Tweet
England's first black international Viv Anderson has condemned world football's attempts to rid the game of racism.
Anderson broke new ground when he was drafted into the Three Lions squad by Ron Greenwood in 1978 for the first in a 30-cap career that transcended a huge culture change within the English game.
Undoubtedly, massive strides have been made.
And, whilst there is still work to do on the management side, where Anderson tried, and ultimately failed to emulate his success as a player during an ill-fated stint at Barnsley, few now feel England is a place where individuals are judged by the colour of their skin.
On the continent it is a different matter.
Last season, the FA requested a friendly against Spain was not played in Madrid to avoid a repeat of the racist behaviour towards their team on a previous visit in 2004.
Trips to Eastern Europe have brought more problems, and the England Under-21 team were targeted by Serbian supporters during the 2007 European Championships in Holland.
Anderson, who has just launched his autobiography 'First Among Unequals', believes the problem has been allowed to fester for long enough, with fines far too low to have any effect.
"We have our house in order in the UK. Nobody is allowed to chant," said Anderson. "It is when we go to various other countries.
"To get rid of it, the lead has to come from UEFA. The fines have to be more stringent.
"When you are talking about a £14,000 fine for abusing England players, it is a nonsense.
"I know it is a minority but if the fines were £1million, that would have an impact.
"People would stand up and take notice about who was coming into the stadiums and what they were doing.
"I don't know what the answer is but the fines are ridiculous."
Samuel Eto'o was the first in a succession of high-profile black players to state they would be willing to walk off a pitch if they were isolated.
Anderson does not believe the game's authorities have taken that threat seriously enough either.
"There are a lot of middle class white people running football," he said.
"This is 2010. We live in a multi-racial world.
"If you had paid £30 to watch a match and someone like Eto'o or Thierry Henry walks off because of a few idiots, how would you feel?
"They have to clamp down on it. Racism should have been eradicated by now."
Although Anderson played at a time when John Barnes had bananas thrown at him, he claims racism never seriously affected him.
Indeed, one sharp lesson from Brian Clough taught him all he needed to know about the importance of ignoring the boo-boys.
"Cloughie made me aware very early on that if he didn't feel I could handle it, he would pick someone else," said Anderson.
"People were shouting and chanting but he said if I wanted to forge a career in the game I would have to dismiss it.
"I had to forget it and play.
"I remember a game at Carlisle, when I was about 19.
"He told me to warm-up and within five minutes I am sat back down next to him.
"He asked me what I was doing. I told him I had warmed up but the fans were throwing bananas, apples, pears and all sorts at me.
"He told me to get back out and get him two bananas and an apple.
"That was a way of him getting me to shut it all out. He had made a joke of it and I instinctively knew it was the best thing to do."
It would be wrong to view Anderson's career purely on the basis of the colour of his skin.
After all, he was good enough to win a league title, a League Cup and back-to-back European Cups during his Forest days before moving on to two real heavyweights in Arsenal and boyhood idols Manchester United, where he became Sir Alex Ferguson's signing.
Indeed, having been one of the few to experience life under Clough and Ferguson, he is in a pretty decent position to assess the talents of two such illustrious figures, who will go down in history as among Britain's greatest managers.
"There were a lot of similarities between Clough and Ferguson," he said.
"They had huge self-belief. They demanded things from players but at both clubs, there was nothing but respect and admiration.
"I would just take Brian Clough because he won back-to-back European Cups with a club that had average gates of 19,000 and was going nowhere when he arrived.
"Sir Alex has achieved far more in terms of trophies but United always had the most money and the best stadium."
Anderson broke new ground when he was drafted into the Three Lions squad by Ron Greenwood in 1978 for the first in a 30-cap career that transcended a huge culture change within the English game.
Undoubtedly, massive strides have been made.
And, whilst there is still work to do on the management side, where Anderson tried, and ultimately failed to emulate his success as a player during an ill-fated stint at Barnsley, few now feel England is a place where individuals are judged by the colour of their skin.
On the continent it is a different matter.
Last season, the FA requested a friendly against Spain was not played in Madrid to avoid a repeat of the racist behaviour towards their team on a previous visit in 2004.
Trips to Eastern Europe have brought more problems, and the England Under-21 team were targeted by Serbian supporters during the 2007 European Championships in Holland.
Anderson, who has just launched his autobiography 'First Among Unequals', believes the problem has been allowed to fester for long enough, with fines far too low to have any effect.
"We have our house in order in the UK. Nobody is allowed to chant," said Anderson. "It is when we go to various other countries.
"To get rid of it, the lead has to come from UEFA. The fines have to be more stringent.
"When you are talking about a £14,000 fine for abusing England players, it is a nonsense.
"I know it is a minority but if the fines were £1million, that would have an impact.
"People would stand up and take notice about who was coming into the stadiums and what they were doing.
"I don't know what the answer is but the fines are ridiculous."
Samuel Eto'o was the first in a succession of high-profile black players to state they would be willing to walk off a pitch if they were isolated.
Anderson does not believe the game's authorities have taken that threat seriously enough either.
"There are a lot of middle class white people running football," he said.
"This is 2010. We live in a multi-racial world.
"If you had paid £30 to watch a match and someone like Eto'o or Thierry Henry walks off because of a few idiots, how would you feel?
"They have to clamp down on it. Racism should have been eradicated by now."
Although Anderson played at a time when John Barnes had bananas thrown at him, he claims racism never seriously affected him.
Indeed, one sharp lesson from Brian Clough taught him all he needed to know about the importance of ignoring the boo-boys.
"Cloughie made me aware very early on that if he didn't feel I could handle it, he would pick someone else," said Anderson.
"People were shouting and chanting but he said if I wanted to forge a career in the game I would have to dismiss it.
"I had to forget it and play.
"I remember a game at Carlisle, when I was about 19.
"He told me to warm-up and within five minutes I am sat back down next to him.
"He asked me what I was doing. I told him I had warmed up but the fans were throwing bananas, apples, pears and all sorts at me.
"He told me to get back out and get him two bananas and an apple.
"That was a way of him getting me to shut it all out. He had made a joke of it and I instinctively knew it was the best thing to do."
It would be wrong to view Anderson's career purely on the basis of the colour of his skin.
After all, he was good enough to win a league title, a League Cup and back-to-back European Cups during his Forest days before moving on to two real heavyweights in Arsenal and boyhood idols Manchester United, where he became Sir Alex Ferguson's signing.
Indeed, having been one of the few to experience life under Clough and Ferguson, he is in a pretty decent position to assess the talents of two such illustrious figures, who will go down in history as among Britain's greatest managers.
"There were a lot of similarities between Clough and Ferguson," he said.
"They had huge self-belief. They demanded things from players but at both clubs, there was nothing but respect and admiration.
"I would just take Brian Clough because he won back-to-back European Cups with a club that had average gates of 19,000 and was going nowhere when he arrived.
"Sir Alex has achieved far more in terms of trophies but United always had the most money and the best stadium."
Comment