Soccer Fans Scream Homophobic Chant at Player, Liverpool Condemns

The British soccer club Liverpool has called out homophobic chanting targeting a Norwich City midfielder.

In a pre-season match over the weekend between Norwich City and Carrow Road, audience members yelled, "Chelsea rent boy" at player Billy Gilmour. While Gilmour was playing for Norwich City, his parent club is Chelsea.

Liverpool's LGBTQ+ fan group Kop Outs tweeted, "Great result today marred by homophobic chanting by some of our fans targeting Chelsea loanee Billy Gilmour."

Chelsea Pride condemned the chants posting that they will work with clubs and authorities to end homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia from games.

The official Liverpool account also spoke out against the chant: "We urge supporters to remember the inclusive values of the club and to refrain from using it in the future."

The "rent boy" chanting is nothing new, according to Kick It Out, a group that seeks to combat discrimination in soccer. In a statement on Twitter in 2019, the group said that the chant has been used for years with little condemnation from the Football Association or the police.