Getting into the mindset of a racist – Kick It Out’s battle to change attitudes

The stories of football supporters shouting discriminatory abuse in stadiums or posting it online have become all too familiar.

But the story of how Kick It Out works to educate and change the behaviour and attitudes of those supporters in a one-to-one setting has never been told.

Earlier this year, I took on the role of a football fan who had been referred to Kick It Out’s fan education and engagement manager Alan Bush for using racist and homophobic language towards a player and then repeating it on social media.

Bush designs bespoke sessions tailored to the individual referred to him and the offences they have committed. Concerns over confidentiality meant reporting on a real session would have been impossible – we agreed this was the next best thing to demonstrate the unique work with supporters which Kick It Out undertakes.

My character’s position heading into the session was to try, to an extent, to excuse or justify the words I had used. I argued that my friends had said the same as me, I just happened to be the one who got caught and thrown out. My character’s belief was that words are just words – but I would never say them straight to someone’s face.

Ultimately, I had admitted to police that I referred to a black player as a monkey, and that I used a derogatory homophobic term towards the same player. In the scenario Bush developed, the police opted to deal with my case via a community resolution because a childhood diagnosis of mild autism meant I was considered vulnerable, rather than seeking criminal prosecution as would usually be the case for an offence of this type.

Any expectation I may have had that the session would consist of Bush talking and me listening was quickly extinguished. From the start and