The inside story of United vs Newcastle and the 1995/96 title race, How the ultimate Champions League would unfold. “A line has been crossed,” he said. Not just players but also black agents I speak to and other staff in the game. How does it feel to be signed to save a season? You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. Given Dave Kitson’s previous remarks, I would be deeply concerned about his ability to represent black players. “The fact he could suggest that was a reason is completely unacceptable. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Sanjay Bhandari, the head of Kick It Out, football’s anti-discrimination charity, said: “The PFA are valued partners of Kick It Out. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. Having someone like that in charge would leave a sour taste in my mouth. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows people to think saying certain things is OK. He’s almost saying he brought on any racist abuse himself. Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines. “I can’t see that many other players in my position would accept an apology and be happy to move on.”. Whether that’s happened or not in the past or currently is a different debate. Or before he claims that his repeated stereotyping and belittling of players' wives and girlfriends was just a twisting from the lamestream media. The Kitson family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. It seems to me that the only thing that has morphed is his need to now reframe his take - quite poorly - so his campaign to succeed Taylor doesn’t tank. Both of those had a sharp focus on racism in the game with Kitson insisting more needs to be done to eradicate it. It has taken Kitson 73 weeks to reframe his take on players bringing racist abuse on themselves but, as Melissa Reddy writes, this feels like campaigning rather than contrition, Dave Kitson has been widely condemned for his comments about Raheem Sterling. After all, a middle-aged white man could see no issue with putting himself forward for the PFA's top job without accepting his comments in December 2018 were an upper cut to BAME players, who viewed it as an excuse for indefensible behaviour. Who would win the most World Cup of World Cups? In 1891 there were 1,134 Kitson families living in Yorkshire. “I said that I'd looked down Raheem's social media feed and that while in the beginning it was about his cars and houses, I was pleased to see he had changed it because there is a lot of jealousy out there and I knew what it was like to have been on the end of unwarranted abuse,” Kitson continued, still not grasping that he has no understanding of how it feels to be discriminated against due to skin colour or that Sterling’s Instagram was inconsequential to the attacks. Why Raheem Sterling?”. Very importantly, that must include a much more effective anti-racism policy.”. The former Reading striker launched his candidacy to replace Gordon Taylor as the Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive last week, complete with a 10-point manifesto and 101 questions for the union to answer. McAnuff, who spent a season in the Premier League with Reading, said: “He’s had his say on certain matters, particularly on Raheem Sterling, and that certainly was something that I objected to in the most severe manner. I’ve gone on Dave Kitson’s Instagram and seen some of the pictures he’s put on, which would be similar to what he was saying about Raheem showing off. You see, he “couldn't help but think back to the episode when I suffered a backlash as a result of posting glamorous lifestyle photos online” in reaction to Sterling being called a “f*****g black c***” during the first half of Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. “He said, ‘Dave, I know what you’re saying, I shared the dressing room with you for four years, but how you said it was clumsy’. It was regrettable.”. Search 445 then share your genealogy and compare DNA to grow an accurate global family tree that's free forever. Please join us in collaborating on KITSON family trees. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? Well, sort of if you file “perhaps I used clumsy language” 73 weeks later as a regretful acknowledgement. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. A staggering 510 days after stating “I do believe that players make themselves a target” for racist abuse, posing the question as to why Raheem Sterling in particular was a magnet for attacks when “there are other black players on the pitch every single week,” Dave Kitson is sorry. Ohio had the highest population of Kitson … Are your KITSON ancestors on WikiTree yet? When Premier League strikers ruled the world, overflow of criticism he received at the time, You may not agree with our views, or other users’, but please respond to them respectfully, Swearing, personal abuse, racism, sexism, homophobia and other discriminatory or inciteful language is not acceptable, Do not impersonate other users or reveal private information about third parties, We reserve the right to delete inappropriate posts and ban offending users without notification. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. That is inexcusable. Perhaps this is too harsh or is clumsy language. “He’s played it like a true politician,” was the top-corner summary of one former player.