Race bile on social media is worse than I faced from terraces says Viv
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THE first black footballer to play for England says the racist abuse towards today’s stars on social media is worse than anything he faced from the terraces.
Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Manchester United legend Viv Anderson said it is “shameful” that players are encountering more racism than ever.
He accused the Government and social media giants of failing a generation of footballers by doing nothing to stop the abuse.
Viv, who was capped 30 times for his country, called on the authorities to hit online trolls in the pocket with “massive fines”.
He also said social media companies should be punished for giving racists a platform to spout their abuse.
The Three Lions pioneer praised stars including Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling for highlighting the problem. Viv, 64, who also played for Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley and Middlesbrough, called the abuse “disgraceful”.
The defender played in the 1970s and 1980s when racism on the terraces was rife.
Fans made monkey noises at him while other players including Liverpool’s John Barnes were pelted with bananas.
Viv said: “I went to Newcastle when playing for Nottingham Forest. It was probably my third game, in a League Cup tie,.
“The abuse I got, just walking out on the pitch before the game, was so severe I had to go back into the dressing room.
“I told the manager, Clough, that I don’t think play tonight.
“He said straight away, ‘Don’t even go down that route, you are playing.’ So I just had to get on with it. There was no escape.”
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Nottingham-born Viv says today’s black players have it even harder because the racist abuse is constant on social media.
He said: “In my day you could look at the person abusing you and say, ‘I can see your face’.
“Now they are just hiding under different accounts, on different social media platforms.
“During my day the abuse was confined to the stadium, and once I left the pitch it finished. For today’s players there is no getting away from it.”
Viv said companies such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram should face cash penalties for not stopping the abuse. He added: “If they are constantly having to pay out big fines they will soon bring people into line.”
Instagram has announced it will ban people who send racist abuse.
AN ARISTOCRAT whose family owns the magnificent stately home used as the set of TV smash Bridgerton has been charged with historical child sex offences.
The Hon Simon Howard, 65, is accused of indecent assault and gross indecency with a minor.
The alleged incident is said to have happened in early 1984 at Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, when married to his first wife.
A statement issued on his behalf said: “Simon Howard’s whole family are shocked by these allegations and are fully supportive of his confidence that he is innocent of all charges – which he denies in the strongest possible terms.”
The house and estate are owned by Castle Howard Estates, of which Simon and his elder brother Nicholas were previously 50 per cent shareholders.
Trouble struck the family in 2014 when Simon, his wife Rebecca and their two children left the 10,000-acre property.
Nicholas, 68, and wife Victoria Barnsley, 66, were reported to have held a summit with the younger brother. Friends said he was asked to step down as chairman of the board of directors at Castle Howard or be voted out.
They also said having to leave the ancestral seat “ripped out his heart” after living there all his life and managing it for 30 years.
He and Rebecca, 53, a descendant of the Sieff family who founded Marks and Spencer, moved out with their 12-year-old twins to manor house Welham Hall in Malton, North Yorkshire.
Rebecca was quoted three years ago saying: “When I drive past Castle Howard now, a shudder goes through me, as though someone was walking over my grave.
“My husband Simon was born there, my children grew up there and I felt proud and privileged to be part of its history for 15 years.”
A spokesman for Castle Howard said: “Simon Howard is no longer involved with Castle Howard having stepped down as a director and shareholder five years ago.”
Castle Howard, designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and built between 1699 and 1712, has been home to 10 generations of the Howard family for more than 300 years.
The house, which has 145 rooms, is considered one of the finest stately homes in Britain.
It doubled as Brideshead in the
TV series Brideshead Revisted, as well as Clyvedon Castle in Netflix’s raunchy hit Bridgerton, starring Regé-Jean Page as Simon Basset and Phoebe Dyvenor as Daphne Bridgerton.
The estate was the fictional Brideshead, both in Granada Television’s 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited – with stars Anthony Andrews, Diana Quick and Jeremy Irons – and a two-hour 2008 remake for cinema.
It has a superb art collection including sculptures, Old Masters and works by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough.
The Howards are descended from Lord William Howard, the youngest son of Thomas Howard, the 4th Duke of Norfolk.
Simon Howard is due to appear before Scarborough magistrates on Monday. The statement on behalf of him added: “Following an initial interview under police caution in July 2018, the Hon Simon Howard of Malton, North Yorkshire, has been charged under the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
“The Crown Prosecution Service’s charges of indecent assault and incitement to commit an act of gross indecency result from a single alleged incident.”