Tottenham Hotspur left-back Danny Rose has revealed facing racist abuse on the football pitch stretches all the way back to his time as an academy player at his first club, Leeds United.
The 30-year-old has spoken out about how dealing with racial prejudice is something he’s had to deal with throughout his life and career in football, going back to his time as a youth-teamer.
Speaking candidly on the Second Captains podcast in an interview with former Millwall striker Richie Sadlier, Rose said he often gets stopped and questioned by police when returning to his home town of Doncaster.
The England international also recalled receiving racist abuse alongside his future international team-mate Fabian Delph, while the duo were still teenagers coming through at Leeds.
Rose was sold to Tottenham in 2007 and never made a senior appearance for Leeds, while Delph came through to become a key player during the club’s time in League One before his transfer to Aston Villa in 2009.
Consistently vocal on the issue of racism, Rose said he’s given up on expecting or hoping things will improve, because he doesn’t believe there’s been any progress during his long career as a footballer.
He was “lost for words” when Montenegro were ordered to play a single game behind closed doors and given a €20,000 fine after himself and other black England players were racially abused by supporters in the stands in a Euro 2020 qualifier last March.
“Whenever I do say things or complain about things, you hear people say ’you’re on this money so get on with it’,” he told Second Captains.
“I just give up with hoping things will change because that’s some people’s mentality towards racism.
“It happens on a football pitch. That first happened to me and my good friend Fabian Delph when we were playing for Leeds United, we were only 14 at the time. He’d been called a ‘black [expletive]’ on the pitch.
“Since I was 15, that’s what I know. I’m not saying I’m used to it, because it still hurts. But how I then go on about my day after that is, it’s happened, I move on, and who do we play next?”
Rose has returned to Tottenham after seeing out a half-season loan with Newcastle United last season.
He’s into the final year of his contract at Spurs.
