In the Newcastle of the 1980s, where I spent my teens, there was one Saturday of each year on which all the black people I knew kept a low profile. The home fixture between Newcastle United and Chelsea, at St James’ Park, was not a good Saturday for black Geordies to hit the Toon.
The reputation for violence and racism that Chelsea’s hooligans acquired over the course of the 1970s and 80s was known to young black people and, not that we ever admitted it to one another, we feared these fans. Had we known then of their strong links to white supremacists groups such as Combat 18 and the National Front, we might have feared them even more. Three decades later, and the racism of a small section of Chelsea’s fanbase has, again, impacted on my plans. Written by David Olusago in the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/22/chelsea-thugs-paris-metro-may-help-battle-against-racism
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