Practically the only free row of seats I could find in the stand at Haringey Borough’s match with Yeovil on Saturday was among the away supporters but that didn’t bother me. This was my local, friendly non‑league side where I’ve often gone on my own and always felt safe and welcome.
A group of sixtysomething Yeovil fans chatted loudly behind me about their journey up. A Haringey-supporting family soon sat beside me with a grandad explaining proceedings to a slightly nonplussed young grandson.
Little did we know we would not be enjoying a full 90 minutes of an FA Cup qualifier but instead a match that would be abandoned after just over an hour, following the alleged racist abuse of two Haringey players.
It stemmed from the away fans on the far side of the pitch, who initially did not seem to be making much noise to counter the “We Are Haringey” chants coming from the home stand.
It was proving to be an incredibly good-natured match and then, a little into the second half, came the incident for which this game will unfortunately be remembered.
Yeovil won a penalty and before it was taken an exchange took place between the referee and the fans on the far side.
There then followed several minutes of confusion about what was happening. At first we heard that a missile had been thrown on to the pitch. Then the touchline grapevine began to report the full extent of the news – of claims there had been racist behaviour in the direction of Haringey’s goalkeeper, Valery Pajetat. Shock set in.
There was a brief state of limbo before an announcement came across the public address. It called for calm, stated it was “one or two people” who had caused the commotion and requested that the crowd did not engage in any kind of abuse, which was all very much in keeping with the community spirit of the club and why I started supporting Haringey in the first place.
I’ve seen my fair share of penalties at Haringey but even before this one was taken it was clear that the interactions between the home players and the away fans were longer and more vocal than the usual few seconds of sporting rivalry. The Haringey Borough chairman, Aki Achillea, said Pajetat had been allegedly spat at before the kick was taken.
The defender Coby Rowe was also said to have been racially abused after the penalty and, at that point, we saw a large number of Haringey players to the side of the goalmouth in what was clearly a more heated state than could be attributed to being 1-0 down.
We applauded when the home team walked off the pitch a couple of minutes later and many supporters rose to their feet when Haringey re-emerged and the two teams stood briefly on the pitch as a show of unity.
People lingered around the clubhouse in bewilderment trying to make sense of what had just happened and the flashing blue police lights could be seen just before 5pm.
By that point news that the match has been abandoned had spread. Police made no arrests on the day but a statement from the Metropolitan Police on Monday confirmed that two men, aged 23 and 26, were arrested in Chard and Yeovil on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault.
This incident is all the more sad as Haringey Borough is a place where players and supporters reflect the diverse nature of this part of north London. It is an all-ages, all-ethnicities, all-genders fan base. I’ve taken friends to watch the team play and been bought a pint by a stranger. It’s where a man wearing a Chelsea shirt can sell you a programme and you can equally have a moan to a fellow Tottenham fan about the team’s current form. They even let in Arsenal fans.
In other words, Coles Park is the last place you would expect any kind of behaviour of this kind and I do not blame Haringey’s manager, Tom Loizou, for deciding to take his players off the pitch. He has the fans’ and the chairman’s backing, with Achillea adding that if the stand Loizou has taken helps other clubs and other people who have been abused, then it has all been worth it.
Haringey may just be a “bus stop in Tottenham”, as we describe ourselves in our self-effacing chant, but on Saturday we also showed how best to kick racism out of football.
