MARK Hateley was as angry when he saw the racist abuse aimed at Scott Sinclair at Ibrox last month as he was when he saw the National Front (NF) board an England flight to South America back in the 1980s, when they singled out the team’s black players for insults.
The 55-year-old former Rangers striker was recently inducted into Show Racism the Red Card’s Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Westminster, in recognition of the time he has spent over the last 15 years spreading an anti-racism message.
He was appalled when he saw a Rangers supporter making monkey gestures towards the Celtic striker and feels it is high time the minority who still feel this kind of behaviour is acceptable are stamped out.
As for that England trip, it highlights the absurdity of the NF’s behaviour that one of the team’s black players, John Barnes, would use it to take a Hateley pass and slalom past at least six Brazilian defenders as England recorded one of the most famous results in their history in the Maracana.
“It was a great honour to get the award because I have been working within this organisation for about 15 years, and this has been one of the mainstays for as long as I can remember, when it comes to working against racism in football,” said Hateley.
“I remember on one of my first England trips, the National Front travelled on our plane, up the back of the plane, with the press and all that lot.
“We went to South America and they were like a guard of honour, clapping all the white players through. And then you had Viv Anderson — the first black player to play for England — John Barnes and Mark Chamberlain getting absolute dogs’ abuse.
“How did I feel? Angry. I just felt angry about it.
“You just shake your head, because they are morons, uneducated morons as far as I am concerned,” he added.
“Don’t get me wrong, I grew up in that post-war period, where grandparents and parents could be uneducated, but you get through that.
When he saw the abuse towards Scott Sinclair, he was angry again.
“It is a situation where the guy got caught, and it was a season ticket holder passing on his ticket. To a certain extent he is to blame for doing that because these people have children around them.
“The community which surrounds this club is so diverse, and without that community we don’t have a football club. It is the minority again that have spoiled it. All clubs have minorities but it is they who have to be stamped on.”
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