October 14, 1981. Lansdowne Road. Don Givens’ last game for Ireland, and Ronnie Whelan’s first start. Republic of Ireland beat France 3-2, but it is not enough. Eoin Hand’s men miss out on qualification to the World Cup in Spain on goal difference. A shout from a fan rings out: “Hit that black bastard … Oh sorry, not you Chris.”
Chris Hughton is now assistant manager of both Tottenham Hotspur and the Republic of Ireland, but was then a tidy full-back coming to the end of what would turn out to be one of the best years of his professional career.
In May of that year, he had picked up an FA Cup winner’s medal after playing his part in the epic 3-2 replay against Manchester City at Wembley. His adopted country, Ireland, also had just finished third in their Group Two World Cup qualifying campaign — a group that contained 1978 World Cup finalists Holland, 1980 European Championship finalists Belgium as well as the French team who would go on to the semi-finals the following summer.
So was the insult simply a bad moment in a good year? The story has gained common currency as an example of the ambivalent attitude the Irish have to race. It indicates that we like our black people, but not the rest of them. Hughton does not remember the catcall, indeed questions whether it ever happened. He insists that such an analysis is simplistic, both then and now. He should know.
The first black player to ever play for Ireland, Hughton maintains that he didn’t face the chorus of racist abuse on international duty that he endured every week as a club player in a career at White Hart Lane that lasted from 1975 to 1990.
“In the 1970s, I was the only black player in the Spurs team. I was then joined by Garth Crooks, and over time there were more black players. Then, there wouldn’t be many games that went past where you wouldn’t experience some sort of racism.”
He asserts that the trip over the Irish Sea to pull on the green of his adopted country was a respite. “I can talk only about racism in Ireland through my own experience. I made my debut in 1979, but I never was on the end of racist abuse in Ireland.”
However, Hughton has never lived in the country despite representing Ireland 53 times. Born in London, he never left the capital city in 18 years as a professional. A knee injury ended his career at Brentford in 1993; he had joined the Bees after a two-year spell at West Ham United.
He accepts he doesn’t have the first-hand knowledge of the race issues that have been created by the spurt of immigration into the country, and the evolution of Ireland into a multi-cultural society. “My mother was from Ireland, my father from Ghana. My situation may be a little different from the situation people face now. The opening of the borders has caused some problems, but it has happened, and it is now up to Irish society to deal with that.”
Hughton believes that any changes can take place within a mainstream political framework. He suggests that Britain, for example, has become a nation more at ease with itself on race since the election of Tony Blair in 1997. Hughton remains an enthusiast for the party he actively supported while a player.
“I still support the (UK) Labour Party. My views in the 1980s and 1990s would have been stronger, because I would have been more knowledgeable then. But, some things never leave you. You think about your background and upbringing, and so that support has never changed for me.”
The symbiosis between football and society regarding race issues is something he dwells upon. He believes that improvements in one can affect the other. His conclusion is hopeful. “We must make not just the game, but society, as good and as racist-free as possible. Any strides we can make towards that make life better for all involved.”