News in 2006

19th September 2006

Cole shows Racism the Red Card

New Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole and former Chelsea winger Paul Canoville were among the figures who kicked-off the Show Racism the Red Card Testimonial season at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday afternoon.

Both Cole and Canoville, who was the first black player to play for Chelsea, talked of racism they have encountered while on the field and endorsed the importance of campaigns such as Show Racism the Red Card, which is celebrating ten years in existence.

The aim of the campaign is to harness the high profile of professional footballers to combat racism in society. Many famous players provide anti-racist role models in educational resources they produce such as DVDs which are available to be shown in schools.

It was 100 students from schools local to Stamford Bridge that provided the questions to get Tuesday’s panel talking. Former Wimbledon manager Dave Bassett and MK Dons executive director Sue Dawson were also among the people speaking.

Ashley Cole was asked about an England friendly international in Madrid. It was a night notorious for abuse aimed at England’s black players, who also included Shaun Wright-Phillips. The response from the authorities was to fine the Spanish FA a mere £45,000.

"After that game a lot of the black players who played were gutted," revealed Cole. "Personally I have never experienced it that bad.

"For the first time it did affect me and I was getting angry in a game, I was fouling, I was arguing and it did get to me. After the game I sat down and thought to myself why did I let it get to me, because they have won. That is when I decided to ignore it.

Brian Barwick, Chief Executive of the Football Association, said:

"It was a disgrace what happened with them getting fined only that amount. It didn’t show the right attitude and it made people think there is nothing wrong with it. It happened again, not with the Spanish national team but with another team in Spain and they got fined £6000.

"It is a serious issue over there and they have got to sort it out," Cole added, highlighting problems that have been faced by Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o.

Ged Grebby, the project coordinator of Show Racism the Red Card highlighted that the game was a spur for the players’ union in Spain to start their own serious campaign, including a symbolic delay in kick-off times one weekend.

"Spain is moving in right direction but the fines were a disgrace," he said.

Canoville recalled his Chelsea debut back in 1981.

"It hurt, it really did hurt me," he said. "I came on for the last three minutes at Crystal Palace and I had to sit down in the changing room afterwards because I couldn't believe it was coming from my own supporters. It was just some comforting words from my manager that made me continue playing football."

"Between Paul playing for Chelsea and Ashley signing for Chelsea, there has been a dramatic change, not just at this club but throughout the whole of the game in the UK," said Grebby, claiming that a person is more likely to encounter racism in the street than inside a football stadium these days.

"Being mixed race myself I did get it in school and growing up," recalled Ashley Cole. "Also when I have played for England and when I played for Arsenal in foreign countries. But I had to learn to deal with it.

"The first things is to speak to someone about it if you are really affected by it. If you are in school, go and tell your teacher and learn from them. As a youngster, the most important thing is to respect other cultures.

"I had a lot of racism coming through as a youngster and hopefully clubs and schools can get involved in the campaign and educate children about it where maybe their families don’t tell them enough.

"We are all one and we are all the same except for the colour of our skin which should not matter."

Source: Chelsea FC