Jump to content

BRFCS

BY THE FANS, FOR THE FANS
SINCE 1996
Proudly partnered with TheTerraceStore.com

[Archived] Middlesbrough Fan Made Monkey Gestures, Blackburn Players Tell Court

jim mk2

Recommended Posts

jim mk2

jim mk2

Posted
Posted







MIDDLESBROUGH FAN MADE MONKEY GESTURES, BLACKBURN PLAYERS TELL COURT







Press Association 2015





Three black Blackburn Rovers players have told a court that a Middlesbrough supporter made monkey gestures towards them after one of them scored a controversial goal.


Lee Williamson, Rudy Gestede and Markus Olsson each told Teesside Magistrates Court how a man in the crowd made the gestures at the end of a match at the Riverside Stadium, in Middlesbrough, on March 29, last year

.

A district judge heard how Gestede scored a 94th minute equaliser that deprived the home team of two points and second place in the Championship

.

Prosecutor Paul Power said the goal was also contentious because the home fans believed their goalkeeper had been fouled and Gestede was the "pantomime villain".

Mr Power was opening the case against Ernest Goult, 72.


Goult, of Redcar, denies a racially aggravated public order offence and an alternative charge of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.


Lee Williamson told the court that the incident unfolded after Gestede scored his injury time equaliser for Blackburn and the game finished almost immediately.


The player, who was the Rovers' captain on that evening, said the match ended and he and his team passed Middlesbrough fans on their way to applaud their own supporters.


He said: "On the way to our fans I see a Middlesbrough fan making monkey gestures towards me."


The player then demonstrated a one-armed gesture under his arm pit. He said the man did it four or five times

"I felt upset," Williamson said.


Asked what he felt the gesture meant, he said: "Implying that I'm a monkey."


The player confirmed he took it to be a racist gesture. Williamson said the supporter also made a "w***** sign" towards him.


Gestede said he saw the man doing the gesture about 10 times. He said: "He was shouting and doing the gesture."


Gestede said he got angry and went towards the supporter but was told to calm down by a colleague.


Amy Dixon, defending, asked the player whether the gesture could mean "you're the pits, you're rubbish".

Gestede replied: "No".


He agreed with Mr Power that he was the "pantomime villain" after his injury time goal that deprived Middlesbrough of two points.


Olsson told the court: "It was like a monkey gesture and he wasn't trying to hide it.


"He was doing it towards a black person and it was obvious what it meant. I have seen it before. It is very offensive. It was clear what he did."


The player said he was not concerned about the w***** gesture. "It's something we see every week," he said.


Pc Christopher Hilton said: "The gesture I saw, I would perceive that to be a racist gesture towards the players."


The officer said Goult contacted police after Cleveland Police released a picture of the man they wanted to talk to.


In interviews read to the court, Goult said in a prepared statement that he was not a racist and the gesture was an established Teesside expression meaning "the pits".

Pc Hilton told the court: "As a football fan and watching football matches, I have never heard of that.


"When I Googled it, nothing came back in relation to a Teesside gesture - the pits."


Another officer, Pc Tim Swales, said that he had been watching Middlesbrough since he was ten and policing football matches for 16 years.

He said he had never seen the gesture used in the way Goult described in his statement.


Goult, who will give evidence later, sat in the court listening to the evidence and watching video footage of some of his gestures.

He is grey haired, with a grey beard and was wearing a black suit, white shirt and a patterned tie.


Great-grandfather Goult said he had been a Middlesbrough fan since 1950. He said he made a gesture after making eye contact with one of the Blackburn players.


The retired steelworker demonstrated what he did by tapping his armpit twice as he gave evidence.


"Mr Gestede and I, our eyes met," he said. "I raised my left hand and went one-two, one-two."


Goult said what he did was an "old Teesside gesture". "It means you're under the arm of the pit," he said.


The defendant said: "It was not so much the goal going in. Since the goalkeeper had been injured, I got a feeling of ... you know ... I wasn't very happy."


He said: "I just wanted to convey to them what an unsatisfactory point they'd earned."


Mrs Dixon asked Goult whether he intended to express racial hatred.


He replied: "Not at all. The fact the three chaps happened to be black, it didn't register. The whole lot could have come over."


His solicitor asked him if he was racist. He said: "Not in the slightest."







Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Backroom
Mike E World Cup

Mike E

Posted
  • Backroom
Posted

Boro have a poor rep re: Rovers now.

This racism incident, the alleged journos with broken car windows, and an incident from a couple years ago where a bunch of smoggy 8yos were calling Rovers fans 'pakis'...all of whom were white. Idiots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
perthblue02 World Cup

perthblue02

Posted
Posted

My client asks me to tell the court that here in this part of the world that gesture means "You are the pits" Hahahaha.......and I am Napoleon Bonaparte!!

Once saw a monkey ( well a chimp ) at the zoo doing the "pits"gesture with one arm, it was what he was doing with the other that would have got him banned

Link to comment
Share on other sites
frosty Champions League

frosty

Posted
Posted

I recall 2 youngish Rovers fans (one from Chorley and one from Leyland) a few years back (5 or 6) doing similar to Dwight Yorke. They got banned and fined.

Time flies PB, almost 11 years ago now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MCMC1875 Champions League

MCMC1875

Posted
Posted

Boro have a poor rep re: Rovers now.

This racism incident, the alleged journos with broken car windows, and an incident from a couple years ago where a bunch of smoggy 8yos were calling Rovers fans 'pakis'...all of whom were white. Idiots.

There was plenty of history when they were at Ayresome Park.

- the game Brotherston got sent off and gave v's to the crowd on his way off and got away with it.

- the game when we had the end (rather than the corner) and they tried to scale a gate and crawl through barbed wire to get at us.

- the game they refused to play one December citing injuries and got points deducted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Colt Seavers Premier League

Colt Seavers

Posted
Posted

Ridiculous. The case should never have got to court. Boro should have banned him for the 3 years and thats that.

I disagree, with respect. The police will have received a complaint from a member of the public, in this case, likely a Rovers player. The police are then duty bound to investigate the incident. They then consult the CPS who make a decision. A chief factor in their decision making is whether or not it is in the public interest to prosecute.

A racially aggravated public order offence will generally pass the public interest test and...bingo.

A foolish old man who should know better is given a dose of reality, 21st century style!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
thenodrog World Cup

thenodrog

Posted
Posted

There are tens of thousands at big matches and a lot of people get carried away with emotions at football matches... it's probably why we all go. Personally if it were me who had just scored an important goal in the last minute I'd think it was funny and I'd try to score another to wind him up. A 3 season ban by Boro is easily enough punishment for a trivial gesture made in the heat of the moment, and will serve as a deterrent top others.

Just as people are continually conditioned to accept social change so other peoples tolerances are lowered. What Rudy saw as a shocking personal insult John Barnes would have seen as routine abuse and ignored. Why did he get abused ? Because he was a great player and a match winner and opposing supporters feared him. Even his own supporters called him Tarmac in likening him to the black Heighway. Racist abuse, colour prejudice or a term of endearment by the scallies? You can take your pick but it would be frowned on today. It was intended humour and certainly not given or taken as an insult. Today there'd be signs up at Anfield warning supporters not to say it for fear of offence.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Backroom
Mike E World Cup

Mike E

Posted
  • Backroom
Posted

There are tens of thousands at big matches and a lot of people get carried away with emotions at football matches... it's probably why we all go. Personally if it were me who had just scored an important goal in the last minute I'd think it was funny and I'd try to score another to wind him up. A 3 season ban by Boro is easily enough punishment for a trivial gesture made in the heat of the moment, and will serve as a deterrent top others.

Just as people are continually conditioned to accept social change so other peoples tolerances are lowered. What Rudy saw as a shocking personal insult John Barnes would have seen as routine abuse and ignored. Why did he get abused ? Because he was a great player and a match winner and opposing supporters feared him. Even his own supporters called him Tarmac in likening him to the black Heighway. Racist abuse, colour prejudice or a term of endearment by the scallies? You can take your pick but it would be frowned on today. It was intended humour and certainly not given or taken as an insult. Today there'd be signs up at Anfield warning supporters not to say it for fear of offence.

And rightly so. Look at the furore over Woy telling that monkey joke re: Andros Townshend.

Yeah he meant no offence, but his brain clearly wasn't in gear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jim mk2

jim mk2

Posted
  • Author
Posted

You're defending the indefensible, Gordon. Barnes and players like him in the 70s and 80s had bananas thrown at them. Just because they ignored it at the time doesn't mean they weren't upset or offended. And even at the time it certainly wasn't funny, unless you have warped sense of humour.

This is 2015, and that sort of behaviour is not acceptable any more (thankfully). All your utterings show you to be a dinosaur from another age.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

Announcements

  • You can now add BlueSky, Mastodon and X accounts to your BRFCS Profile.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.