Paul Parker: Want to tackle racism in football? Dock Montenegro points

UEFA should take a stand and say to Montenegro: 'You lost to England 5-1, you can suffer the embarrassment of a three-point deduction.' That might make them think about stamping out racism.

The majority of supporters want to watch a good game of football, but the minority win because they can scream and shout what they want knowing they will only get a wrist slap. It’s time for UEFA to stop handing out small fines, maybe closing the stadium for a couple of matches, and hit offending nations hard.

We have to put up with all this s*** when we go to other countries because nothing is ever done about it. It's radical but I propose a three-point penalty for racism, which doubles with each offence. It would ruin a team’s hopes of qualifying for major tournaments and national authorities would have to take notice, shifting their agenda from targeting foreign fans to targeting their own.

Football provides any country massive earning potential, so harming their chances of qualification could finally prompt action. Maybe it won't work, and people will disagree with me, but how do we know unless we try?

Istanbul, 1984.

I stood with the England Under-21 squad in the Besiktas Inonu Stadium, watching England dismantle Turkey 8-0 in World Cup qualification. We had played the night before and were amongst the away fans watching the game – the likes of me, Danny Wallace, Mark Walters, Chris Fairclough.

It was horrendous. Any time a black England player got the ball, the fans around us abused them and made Nazi salutes. They would swivel round to look at us, almost asking 'what are you going to do about it?' We had FA people around us in blazers but they didn’t say or do anything. What could they do? Nothing would have made that situation better.

Racism was quite common then sadly. Paul Canoville was abused by his own fans at Chelsea, Terry Connor got the same treatment at Leeds. I remember playing Terry actually in the early 80s and their fans giving me Nazi salutes accompanied by the song 'There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack'.

You had a choice as a black player. Did you want to play football? Did you want to play for your country? Of course. So you had no choice but to get on with it, there wasn’t anyone to talk to about it. Newspapers ignored our struggles while it seemed people in top places were racist in their own way or too scared to do anything.

But heroes have emerged from the struggle, great black players who have fought a battle simply by being out there on the pitch: Cyrille Regis, Brendon Batson, Laurie Cunningham, Ade Coker, Clyde Best, John Charles. Their battles ensure modern players have it a damn sight easier.

Football still has a massive problem and it isn't just abroad. Even as a manager in non-league football in this country in the early 2000s, it was never 'the team were crap' when we lost a game. It was ‘Paul Parker’s useless, black so-and-so, black c***’.

But would I advocate a player walking off the pitch due to racism? No. Not after what the aforementioned greats went through. It would mean the bigots have won.

When you go out there and play football, you’re doing something that you love. As a black person, as a white person.

The most important thing is to make sure no one ever takes that away from you. Even if someone is in your way, when you get on that pitch they can’t stop you for 90 minutes. Give everything, regardless of what they say, and you will only get stronger. And anyway, these people don’t make sense. They gain satisfaction from pointing out the colour of someone’s skin every day. What kind of life is that?

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