As a snapshot of the racist abuse still faced by footballers on a regular basis, last weekend was instructive.
From the lower leagues in Scotland to the top divisions for men and women in England, no-one was immune from the bile that piled forth, mainly on social media.
The charge sheet was as follows – and these are only the incidents that were reported in the media:
+ Friday, January 31 – Michael Nottingham (Livingston)
+ Saturday, February 1 – Joe Willock (Newcastle United)
+ Sunday, February 2 – Marvin Kaleta (Motherwell) and Bunny Shaw (Manchester City women)
Motherwell’s Kaleta was the subject of alleged racial abuse following the match with Celtic, while Livingston’s Nottingham was also targeted after the Championship game against Falkirk.
Newcastle reported comments made online about Willock in the aftermath of their home defeat to Fulham, and City’s Shaw was sent racist and misogynistic messages following the loss to Arsenal in the Women’s Super League.
Livingston’s Michael Nottingham was targeted after the Championship game against Falkirk
Motherwell’s Kaleta was the subject of alleged racial abuse following the match with Celtic
City’s Shaw was sent racist and misogynistic messages following the loss to Arsenal
Newcastle reported comments made online about Willock after heir home defeat to Fulham
Asked about the racist abuse in Scotland, an SPFL spokesperson told Mail Sport: ‘These online posts received by two SPFL players are disgraceful.
‘We fully support any steps taken by our clubs and our authorities to identify the individuals involved.
‘Social media provides a great platform for clubs to positively engage with its supporters, but these sites are often abused by a mindless minority and it is also incumbent upon social media companies to actively combat these issues.’
Here, Mail Sport speaks hears from two former footballers about their experiences of racist abuse… and what can be done.
MARVIN BARTLEY
Racism is tough. It’s really tough. The best way I can describe it, is that it’s like being cut by someone.
The first time it happened to me over social media in Scotland, I had been playing in an Edinburgh derby at Easter Road. The guy that did it then apologised to me, because he said he didn’t realise how bad it sounded when he was writing it down.
When things like this happen, it’s obviously deeply emotional. I remember going to the toilet and I read a message straight after the match and started crying. Probably more out of frustration than anything else. It hurts, and then you get angry.
There are all sorts of emotions. Your team-mates are making sure you’re okay, and then you go home and you’re in a dark place again, because all you do is relay that message over and over again in your head.
You ask yourself: “Why are people sending these things”?
Marvin Bartley was left in tears after the abuse he received on social media
Then at the same time, you think: “Why am I doing this? Is it worth it?”
Then you become more determined. These people are in the minority and all the lovely people far outweigh the negative ones. However, it still sticks.
You can have a thousand people being nice to you, but that one person saying something is really hurtful Those are the messages you remember the most. Which is horrendous.
I’ve had an incident before where someone recorded me warming up, and racially abused me, with some of the worst language I’d ever heard. I’ve had horrible messages on social media. It’s just horrific. It takes you to a very, very dark and lonely place.
Probably, for me, the thing that made it the hardest, was when my mum came across it.
At that point, I was up in Scotland and in my thirties, and she just wanted me to come home because, at the end of the day, I was still her son. To hear your parent on the phone crying, because someone has racially abused you, makes it very difficult. You can’t think about the results on the pitch – it’s just the abuse that lingers.
Now I’m emotionally detached from it all and it has minimal effect, That helps me to help others in a similar position, because I can now support them when these kind of things happen.
I hope, in some way, I’ve been able to help those affected by the alleged incidents against Livingston’s Michael Nottingham and Motherwell’s Marvin Katela last weekend. I’d like to say I was surprised that this had happened – but I no longer am.
Cristian Montano of Livingston was sent a message with abuse aimed against him, too. To have had such a positive result on the pitch and then to see that is really disappointing.
Cristian was at home with his partner and child and they were trying to distract him, but he couldn’t even think about the game. It became all about what was written down. That has a real effect on people.
Do I think racism is more prevalent now than ever? I think that’s a difficult one to ascertain. It’s seen more now, because social media makes it a lot more accessible.
Twenty years ago, for example, someone had to do it to your face or on the terraces, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening behind your back.
Now, on social media, people just come out and say whatever they like. Social media is a big problem. Anyone can create a social media account, go and abuse another person, and then delete it pretty much instantly. There’s no real comeback.
It’s a very difficult problem to solve, but I think lobbying government for more support on this would be a great idea. Social media companies don’t do anything. For them, it’s all about the numbers and, ultimately, the money that comes with that.
Personally, I wouldn’t be for huge punishments against clubs, such as point deductions, because what would stop someone from one club, going to another club’s stand and shouting abuse?
Or pretending they are another club’s fan on social media? I wouldn’t put it past people doing that. I don’t want individuals to be in control of the masses. You might go to one game with 25,000 supporters, and one or two people there are causing trouble.
Are you really going to punish everyone for that? For me, it wouldn’t sit well. I’d rather go to the individuals and punish them.
Hit people in the pocket, and where it hurts financially. We should be doing the same with social media companies. If you did that, they would almost certainly change their outlook. There should be a deterrent for all of this, but at the moment, that deterrent is negligible.
Am I hopeful of change? Yes, I always live in hope. I try to concentrate on the positives. It’s refreshing at least, to see people calling out these types of behaviours. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
KEVIN HARPER
I think we need to start seeing actions and not just words. We could sit around the table for years and nothing changes. From FIFA to UEFA, these organisations have to be willing to take a stand, and I don’t think they make a big enough stand on racism
For me, the points-deduction idea affects clubs more than anything. That will make people stand up and take notice – not just hide behind statements.
Sometimes you have to put your head above the parapet and say this kind of behaviour isn’t acceptable. For me, football just accepts it.
The SFA could actually take the reins on this and be the first to implement real change. Clubs go through a lot of tick-box exercises around diversity, but are there meaningful conversations about stamping this out? It seems to be rearing its ugly head more prominently than ever before.
Kevin Harper is demanding meaningful action is taken against racist abuse
I do think it (social media) is worse.
It goes back to it being easier now to racially abuse a footballer, because there are so many different platforms. The biggest issue I have is that there is nothing really being done about it on social platforms.
At least back in the day, they’d have to say it to your face, so you knew where it was coming from and you could deal with it.
It’s horrible to say it’s better to have it thrown in your face, but now it’s just cowards hiding behind keyboards who think they can say anything. Which they can, because there’s nothing there to stop them. I can guarantee there’s a lot more out there that doesn’t get reported.
