WALTERS DISMAYED BY ABUSE
MARK WALTERS showed racism the red card at Ibrox yesterday as he urged Scottish football’s knucklescrapers to take a good look in the mirror.
The former Rangers winger is dismayed he’s still railing against intolerance three decades after Celtic and Hearts fans pelted him with bananas, golf balls, darts and even a pig’s trotter.
Walters’s arrival from Aston Villa in 1988 shone a harsh light on Scottish football’s uneasy relationship with race – and some fans are still being blinded by the glare of their own prejudice.
Rangers fan Paul Kenny pleaded guilty this month to making monkey gestures at Scott Sinclair when the Celtic ace netted in his side’s 5-1 Ibrox rout.
Another Gers fan was arrested and charged for allegedly making the same gestures while disgusting social media postings singling out the ex-Chelsea kid for his skin colour have also been widely condemned.
Walters insists the problem is an issue for society to address and although strides are being made recent events brought back unhappy memories of his first two matches for Gers, at Celtic Park and Tynecastle.
He said: “They were the ones most documented, yes – bananas, darts and golf balls. I even remember a pig’s foot. When you’re seeing darts a metre from your feet and golf balls you think, ‘Is my health worth this, just for a game of football?’ Of course it crosses your mind to walk away.
“I didn’t want to be blinded but the club assured me they would do something about it and they did and I’m forever grateful to them for that.
“It was a fantastic experience up here. I never had any problems in the street. It was just at a couple of stadiums when I first arrived.
“It wasn’t unusual 30 years ago for players to be abused verbally and have things thrown at them. My first experience of that was at 15 playing against Millwall in 1979.
“By the time I arrived in Scotland 10 years later I was hardened to it.
“It has improved unbelievably since I was playing and the way forward is education. Football reflects society and it’s society that’s the problem.
“Events at the most recent Old Firm game were disappointing.
“But Rangers fans treated me fantastically. As a club Rangers were terrific, not only in helping me have a good career here but my family also enjoyed coming here.”
● Walters joined ex-clubmates Richard Gough, Mark Hateley, Gary McSwegan and Derek Ferguson at Ibrox yesterday for a Show Racism the Red Card educational event.