Well Done England

ROBERT J WILSON APPLAUDS HOW GARETH SOUTHGATE AND HIS PLAYERS HANDLED A SHAMEFUL SITUATION IN BULGARIA

DIDN’T the England manager Gareth Southgate and his players act with incredible dignity under intense provocation over in Bulgaria?

It couldn’t have been an easy situation to find yourself in but Southgate was calm and calculated. He raised his concerns through the right channels and made sure he protected his players as much as possible.

Those travelling England supporters also deserve a mention for not reacting to the hostile atmosphere and blatant racism towards the black players in the England team.

Yes, our Football Association will expect a fine for our supporters booing during the Bulgarian national anthem and the fact that we had too few of our own stewards inside the Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia – but that is almost irrelevant when you consider the appalling behaviour of a large number of Bulgarian supporters.

And don’t be kidded on it was a few mindless idiots; the number was over 100 at least.

Their actions were premeditated from the start and talking to fans that travelled to Sofia, there was a growing sense of ‘something going off’ even before entering what they best described as a fairly miserable football stadium.

England will need to learn lessons about booing anthems, but we continue to lead the way in fighting racism in this country.

Let’s clear one thing up once and for all. This is not a football problem. It a much broader society problem and will only be truly eradicated by generations of education and tolerance.

Sadly, racism may never totally be conquered - but we have made fantastic strides in this country. We certainly don’t turn a blind eye to it anymore, especially inside our football stadiums.

In the United Kingdom we are certainly further advanced than Eastern Europe and other nations prone to racism such as Italy, Greece and Spain but we can also improve and provide a solution. I honestly think we do.