A woman playing football at a friendly match was left “paranoid and hurt” after she was called a “black c**t” by spectators at a friendly game. The Sheppey United player who heard the abuse was so upset she asked to be taken off. Her teammate, who was racially abused, later told the Kent FA: “I was unaware of what had actually happened till after the game.
“I didn’t see the people behind the goal clearly because we were playing football when the abusive remark was made. This comment has left me paranoid and hurt. I am one of the only black people in this league and this incident has made me feel more alone than I did before.” Sellindge Ladies denied the charge, as they said the abusers were not known to them and they asked them to leave, but were fined £105.
Another match was abandoned after eight-year-old boy told the black manager of Huish Sports FC to “f**k off”, stuck up his middle finger and called him a “monkey”. The Huish manager said: “Local spectators heard this and brought it to the attention of the referee. At this point the child’s dad ran up to me and got very aggressive at me telling me I’ve upset his child.
“I was very upset at this point because of the racial abuse. The child admitted to his dad he called me a monkey but the dad did not listen and still showed aggression towards me.” The opposition Dunwear United captain apologised and the club admitted the charge.
But he said the youngster has Jamaican heritage, that his mother is black, adding: “When speaking to the boy afterwards he didn’t seem to understand the severity of what he said or the connotations of calling a black person a monkey. Due to the reasons stated above I don’t believe that the child was trying to be racist.” He claimed Huish supporters were drinking and provoked the incident in January last year but the commission found that Dunwear “appeared to deflect the blame” for the incident. They were fined £140 and given a warning by the Somerset FA.
An Algerian Muslim goalkeeper, playing at the time for Chesham United, said he faced “multiple comments aimed at my appearance” about his beard, before being told to “Go back to your kebab shop” and having three beers thrown over him.
He said of the incident in January: “Following the conclusion of the fixture, I walked to the goal to collect my water bottle and towel from the goalmouth. I clapped the supporters, then at least 3 beers were thrown over me. This really upset me and made be angry as alcohol is forbidden in Islam and I was drenched, stinking of it. In anger I threw my water bottle at the sponsor board and walked off.” Gosport Borough FC pleaded guilty but the FA said it was an “insincere admission” and fined them £3,000.
Sheffield Wednesday were fined £12,500 after a spectator made a “monkey gesture” at Coventry City player Kasey Palmer last February.
We’ve analysed nearly 500 reports from the FA’s disciplinary hearings over the last three years, which reveal the abuse and anger which mar games, mostly played for fun by children, across the country, every weekend.
The FA told us there were 276 serious cases of crowd disorder last season, up 28% in a year. So far this season there have already been 177 upheld. Growing numbers of these are from matches involving under 18s. This was up 45% last year and so far this year nearly two-thirds – 62% – of the most serious cases investigated by the FA were at children’s matches.
An FA spokesperson said: “We strongly condemn any abusive or unacceptable behaviour, either on the pitch or from the sidelines, and we have clear standards of behaviour which we expect all grassroots football clubs, coaches and players to follow. This is a collective responsibility and we welcome and fully support action taken by leagues and clubs to help tackle this unacceptable behaviour in our game.”
* Have you experienced abuse at football matches? Email nick.sommerlad@mirror.co.uk
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