WATFORD striker Troy Deeney has vowed to walk off the pitch if he is ever racially abused. The 32-year-old’s comments came after a large section of Millwall fans booed their own players for taking a knee before their 1-0 defeat to Derby at the Den on Saturday. Millwall welcomed 2,000 fans to watch their team […]
WATFORD striker Troy Deeney has vowed to walk off the pitch if he is ever racially abused.
The 32-year-old’s comments came after a large section of Millwall fans booed their own players for taking a knee before their 1-0 defeat to Derby at the Den on Saturday.
Millwall welcomed 2,000 fans to watch their team for the first time this season but the occasion was overshadowed by the despicable booing.
Footballers continue to use the gesture before games to highlight the ongoing fight to eradicate racial discrimination in society but a significant amount of the South London club’s supporters were clearly not happy.
Millwall condemned the fans after the incident and SunSport columnist Deeney said on TalkSPORT: “When they boo, I’ll still be there.
“But if it gets to that line of racial things being said to me or my players, we’ve already had a conversation about what happens. We walk, simple.
“We’re not here to be racially abused, we’re here to play football and entertain.
“There’s a lot of things you can call me. You can call me a big head and say I’ve got teeth like a shark but if you racially abuse me, I’m not going to stand there and take it.
“If I turn around and get physical with that person, I get in trouble and the club gets in trouble, so the only thing I can do in that moment is report it and leave.
“That’s all I can do, so that’s what we will do.”
Derby interim boss Wayne Rooney labelled the Millwall fans who booed ‘disgraceful’ after the game.
But experienced centre-forward Deeney was relatively unsurprised to see another incident of that nature at the Den.
He added: “I’m not massively shocked.
“I don’t want to put this on all the Millwall fans or the club. There’s a certain amount of people who found a reason to boo, which I don’t really want to get into because I think we’re giving them too much energy.
“It shows that those advocating for equality must keep going. This is the reason why.
“In the Premier League meeting, we said it has to be done when fans are back, because it’s easy to take the knee when no-one’s there.
“It’s easy to put the badge on when there’s no-one there. When fans are there, it sparks conversation, rightly or wrongly.”
Some sections have tried to link the kneeling with the Black Lives Matter political movement despite the Premier League’s previous statement clarifying the two are not linked.
And Deeney – who earlier this year revealed social media giants told him ‘black c***’ was not hate speech – said: “The Premier League issued a statement saying it has nothing to do with politics.
“People are saying it’s all about the Black Lives Matter movement, but it’s nothing to do with that.
“I want to make it clear, it’s not all Millwall fans. But they’ve got black players playing for them.
“If the right-back Romeo scored, would they want that goal chalked off?
“It’s so frustrating to read some of the stuff that’s coming in here. It’s mind-boggling and stupid the way that people think.
“I don’t like calling people names, but it’s stupid the way they go on like this.”
After Saturday’s loss, Millwall defender Romeo – who has played for the Lions since 2015 – said: “Today’s game, to me now, has become irrelevant.
“The fans have been let back in – which the whole team was looking forward to. But in society there is a problem – and that problem is racism.
“The fans who have been let in today have personally disrespected not just me but the football club. And what the football club and the community stand for.
“What they’ve done is booed and condemned a peaceful gesture which was put in place to highlight, combat and stop any discriminatory behaviour and racism. That’s it – that’s all that gesture is.
“And the fans have chosen to boo that, which for the life of me I can’t understand. It has offended me and everyone who works for this club – the players and the staff.”
