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Tottenham Hotspur FC has been fined £75,000 by the Football Association after their fans directed anti-gay chanting at Mason Mount during a match against Manchester United in September last year.

The vile chants happened at the London side’s match against the Red Devils on 29 September, 2024 at Old Trafford, which saw Spurs come away with a 3-0 victory.

During the match – around both the 49th and 79th minutes – fans directed the infamous anti-gay chant, “Chelsea rent boy”, at former Chelsea star Mason Mount as well as other anti-gay chants at Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta, claiming he “takes it up the a**e”.

The “Chelsea rent boy” chant is related to the London borough of Chelsea’s history queer history as an LGBTQ+ hotspot in the 1960s and 70s and has been directed at Chelsea players and supporters by opposition fans in a demeaning and deeply homophobic way for decades.

In 2022, the Crown Prosecution Service confirmed the chant is a homophobic hate crime and not “harmless banter”.

Following the match, it was alleged Tottenham Hotspur FC failed to adhere to FA Rule E21 and ensure its spectators and/or supporters of the club conducted themselves in an orderly fashion and did not use words or otherwise behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting way with either an express or implied reference to sexual orientation.

In a statement published by the FA on Thursday (19 June), Tottenham Hotspur FC admitted two breaches to FA Rule E21 and an independent Regulatory Commission imposed an action plan, £150,000 fine and warning on the club.

An independent Appeal Board subsequently reduced the fine to £75,000 following an appeal by the club.

Back in September, following the match, the club issued a statement in which it said it was “aware of abhorrent homophobic chanting from sections of our away support today” and which was “unacceptable, hugely offensive and no way to show support for the team”.

The club will be working closely with police and stewards to identify anyone instigating or joining in with the chanting [and] we shall take the strongest possible action, in accordance with our sanctions and banning policy,” the club said.

“We shall be continuing our work with our LGBTQ+ supporters’ association, Proud Lilywhites, to ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans on match days.

“We are justly proud of our superb and loyal support, home and away. However, we all have a responsibility to act as ambassadors of Tottenham Hotspur and discrimination of any kind has no place at our club.”

Proud Lilywhites, Spurs’ LGBTQI+ supporters group, said at the time: “We’re all Spurs fans just like you. When you sing these songs you’re telling us we don’t belong; and we do – as much as you do.”

Tottenham is not the only club to have received huge fines from the FA over homophobic chanting.

In July 2023, Wolverhampton Wanderers were the first team to be hit with such fines after Wolves supporters were twice heard chanting “Chelsea rent boy” for a “prolonged” period during the team’s game against Chelsea in April of that year.

Wolves’ 1-0 win over Chelsea at Molineux was marred by the homophobic chanting, and the club admitted at the time it had failed to ensure its supporters did not “behave in a way which is improper, offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting with either express or implied reference to sexual orientation”.

The Football Association (FA) has charged Tottenham Hotspurs over their fans’ alleged homophobic chanting during a game against Manchester United earlier this season.

The chanting apparently took place during a Premier League game at Old Trafford stadium on September 29, leading to Spurs condemning the “abhorrent homophobic chanting” heard as being “unacceptable, hugely offensive, and no way to show support for the team”.

They vowed that they would take the “strongest possible action” against fans who shouted out homophobic comments.

Ahead of a later game against West Ham, Spurs season ticket holders received an email from the club saying that it would take a “zero-tolerance approach” to discrimination.

“Our stewards will once again be wearing body cams [at the West Ham game] to identify individuals involved in unacceptable chanting, so the club can take the strongest possible action. This includes the Dominic Solanke chant with reference to Mikel Arteta and any use of the term ‘rent boy’,” the email read.

Despite this, the FA have charged the club with twice breaching FA Rule E21, which governs the behaviour of supports at matches, “for misconduct in relation to crowd control”.

A statement from the FA said: “It’s alleged the club failed to ensure that its spectators and or supporters (and anyone purporting to be supporters or followers) conduct themselves in an orderly fashion and don’t use words or otherwise behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting way with either an express or implied reference to sexual orientation around both the 49th and 79th minutes.”

Spurs have until next Wednesday to respond to the charge.

This is not the first time the FA have fined teams whose fans have been heard singing and chanting homophobic things, particularly the “rent boy” chant which was also said by Spurs supporters during their games.

The “rent boy” chant is also classified as a homophobic hate crime by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Tottenham Hotspurs have warned fans not to sing a homophobic chant that references Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, Manchester United’s Mason Mount, and Spurs player Dominic Solanke.

Ahead of today’s game against West Ham, Spurs season ticket holders received an email from the club saying that it would take a “zero-tolerance approach” to discrimination after recent games in which two homophobic chants were sung by viewers.

“We should firstly like to thank our fans for their cooperation ahead of the Brighton away fixture, at which there were no reports of homophobic chanting. We will not be complacent and are reminding supporters that the club takes a zero-tolerance approach to all discrimination,” the email read.

“Our stewards will once again be wearing body cams to identify individuals involved in unacceptable chanting, so the club can take the strongest possible action. This includes the Dominic Solanke chant with reference to Mikel Arteta and any use of the term ‘rent boy’.”

The chants first surfaced during Spurs’ game against Manchester United last month, leading to the club issuing a statement condemning the “abhorrent homophobic chanting” and calling it “unacceptable, hugely offensive, and no way to show support for the team”.

One chant’s lyrics read: “Dom Solanke is f***ing class. Mik Arteta takes it up the a***, 60 million down the drain, Dom Solanke scores again.”

A second chant referenced Manchester United player Mason Mount, calling him a “Chelsea rent boy” as he used to play for Chelsea, which has been directed at other Chelsea players in the past and was previously classified as a homophobic hate crime by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

The FA have previously heavily fined teams whose fans were heard singing the “rent boy” chant and the Mirror reported that the governing body would be looking into the homophobic chanting by Spurs fans in coming weeks.

Following the game with Manchester United, the chants were not repeated at the Spurs’ next match in Brighton but the club reiterated their condemnation yesterday (October 18).

Proud Lilywhites, the LGBTQ+ supporters’ association for Spurs, welcomed the club’s statement and reminded fans of the impact of homophobic chanting in telling LGBTQ+ people that they “don’t belong”.

Tottenham Hotspur will take the “strongest possible action” over “abhorrent” homophobic chanting during their Premier League game against Manchester United on Sunday (29 September).

Spurs won the game at Old Trafford 3-0, but their dominant performance was marred by anti-LGBTQ+ chanting from a section of their fans in the away end of the stadium.

One of the anti-gay chants, “Chelsea rent boy” was seemingly directed at former Blues star Mason Mount, a first-half substitute for England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo.

In a statement after the game, the club said they were “aware of abhorrent homophobic chanting from sections of our away support today”.

‘No way to show support for the team’

The statement went on to say: “This is simply unacceptable, hugely offensive and no way to show support for the team. The club will be working closely with police and stewards to identify anyone instigating or joining in with the chanting [and] we shall take the strongest possible action, in accordance with our sanctions and banning policy.

“We shall be continuing our work with our LGBTQ+ supporters’ association, Proud Lilywhites, to ensure a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans on match days. We are justly proud of our superb and loyal support, home and away. However, we all have a responsibility to act as ambassadors of Tottenham Hotspur and discrimination of any kind has no place at our club.”

Supporters who witnessed the chanting are urged to report anything they saw or heard to [email protected].

FA can pursue action against clubs

Mount, who was also forced off by injury, has since taken to his Instagram story to say that he is “all good”.

“Chelsea rent boy” is a demeaning phrase directed at present and former Chelsea players and supporters by opposition fans.

The term has homophobic connotations and, in January 2023, the governing body, the FA. added homophobic chanting to its list of rule breaches and said it can pursue action against clubs whose supporters use them at matches.

“Rent boy” is a term used to describe a young male prostitute.