visits in order to make money from advertisers, so by publishing this article, they are knowingly, purposefully trying to make someone’s life difficult to make a bit of money.
Ben Gerring still has roots in Torquay, and although most of us, especially football supporters, will know that his singing was just a bit of banter, some people might just read the headline and a photo of Ben and assume he’s done a lot worse than he actually has.
Devon Live should focus more effort on writing about things that seriously affect the people of Devon and Torbay.
Like the fact that the council would rather buy a pasty factory in Cornwall than invest in the local people.
Instead of trying to start a witch hunt against a 28 year old lad singing a few harmless songs at football.
