FA Apology on Racism

04 July 2001

From today's Guardian:

FA issues public apology for decades of racism

The Football Association has apologised to black former players for the racism they suffered in the 1970s and 1980s and has admitted it could have done more to condemn the abuse and harassment they endured during their professional careers.

In a frank admission the FA also said that many footballers' careers were probably ruined because of racism from spectators and others within the game. During the 70s and 80s organised racism against black players was a feature of the sport, with many far-right groups using football to spread their political message and recruit members.

The FA's ground-breaking confession comes as the organisation prepares for an anti-racism conference arranged by Fifa as part of its world congress which starts here tomorrow. World football's governing body is keen that other national football associations learn about the racial problems that once badly affected the English game and what the FA did to combat it.

Though the FA is self-critical about its lack of action over the vicious racism that once scarred the game in England, it is now considered a leader within world football on how to fight it. While in Argentina, FA officials will discuss the issue with their European counterparts, particularly the Italians who have recently been suffering from racial problems.

Mark Sudbury, one of the FA officials overseeing the organisation's anti-racism drive and who is also its representative on Kick It Out, the FA-sponsored body that spearheads its anti-racism campaign, said: "The FA was wrong not to challenge racism within football earlier. Football authorities have always tended to have a very narrow focus and have not really addressed wider social issues that have an impact on the game. In England, football witnessed some of the worst racist abuse in society aimed at black players on the pitch and towards spectators. For too long we did nothing about it. Many of us were not around in the 1970s and 1980s but our admittance is a way of indicating that new things are now happening and that we can make a positive contribution towards tackling racism. No doubt there are players who had the potential but did not make it because of the abuse they suffered."

The change in attitude by the FA towards tackling racism was initiated in the early 1990s by the chief executive David Davies, FA board member David Dein and Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association. Though the situation within English football has improved, particularly at the top level, they say it is still far from perfect. Davies said: "More could have been done in the past to tackle racism, but even now we have not done nearly enough. We have carried out a lot of good work at certain levels of the game but the main issue for us now remains at the grass roots where there is still a lot of racism. As an organisation we have to do all that we can because there is no room for complacency."

Cyrille Regis, the former West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City striker and one of the first high-profile black players within English football, welcomed the FA's admission. "It is a welcome acknowledgment that more could have been done by the FA. But those were different times and I don't think people quite knew how to handle the racism we suffered," he said. "Fans making monkey noises or throwing bananas at you was a common feature of the game but when you have 5,000 people doing that then how do you handle it? You could hear the abuse on the pitch, and some grounds were far worse than others. As a player I just made sure I did not crumble from the abuse; that was my way of fighting back. It made me want to play better. When you suffer the type of abuse that we did then you look for something to fight it with in your armoury. I had my football skills and that was my response to the racists. There is a lot of good work being done by the FA and the PFA but the main reason why racism has declined is because every team now has black players. I know a lot of black players who had trouble handling the abuse and there is no doubt that their careers suffered."

Another former footballer, Chris Kamara, said: "When I started at Portsmouth in 1974 there was a strong National Front element in the crowd and they would abuse me even though I played for their team. Racist abuse was part of the game and it was never challenged. You had to show a lot of strength and as a player it was very difficult. I became very battle-hardened and immune to it all. But football has changed; it's a much nicer world now."

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