Racism victims kept quiet over ‘culture of fear’
Victims of widespread racism at Chelsea in the Eighties and Nineties kept their abuse hidden amid fears the main protagonist was connected to the very top of the club, according to a new report.
A Barnardo’s investigation outlining a dossier of “normalised” abuse suggested youth players believed former academy director Gwyn Williams was protected by his links to Graham Rix and former chairman Ken Bates.
Williams eventually became responsible for child protection at Chelsea between 1999 and 2003. The report describes how multiple former youth players came forward to describe how he presided over a culture of fear.
Black players were greeted with monkey noises on their first days at the club. The authors of the report also paint a grim picture of “unchallenged” racism across the entire game during the 1980s. “The context during this review was one where racism continued to be a significant feature in society and a regular feature in football; racism in football was overt and in the early 1980s was invariably unchallenged,” it said.
Last night Paul Canoville, Chelsea’s first black player, told The Daily Telegraph he was “shocked” and “saddened” by some of the findings, but said the club deserved praise for their efforts to tackle racism in recent years.
Williams and Rix have previously strongly denied allegations they racially abused youth players. Rix worked at Chelsea from 1993 to 2000, and Williams from 1979 to 2006. “Barnardo’s reviewers take the view that, whilst it appears that Graham Rix could be aggressive and bullying, on the evidence presented to them, he was not racially abusive. In the view of the reviewers, the same cannot be said of Gwyn Williams,” read the report into non-recent racist abuse.
According to the report, most of the racist abuse aimed at Chelsea’s young players took place at the club’s former Harlington training ground. The report claims Deep Heat was rubbed on genitalia of players and racist insults became the norm. Former players said Williams was “the main person who ran the show”.
The abuse took place in a culture far removed from today’s standards in football academies. “Players were allowed to behave in a disrespectful manner towards other players,” the report says. Excrement was thrown at a sleeping player, for example.
“Coaches at the club were likened to drill sergeants, and were described as hardened to their environment and pushing boys to achieve their best,” the report added. “The physical training was said to be extremely hard, the environment was described as tough … A number of players recalled hearing GW make racially abusive remarks on their very first day at the club. One player recalled hearing GW ‘make monkey sounds towards another black player’.” Another player was allegedly told: “You all right shoe shine?” and “that’s a nice new top. Have you been out robbing old grannies again with the rest of the darkies on your estate?” Williams, it was claimed, regularly split youth teams into black players against white players. The “n” word was regularly heard on the training ground.
The report claimed there were numerous accounts of comments such as “lick your lips and I’ll stick you to the window”. Some of those interviewed defended Williams by suggesting he may have been attempting to prepare black players for racism on the pitch. However, exploring why it took decades for the allegations to become public, the report added: “A number of people interviewed said they believed that there were close relationships between those in the most senior positions such as between GW [Williams] and GR [Rix] and the chairman Ken Bates.”
The report concludes that there was evidence he “used his position of power and trust to ridicule and humiliate the young people concerned”.
Williams, who went on to be technical director at Leeds United, denies the allegations and a police investigation concluded that there was insufficient evidence. His lawyer, who also represents Rix, did not comment when approached. Bates was unavailable. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Bates, or evidence that he was aware in any way of the abuse that took place.
Chelsea said in a statement: “We are doing, and will continue to do, everything we can to ensure that those boys, girls, men and women who play for this club – and indeed anyone who works for or with the club – will never have to endure the terrible experiences which these young players suffered.”
The charity Kick It Out also acknowledged Chelsea’s “commitment to ensure that it will never happen again”.