Councillor and son subjected to racist chants on train
A LONDON councillor was subjected to racist chants and abuse by Brentford fans on a train journey.
Newham Labour councillor Mas Patel was travelling with his 12-year-old son from Liverpool after watching a match against Brentford at Anfield following Liverpool’s 3-0 win against Brentford on Sunday January 16.
According to the Liverpool fan, a group of Brentford fans sang racist, homophobic and antiSemitic chants along with slurs aimed at Liverpool fans in relation to the Hillsborough Disaster of 1989.
Cllr Patel was so appalled that he took to Twitter to share his experience.
Some of the phrases he overheard were “The S*n were right, you’re murderers” and “Welsh P***-shoot the Pakistani”.
The furious dad wrote: “WTF! Some of the vile chants from a pack of @BrentfordFC fans are spewing on my train back from Anfield with my 12yr old. Most are teens!”
He added to the Evening Standard: “It was very very uncomfortable. A group of Brentford fans, all in their teens and 20s, were saying all sorts of disgusting things.
“The train was jam-packed and we couldn’t move. I hoped it would die down a bit, but as the booze was flowing it just got worse.
“They were chanting racist things saying the P-word, antiSemitic slurs, homophobic slurs. It was shameful.”
Cllr Patel says he was asked to leave the carriage by staff after the group of Brentford fans cottoned on to him.
“So I call out the racist, homophobic chanting and I’m asked to leave the carriage.
“Ok, it’s for my safety, I know, they picked up my tweets and fronted me,” he said.
Brentford FC has since responded to the upsetting reports from Cllr Patel and said an investigation is now underway.
He praised an elderly Brentford fan who made a stand against the group and hopes to find him so he can say thank you.
He said: “I couldn’t believe it. He got up and said how disgusted he was with these young lads and said they were not a part of his club and they should be ashamed
of themselves.”
A Brentford FC spokesman said: “We condemn any abusive or discriminatory behaviour that has taken place.
“We will be investigating and will follow up on these awful reports. We are a club for all. Discrimination has no place at Brentford FC.
“Through our Bee Together campaign, we actively encourage behaviour which is consistent with the principles of fairness, respect and tolerance – those who can’t accept that are simply not welcome at Brentford.”
A police spokesperson said: “British Transport Police received a report of racial chanting onboard a service near Watford on the evening of Sunday 16 January. Enquiries into this incident are ongoing.”