Eric Dier believes that fan behaviour in English football has become a “serious problem” and admitted that his family members do not travel to away games for fear of being abused.
The 28-year-old was handed a four-match ban and fined £40,000 by the Football Association for misconduct in July 2020 after confronting a fan who was abusing his brother in the stands after an FA Cup tie between Tottenham and Norwich at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Dier, who has been recalled to Gareth Southgate’s England squad after a two-year absence for the Uefa Nations League games against Italy and Germany, revealed that his friends and family were caught up in trouble during Tottenham’s Premier League game against Chelsea on 14 August and says that the situation has worsened over the past couple of years.
“It has definitely got worse. For me it is a serious problem,” he said. “I had some family and friends at the Chelsea away game with Tottenham and they had problems and stuff. Not nice ones either. It is a huge, huge problem. It was verbal, not physical – but, like, bad stuff.”
Dier, who emphasised that the problem is not limited to fans from certain clubs, added: “I never complain about this stuff and I don’t really mind. We played Burnley after I went in the stands for the next away game and the Burnley fans were singing a song about my brother and I like that kind of thing – I find it quite funny. I like that kind of humour, you know, if it is in the right way. I love that side of things. I love playing away games and I enjoy those kinds of atmospheres. It is part of it.
“But there are some things I find very strange. It is not nice. My family would never go to an away game nowadays because of it – and that’s a shame that I feel too uncomfortable for them to go to away games. This has been for years. My mum has not been to an away game. She would love to, but I would be worried about it – and that’s crazy, isn’t it? All of our families go through it. Every player’s parents have been watching them since they were kids and have gone through that kind of stuff.”
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Gareth Southgate has 180 minutes to answer five key questions about his England World Cup squad20 September, 2022Dier’s England return has come as a result of strong performances at club level with Spurs and with other established defenders like Harry Maguire struggling for form and minutes, he could yet force his way into Southgate’s starting line-up for the World Cup opener against Iran on 21 November.
Antonio Conte has made the long-serving defender the centrepiece of his back three and Dier admits that the Italian has improved his game considerably, calling him the “Godfather” of the 3-4-3 formation.
“I don’t want to sound like a teacher’s pet but he has done a lot for me,” Dier said. “In every way he has done a lot for me. He has had a great effect on me in every aspect, tactically, physically, mentally. My approach. Not just the manager but all his staff.
“He is very demanding but I really enjoy that. Ever since he arrived, I have never learnt so much in this year. I don’t think I have learnt as much before as I have now with him. About football, about everything to do with football like myself. I have really enjoyed it.”
“He is the godfather of that system so I feel like with him you’re constantly learning and evolving within that system, constantly adding new things – once we learn one thing we’re onto the next. I think probably he gave me my belief back a little bit as well.”
Dier was an integral member of the England squad in the early Southgate era, memorably scoring the winning penalty during the shootout victory over Colombia in the last 16 at the 2018 World Cup, but he was left out of the squad for last summer’s European Championship.
Despite that disappointment, Dier admitted that he watched “a lot of the games” including the final which England lost on penalties to Italy.
“I had a lot of very good friends playing in that game and I would have been over the moon for them, the manager, the staff,” he said. “I was just watching it like any other fan really, I would have watched it regardless of the teams in it. I watched the semi-final, the Germany game.
“To be honest, when I think about the Euros, the first thing I think about is [former Tottenham teammate] Christian [Eriksen, who suffered a heart attack while playing for Denmark].
“I have been extremely lucky in my life in that I have never really lost anybody close to me. That was just a very bad day. I was watching on television – I can’t really talk about it, man. It was tough.
“He was a good friend of mine. He is a good friend of mine, luckily.”
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