John Wild, a 43-year-old from Wotton-under-edge, appeared before Bristol Magistrates Courts last week and was convicted of racially abusing Dartford goalkeeper Jason Brown during a game at the Memorial Stadium last October. He has been banned from watching football for three years and has to carry out 12 months community service. Also he has to pay compensation to Brown as well as court fees. The victim - Jason Brown said: "I received a letter from the police saying they took the guy to court and they prosecuted him. He has got 12 months community service, a three-year football ban and he has to compensate me and pay court fees. I see this as progress, especially after what happened in Aberdeen. Four years down the line, nothing's been done about that but something has been done in this case. I'm quite pleased with the way they've dealt with it. They've been swift, they've been strong and it's reassuring. It gives me confidence, that if anything like this comes up in the future, I should and I can go to the police. The disappointing thing is the way the FA, the PFA and Kick It Out lobbied it but did nothing about it. I got the first phone call and they said 'we'll support you, we totally understand you and we'll put pressure on the police – but then nothing happened. These so-called campaigns like Kick It Out are meant to be dealing with this kind of thing – but are they? Are they really supporting minorities against discrimination? I knew they weren't but a friend of mine said 'give them the benefit of the doubt, they're looking to change' – but they haven't."
Good news. Well done to our club for acting swiftly, our supporters for immediately condemning it, to the Police for following it up/charging the man and also well done Jason Brown for not tolerating the abuse and standing up to it. We don't need it, we don't want it and we won't tolerate it as supporters or as a club. UTG
