Challenges never stop for pioneering Elliott

Paul Elliott never shirked a challenge as a player and as he considers an offer to become the first black chairman of an English League club, he clearly is not shirking them now either.

The highly articulate 48-year-old former defender, who became Celtic's first black player in the late 1980s, then one of the first black players in Italy at Pisa and Chelsea's first black captain in the early 1990s, is a man in demand.

He has been offered the chance to return to his boyhood club Charlton Athletic working with a black manager in Chris Powell.

Charlton, who spent seven successive seasons in the Premier League before falling to the third tier, are currently just above the relegation places in the Championship (second tier) - so an immediate challenge awaits him there if he goes back to The Valley.

"I have a long historical association with that club," he told Reuters in an interview this week.

"I was born and grew up in the area, started my career there and my family still live there. I'm very flattered to be associated with the club in this way - and we'll see how it turns out very soon."

Charlton would like him back because he is a highly-regarded and respected football man. 

A tireless ambassador for the Kick It Out anti-racism campaign since its inception 20 years ago, he overcame a shattering career-ending injury at Chelsea when he was 28 and soon found himself attracted to the political and administrative side of the game.

His involvement today is just as intense as it was when he played with a calm elegance at the highest level. 

But now, instead of tackling opposing attackers, he is tackling emotive issues involving racism in Serbia and the charges levelled against FIFA referee Mark Clattenburg by his former club Chelsea. 
 
RACISM ALLEGATIONS

A few days after Chelsea players accused Clattenburg of making an inappropriate remark to their Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel during their match against Manchester United, Elliott for once found himself amazed at the turn of events and doubts allegations of racism are true.

"To me, what happened at Chelsea seemed like a car out of control, I thought with the John Terry thing, this had stopped," he said. 

"I thought we were moving forward but it's like we've been hit by a two-footed challenge from the side and you've not seen it coming. 

"Mark Clattenburg is a very capable and competent referee and I would be astonished if an authority figure in our game like him, an elite referee, could be found guilty of racism.

"Our referees, in general terms, are among the best in the world and Mark Clattenburg has a fundamental right to defend those allegations."

The "John Terry thing" involves Chelsea's current skipper, who was cleared by a court but found guilty and banned by the FA for racially insulting Anton Ferdinand of Queens Park Rangers. 

In a year when Elliott was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours, there has also been the fallout from the racism case involving Liverpool's Luis Suarez and Serbian fans racially insulting black players in the England Under-21 team.

Assessing all that has occurred, Elliott said: "We have come to a watershed. If we look at the last 20 years, we're the country that has led the fight against racism and discrimination. We have been the leaders in world football.

"While we have made good progress what we can't afford is to be complacent and I think that is what has happened.

 21ST CENTURY CHALLENGES

"What I think this last year has shown us is that here in the 21st century we, collectively, Kick It Out, the PFA (Professional Footballers' Association), the FA, the Football League, the Premier League, the LMA (League Managers' Association), we have all been in the forefront in the fight against discrimination. 

"All our brands have been improved, but now we have all been affected by the Terry affair, the Suarez affair and now this Clattenburg case.

"We have all shared in the collective "upside" of it and I think that same collective engagement has to show we can have a collaborative strategy moving forward."

He is also adamant that the Serbian FA should be punished for the continuing racism at matches in their country following the latest abuse levelled at the England Under-21 team last month.

"I experienced racism in this country at its absolute worst, no question about it. I saw it as a footballer - the monkey chanting, the banana throwing, when my family would never come to a match and watch me play, but that was our society then and it is still like that in other countries.

"While we have to be mindful of what is going on in our own country first, we also have to say the Serbians have no excuses, none whatsoever.

"I hope that UEFA apply the same leadership as the FA have done here - zero tolerance. Apply the full sanctions. This is no longer about fines or deduction of points. This has to be expulsion from competition. That's the only way they will learn. For the Serbians to say it didn't happen - well that's just a classic denial. They are wrong."

On a personal note, he is upset that there has been talk of a breakaway movement by black footballers forming their own association to fight racism and the lack of inclusiveness in England.

Some black players refused to wear the Kick It Out t-shirts during their recent week of action against racism, but Elliott is convinced that while they have legitimate concerns, they went about their grievances in the wrong way.

"It was reckless disrespect and disregard of what Kick It Out has done and what it stands for. It has enabled today's black players, who were 10 or 11 when it started, to grow up and develop their careers in a largely racism-free football environment in this country," he said.

"For them to act as they did was a kick in the teeth. Did they really understand the core functions of Kick it Out?

"We all want more inclusivity and by that I mean greater visibility of black and ethnic minorities within the corridors of power. As far as the decision-making process is concerned, where is that greater visibility that is a reflection of British society and the community? Where is it?"

A breakaway is not the answer though for Elliott.

"You know 25 percent of the members of the PFA are black, yet there are only four black coaches," he added.

"These are the 21st century challenges we are facing. But a black players' association would be the worst thing that could ever happen. 

"The PFA has been around for more than 100 years and is the benchmark of a successful union because of its solidarity and unity and its ability to serve all its players. I am utterly against any breakaway. I think that would be the biggest mistake they could make."

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