Snobs have prejudice on show when it comes to Redknapp

‘Harry Redknapp believed he was the subject of innuendo and continued investigation into his financial affairs because he spoke with a cockney accent and was called “Harry”, Southwark crown court has been told.’

Harry Redknapp is often portrayed by the national press as a ‘wide boy’, a ‘wheeler and dealer’, and even a ‘spiv’. It’s difficult not to believe these caricatures are not related to his background. For Redknapp was born and raised in Poplar, East London. When he’s not portrayed in such a disparaging light, Harry, or ‘Arry, as the tabloids insist on calling him, is cast as a ‘loveable rogue’ or ‘diamond geezer’.

There is of course an element of snobbery to the way the Spurs boss is treated. Redknapp openly admitted at the trial that he has the handwriting of a two year old and that he is not the sharpest tool in the box. But I think it goes much deeper than that. He is ridiculed not just because of his social background, but more specifically because he is a Londoner.

Let’s face it, many football managers in the Premiership are from a working-class upbringing and have very distinct regional accents. But whether they are from the shipyards of Glasgow, the mining valleys of Wales, or the mill towns of the north of England, rarely are they subjected to the same level of disparaging remarks from the media as Redknapp is.

Perhaps it’s because much of our national media is based in London. Overwhelmingly, they live and work in London. Sports journalists are perhaps no different to the rest of the national media in that they find so-called provincial accents charming and quirky. The London accent – that Harry has not attempted to water down – is so open to mockery because it is familiar. When they hear ‘Cockney’, they think the worse. Attitudes and irrational prejudices that belong in a Dickensian novel surface.

The unfortunate consequence of all this is that many Londoners are losing their identity. They dilute their Londonisms and affect a more “acceptable” way of speaking. That is, a generic southern English or home counties accent. For only then, will they escape the labels and prejudices that go with having a broad London accent.