Steel City Derby: Clubs condemn sexist chants heard by both sets of fans at Bramall Lane

Former sports minister Richard Caborn and Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh are among those who have condemned a small group of Wednesday fans who were directing sexist chants towards the female relatives of United manager Chris Wilder.

It also emerged Blades fans were also heard chanting sexist comments about the wife of Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri during Friday’s match, which ended in a 0-0 draw.

And now, both clubs have put out statements sending the message that the misogynistic chants used were ‘unacceptable’ and that sexism in football will not be tolerated.

United’s chief operating officer Andrew Birks said: “We all have a role to play in tackling sexism issues in football and that includes identifying and reporting the perpetrators.

“As a football club we want to listen to our supporters who want to highlight these issues and may have heard comments or chants which are abusive. We will then take appropriate action working alongside agencies who can help us get rid of this aspect of the game.

“In recent years we have embraced ladies football, have thousands of female season ticket holders, employ female members of staff in key areas, as well having girls as young as seven attending training sessions and our Community Foundation soccer schools.”

A Sheffield Wednesday spokesman said: “The club roundly condemns any kind of sexist, racist or indeed generally derogatory chanting at our games, be they at Hillsborough or away from home.

“We are aware of the chanting at Bramall Lane on Friday evening and stress that this behaviour is unacceptable and wholly unrepresentative of the overwhelming majority of Sheffield Wednesday supporters.”

Mr Caborn, former MP for Sheffield Central, told The Star that he would support the type of bans given to fans found to have engaged in racist behaviour.