Response to: "A Black Footballers' Union" (LeGrove)

by @hughwizzy

This post is a response to the blog entitled,

"A black footballers union? Are you mad?" posted Wed, Oct 24 by Le Grove.


As it was deleted (or never allowed past moderation) from the comments section, and since we live in the Western World of Free Speech; i feel entitled to my (albeit, rather serious) opinion, which i'll post here. You're entitled to totally disagree with everything i have to say. 

Living in the multi-cultural society we do, you would think segregation of players to deal with would be the wrong answer when trying to solve the race relations issues in football.
We should be past this, but the mere mention of the subject brings about some rather fruitful language from some, and is passed off  as a joke by others. 

Jason Roberts.

Well, now it would seem the FA have twiddled their thumbs for long enough on the issue, and capable of launching, marketing and financially supporting a "Breakaway FA", Rio and his gang are now moving to (perhaps) tactically prise some of the power away from the FA. A move that will undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers.

Are they right to seek representation for minorities in the workplace?
Can i think of any other workplace where minorities are not represented?

Any of you who saw the England U21 scenes with their Serbian counterparts will know why I'm really disheartened by what i read (from one of my favourite Arsenal bloggers, mind) concerning Rio Ferdinand and Jason Roberts' decision to attempt to form some sort of Black Footballers' Union, but even more alarmed by the general response and lack of understanding in what is already a painful, touchy subject.

Whilst the damage they've done to Kick It Out (by simultaneously not wearing the brand's t-shirt at the weekend's fixtures) is undeniable and perhaps irreparable, the lack of real unity in the game is the core problem here that a lot of people are ignoring.

Rio, the odd one out.

"if you have an organisation that excludes a race, then you become as bad as the people you are trying to protect, or is that concept too difficult for a footballer to grasp?"

Insinuating a lack of intellect because he's a footballer? 
Not sure. Hopefully, that would be too easy.

We already have the FA (i'm sure Rio's aware of them) and let's be honest, whilst things have improved a damned sight since, say: John Barnes' or Cyrille Regis' time, the underlying elephant hasn't left the room.
To pretend otherwise is to insult intelligence (back to the top) and quite simply encourages the disgraceful behaviour of which we all want rid.

I really hope you see what i did there.

The fact that Rio, Lescott, Jason Roberts (or anyone else) feels the need to take such an outlandish, apparently unplanned stance on the matter should tell you that not enough is being done by the FA, who are, for me, inconsistent with fines, bans and following through with any resolve regarding the matter.

Finally, it has been muted that they are, and i simply wanted to point out to anyone that has read this far and isn't already fully aware that: Rio Ferdinand, his brother Anton Ferdinand, Clarke Carlisle (Chairman of the PFA) and Joleon Lescott ARE NOT BLACK.

They are of mixed race.

PFA Chairman, Clarke Carlisle

Hence any argument that they would solely have the interest of black players at heart, seems void. Fact is, there are predominantly more black and mixed race players in football, but i will presume that the Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Korean etc) players who are suffering the abuse daily, death threats weekly would feel touched that something was at least being attempted and that the plan was receiving the warranted attention.

Not that it's definitely the most progressive plan of action (still debatable), but talks of a "breakaway FA" have been  "ongoing for years" according to PFA Chairman, Clarke Carlisle - who says, "a stance does need to be taken, and if the FA aren't going to take the matter seriously then they have every right to." The fact that even Sir Alex Ferguson's tune changed (drastically) on the matter in the time it took Utd's social media marketing manager to check the general consensus on twitterverse, speaks volumes, and it would appear that Rio and his not-so-merry men are being taken rather seriously.

I'm not exactly Manchester United, or Rio's biggest fan, but i say Kudos to those who stand up. They're certainly attracting a lot more attention than they might, had they worn the t-shirts.

If they don't act, and sit back from their positions of social standing, how are people like a young Danny Rose or a Gibbs to react when it happens to them, which it undoubtedly will in their careers. That said, people have had the same response to calls for true equality throughout history.

Thank the Lord it was Rose, and not Frimpong!

If you made it this far, you deserve a medal of some sort; hope i was fair.