We Grecians fans should unite and reject racism in football

HANDS up who's chanted monkey noises at a black footballer.

I have. In the mid-1980s, when I was about 11, it was common for many of us — young and old — to 'heckle' visiting black players with a chorus of 'Oo, Oo, Oos' as they flew down the wing on the Cowshed side of the ground.

I say 'flew down the wing', incidentally, because back then visiting black players were usually flying wingers. This was a time when the responsibility of defensive duties and the intricacies of the middle of the park were largely left to white blokes.

Such racism among football managers could perhaps be ignored, but there was no ignoring the massed ape-like grunts from the terraces.

Unless, of course, you count the player in question who seemed quite capable of overcoming our thoughtful critique of his race in order to tear apart City's defence (again).

And the club did a pretty good job of totally ignoring our vile chants. As did our fellow fans (not least because many were too busy joining it).

And, come to think of it, so did the police, which is odd since this was a time when the more risqué versions of certain Wurzels songs could see you turfed out of the ground and heading to Capel's chippie a good hour earlier than expected.

Thinking back, I've really no clear idea what the hell I was doing. Back then, I'd probably have said 'trying to put the winger off his game', 'having a laugh' or, since there was precious little singing for a couple of miserable seasons in the mid-1980s, 'just trying to create a bit of atmosphere'.

Of course, like stupid kids everywhere, what I was really doing was joining in with the adults — and copying what I'd heard on TV — in a bid to be grown-up myself.

So, after a week of humiliating publicity for Exeter City due to one fan's racist chants at Bournemouth, it's perhaps no bad thing for us to be reminded of our responsibilities.

We can perhaps take some comfort from 'our' lone racist at Bournemouth. Unlike in my idiotic days, there were no kids willing to join in. In fact, it takes quite something to start a chant among 1,300 people and have 1,299 refuse to join in.

Also, City fans everywhere have been quick to condemn this idiot's disgusting behaviour and the club too have come forward with strongly-worded statements.

But, in part because of the resulting publicity, I fear we might have a few challenging months ahead of us. There's enough alcohol-fuelled desire to ruffle a few feathers by behaving disgracefully in a football ground to make a couple of copy-cat episodes a distinct possibility — and this time our response needs to be immediate.

We fans need to learn from what went wrong at Bournemouth. Having seen how damaging this incident has been, we need to be a bit more willing to act on the spot if and when there is any similar racist chanting.

I spoke with the Let's Kick Racism Out of Football campaign and their message is clear. "Supporters need to act when they see or hear racism at football", they insist. "Tell police. Tell a steward. And, if they don't act on it, report it to us. That's what we're here for."

City striker Richard Logan also urged supporters to play their part. "I know that lots of the most vocal City fans are kids, but they shouldn't be afraid to say 'we don't need to hear this' and to report any racist chanting.

"I'm sure they've got it in them to be brave and to do the right thing."

I confessed to Logie about my own childhood spell of doing the wrong thing and, perhaps surprisingly (possibly embarrassed), he laughed. "Different times", he said. "I've never heard anything at any club I've played for. And obviously that's not something that I'd want to change."

I asked whether he had given this any thought before heading away from more ethnically diverse parts of the country to first Dorset and then Devon.

"No, it never crossed my mind. Never," Logie said emphatically. "And I honestly don't think about it now. A lot of people recognise me around Exeter and that's a nice thing. A couple of kids today were going 'we love you Logie' and we kicked a ball around for a bit. It's all good. I love it here."

There are many reasons to play an active part in keeping Exeter City free of racism. General human decency is a good starting point. Or how about preserving the brilliance of football as a means of uniting rather than dividing people?

There's the good name of Exeter City to uphold and the lazy media stereotype of insular, backward-thinking Devonians to challenge and destroy.

Oh yeah and how about ensuring that everyone feels welcome at St James's Park, so they know that when they give their money and their support to our club, they'll be included within the Grecian family and not subjected to despicable racism.

And if all of the above aren't reason enough to risk a bit of bother by confronting any vile racism, then surely you can at least do it for Logie.

He loves it here and he's never heard a single racist chant in all his time as a footballer. If that were to change, it would be a very, very sad day for Exeter City.