Kick It Out call for better understanding - Sheffield Wednesday v Coventry City under racism cloud

Townsend, who has been with the ant-racism organisation for over two decades, was speaking to The Star ahead of another meeting between Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry City – which unfortunately has an added backdrop after City’s Kasey Palmer was racially abused and booed at Hillsborough.

A man has been arrested and released on bail for the racially aggravated public order offence, and KIO’s Head of Player Engagement says believes that those who it affects the most need to be taken into greater consideration.

He said, “Booing is not an offence, it’s nothing that you can get arrested or labelled for, but the act of what they were booing about is the issue. The taking of the knee on this occasion was quite clearly a stance against racism – and there were people booing it. I think it shows various levels of ignorance, and a lack of understanding of what has happened to Kasey. You’re trying to level it against Black Lives Matter, but players have explained their stance when it’s been booed elsewhere, and it was also flamed by politicians who also thought that their lack of understanding could enflame others.

“But with Kasey’s case it was clear. A clear message that they’d had enough of racism, and he was the person who was racially abused. So are those fans having an opinion on how he would have felt at the time when he was racially abused? And how it’s affected his family, and impacted on his thought process and that of his close teammates. I would also say, what about the black representatives in Sheffield Wednesday’s team? How does it make them feel about their fanbase?

“I’d like to see more accountability, in terms of whose responsibility is it now? The situation has happened, there has been an arrest, but alongside the police and the clubs, what happens now? You see all the furore that’s been around the club, that furore goes quiet… Something empowered that person to believe that it was ok to do what he did in a packed stadium – I’ll never get my head around that… Kasey had to explain to his children that he’d been abused because of the colour of his skin. Do the sanctions need to be reviewed? The authorities need to be stronger and more powerful in this space.

Townsend did praise Wednesday for their response to the situation, though, and their desire to be proactive about matters going forward. He was also delighted with young Owls fan, Cole, after he reached out to the player in the aftermath.

“I do want to say that my dealings with the club have been very good,” the former Millwall and Crystal Palace youth player said. “I can feel that they’re ashamed and embarrassed – even though they didn’t do the action – and they want to be proactive. They’ve put out some strong messaging, and they’ve been very receptive to our support.

“And with regards to the young lad who went to meet Kasey… I also speak a lot about young people who have an innocence that others can learn from – for him to approach Kasey like that and apologise for what happened is a mark not only for him and his family, but it’s exactly how you want fanbases to react. I thought that that was very important.”