The interview with Nourredine 'Dino' Maamria was arranged as part of a focus on racism and Burnley FC for the magazine. The club has shown itself reluctant to get involved in this issue, and Dino, for whom I must thank for his kind co-operation, is employed by the club, so I was interested to find out what he made of it all. As with most occupations, you tread carefully when criticising your employer, so I wasn't expecting Dino to use the opportunity to harangue the club's attitude, and neither did I want to compromise his fine work as Ethnic Minority Development Officer.
What the interview did show far more clearly than I had expected was the strength and extent of the rather typical football club culture at Burnley. It's no secret that football clubs have their own workplace cultures, permeating the organisation from top to bottom, and it has to be said that football club culture is generally ugly. Not only is it male-dominated, aggressive and materialistic, it also demonstrates impatience and disinterest towards the small print of things, those little details and social complexities that occasionally crop up to remind the football world that life isn't as simple as a tabloid editorial. It serves to remind us just what a seismic change is required in the outlook of football clubs if they are to take social issues seriously.
To return to Firmo's article, his point that a large football club in a small town cannot ignore major community issues is unanswerable. This, of course, does not mean that a football club could or should spend every waking hour working towards the eradication of entrenched social ills like hard drugs, poor housing and child poverty. What it does mean is that the club ought to be alive to ways in which it can help, and should set its stall out accordingly.
An encouraging example of the difference a football club can make is shown in the homework classes that are currently run at those clubs who have found the space to install computing facilities. Although accessible and thoroughly modern PC labs can now be found in many public places such as libraries and training centres, football clubs have a special aura, especially to children and young men. Homework clubs and IT training courses based within football clubs have had a promising start, with evidence to suggest that they have helped to provide troubled schoolchildren and dispirited young people with the inspiration to build new skills and discover new horizons. PC labs don't come cheaply, of course, and the co-operation between the FA, the football clubs, local government and funding bodies is an example that deserves merit and ought to be widened wherever possible.
The club recently announced that their PC facilities and training courses had earned some kind of award or commendation, and it would be small-minded not to recognise this as a very creditable achievement. But what has distressed many Burnley fans is the club's inability to strike a cogent and appropriate note in its most important public pronouncements. To be sure, when it comes to flogging credit cards and touting digital TV services, the club's PR is shit hot. But when it moves out of the commercial arena, the club is altogether more timid and its opinions half-baked.
The statement that followed the Blackburn game was wholly ill considered, and will probably be remembered by the fans as something of a classic PR gaffe. However, Dino's contention that the 'town full of Pakis' chant was no big deal and that it was practically incomprehensible anyway begs a number of questions - one being as to whether this is the widely-held opinion of most of the club's personnel. It could be an indication of how strong and dictatorial football club culture is at Burnley when the Ethnic Minority Development Officer plays down racist chanting. And it smacks of the insular, defensive and self-justifying attitude witnessed from the club in the face of fans who continue to press for action. Namely: if the Ethnic Minority Development Officer doesn't think there's a problem, then why should we listen to you?
If the official reaction to the Blackburn game gave reason for suspecting that the club had a rather limited view of its responsibilities to the community which is shaped around it, this suspicion was confirmed by the club's silence in the wake of the summer riots. Again, we can discern from comments elsewhere the club's blind spot to wider issues within the community. Whilst the club may not have known the precise details of which individuals did what, there's no mistaking a riot, or the hugely detrimental impact on the town's image that results.
For those in any doubt about this, just take a glance at the front page of the Guardian supplement I have reproduced at the beginning of the article [a cartoon shows a posh '£85m' house in Kensington and an almost derelict '£2,550' house in Burnley]. This appeared on August 4, shortly after the riots and, presumably with no irony intended, adorned the cover of the Jobs & Money supplement. As with other broadsheets, the Guardian were not shy in printing articles by academics and social commentators purporting to have an insight into the Burnley riots. What this example shows is how such events encourage even the highly regarded media to indulge in generalisation and peddle stereotypes. How many of you feel comfortable with this image of Burnley as a derelict sink estate for the underclass? In the light of the damage caused by the riot - both in terms of the actual destruction of property and in the harm to the image of the town - two matters are particularly salient.
Firstly, could the momentum that led ultimately to the riots have been decelerated by decisive action in the wake of the Ewood derby? In hindsight, a gradual escalation of tension in Burnley is clearly discernible - from the Ewood chanting to the startling popularity of the BNP in the June election, and then to the midsummer riots and accompanying race attacks. If one accepts this thesis, then one must question the inaction of the club after the derby game at Blackburn. As Firmo has argued, if the club had spoken out strongly when it had the opportunity to, then it would, at the very least, have made a few people think about the possible consequences of their actions. In all probability, such action by the club wouldn't have blown a hole in the BNP's voting returns, and nor would it have prevented the riots. But it would have broadcast to the town that the club was not prepared to turn a blind eye and abdicate all responsibility of its social role.
The other issue arising from the riots is the alleged bouncing back of the town to pre-riot normality in just a few days. As we have already seen, this appears to be a popular perception, and again one has to wonder whether this is an indication of the attitude of the club as well. In questioning this perception, one must ask about the meaning of normality in the aftermath of a full-scale riot. Does normality in this context mean merely the absence of racial attacks, arson, and people looting shops? Clearly, the mere dissipation of riots is not equivalent to the return of ‘normality’. If, as Martin Woollacott argued in the Guardian shortly after the riots, the use of violence and lawlessness should be seen as a measure of last resort for people with no social capital at all, then it is all the more important that those at the helm of our public institutions – and this includes the football club – view the riots as a call to help a troubled town, rather than blithely dismiss the whole thing as a skirmish over drug dealing.
Finally then – and this is perhaps the most difficult thing of all – where do we begin to address the issues raised with practical initiatives? Well, a few good suggestions have already emerged from supporters groups. CISA have argued for a facility that allows the anonymous putting forward of names and/or seat numbers of those who persist in constant racial abuse at games. Presumably, this information could then be followed up in the following games through the use of stewards and perhaps the CCTV cameras that now watch over every corner of the Turf. While we’re on the subject of stewards, it is laughable to suggest that the current mob take their responsibilities seriously in this regard, and the club needs to recognise this quickly and act accordingly.
The suggestion of a Burnley FC Asian lads team is also worth considering, though Dino’s concern that such a thing would emphasise difference and hinder integration must be taken into consideration. There should, however, be a meeting ground between the two perspectives. The establishment of an Asian lads team does not presuppose the institution of some kind of apartheid between white and Asian footballers in Burnley, and if the demand is there from the Asian kids, then why not give it a go? If there is no demand, then forget the idea, but at least asking the kids and parents would show that the club is serious about building bridges with the Asian community.
In his aforementioned Guardian article, Woollacott also points out that civil unrest that includes a racial or ethnic element in the mix tends to attract funds from the government in an attempt to dampen the passions that lead to deposit-saving performances from radical right-wing populist parties like the BNP. Well, we’ve had the racial attacks, we’ve had the riots and the burning streets, and we’ve even seen a BNP deposit refunded (a political phenomenon still rare enough in the UK to be counted in single figures). So, in the light of all this, it would be encouraging to see Burnley given the resources to make a difference. Those at this year’s AGM heard a grim analysis from Peter Pike, after which we were left in no doubt that little could be done without the hard cash to clear slums and invest in public works to improve the surrounding community. All those involved with the taskforce must ensure that Burnley’s needs are made quite clear to those in power, not just at Westminster but also in Brussels, where the distribution of European Social Fund money has done much good in various EU communities.
I’m sure there are other schemes, waiting to be thought of, that could have a real and positive effect. Whatever they may be, I feel that more is needed than simply trying to stamp out occurrences of overt racism at Turf Moor. Even if the Turf Moor match day experience was an ultra-PC event (which is most certainly not what is being advocated) we still wouldn’t see many Asian faces at the Turf. In other words, the club has to be pro-active if it wants progress on this issue. It has to go out and find ways of persuading the local Asian community to come to matches – and it has to persist if results are not immediately forthcoming. At the AGM, Andrew Watson seemed to think that it was all the club could do to hold summer coaching schools in Asian areas, and expressed bemusement that this didn’t cash out into ethnic attendees at the Turf. Well, Andrew, that’s not good enough. No one’s underestimating the difficulties involved, not least Dino, who’s at the sharp end of it. But platitudes that the club is doing all it can ring a hollow note when the reality of the situation is that the club is doing very little.
In ending, I hope that the 400-odd recipients of this magazine have found our focus on racism at Burnley FC a worthwhile read, and I ask that you get in touch with us if you have anything to contribute to what will hopefully be an ongoing dialogue. There is a lot more to talk about, and many readers will disagree with some of the things that have been said. Well, if that’s the case, get in touch and tell us what you think. If our suggestions are duff, then make some better ones. From balti pies to the Harry Potts Way, the London Clarets have a track record of getting involved at our club, and though this issue is something else entirely, it shouldn’t stop us from having the confidence and commitment to have a go.
Phil Whalley
September 2001
More articles on Burnley and race
