Black England footballer says he is regularly stopped by the police

A YORKSHIRE-BORN England footballer has opened up about facing racism in his everyday life, and revealed he is regularly stopped by South Yorkshire Police when he returns home.

Tottenham Hotspur player Danny Rose, pictured, who spent the end of last season on loan at Newcastle United, revealed he was stopped by police in his home town Doncaster as recently as last week.

On his latest dealings with South Yorkshire Police he insisted there were no grounds for being stopped.

“Particularly when I go home to Doncaster, I don’t like to drive so I get the train, but whenever I do drive, I kid you not I will get stopped at some point while I’m in Doncaster, pulled over and questioned,” he said on the Second Captains podcast.

“My friends have been there with me a lot of the time when it’s happened. The last time, last week, when I’d just been at my mum’s house, I had pulled up in a car park so the engine was off. “The police pulled in and they brought a riot van, three police cars and they questioned me. They said they’d had a report that a car had not been driving correctly.

“So I’m like, ‘Ok, so why does that make it my car?’ I got my ID out and they breathalysed me. It’s just honestly one of those things to me now. What can I do?

“I don’t understand what I can do or who I can complain to. This happened first when I was 15 and it’s still happening now I’m 30. So 15 years of this on and off the field happening and there’s no change whatsoever.”

Rose, who started his career at Leeds United, has been subjected to racist abuse while playing for England.

He said he cannot return to his hometown without a confrontation with the police while also suffering issues when travelling on public transport.

When asked to respond to the incident, a spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said: “Our officers work hard to ensure the roads of South Yorkshire are safe.

“As part of this on-going work, officers conduct regular traffic stops of drivers across all roads and areas of South Yorkshire.

“For drivers who feel like they have been targeted for a stop, please be assured our officers’ actions are there to keep you and our communities safe.”