- Blackburn earned a draw against Burnley despite Makhtar Gueye being sent off
- Some fans expressed outrage at a post that referred to ‘Blackburn with 10 players’
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Football fans have accused Sky Sports of “woke nonsense” after the broadcaster used the term “10-player” instead of “10-man” in a social media post.
Fans responded en masse to a message after Burnley’s match against Blackburn Rovers last weekend.
Blackburn drew 1-1 in the East Lancashire derby at Turf Moor despite Makhtar Gueye being sent off in the second half for two yellow cards.
Sky Sports shared a clip on social media, with the announcer writing: ‘Blackburn Rovers, with 10 players, continue unbeaten start to 2024-25 Championship season and share derby spoils’.
The post was met with criticism from some fans, who questioned why ’10-player’ was used instead of ’10-man’.
Blackburn earned a point against Burnley on Saturday despite Makhtar Gueye being sent off
Sky Sports shared a post on social media regarding the ’10 player’ Blackburn Rovers
One fan wrote: ‘There’s no way they’re using 10 players now instead of 10 men? Complete woke nonsense, it’s men playing football?’
‘You mean 10 men. It was a men’s game. So the correct football terminology is 10 men Blackburn,’ wrote another fan.
“10 guys. I corrected it for you,” added a third.
A fourth went further to say: ‘This is why we fail as a society. Allowing someone to change an innocent term like 10 men.
“It happens all over the business world that people change things that don’t need to be changed, instead of focusing on things that do need to be changed.”
The use of ’10-player’, a term used regularly in the women’s game, marks a subtle change from the announcer.
Sky Sports used the term ’10-man’ in May when describing a Liverpool goal against Wolves at the end of last season.
Some fans highlighted the use of the term player of the match instead of man of the match, as other examples were deemed ‘woke nonsense’.
Some football fans reacted to the message by accusing the announcer of ‘woke nonsense’
Others, however, questioned the outrage over the Sky Sports report, with one writing: ‘Don’t think it’s that deep, mate.’
Earlier this year, BBC cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew expressed his frustration at the introduction of gender-neutral terminology in his sport.
This meant that the word ‘batter’ was used instead of ‘batsman’.
“I hate ‘batter’, I always call a woman batsman a ‘batter’,” Agnew said. “But why can’t a man playing a man’s game be a ‘batsman’?”
“I just think it’s sad. Inclusivity is great, but come on.”
Agnew also expressed his frustration with the Ashes, which England and Australia have played in for men since 1882.
Sky Sports used ’10-man’ in a report about Liverpool taking the lead against Wolves in May
The biennial Test series between the teams was dubbed ‘The Ashes’ after a fake newspaper obituary of the England team after Australia won on English soil for the first time.
A Women’s Ashes pageant has been held since 1998.
“That’s not to say the Ashes should be the ‘men’s Ashes’,” Agnew said.
“People will call me an old fart, I think, it’s an event. It happened.
‘It’s not the “Battle of Hastings” is it?’