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ECHO Comment: "Fears of Witch-hunt Against Liverpool FC" part 3

davek said:

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61 Minutes in Munich: The Story of Liverpool FC's First Black Footballer​


I first became aware of intolerant attitudes at Melwood through people who didn’t realise I was close by and within earshot. Unacceptable phrases were used. It would happen in the canteen at Anfield. It would happen on the bus en route to training or games. Such language was delivered in jest. But I was not laughing.

The racism was easier to take from the terraces because you reasoned it was down to your performance; you liked to think you were doing something right. Maybe that’s naïve: I was abused frequently, whether I played well or badly. When it comes from the people that you work with, though, it hurts. Because you don’t tolerate it and because you snap, the management perceives that as a weakness. How could they trust you to keep your calm in a pressure situation?

Tommy Smith presented my biggest problem at Liverpool. Tommy had been Liverpool’s captain and was known as the ‘Anfield Iron’. He had a fearsome reputation, playing nearly 650 games for Liverpool during 16 years at the club. He’d won four league titles and two FA Cups.
The season before my arrival, he scored in the European Cup final victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, a goal I’d celebrated wildly like all Liverpool supporters. Tommy had been one of my heroes.

Tommy seemed bitter that his career was coming to an end. He seemed bitter that the captaincy had been taken away from him a couple of years before. He was replaced by Emlyn Hughes, who was a great Liverpool captain and one of the characters inside Liverpool’s dressing room whom I trusted.

He was a difficult person to be around. He was irritable. I don’t think he had many friends inside the dressing room. I was young, I had an edge, I was different: I was black. Tommy never said that he didn’t like me. But that was my impression.

During my first six months as a Liverpool player, I’d train mainly with the reserves, but I trained with the first team too. Tommy chipped away at me with comments. At first, I wondered whether he was testing me.
Tommy lingered around like a bad smell. He was constantly trying to prove himself as the player he was before, even though his knees had gone. This must have frustrated him.

I tried really hard in training. Tommy seemed a bit intimidated by that. One-on-one, I had the better of him: pushing the ball past him and chasing, like Bill Shankly had told me to do. Tommy tried to distract me by making nasty comments related to the colour of my skin. For a while, I somehow managed to restrain myself.

I appreciated Tommy was a former Liverpool captain and a living legend. Here was me, a nothing. But my upbringing taught me that if you let something go once, everyone jumps on the bandwagon.

What Tommy did affected me. For a period, I didn’t enjoy going to Melwood and my morale was really low. I told my brothers and they told me they’d accompany me to the training ground and fight him. Obviously I didn’t want that to happen, so I had to sort it out myself.

Eventually, something was going to happen between us.

On a cold November morning, I’d had enough. Some of the junior professionals, including myself, were invited to play at ‘Wembley’, the best patch of grass at Melwood, where the staff hosted matches at the end of training sessions. The younger players involved were expected to do all of the running for the older staff members.

I received the ball, controlled it, and lashed a shot towards goal. Tommy Smith was on the other team and it hit him on the leg. It clearly stung and some of the other players started laughing. I had a smile on my face as well. I saw it as karma. Tommy responded with a tirade of abuse. It was ‘black this, black that’.

The place went quiet. Everybody could hear it, including the staff. He was a legend. I was a nothing. Nobody said a word.

I’d had enough of him: this bitter old man. So I went over and squared up: nose to nose. I looked at him dead in the eye. “You know what, Tommy; one night you’ll be taking a piss at home and I’ll be there waiting for you with a baseball bat,” I said, calmly. “And then we’ll see what you’ve got to say.” I wanted to start a fight with him. And then he walked away.

The episode between us set the benchmark. Little comments may have been said behind my back but never directly to my face. Other people at Liverpool knew that I wasn’t afraid – that I’d take on anyone if I thought it was necessary.


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Wow, but no surprise; what a low-life Smith was.
 


catcherintherye said:
Its funny really though. All the fans are back, everyone is happy, it's a real good news story.

All apart from the Millwall of the North who use it as an opportunity to hurl hate speech and bigotry at a lad just older than a teenager. Imagine waiting 18 months and that's the 1st thing you want to do. They must live really sad, angry, bitter little lives.
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"Chelsea rent-boy" Chelsea fans sung that to Gerrard when he didn't sign for them. It's not homophobic and you and I both know it. I don't think we can take any moral high ground right now do you? I'm disgusted at some of our fans right now but yet here you are angry, bitter and obsessed with them rats
 
JLW said:
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Sums it up perfectly.
Been to see PSG at Parc de Prince and France at Stade de France and took photos after goals because I was a tourist. Similar at Wembley for one of the games in the Euros.
Can't remember taking my phone out during an Everton game.
 

JLW said:
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You have to remember that they were away as well. Imagine how many phones come out when the tourists really gather at home.

Never ever got the phone thing to be honest, been at gigs where there are people stood there for the majority, if not the whole gig videoing it. I remember being at a Metallica gig at the O2 and James Hetfield precluded one song with saying put your phones in your pockets and just enjoy the song, remembering the time you had is much better than watching it back on a crappy picture with crappy sound. Never agreed with any sentiment more than that.

Edit: Just realised that isn't from the Norwich game ?
 
PaddyJames said:
"Chelsea rent-boy" Chelsea fans sung that to Gerrard when he didn't sign for them. It's not homophobic and you and I both know it. I don't think we can take any moral high ground right now do you? I'm disgusted at some of our fans right now but yet here you are angry, bitter and obsessed with them rats
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Of course chanting that someone is a rent boy is homophobic! Kick it out, the anti-discrimination charity have stated it it homophobic.

Why are you disgusted at our fans? I'm not angry or bitter at anyone, but just wish they wouldnt sing homophobic songs. It's not an unreasonable request in 2021.
 
davek said:
IIRC they used to have a song in the '60s racially abusing Mike Trebilcock.

All the media guff about how they helped pioneer black footballer acceptance with the Barnes signing is just that: media guff.

And Howard Gayle was ostracised at LFC as he stated himself in his biography.
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I have no idea on the former mate, but given how much they seem to hate black footballers, particularly those who are victims of racism, I wouldn't be enormously surprised.

The Howard Gayle stuff is really grim.
 

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