Newcastle United has its own fight with racism

No, it’s not all fans. Probably not even a quarter. But we cannot ignore the atrocious comments made by a Newcastle United fan on Twitter following the club’s disappointing defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.

After calling Wilfried Zaha a “diving monkey” on Twitter, the tweet was shortly thereafter deleted. Guys, this isn’t just an example of racism in football, or even our own club. The perpetrator knew that their comments were racist, and wrong, and deleted them. Showing that they knew their actions were wrong, yet had posted them anyway.

Racism has no place in the sport of football, and it has no place at Newcastle United. Newcastle fans are known for their openness, kindness, and for being welcoming to anyone from any and all backgrounds. Except Mackems, but that’s to be expected. We can only hope that the comments made by this fan do not damage the quality reputation that people in Newcastle have cultivated.

Newcastle United had already been battling reports that former youth coach and legend Peter Beardsley was guilty of bullying and making racist comments towards players playing under him. The club had released Beardsley earlier this year, but is still facing backlash from fans and pundits.

As we move forward, we need to do better as fans to help fight this problem and stamp out racism in sport. We cannot sit idly by and hope that the teams and leagues will fight it on their own. This is as much of our fight as it is theirs. And we need to do our part. And Newcastle fans did a fantastic job fighting the comments made by this person on social media. If we keep fighting this fight, hopefully we can end this terrible trend.