Two AFL clubs have been labelled “disgraceful” and “woke” by fans online after refusing to wish their paying members a merry Christmas, instead sending out a “happy” holidays message.
While all other 16 teams — including West Coast and Fremantle — sent out a social posts wishing everyone a merry Christmas, Essendon and Richmond used carefully selected terms — and it did not go unnoticed by supporters online, with some even claiming they had cancelled their memberships.
In a post to their X, Instagram and Facebook accounts, the Bombers wrote “Stay safe, stay well. Happy Holidays to you all”, while the Tigers simply said “Wishing everyone a safe and happy time.”
Happy holidays in considered to be a more inclusive way of sending well wishes during the festive season, acknowledging that some may not celebrate the Christian festival.
The two clubs were hit with thousands of angry replies, with many pointing out both teams had posted “Happy Ramadan” when the Islamic month of fasting began earlier this year, despite just over three per cent of Australian being Muslim.
“Why would you ignore 90 per cent of your supporters … I have never celebrated Happy Holiday Day, actually I do not even know when it is,” one user wrote.
“It’s Christmas. Try to say “merry Christmas” because it’s not that hard. You had no issues posting happy Ramadan,” said another.
“No matter your beliefs, it’s still a special time to spend with family and loved ones so please call it as it is,” a user replied on X.
“Merry Christmas ‘wokies’,” said another.
“It’s Merry Christmas, Essendon. You’ve lost me for the season,” user John Dale wrote on the Bombers’ X page.
“If you want to please everyone say ‘Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays’”, wrote another.
“You have just lost a long time paying member,” one Tigers supporter wrote.
“Hypocrites,” said another.
“I’d send my membership back if I had one. Sigh,” wrote one angry Richmond fan.
“How disgraceful that you can’t wish people a happy Christmas … woke sadly. So un-Australian,” said another.
“Merry ratio,” one Tigers fan joked, in reference to the number of ‘likes’ in comparison to replies.
In a stark contrast, West Coast posted “Merry Christmas, Eagles fans!” across their online platforms, including a message from captain Oscar Allen sending his wishes.
“We hope you have a great festive season with your loved ones and stay safe,” the skipper said.
Fremantle posted an image of their female and male captains, Ange Stannett and Alex Pearce, with the message: “Merry Christmas from our Freo family, to yours!”
“Love you, Freo family,” they said in the post.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/afl/essendon-bombers-and-richmond-tigers-slammed-for-refusing-to-use-term-christmas-in-december-25-social-posts-c-17194231
