Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer admits a childhood Gallowgate chant about former striker Tony Cunningham now makes him feel uncomfortable.
The Magpies' record goalscorer joined fellow pundit Ian Wright to discuss their own experiences in light of the 'No Room for Racism' and 'Stop Online Hate' campaigns.
Football has taken a stand against persistent online abuse with the Magpies and The Chronicle joining other clubs and organisations in a four-day boycott of social media platforms.
Shearer joined Wright for a powerful interview on behalf of the Premier League to discuss both their current experiences and instances from their playing days.
The recent renewed focus against racism prompted the Newcastle legend to recall a popular chant about Cunningham from his time on the terraces.
Cunningham spent two years on Tyneside after joining in 1985, and was regularly serenaded with his own song by supporters.
However, the racial undertones of the chant which was sung by 'thousands' is something Shearer can not understand almost 40 years on.
He told the Premier League: "When I went to watch football [at] Newcastle in the early eighties, when I was 12, 13, 14, we had a black centre-forward Tony Cunningham.
"And one of the songs the Gallowgate End used to sing was 'he's black, he's broon, he's playing for the Toon'.
"There were thousands [who] sang it. He acknowledged, he clapped, he smiled. That was his way of saying thanks, I guess. But I mean..."
Wright questioned how this chant made Shearer feel, to which he replied: "Well, I never thought anything of it at the time, but then you look back now and think wow.
"He's black, he's broon, he's playing for the Toon..how on earth can thousands of people sing that?"
Upon hearing the story, Wright insists the song would never have been sung about a 'white player', and believes it reduced Cunningham to 'simply a colour'.
The Arsenal legend said: "What they're doing Al, without being too deep about trying to explain it, is it's bringing you back to just a colour.
"Like how we used to have no blacks, no Irish, no dogs, kind of thing. Just bring you back down to just simply a colour.
"That is why you try to explain to people why it's not nice. Tony Cunningham would probably have taken that, I'm sure there would have been other places where he would have gone where the songs they would have been singing about him were nasty, terrible."
