Troy Townsend says “a lot of people are waiting for a negative moment”, such as a missed penalty, to target black England players.
England beat Switzerland 5-3 on penalties in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on Saturday, but all of the penalty takers were black or of black descent.
That included Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka, who scored England’s equaliser just before the break.
Three years ago, Saka’s decisive penalty was denied when England lost 3-2 to Italy in the penalty shootout in the European Championship final.
Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, who were not selected in England’s Euro 2024 squad, also missed penalties and all three players were subjected to racist abuse on social media.
“I don’t think things have changed,” said Townsend, who left the anti-discrimination group Kick It Out at the end of June after nearly 13 years there.
“It’s a positive tournament at the moment so the fans are rooting for the team and they will show their support in the big moments.”
“But I feel there are a lot of people out there waiting for an England player to miss a penalty so they can post their negative opinions about the players who took the penalty on social platforms.”
“White English players have missed penalties before but they have never been targeted or described because of the colour of their skin, which is very unusual compared to the black players who took the penalty on Saturday.”
Cole Palmer, who was born in St Kitts and Nevis before his grandfather emigrated to Britain, scored England’s first penalty goal against Switzerland, followed by Jude Bellingham, Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Former England defender Rio Ferdinand posted a message on social media after the match, along with a photo of the five of them.
He wrote: “Where are all the racists now??? Maybe they’re still celebrating!!!”
“They are waiting. Why do I say that? Because they have the information behind it,” Townsend told BBC Sport.
“People will be celebrating right up until the last moment, but unfortunately, once they realize something has gone wrong, they will target these individuals.”
“The last Euros was the worst scenario we saw and some of the messages directed at players were absolutely disgraceful.”
Sancho posted a message to Saka on his Instagram story after the match against Switzerland, praising the 22-year-old for his penalty kick.
“So proud of this guy,” Sancho wrote. “You did it for me and Brother Marcus.”
Black Footballers Partnership executive director Delroy Corinaldi said he feared what would have happened if the penalty takers had missed.
“In the back of my mind there’s a sad and terrible fear that if something goes wrong, an unfortunately small minority of people, particularly on social media, will start to criticise these fine young people,” he told BBC Sport.
“Thankfully, that didn’t happen.”
Former England striker Emile Heskey remains wary that players could become targets of racist abuse if England loses or misses a penalty.
“A leopard’s spots remain the same,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“When people feel angry their true colors come out, but we will continue to fight this and raise awareness.”
“We say education is key, but we need help with that too. I feel like things are slowly getting better, but there are still mountains to climb.”
