DUNOON is a rarity among rural Scottish communities. The presence of a US naval base at Holy Loch during the Cold War accounts for most of the black people living in the town.
So Paul Omoniyi, a born and bred Scot of Nigerian parentage, might have expected a warmer welcome when he travelled to the Cowal peninsula on October 2, 2005, with his under-13s Bishopbriggs boys' team West Park United.
The 11-year-old was excite
d about making an impression for a team he had joined only two months earlier, and hoped it would help him realise his dream of becoming a professional footballer like his brother.
In the stand at Cowal Stadium that day, there was a crowd to watch the Scottish Youth Club Association (SYCA) league match, made up of players from the under-14s Dunoon team who had played earlier.
A few minutes after kick off, Paul got his first touch of the ball - and was promptly greeted by monkey chants from the stand. "I heard the first monkey chant and I did feel hurt and wanted to do something," said Paul. "I was going to speak to the referee at half-time but when it happened again, he put the boys doing it out. He came up and said how sorry he was about it."
The referee that afternoon was Ian Cunning, a local man who shared the training facilities with various Dunoon teams. "I thought my ears must have been deceiving me, so I played on," he said. A minute later, Paul sent the ball for a corner and even louder monkey chants pierced the air. "I was absolutely raging and held up play, ran from the field to order the boys in the stand out of the park, and told them in no uncertain terms their behaviour was appalling."
West Park coach Martin Rafferty said: "I was bemused when I heard the first chanting. The referee came over to me and said: 'Am I hearing things?' 'Depends on what you are listening to?' I replied. 'If it is noises coming from the stand then you are hearing monkey chants.' A brief time later, no one could be in any doubts that there were monkey chants coming from that part of the ground and that was why the referee went through the boys who were making them and sent them out."
Despite the trouble he knew it might cause in his own community, Cunning did not pull any punches in his report to the SYCA. "I was positive in hearing the 'monkey' chant," he wrote. "I left the field of play and ordered the boys out of the stand... I also voiced my disgust." Cunning concluded his report by stating he mentioned the incident to a committee member of Dunoon Youth Football League the next day and was assured the member would "deal with it accordingly".
But 20 months later, there is little evidence that anyone in authority has done anything about the abuse Paul suffered that day. Despite a supposedly zero-tolerance approach to racism in all forms across society, youth football organisations appear to have tried to bury the issue in a maze of bureaucracy. Despite a ceaseless campaign by Rafferty involving countless letters, e-mails and phone calls to the SYCA and its governing body the Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA), the case remains in a bizarre limbo.
Paul said: "I am angry nothing has been done. I want something to be done about this and I am really glad my coach won't let it go."
Rafferty is not even seeking punitive measures against those responsible. He said: "I simply want what happened acknowledged and for all clubs to be informed in writing that such abuse would not be tolerated.
"I don't see what was so difficult about that. Instead, I have been sent all round the houses and unable to do right by Paul and do right by every ethnic minority player. None of them should have to put up with what he has without there being some sort of comeback."
Comeback began - and ended - at a SYCA disciplinary meeting on December 15, 2005, attended by Rafferty, Paul and the then under-13s Dunoon coach. The three-man committee decided the case was "too big for us, we'll have to send it to Hampden", a reference to the national stadium offices of the SYFA. The SYFA stated that all issues pertaining to league games held under the auspices of the SYCA, including crowd conduct, are outside its jurisdiction. The case has been stuck in no-man's land since.
For Paul, this is particularly disappointing given the Dunoon incident was not his last taste of racism in football. This year, West Park laid another allegation of racist abuse against a rival player after Paul claimed he was called a "black bastard" by a Maryhill Harp player on February 18.
The SYCA delivered a "not proven" verdict. Paul said: "The second incident maybe affected me more than the first because they wouldn't believe my team-mate, but both have made me stronger. That is how I have been brought up. My mum has taught me not feel put down by racism and that people who say things have problems in their own lives. I am devoted to football and won't let these things stop me making it my career."
Paul is determined to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Gabriel, 21. Currently playing in Serie C in Italy, the former Partick Thistle player is the oldest of parents Joe and Anne's four children. The couple came to London from Nigeria in the early 1980s. After Joe completed studies in engineering and a stint lecturing in Brunel University, they moved to Glasgow's southside when he was recruited by Babcock. A difficult period, they resettled in Bearsden 11 years ago to escape racism that had become a daily part of their lives.
"Our car was vandalised, everything we had was vandalised," said Joe. "We had to call in the police and have cameras put in our house before eventually moving to somewhere we felt was safe for our children."
It is little wonder then that the engineer sees Rafferty as a potential agent for much-needed change in refusing to let the abuse suffered by his son 20 months ago go unrecognised. "Martin is trying to make football youth development organisations tackle racism at the most junior level. He is raising awareness of the authorities' appalling failure to do anything about it. They are in denial and Martin is forcing them to confront that denial.
"We need to deal with these issues in Scotland and, in my son's case, have people take the responsibility to act in obvious cases of racist abuse. Nobody is doing that. Who is responsible here?
"Paul isn't the only black or non-white player who has suffered this type of treatment. There are lots of Asians in this country who love football. Yet no one has stopped to ask why few of them play football. Might it be because when things happen as they have to Paul, it doesn't seem anyone will be dealt with and face penalties because these aren't set out?"
The SYCA concedes "there is no dubiety" over the fact that there were monkey chants directed towards Paul. It also admits that it did not know how to handle it and looked to the SYFA for "guidance".
SYFA national secretary David Little says the paperwork for the case was lodged by his association but did not merit a response because only once the SYCA had carried out an investigation and reached a decision could the SYFA become involved. "The protocols are all in the handbook," Little says. "We only come in if there is an appeal or, as could still happen, if a club makes a formal complaint against the activities of the league."
Off the ball
October 2, 2005: Omoniyi racially abused.
October 15: After consultation, referee Ian Cunning files a report to the referees' association and the SYCA.
December 5: Officials from Westpark and Dunoon are cited by the SYCA to appear.
December 13: SYCA decides case "too big for us".
May to July 2006: Hearing nothing further, West Park coach Martin Rafferty contacts both the SYCA and SYFA. He claims he was told SYFA remembered the matter but there was "no case to answer".
July: SYFA apparently changes tack, saying as the game came under the auspices of the SYCA, it was its responsibility.
February 18, 2007: Rafferty writes to the SYCA and SYFA after a West Park team-mate claims he hears Paul Omoniyi being called "a black bastard" by a Maryhill Harp opponent.
March 1: The SYFA tells Rafferty "the allegation from Dunoon was referred to the SYFA by the SYCA, with the SYCA recommending 'no action'".
April 16: At a disciplinary meeting over the Maryhill Harp incident, it is decided no action can be taken since it is one player's word against another.
April 29: Rafferty e-mails SYCA again over the Dunoon incident.
April 30: SYCA claims the case has already been dealt with.
It states: "I believe we re-cited both teams to the committee and all the evidence was heard. I remember the committee's decision was reached and both parties were informed of the decision that night and that they had the right of appeal, which neither team took up."
May 1: Rafferty says he was never informed of any further hearing over Dunoon and the referee was never contacted.
June 8: SYCA tells Scotland on Sunday that it had in fact referred the issue to the SYFA rather than deal fully with it.
The full article contains 1626 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
