Grown men sign petition demanding Anthony Taylor is banned from refereeing Chelsea

Never change, football fans

The football season is back. And as much as we might have enjoyed a break from the domestic game over the summer, nothing – and we mean *nothing* – quite beats the levels of pettiness that comes with club football.

An early reminder of this has come in just the second Premier League weekend of the season, with thousands of Chelsea fans – many of them grown men with families and mortgages and respectable jobs – signing an actual petition to try and get a referee banned from taking charge of their future games. Ffs.

The petition was set up in the wake of Chelsea’s fiery 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Sunday, where Antonio Conte’s side snatched a draw courtesy of a late, late Harry Kane equaliser.

Conte and Thomas Tuchel had clashed on the touchline during the game and were shown red cards by Taylor after full-time after the angriest handshake of all time.

Chelsea supporters were miffed that Cristian Romero had gone unpunished for tugging Marc Cucurella’s hair immediately before Kane’s leveller.

Spurs’ first goal of the game, scored by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, was allowed to stand after it was deemed Richarlison was not interfering with play while standing in an offside position when the Dane struck the ball goalwards.

Both of these incidents were referenced in an actual, real-life change.org petition, created by a Chelsea supporter after the game.