""Being a linesman, you are exposed to that abuse more than anyone else involved in the match," he says. "You are on the touchline with your back to the crowd. You can't see the people behind you; they are within touching distance sometimes. "It's a scary situation to be in if the crowd is against you. I really don't know how he put up with it.""
"It wasn't just fans on the terraces displaying racist attitudes. "I would often be sat in, or close to, the directors' box. I'm white, so people had no idea Emerson was my dad. I'd often hear racist remarks from directors or chairmen around me. "At the end of the match they would then be putting their arm round my dad, laughing and joking with him and thanking him.""
Emerson Griffith was appointed to the Football League list of linesmen ahead of the 1979–80 season and is believed to be the first match official from an African and Caribbean background at that level. He regularly served as a linesman but never took charge as the central referee in a Football League match. His stepson Andy says Emerson felt racism limited his opportunities to officiate at a higher level and found that hard to accept after retirement. Andy recalls racial taunts from fans, abuse on the touchline, and racist remarks from directors and chairmen who later acted friendly. Emerson emigrated from Barbados to London in 1961 and the family settled in Palmers Green and then Edmonton before he began refereeing locally.
Read at www.bbc.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]