Is Football Racist ? BBC3

[Billy the Fish]

Probably because they have moved to Brighton from London, so more than likely support London teams ?

Black people usually support Arsenal, that's a fact.

 

[strings]

I'm glad he visited the Punjabi Wolves - they are a good lot.

 

[Seagull58]

Must more interesting/balanced than the Poland/Ukraine documentary.

Given how much people bang on about Brighton being such a diverse city, it's surprising the proportion of black people attending games doesn't seem to have increased much now we're at The Amex - it's still minimal.

I've never seen Brighton to be a particularly racially diverse city. Certainly there's not much of a black population. Historically, there's always been a large Jewish population and, in the 70's there was an influx of Arabs due to theoil industry. I haven't lived there for a number of years but i'd be surprised if there's now a large black community.

 

[Common as Mook]

I've never seen Brighton to be a particularly racially diverse city. Certainly there's not much of a black population. Historically, there's always been a large Jewish population and, in the 70's there was an influx of Arabs due to theoil industry. I haven't lived there for a number of years but i'd be surprised if there's now a large black community.

Agreed. Brighton is diverse, but not racially diverse.

 

[somerset]

Agreed. Brighton is diverse, but not racially diverse.

Its not compulsory to be racially diverse...... some areas are just more tuned into certain cultures and ethnic backgrounds.

 

[Common as Mook]

Its not compulsory to be racially diverse...... some areas are just more tuned into certain cultures and ethnic backgrounds.

Absolutely agree.

 

[FREDBINNEY]

Most of the programme was hearsay & lacked very little evidence of racism in the English game, carlisles dad was more upset by not making it as a professional. The same with the asians, they didnt make it so it's racist, why not name the club, I'm surprised mark mcammon wasnt on it , you know him the striker who has scored 37 goals in 15 years , but wasnt offered a contract due to racism . The only current black player who wanted to be interviewed was mixed race & even then jenas said he's never experienced racism in this country...........Barnes was the worst,whinging away in the slavery museum .....oh poor johnny nobody wants him as a manager cos he's black......what bollocks........He was a shit manager,can't believe he's still moaning about it.
As far as this country is concerned.........the programme showed no evidence of blatant racism in football in this country & why there was a black Comedienne interviewed I really don't know.

 

[Dowling93]

I'm glad he visited the Punjabi Wolves - they are a good lot.

Looking forward to seeing them if they come down for our game against them as they look like they create quite a good atmosphere

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Unfortunately Clarke couldn't come up with any great examples where he needed them. He wheeled out John Barnes as the epitomy of not getting a chance as a manager - and yet he was given a chance at both Celtic and Tranmere, and was shite at both. He then went back to the now tired approach of visiting Poland... what's that got to do with racism in UK football?

The only interesting part was the section on Asian footballers. I found that a little eye-opening as when people talk about racism we usually think of blacks, and Asians aren't mentioned. But it's possible to put that stuff down as sour grapes as the kids didn't make the step-up - though personally I suspect there's more to it.

All in all, I found it a disappointing documentary really.

 

[bristo]

You all seem to be missing one of the most damning aspects of the programme which was that he couldn't get any of the top black players to take part in case it jeapordised the development of their careers. Thus suggesting, surely, that institutionalised racism is rife within the game or that they fear a backlash from some direction or other which would be racism once again.

 

[Del Boy]

the asian comments were interesting though. surely the numbers breaking through show something is amiss. cant all be crap at the game!

This, they said there has only been two Asian Premier League players. But it could also be racist that their team is 100% Asain, is it open to all?

 

[User removed 4]

You all seem to be missing one of the most damning aspects of the programme which was that he couldn't get any of the top black players to take part in case it jeapordised the development of their careers. Thus suggesting, surely, that institutionalised racism is rife within the game or that they fear a backlash from some direction or other which would be racism once again.

Really ? you actually believe this to be the case , unbelievable.

 

[User removed 4]

You all seem to be missing one of the most damning aspects of the programme which was that he couldn't get any of the top black players to take part in case it jeapordised the development of their careers. Thus suggesting, surely, that institutionalised racism is rife within the game or that they fear a backlash from some direction or other which would be racism once again.

Really ? you actually believe this to be the case , unbelievable.

 

[bristo]

Really ? you actually believe this to be the case , unbelievable.

How do you interpret their reluctance then?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I found it a bit simplistic, to be honest. I don't doubt that there are still people in the game with attitudes that most of us thought died out with the dinosaurs- it's not that long since Ron Atkinson inadvertently outed himself as a relic, or since Andy Gray & Richard Keys revealed their cosy old boys club feelings. It didn't strike me as particularly scientific: he concludes that the football culture is biased against Asians on the back of interviews with two teenage lads. What's the overall percentage of teenage football trialists who make the grade as professionals? It must be ridiculously small: that's why they get paid so much, because at the end of the day, even the crappest League Two footballer is head and shoulders above any of the failed wannabes who thought they could have made it. I'd wager that plenty of county captains don't succeed in getting professional contracts. I'm not suggesting for a second that there aren't prehistoric attitudes around still- in fact I'm 100% sure there are- but it wasn't a very constructive way of illustrating it.

I also think it would have been more productive to ask the question "what does football need to do to attract more people from different cultures?" It's all very well Carlisle saying "Black and Asian people don't like coming to football matches because of perceived racism", but it would have been good to have seen him ask people from those backgrounds what they thought might change that situation. What could the clubs do to attract people from different communities, particularly those with no real history of involvement in football? That doesn't mean changing the soul of the game or the clubs, it's more about reaching out to new groups of potential fans. Clubs already do far more to involve women and children, for example, or disabled supporters, than they ever did years ago, so it's reasonable to suppose the same could happen with clubs in areas with large ethnic minority populations.

 

[User removed 4]

How do you interpret their reluctance then?

That it simply isnt there to be found ?? Have you ever considered that ? Do you really think that these top footballlers, on tens of thousands of pounds a week, now with unprecedented power within the game, would tolerate racism, or if it existed be too scared to appear on tv, really? not to mention all these reticent black footballers who couldnt be prised away from their twitter accounts during the john terry trial.

 

[bristo]

You have a point and I would love you to be right. But 1. why did they say it would affect their careers ? and 2. why didn't they come on and say, 'it simply isn't there'. Carlisle is, after all, their representative and as such one or two not on twitter might want him to represent their views or accurately reflect the situation.

 

[JCL666]

Agreed. Brighton is diverse, but not racially diverse.

Brighton is diverse in that it has lots of different sorts of middle class white people

 

[stripeyshark]

the asian comments were interesting though. surely the numbers breaking through show something is amiss. cant all be crap at the game!

Yeah but the asian athletes generally play cricket as their chosen sport. I'm sure lots of egyptians could ski very well if they tries it, but they choose not to.

 

[User removed 4]

You have a point and I would love you to be right. But 1. why did they say it would affect their careers ? and 2. why didn't they come on and say, 'it simply isn't there'. Carlisle is, after all, their representative and as such one or two not on twitter might want him to represent their views or accurately reflect the situation.

Because they're fictitious ? It wouldnt be much of a programme if that were the case , and carlisles gravy train as the champion of the poor oppressed black footballer might be derailed.