Blues U23s manager and former England international Kieron Dyer says he witnessed “English football at its worst” both during and after Sunday’s Euro 2020 final at Wembley and firmly backs ex-Town defender Tyrone Mings’s comments regarding home secretary Priti Patel.

Dyer, 42, attended Sunday’s game in which England were beaten 3-2 on penalties by Italy after a 1-1 draw.

Following the match the three players who missed their spot-kicks, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, were on the receiving end of racist abuse on social media.

Dyer, capped by England 33 times during his playing days, said he saw the ugly side of football in this country.

“I was actually at the game at Wembley, I saw English football at its worst with regards to the fans before the game, after the game, rioting and trying to get into the stadium, just fighting each other in the streets, just drunken fights,” he told Mark Murphy’s breakfast programme on BBC Radio Suffolk (3hrs 17mins 37 secs).

“And when the penalties were going on, I don’t know if you’ve read my book, but I spoke about one of the big things about playing for England being the fear.

“And I feared for Saka as he was walking up. I wasn’t worried about him keeping us in the competition, I knew that if he missed the stick that would be coming his way would be vile. And that’s proven to be the case.

“I will say it’s a valid point that if a white player had missed a penalty he would have got stick, but I don’t think it would have been the level of stick that the three black players got.”

While home secretary Patel and prime minister Boris Johnson subsequently spoke out against the social media racism, the duo were widely accused of hypocrisy for failing to condemn fans who booed players taking the knee as an anti-racism statement in the run-up to the competition, most notably by former Blue Mings, who was a member of the Euro 2020 squad.

“England were taking the knee before games and the fans were booing,” Dyer continued. “The players, [manager] Gareth [Southgate] , Harry Kane, the England captain, they all came out and said this wasn’t a political stance, this was what the squad felt was needed to try and get a sense of people feeling equal, equal opportunities for black players, and the England fans were still booing.

“I think Declan Rice made a valid point, he said that when you’re winning, everyone can jump on the bandwagon, you find out who the real fan is when you lose.

“And again, it’s taken England to lose and three black players to miss important penalties and we’re here again with this vile abuse.

“I 100 per cent agree with Tyrone Mings, I think she’s a hypocrite, I think Boris Johnson’s a hypocrite, them coming out and saying 'this is all wrong'. They were part of the problem initially. They didn’t get behind this at the start when it needed it.”

Should Patel, Johnson and Ipswich MP Tom Hunt, who spoke out against taking the knee suggesting the England squad should be making their point in a different way rather than via “divisive political gestures”, have shown solidarity with the players from the beginning?

“One hundred per cent. When he [Hunt] says we need to come and show a different way of getting the message across, the only different message I can see is black players refusing to play for England,” Dyer reflected.

“OK, we’ll do that then and what is going to come from that? Black players suffer, the white players suffer, the England football team suffers.

“They came up with a policy they thought would work to show that they won’t stand for racism, it hasn’t worked and it’s sad that we’re here.

“The only reason I went to Wembley was because I wanted to witness history, I wanted to be there to say ‘I was there’ and I come out of that stadium with all the trouble that was happening seeing the ugly side of the English game.”

Regarding the social media companies, Dyer added: “I was on one of the TV platforms, it might have been Sky, and they asked me these same questions and I said it just goes to show how important racism is to certain people that when there was this European Super League, the whole country, every single presenter, every platform was up in arms going crazy about this - ‘they’re ruining our game’.

“It was like the end of the world. I wish they showed the same energy about racism and taking the knee.

“We had three days of staying off social media. Do me a favour. Why doesn’t every top sports star come off social media for the whole year? Let’s see what Twitter and Instagram would do then. I’m telling you now, they would help these people straight away because they need these superstar talents who have got millions and millions of followers.”

Photo: TWTD

Europablue added 09:54 - Jul 14 Well-said Ipswichbusiness
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62WasBest added 10:22 - Jul 14 "Ipswichbusiness " - this thread is getting politicised in itself but I think your summary is unhelpful. Communism has nothing to do with BLM and to introduce it into the debate isn't very helpful. It can be reasonably argued the Soviet Union is not and never was a communist entity in the true sense and to single it out is odd as similar charges can be applied to most colonialists. It is also recognised by our own security services that extreme right groups represent a greater threat than the left. Both the right and the left at the extremes exhibit racism. In fact, you'd be hard pushed to find any society where racism doesn't exist. That doesn't justify its pernicious and corrosive evil though. I think it valid though to believe BLM in the UK has taken a slightly different form to BLM in the USA. Racism, hooliganism, and anti-social behaviour though are the things that we can all unite against, I believe, whatever the nuances that divide us.

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naa added 10:24 - Jul 14 Europablue, I don't think the idea of white privilege is telling white people they are racist it is about letting them know that, without them doing anything at all they already have advantages over others that they probably didn't realise. It's hard to understand from our viewpoint (I'm assuming at this point that you are white) because we haven't had to live through it. I don't think there's any offence intended by it, it's just meant to make us stop and think. Though, obviously like everything these days some from both sides will run with it in all the wrong ways. As for kneeling being offensive to you, I'm sorry but I just can't see how it is. UYes, BLM have taken it up but I think of the NFL players when I see it as that was also in a sporting context. Others might not, and that's understandable but, regardless, I just can't see how you can be offended by it personally and nor can I understand why you would feel the need to boo your own team who are doing it for reasons they have explained, regardless of how you wish to interpret it.

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bedsitfc added 10:32 - Jul 14 Anti racism message and taking the knee are 2 things going in different directions! Stop taking the knee and do something every decent human can back
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Ipswichbusiness added 10:55 - Jul 14 62wasbest; I did not introduce Communism into the debate, that was done above. I could also add the treatment that the Chinese Communist Party is meting out to the Uighurs which is reminiscent of the Gulags. I could mention anything about North Korea. These are all obvious evils. I do, of course, accept that two wrongs never make a right.
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Europablue added 12:00 - Jul 14 naa I can see how you could not see kneeling as offensive while disagreeing with you, so surely you can understand how I could find it offensive considering I told you that the symbolism is offensive and it is a wholesale appropriation of a political movement from America with an entirely different context? I'm not asking you to agree with me. For your information, I am white. If you believe that it is hard for us to see from our viewpoint how non-white people experience the world and race, wouldn't you also concede that it is difficult for non-white people to see from their viewpoint how white people experience the world and race? You are going to have to state your case for white privilege, because off the top of my head, I can only think of not being always judged on the basis of your race (but the concept of white privilege is trying to end that) and not being racially abused (but if we adopt certain teachings, we are going to be bringing up our kids telling them that they are bad for being white), and maybe some school uniform rules that are not considerate of natural hair. Of course, we can be more considerate, but no one needs to apologize for their race, including white people. The examples of white privilege that I often hear are that non-English names are discriminated against, but that applies equally to the Irish and Italian immigrants who Anglicized their names, and there is no racial element there. I would be interested if you could make your case. I do see some non-white privilege in that white working-class boys are neglected as a group that is demonized and no one cares about, white people have to live in fear of getting in trouble for saying something that is taken as offensive, but was not intended as offensive. Can you not see how demonizing poor white kids and telling them that they are privileged would make them more likely to become racist? The majority of the country is white, so it's not a great idea to tyrannize the majority. For that reason, I want to advocate treating people the same regardless of race and not privileging or disadvantaging anyone based on race. If people aren't assimilating to English values such as fair play (that doesn't seem to be a universal value from what we saw at the Euros), then we can socially disadvantage them based on that. The whole concept of BLM is horrific. It is a statement that you sound racist for disagreeing with. To any reasonable person, black people matter, because people matter. Then the way BLM is used excludes all non-black people makes it inappropriate as a usurper to kick it out, also all of the baggage associated with the American movement and cultural background and kneeling make the movement incredibly divisive. Unfortunately, the crowd at a football match does not have a sophisticated form of communication. We are only left with the ability to cheer things we approve of and boo things we don't. it would only take a bit of investigation to find the reasons behind the booing and adapt the presentation of the message so that it is inclusive and not offensive. Is it really too much to ask to be considerate of someone you are asking to be considerate of you? The tone often comes across as wanting to make the other person subservient, rather than being considered as equals, hence how demanding people kneel and like it is extremely offensive.

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bluesteel added 12:06 - Jul 14 I think the whole thing reflects badly on the few millionaire players who can't deal with or ignore criticism. I stink the Copa América Cup got the right approach with a minutes silence for the Covid dead (150,000f of all ethnicity in this country) Still it is great that TWTD is a safe space that allows free speech and doesn't censor comments or posters who have differing views on this difficult subject or ITFC..

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atty added 14:13 - Jul 14 Naa open your eyes and take a look at the world, don't view it from your little corner of the world. If these overpaid really want to fight racism they should stand up and be counted where ever they can make a statement. What is going on in Qatar is not too far from pre abolition slavery. The U.K. is one of the most tolerant countries in the world. Oh and before you lab,e me, l was getting my hands dirty fighting against racism in the form of Nazis scum like the National Front in the 70s. Probably before you were born.

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Monkey_Blue added 15:24 - Jul 14 Why would anyone not support taking a knee to oppose racism? 🤔 Even if you don't want to do it yourself, to boo it suggests opposition to what the gesture is about. I suspect some people on here are desperate to argue they aren't racist but are doing a very bad job of it. If you object to racism but think taking the knee is the wrong way, don't boo it, don't criticise it, come up with something better. Personally I'd rather take a knee than sing the national anthem at the moment. Shameful actions by England fans and I don't care how racist Italian fans are…. Not wanting to compare us to others, wanting us to be better.

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Europablue added 15:46 - Jul 14 Monkey_Blue How come when people boo they are told that they should listen to the reasoning that the people kneeling give, yet the people criticizing the booers tell us what they decide that the booers are saying when they boo?
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braveblue added 16:39 - Jul 14 So does this mean Toto and the Brentford team in the Premier League next month are all racists and are encouraging these despicable people? The focus should be on those who posted the vile remarks. ID for social media accounts so that you are accountable. Booing national anthems, trying to break through barriers, trashing parts of central London, fighting on the streets. These were also dreadful examples of English behaviour. Identify and arrest. Actions speak louder than words or symbols.

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62WasBest added 18:42 - Jul 14 "IpswichBusiness" - I accept you didn't introduce communism into the debate but twice now you have used it to expound your views on it without pointing out that capitalists and colonialists have and are just as active as the so-called communist countries in their evils regarding race. Hardly balanced commenting. No governmental system has a monopoly on racism and exploitation as history clearly shows, and it detracts from the fundamental issue here which is about attacking racism, by pretending those thought of as being on the extreme left are more guilty than those on the extreme right. WW2 and also its aftermath clearly shows that. Totalitarianism of any ilk is the common denominator., not right or left.

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Ipswichbusiness added 11:52 - Jul 15 62wasbest; if you are saying that the extreme left and the extreme right are equally obnoxious then I agree with you entirely.
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62WasBest added 17:54 - Jul 15 "Ipswichbusiness" Pleased to hear it, though of course, the the far left and the far right are of the same ilk and that is why I felt your original post wasn't even-handed.
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