There comes a point in every witch hunt when those wielding the pitchforks overplay their hand, in doing so exposing that it is themselves, rather than those that they pursue, who have issues that need to be dealt with.
Wayne Rooney believes that moment arrived on Saturday when he claimed the media’s treatment of him had been “disgraceful” but the real line in the sand moment did not come for another 24 hours when Jordan Henderson – yes, that Jordan Henderson – became the latest England footballer to find himself at the centre of a scandal.
Up until Sunday morning when the renowned teetotaller was outed as the kind of fiend who frequents late night establishments but doesn’t have a drink, Henderson’s public image had been a wholesome one. If anything, he is too nice. Clean enough, physically and metaphorically, to be the pin-up boy for Nivea and not dirty enough in his chosen profession to commit any acts more outrageous than becoming involved in the kind of verbal exchange with Diego Costa that is an occupational hazard for anyone who plays against Chelsea’s brilliant pantomime villain.
“He’s a true professional and a very strong character,” Steven Gerrard once said of the man who would succeed him as captain of Liverpool. “Every day he is in the gym doing extra work. He doesn’t drink and he looks after himself.”
Sounding rather like the kind of clean cut role model that English football is supposed to lack, Henderson’s list of admirers within the game is lengthy with few having anything negative to say about him.
“Jordan is someone who leads through example – through his actions, attitude and application. He shows total commitment to the game and is a role model professional,” Brendan Rodgers said after making him skipper.
“I think Jordan’s a fantastic leader,” Gareth Southgate said in justification of affording the midfielder a similar honour for his country. “He’s a fantastic player with great leadership qualities.”
In one of his first acts as Aston Villa manager, Steve Bruce told Jack Grealish that if he wants to fulfil his own potential his professionalism must be of the standard set by Henderson whom he managed at Sunderland. “I want him to copy Jordan Henderson. I gave him his debut at 18,” Bruce said. “He was a young kid at Sunderland who I’ve watched captain Sunderland, move to Liverpool and had a tough start there, but has now captained Liverpool and England.”
“He is respectful and his principles and everything else on and off the pitch are exemplary. Not only is he a talented footballer, he’s a really good person as well,” Kenny Dalglish said upon signing Henderson from Sunderland for £16 million five years ago.
We could go on and on. Whatever the criticism that has come his way as a footballer on what has been a testing journey to get to where he is now, you would be hard pressed to find any of his character and yet here he is, slap, bang in the middle of a scandal considered worthy of front page news.
So what then has he done? Has he been on an all night bender which ended with him urinating on poppies laid at the cenotaph? No. Has he had an extra-marital affair with the wife of a team mate and shared pictures of his heinous acts? No. Has he been caught selling players’ tickets for vastly inflated prices and pocketing the proceeds? No. He went to a lap dancing bar, had nothing to drink, broke no laws and caused no trouble.
That really is it. While those of us who are not footballers get up to all kinds free in the knowledge that no-one gives a damn about what we do, Henderson, under peer pressure from well known tyro Adam Lallana who “had a few sips of beer” at the establishment, unwittingly exposed himself (not in that sense) to the kind of scrutiny that we are constantly told people in his profession have to accept because they are in the public eye and are paid lots of money.
Never mind that neither he nor Lallana had actually done anything worthy of public interest. If anything, their 220-mile round trip to visit a Bournemouth strip club should raise eyebrows because it was so uneventful. That, though, is the kind of night you would expect Henderson and Lallana to have. Hell raisers they are not.
In the caustic atmosphere created by Rooney drinking beer into the early hours, though, even seemingly anodyne behaviour becomes fair game, something the FA might have realised when they decided to join in with the chorus of disapproval that was engulfing the Manchester United forward.
Wednesday's Sun front page:
Don't mess with me Argentina#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/Ojhfba5bkJ— Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) November 15, 2016
Puritanism now reigns and those of us who live in glass houses can throw as many stones as we like as long as we aim them at anyone who just happens to be a professional footballer. Free to make light of whatever they do well and go heavy on any perceived failing, they exist not only to provide us with entertainment on a match day but also to give us a sense of moral superiority whenever they lapse in a way that anyone who is living any kind of life should be able to identify with.
It is in that sanctimonious atmosphere that frequenting a lap dancing bar – not a venue that is to everyone’s taste, but let he who is without sin cast the first fantasy dollar – is deemed to be news. If it was virtually anyone else outside of top level government and high ranking religious figures, no-one would bat an eyelid, but Henderson and Lallana are footballers, and worse still England footballers, and that, in the eyes of those with the pitchforks, makes them fair game.
What cannot be overlooked is the FA does have a rule, what necessitated its inclusion in their code of conduct is open to speculation, that prohibits England players from visiting strip joints while on international duty.
Like a number of football’s laws, though, particularly the ones that ban goalscorers from celebrating with their own fans and supporters from consuming alcohol inside stadiums unless they are rugby supporters watching rugby in a football stadium, it is unclear what this proscription is aimed at preventing other than enjoyment.
Nevertheless, Henderson and Lallana, like every other England player, cannot complain about the rules after they have signed up to them (although the FA did exactly that during poppy-gate) and could not have complained had they been censured for breaching them.
As it is, the FA have gone against recent trends by opting for the common sense approach with no action set to be taken against either player.
That is where the witch hunt should end, unless their partners have taken to exception to the kind of venue they chose to go to to drink little or nothing, cause no trouble and break no laws.
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