KICK OUT THE RACISTS
England manager points finger at own fans when quizzed about issues in Russia this summer
GARETH SOUTHGATE has slammed the “disgusting” racist abuse England’s young players have received from their own fans – and insisted this country has to get its own affairs in order before criticising Russian crowds for racism.
On the eve of tonight’s World Cup warm-up game with Holland, the England manager was dismissive of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has urged fans to avoid travelling to Russia this summer for the World Cup and raised fears over their safety. But Southgate attacked England’s fans for racially abusing their own youngsters – pointing to the comments made after Steven Gerrard posted a picture, below, on social media of England’s Under-16s team, in which his cousin Bobby Duncan was playing, after they had beaten Brazil in the Florida Cup in 2016. There were several black players in the England side and among the comments on social media were: “Is this England or Senegal? Looks more like Nigeria” and “seven black players ha, ha, ha”. Southgate and his England staff were recently alerted to the picture and comments by Kick it Out education manager Troy Townsend, father of England and Crystal Palace winger Andros,
and Southgate said: “I don’t think we should talk about racism in Russia.
“We have got to get our own house in order before we point the finger at Russia, where we are going to be guests in the next couple of months. We have not resolved the issue in our own country.
“I can give you an example. I had a really interesting couple of hours with Troy [Townsend] a couple of weeks ago, speaking to our coaches. He showed us a picture of our Under-16s on social media. The comments about that team were disgusting.
“They’re part of our England family. We have a club environment at St George’s Park. Our teams mix and the youngsters look up to the senior team. I know most of those young players really well and to see them abused in that way is absolutely disgusting.”
Johnson this week compared the 2018 World Cup to the 1936 Olympics in Germany when Adolf Hitler was in power. But Southgate said: “It is of little interest to me what the Foreign Secretary thinks about it. I don’t think we are going to be the most popular team out there the way things are going at the moment.” Southgate will be without Jack Wilshere for tonight’s clash with Holland, after the Arsenal midfielder injured a knee in training, but the England coach expects him to be fit in time for Tuesday’s game against Italy at Wembley.