England’s favourite pass-time, racism’s Trojan horse.
The night of Monday the 14th of October was supposed to be one of Tyrone Mings’ most special nights. The realisation of a lifelong goal, the justification of immeasurable sacrifice, a familial occasion of fierce pride, a moment he’d daydreamed in his football pyjamas.
Supposed to be.
Bournemouth AFC defender Tyrone Mings received a phone call from Gareth Southgate in August, his first call-up to the England side, and was set to debut in a European qualifier away to Bulgaria. He was named in the starting lineup, but proceedings soon turned sour. His dream debut featured a harrowing soundtrack.
“I heard it before I even got to the other side of the pitch in the warm-up.”
06:37
Tyrone Mings is recorded addressing a match official in regard to the racial abuse:
26:23
Play is halted as Referee Ivan Bebek consults England captain Harry Kane after Mings and Raheem Sterling complain about racial abuse from the stands. A PA announcement is made and play continues.
43:30
The match is suspended and players return to the dressing rooms as chants and fascist symbols intensify. Wary attempts to remove the crowd members begin.
Given the stoppages the game ended slightly later than expected, the conversation however, had just begun.
Social media played host to the reaction: Nationwide outrage accompanied by a sigh of moral relief. Bulgarian ‘ultras’ forming balaclavas from their jackets were easy to vilify. A distance between them and us that freed the arms of the English football community, letting them point and scowl without guilt or need for self reflection. The storyline sent back from Sofia was simple: English football tarnished by racist opposition fans, good guys and bad guys, heroes and villains, innocent and guilty. A shake of the head and a sympathetic face of pity for those targeted, but no guilt, because, “this doesn’t happen in England.”
Those sighs of relief were sharply swallowed.
19th of October… Just 5 days later.
Coles Park Stadium, home to Haringey Borough, hosted Yeovil Town in an FA Cup qualifying match. Players had noticed some racial slurs from the away end throughout the match, but persevered. That is until Yeovil were given a penalty in front of their rowdy away supporters.
Haringey goalkeeper, Cameroonian Douglas Pajetat, had missiles thrown at him and was spat at after the penalty was awarded. Once they had scored, 24 year-old Coby Rowe picked the ball out of the net, and received a mouthful of racist abuse. Rowe specifically reported being called a, “Black C*nt”.
Haringey Borough manager, Tom Loizou, did what he “knew he had to.”
Shortly after the penalty incident and with 20 minutes still to play, Loizou removed his players from the pitch, and the game was abandoned.
The event was now official, absolute, and impossible to ignore.
Just 5 days after the England national team were bullied into multiple stoppages of play in Bulgaria, the UK’s oldest football competition saw a football team abused off their own grass.
The irony within the timing of this second event is lost on very few. Within a week of being written, that football racism-free England storyline was put through the shredder.
The cruel timeline doubled the guilt and compounded the shame. The biggest names in the English game alongside all of its fans had to take the strong words they used towards Monday’s villains, and turn them unto themselves, and to the community they so fiercely, publicly, snd shamelessly defended.
Coby Rowe spoke to The Daily Mail, and made sure to open the eyes of all who assumed this wasn’t already happening:
“Not shocked at all really. I mean we hear about stories, obviously England was the other day, and we hear about things like this and people kind of turn a blind eye to it and think it doesn’t happen in England and it definitely does.”
Racism in English football isn’t a myth, it just isn’t prioritised by the powers that be. That isn’t good enough.
According to annual report summaries released by Kick It Out, football’s anti discrimination organisation, the 2017/18 season returned 319 reports of discrimination, 53% of which were incidents of racism. In 2018/19, there were 422 reports, racism accounted for 65%.
The staggering fact is, those numbers aren’t enough. They don’t hurt enough, at least not to those in tall leather chairs with the money and the power to enforce a decline. Semi-professionals nor Sunday League casuals have the backing or the voice to make a change. As seen above, they become just another number. The powers that be need to feel this. Those with the platform to make that happen, need to stop counting the numbers, and start making the numbers count.
Chris Ramsey, technical director at Queens Park Rangers, spoke to The Athletic:
“For those who play for smaller teams. You’re going to get gagged as soon as you start opening your mouth, and people at the lower level cannot afford to lose their job. But if you’re worth £100 million to a club and getting paid £80,000-a-week on a four-year deal, what are the club going to say?
If they get dropped, it will just highlight the fact that they’re being dropped for their views on something as large as this. And fans are not going to have it.”
For change to come, the top of the footballing food chain needs to be hit where it hurts. If top-flight players publicly and forcefully oppose racism, this will hold the Premier League and its clubs accountable. Reputation and thus wallet on the line, they will advocate for change more than ever. Forceful call for change coming from the summit will bring about rules and regulations that can revolutionise English football. If done correctly, ‘the beautiful game’ will not be able to function if racism lives within its ranks.
The storyline that began with the saddening debut of Tyrone Mings followed by the table-turning events at Coles Park have shone the spotlight on the English football hierarchy. Those with the platform to do so have the opportunity set an international example by facing this head on, and wrestling it into a distant memory.
Your move, England.
