Saturday at Stamford Bridge was mostly an outstanding experience, marred for me by only one element. I am going to step into that with both feet, and no apologies, shortly.
I met Son No. 2 at King’s Cross, and we had brunch at Earl’s Court (I finished half of his, as in typical student fashion, he was a little under the weather).
When we arrived at Stamford Bridge and ascended to the upper tier of the famous Shed End, we were served drinks by a very polite young man who apologised for having to remove the cap from the bottle of Lucozade that Son No. 2 ordered (and desperately needed), explaining that he was obliged to do it.
Later, I was served by a very well-spoken young lady who wished me well for the match and could certainly give lessons in good communication and customer service to some of the staff at the Stadium of Light.
When we reached our position in the safe standing, we found our seats were right on the end of the row, next to the Chelsea faithful, separated by a row of stewards. The stewards were mostly young men, and we would later engage in a bit of playful banter with them and the adjacent Chelsea fans, particularly as we made fun of the lack of noise coming from the home end.
The team sheet may have been shorn of Habib Diarra and Omar Alderete, but it was still a team packed full of talent. A team we all clapped and cheered - right until the ‘No room for racism’ gesture, where the players took the knee, before kick-off.
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 25: Reece James of Chelsea takes a knee prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on October 25, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 25: Reece James of Chelsea takes a knee prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on October 25, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Getty Images
And then it started. Not overwhelming, but the boos from some of the Neanderthals among both sets of fans were audible. I make absolutely no apologies for my choice of words.
You see, the polite young man who served me at the bar was black. The exceptional customer service on the second trip to the bar came from a young lady wearing a hijab. The stewards who we laughed and joked with were all young black men. The team we all cheered on to the pitch included Nordi Mukiele, Lutsharel Geertruida, Reinildo Mandava, Noah Sadiki, Bertrand Traoré, and Wilson Isidor. The bench included Eliezer Mayenda, Chemsdine Talbi, Brian Brobbey, and Arthur Masuaku.
Just what sort of brain-dead moron do you have to be to boo an anti-racism gesture when 12 of your own players are black, and another three - Roefs, Xhaka, and Le Fée - are European? That’s 3/4 of our squad, our own Sunderland players, the people we turn up to watch week after week and who we expect to give their all for us.
I fully anticipate that the comments that will follow this article will include references to BLM, George Floyd, and the origin of taking the knee. Well, before you log in and start typing furiously, go educate yourselves. Taking the knee didn’t start with BLM or George Floyd - it started with Martin Luther King Jr in 1965 in Alabama, during the protests against segregation in the United States.
San Francisco 49ers’ Eric Reid (35), quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and Eli Harold (58) take a knee during the singing of the national anthem before their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) (Photo by JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO/MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images)
San Francisco 49ers’ Eric Reid (35), quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) and Eli Harold (58) take a knee during the singing of the national anthem before their NFL game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) (Photo by JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO/MediaNews Group/Bay Area News via Getty Images)
MediaNews Group via Getty Images
And it has an established history in sport, with American footballers like Colin Kaepernick taking the knee in 2016 to protest racial injustice. So any excuses about BLM or George Floyd are nothing more than a smokescreen - a smokescreen deployed by racists.
If you don’t agree with the sentiments of ‘No room for racism’, that’s your choice. But don’t embarrass the rest of us, in front of our own black and foreign players, by that sort of behaviour.
There have been calls for football to adopt a different gesture to indicate opposition to racism, to avoid the association with BLM and George Floyd.
What’s the point? There is no anti-racism gesture that will be acceptable to racists.
I started my police career in Hertfordshire in the early 1980s, policing First Division matches at Watford featuring players like John Barnes and Luther Blissett. I remember the disgusting abuse they were subjected to, the bananas and other missiles aimed at them.
There is no way that I am going to allow behaviour of that ilk to take root in our stadium without challenging it, either in this forum or in person in the Roker End. And I hope that the decent majority of fans will stand with me and with our black and foreign players.
There should be no room for racism at Sunderland - not at the Stadium of Light or amongst the Sunderland away following.