"Emile Heskey was about 14 years old when he was chased from Leicester City's old Filbert Street stadium all the way into town by a man shouting racist abuse. He was a Leicester fan who had no idea he was abusing a player who would go on to help his club win promotion to the Premier League and two League Cups before a move to Liverpool for what, at the time, was the club's record transfer fee."
"There was the time he left another stadium with two of his sons, Jaden and Reigan, the promising Manchester City teenagers, and someone racially abused them. They were four and six. They were kids so I don't think they would've understood what was going on, Heskey says. We were walking from a stadium and something was said I won't say what. But you just leave it and move on. They would've been in a stadium watching me play when things were being chanted."
"I don't think much has changed. If anything, social media has made abuse worse. You've got access to abuse anyone you want at any given time. I think there would be similar sorts of crime and abuse at stadiums. But now this is terrible. It is a particularly bad place for women in football. Heskey has worked for Leicester's women's team in various roles since 2020 and seen first-hand the toll it takes."
Emile Heskey experienced racist abuse from fans, including being chased from Leicester City's Filbert Street stadium into town at age 14 and encountering chants later in his career. He helped Leicester win promotion and two League Cups before moving to Liverpool for the club's record transfer fee at the time. He and his young sons were racially abused after leaving a stadium, and the sons were too young to understand. Social media has expanded access to abuse and intensified targeting. Women in football receive particularly severe abuse, affecting players, commentators, and staff. Heskey helped create the Football Safety App to allow fans to report football abuse.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]