PARKER’S WARY OF TYKES FIGHT
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every oung man, ably an even ve mum – and tributes his unded character his mother, Diane. From learning sign nguage at Brentford om the Bees’ deaf ach Ben Lampert an articulate voice m crusaders Kick radiates passes he sprays across West Brom’s midfield. It all stems from his mum’s influence. “Over the years, she has brought up maybe five foster children as well as her own – caring for others is just the core of her personality. “She did a great job bringing up me and my brother, and when we turned from boys to men, she kept wanting to ‘give birth’, so to speak, and give other kids a good start in life. “Growing up, she did everything for me and now it’s my turn. All of this I’m doing for her. I’ve come home to fulfil my dream.” West Brom has always been a club closer to its fan base than most, and
Sawyers has the common touch. He said: “Going into the community is such an important part of what we do. As a young boy, I know if somebody from the local team stepped into my classroom, I would be so excited.
“I am always aware of our responsibility as footballers, I know we can change kids’ lives, even if we are there for just an hour. You can see the difference it makes in their faces.
“That comes from my upbringing: My mum always wanted me to be a human first, because I was a plain human being before I played football and I’ll be a human longer than my career will last. I’ve said before Muhammad Ali will be remembered forever because he wasn’t just a heavyweight champion his influence transcended boxing and he was revered worldwide for it.
“Floyd Mayweather was a great boxer but won’t be respected as much because of his image outside the ring. As footballers, we have to respect the platform we’ve been given. It’s not just about making people happy on a Saturday afternoon or one night in midweek, and that stems from the way I’ve been brought up.”
And as football wakes up at last to the scourge of racism, Sawyers is a literate supporter of education and principled protests like England star Raheem Sterling’s (above) calculated revolt against embedded attitudes last year.
“It was a big moment, given
Raheem’s profile in the game with Manchester City and England, when he made his stand,” said Sawyers.
“He used his platform perfectly to make his point and it lifted an important issue to the top of the agenda. I don’t think you will ever stop racism completely: It’s not just football, it’s the way the world works.
“But if we keep pushing the message out there, keep educating people, keep playing our part so the percentages keep heading in the right direction, that’s all we can do.
“We have to stay on the ball with it, and as long as I’m still playing I’m going to make sure the message gets passed down to the next generation.
“Hopefully it will have a domino effect and decency will win the day.”
Promotion and decency? One may be harder to find than the other, but football needs more good men like Romaine Sawyers on the path to enlightenment.
SCOTT PARKER has warned his Fulham players to fear a Barnsley side battling against the odds to survive.
The Cottagers’ chief still has the memory of the opening day of the campaign when fans booed his side off after a 1-0 defeat at Oakwell.
Fulham are level on points with second-placed Leeds and look ready for a promotion bid.
But Parker (above) said: “We have to go back to the first game of the season, the test we faced there was tough and we fell a bit short.
“They can cause problems and have energy and desire. We need to go into the game all guns blazing.”
The troubled Tykes are nine points off safety after a dismal run of just one point from their last five games.
Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber said: “I believe in my team and believe we can pick up points in the next game.
“We only focus on us and our performance and not the table.”
vChampionship: 3pm