Racism: Still a problem on the terraces?

In 2017 I believed that people being barracked because of the colour of their skin had been eradicated from football stadiums. At Gresty Road this weekend, I discovered that isn’t entirely true.

Before I go any further I want to state clearly what I heard was an isolated incident, it is the first I’ve heard in many seasons and it is far from the norm. I wasn’t the only one who heard it either. Whilst I won’t go into any specifics on here, I will confirm that it involved use of the ‘N’ word and didn’t have particularly aggressive undertones. That obviously doesn’t excuse it.

However, after hearing it I tweeted to the effect of ‘can’t believe I’ve heard that in a modern football stadium’, and some of the replies concerned me. One person said they’d heard something similar from an individual away at Wimbledon, another suggested they too had heard something against Crawley. Suddenly it is no longer one match, it is no longer an isolated incident and worryingly, it isn’t just me who has heard it.

I don’t think Lincoln City has a problem, not at all. My gut feeling is one or two individuals with horribly backward perspectives on life think they’re funny, controversial or patriotic by shouting such utter bile. That doesn’t mean we should ignore it though, not one bit.

I’ve really grown up on the cusp of the revolution, so to speak. When I attended my first match in 1986, racism was still very evident across the country. I experienced it first hand growing up, in Horncastle where I went to school an Asian family bought the local chip shop. Thugs daubed paint on their windows and screamed obscenities at them across the counter. It was fear more than anything, fear of someone different. We had a really frank discussion as a class if I recall, broaching subjects that hadn’t ever seemed an issue. Lets face it, Lincolnshire was never a hotbed of culture and race was it? You could come back from Spain with a sun tan and stand out on Lincoln’s streets at one point.

I’m going to confess something else; I needed a first-hand rebuke to give me a clear idea of what racism was. I never said anything to anyone because of the colour of their skin and I never yelled what I perceived to be racist abuse at players either. I think Keith Alexander being the first permanent black manager in the Football League gave me a firm moral compass. He was a pioneer within the game and he was at Lincoln City, that helped educate many of our fans including myself.

In November 2003, we played Rochdale and they had a lad up top called Mickael Antoine-Curier. Now, in 2003 I was a bit more of a gob shite, I often screamed foul-mouthed abuse at opposition players. I liked to think it was passionate, I liked to believe it meant I cared for City. It was never racist, obviously, I knew how to verbally abuse someone in a politically correct way. When Curier scored a goal just before half time I made my way to the front of the Stacey West to let him know his celebration wasn’t welcome. I can’t recall my exact words, but it revolved around him being French. That wasn’t racist though, right? 

Wrong, of course it was. A fan grabbed me afterwards and said ‘Gary, do you realise what you did there?’ I tried to argue my point with a pathetic ‘but he is French’, but I knew I’d done wrong. I knew I’d been caught out, corrected if you like. It wasn’t ignorance on my part, it was simply never a part of my upbringing to think that was racist. After all, The Sun often referred to the French as frogs didn’t they? Institutional racism so blatant that you don’t even realise it. I never abused anyone for their nationality after that day because I felt foolish for doing it in the first place.

I stopped getting angry at football when my own life began to get better. Those looking for an excuse for their behaviour will rarely look at how unhappy their own life must be if they get their kicks from verbally abusing other people in public. I don’t care if you paid your money, it does not give you the right to scream foul-mouthed abuse at anyone. It will still happen though, in the heat of the moment I’ve called Ollie Palmer a name or two recently, but never to his face. He’s a big bugger, after all.

The point is that as time has passed I’ve become more educated as to what is right and wrong. I don’t think my experience is unique either, I’m sure many of you reading this would have found some language and behaviour acceptable 20 years ago but do not now. Football has evolved, supporting a football club has evolved. Swearing will always be a part of the game and I love a good old-fashioned cuss as much as the next mofo, but when it has aggressive undertones, when it singles someone out for the colour of their skin or their nationality, then a line has to be drawn.

Fast-forward to August 2009, Burton visited Sincil Bank. they had a lad in goal called Artur Krysiak, he’s still in League Two now with Yeovil. I witnessed him get all sorts of abuse for being Polish, ‘jokes’ were made about him moonlighting as a plumber before Burton went two up. Then it turned sour, he was abused for being a Pole, really quite nastily. I challenged the guy who did it at the time and got into an argument myself. I’d had a couple and had a bit of anger in me at the time, but nobody stood up and agreed with me. ‘It’s just banter’ was one response. I felt like the fool again for standing up to it. Inside, I hoped Artur had heard it just so he didn’t think we were all backward at Lincoln.

Now it is 2017 and I didn’t make the same ‘mistake’ yesterday when I heard the abuse. I highlighted it on social media, but I didn’t challenge the guy involved. Why? Partly because of my experiences before, partly because I hate confrontation, partly because nobody else did. There were at least a hundred people in earshot of him when he shouted out to the Crewe sub and not one of us did anything. I’m told afterwards lots of people heard it but didn’t see who did it. What do you do in that situation? I’m also told the Crewe stewards heard it and couldn’t identify the offender. Again, what do you do? I heard it and I saw exactly who did it and I did nothing. Does that make me as bad as him?

I don’t know the guy that shouted it, I’ve never seen him before, but his words have caused me more issues over the past 24 hours than they’ve caused their intended victim. I hope their sub, Zoumana Bakayogo, didn’t hear what was shouted at him. He shouldn’t ever have to listen to such vile comments, even if they were probably shouted by a drunken fan who doesn’t know better. I imagine he’s never had his Antoine-Curier moment, I imagine he’s lived in Lincoln all his life and never had to integrate or accept other nationalities, religions or skin colours. That doesn’t make it right, not for one second.

I have a concern that over the past few weeks people, like me, have heard this stuff and not done anything about it. It’ll be out of fear, fear that poking the wasp’s nest will get you stung. Nobody wants to openly row with other fans, especially not if they’re as big as Ollie Palmer with two friends either side of them. Nobody wants to stand up to racism on their own for fear of not getting the support. I didn’t want to for fear of getting a slap if I’m totally honest. I feel bad for admitting it, but that is probably the main reason why I didn’t say anything.

Racism has no place in society and certainly no place amongst fans of Lincoln City. I’m proud that my club signed Ade Coker and Bert Bowery in the 1970’s, I’m proud we had the first permanent black manager and I’m proud of our tradition of being welcoming and inclusive. I feel disgusted that some elements of our fan base are still dragging their knuckles through life believing it is okay. I’m sure if we asked the guy who shouted it he’d say ‘I’m not racist, some of my friends are black’, or ‘it was just banter, I didn’t mean anything by it.’ Well, that’s bullshit I’m afraid. Next to me was a Dad with a kid of no more than six, did he go away thinking that was alright? What message are we sending to the next generation of fans by standing by idly whilst one idiot lets us all down? What message did I send out by standing there frozen to the spot at hearing something I never thought I would hear amongst my own fans again?

If you’ve experienced racism in any form at the ground, I urge you to contact the club. It is worrying that there appears to be several people who have witnessed it at recent games, I’m sure it is one or two people at most, but we must do everything we can to stamp it out once and for all. There’s no place for racism at Lincoln City and no place for it at a football ground at all. We have a duty to society to do everything we can to educate our young people in the correct manner and ensure those spouting this horrible bile are dealt with appropriately.

I hope by writing this blog I’ll get some sleep tonight, because last night I lay awake wishing I had the balls to say something at the time. Unfortunately it happened and I owe it to myself to highlight it, report it and work to eradicate it. If you heard it, so do you.