A sorry tale that can make you despair about football: Why punish this club for standing up to racist abuse?
Football can thrill but there are also times when you despair for the game
Football can thrill but there are also times when you despair for the game
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Football can thrill us and entrance us, as this season has proved, but it can cause dismay and disillusion, too. There are times when you despair for it. This is about one of those times.
It started with an Under 16s match between Wilmslow Town Panthers and Sale Communities Hawks in the Timperley and District Junior Football League three months ago.
A couple of the Wilmslow parents asked the abusive spectator to stop. He took no notice. Another parent told him he was recording the abuse on his mobile phone in the hope it would shut him up. It didn't. When the game got to the 80th minute, with the scores level at 0-0 and the abuse still coming, another parent asked the man to stop again.
This time, witnesses said, the abusive spectator and his companion approached the Wilmslow parent, swore at him and then tried to punch him. The Wilmslow parent, an ex-Marine, slipped the punch. The man's companion threw a punch, too, and cut the Wilmslow parent's lip.
- Spectator at an Under 16 game was heard spewing racist bile from touchline
- Man said to be a player's grandfather screamed: 'Sort that f****** n*****'
- Wilmslow Town were charged with misconduct after standing up to it
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It happened on Valentine's Day but there is nothing romantic about this story. Nor, unfortunately, does it have a happy ending.Football can thrill us and entrance us, as this season has proved, but it can cause dismay and disillusion, too. There are times when you despair for it. This is about one of those times.
It started with an Under 16s match between Wilmslow Town Panthers and Sale Communities Hawks in the Timperley and District Junior Football League three months ago.
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It was a crisp winter morning at the Jim Evison Playing Fields on the outskirts of Wilmslow, an expanse of green that commuters drive past as they leave the Cheshire town for the journey into Manchester.
The match was uneventful in its early stages but rancour crept in. The Wilmslow Town centre forward, a British lad of Pakistani descent, became involved in a couple of feisty exchanges with one of the Sale boys. It was around that time that one of the Sale supporters began spewing racist bile from the touchline.
A host of witness statements related what happened next. The spectator, said to be the grandfather of one of the Sale players, started to shout insults at Wilmslow's striker. 'If he slaps my grandson, then I'll slap him,' he screamed. 'Sort that f****** n*****.'
The referee did not hear the abuse, although another spectator did alert him to the fact it was happening, and the game continued. The abuse continued, too. 'You f****** P***,' the grandfather is reported to have yelled. 'I will get you deported, you f****** n*****.'
I don't know anything about the people who run Sale Communities but I do know some of those who give up their time for Wilmslow Town. They are good people. They're the kind of people who are a credit to grass roots football in this country, a few among the thousands who devote many hours willingly and selflessly to the game.It was a crisp winter morning at the Jim Evison Playing Fields on the outskirts of Wilmslow, an expanse of green that commuters drive past as they leave the Cheshire town for the journey into Manchester.
The match was uneventful in its early stages but rancour crept in. The Wilmslow Town centre forward, a British lad of Pakistani descent, became involved in a couple of feisty exchanges with one of the Sale boys. It was around that time that one of the Sale supporters began spewing racist bile from the touchline.
A host of witness statements related what happened next. The spectator, said to be the grandfather of one of the Sale players, started to shout insults at Wilmslow's striker. 'If he slaps my grandson, then I'll slap him,' he screamed. 'Sort that f****** n*****.'
The referee did not hear the abuse, although another spectator did alert him to the fact it was happening, and the game continued. The abuse continued, too. 'You f****** P***,' the grandfather is reported to have yelled. 'I will get you deported, you f****** n*****.'
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A couple of the Wilmslow parents asked the abusive spectator to stop. He took no notice. Another parent told him he was recording the abuse on his mobile phone in the hope it would shut him up. It didn't. When the game got to the 80th minute, with the scores level at 0-0 and the abuse still coming, another parent asked the man to stop again.
This time, witnesses said, the abusive spectator and his companion approached the Wilmslow parent, swore at him and then tried to punch him. The Wilmslow parent, an ex-Marine, slipped the punch. The man's companion threw a punch, too, and cut the Wilmslow parent's lip.
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[bcolor=#ffffff]The Wilmslow parent did not retaliate and other parents and players intervened to try to usher the attackers away. There was some pushing. The grandfather was still screaming racist abuse. The referee, Josh Wates, ran over to help.
'I heard a parent from Sale use the words "Where's your turban?",' he wrote in a statement later. After a couple of minutes, he abandoned the game. To complete proceedings, one of the Wilmslow boys was punched on his way back to the car park.
Almost a month after the game, Wilmslow Town received a letter from Cheshire FA headquarters in Northwich. They were being charged with misconduct, it said. They had breached FA Rule E20, it said. They had failed to control their players or supporters from acts of violence, it said. It was the kind of brainless officialdom that sometimes makes county FAs a laughing stock.
Wilmslow's officials were staggered. And they were disgusted. They were being charged for standing up to a racist. They were being charged for standing up for what the FA preaches.
It wasn't as if they had taken the law into their own hands. They had asked the man to stop racially abusing a young boy. In the circumstances, they had shown remarkable restraint. They epitomised all the ideals of Respect and were being punished for it.
Remember all those famous faces you see in the FIFA adverts urging 'Say no to racism'? They'd done that, hadn't they? In a small way, they'd done their bit. They had stood up for what was right. And their reward was to be charged with misconduct.
[/bcolor][bcolor=#ffffff]The Wilmslow parent did not retaliate and other parents and players intervened to try to usher the attackers away. There was some pushing. The grandfather was still screaming racist abuse. The referee, Josh Wates, ran over to help.
'I heard a parent from Sale use the words "Where's your turban?",' he wrote in a statement later. After a couple of minutes, he abandoned the game. To complete proceedings, one of the Wilmslow boys was punched on his way back to the car park.
Almost a month after the game, Wilmslow Town received a letter from Cheshire FA headquarters in Northwich. They were being charged with misconduct, it said. They had breached FA Rule E20, it said. They had failed to control their players or supporters from acts of violence, it said. It was the kind of brainless officialdom that sometimes makes county FAs a laughing stock.
Wilmslow's officials were staggered. And they were disgusted. They were being charged for standing up to a racist. They were being charged for standing up for what the FA preaches.
It wasn't as if they had taken the law into their own hands. They had asked the man to stop racially abusing a young boy. In the circumstances, they had shown remarkable restraint. They epitomised all the ideals of Respect and were being punished for it.
Remember all those famous faces you see in the FIFA adverts urging 'Say no to racism'? They'd done that, hadn't they? In a small way, they'd done their bit. They had stood up for what was right. And their reward was to be charged with misconduct.
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A couple of weeks ago, one of Wilmslow Town's officials, Alistair Wheeler, attended the disciplinary hearing. Josh Wates gave his evidence first. He turned round on his way out when he realised what was happening and asked in astonishment why Wilmslow had been charged. It didn't make any difference.
The good news is that the FA fined Sale Communities £200 and docked them 20 points. The bad news is that, hamstrung by their own bureaucracy and abandoning all common sense, they also decided the charge against Wilmslow Town was proven. They fined them £20, docked them five points and warned them as to their future conduct.
The FA, which has done much fine work on race issues at national level and continues to do so, made Wilmslow a guilty party and in the process undermined much of what they claim to stand for.
They say they understand the sensitivities of the case and went beyond the usual guidelines in their punishment of Sale. They have pointed out that they have imposed the lowest level of sanction on Wilmslow.
Maybe, but Wilmslow Town has been devastated by what has happened. A couple of players said they did not want to play any more. The U16 team will fold at the end of the season. Wheeler has resigned from his position.
'The incident — and more the fact that we were subsequently charged by the FA, and this was upheld at a hearing, contrary to the evidence — has knocked the heart out of the team,' Wheeler wrote in a letter to the league. 'This is both outrageous on the one hand and terribly sad on the other.'
Like I said, no happy ending.
[/bcolor]A couple of weeks ago, one of Wilmslow Town's officials, Alistair Wheeler, attended the disciplinary hearing. Josh Wates gave his evidence first. He turned round on his way out when he realised what was happening and asked in astonishment why Wilmslow had been charged. It didn't make any difference.
The good news is that the FA fined Sale Communities £200 and docked them 20 points. The bad news is that, hamstrung by their own bureaucracy and abandoning all common sense, they also decided the charge against Wilmslow Town was proven. They fined them £20, docked them five points and warned them as to their future conduct.
The FA, which has done much fine work on race issues at national level and continues to do so, made Wilmslow a guilty party and in the process undermined much of what they claim to stand for.
They say they understand the sensitivities of the case and went beyond the usual guidelines in their punishment of Sale. They have pointed out that they have imposed the lowest level of sanction on Wilmslow.
Maybe, but Wilmslow Town has been devastated by what has happened. A couple of players said they did not want to play any more. The U16 team will fold at the end of the season. Wheeler has resigned from his position.
'The incident — and more the fact that we were subsequently charged by the FA, and this was upheld at a hearing, contrary to the evidence — has knocked the heart out of the team,' Wheeler wrote in a letter to the league. 'This is both outrageous on the one hand and terribly sad on the other.'
Like I said, no happy ending.
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