Full marks to Bradford City for taking a lead in the fight against racism in soccer. The "Show Racism the Red Card" national video campaign is a very important one. What better place than multi-cultural Bradford could there be to kick it off?

Thanks to City's initiative, in conjunction with Bradford Council and the trade union Unison, 260 copies of an anti-racism video will be made available to every school throughout the district. The message will be taken by Bradford's sporting heroes straight to the youngsters who respect them.

Hopefully they will learn early on that racism has no place in sport, any more than it has a place anywhere else in a civilised society. The scummier elements who bring their warped attitudes to the terraces are defiling the game.

Even though there are now hundreds of black players in the Premiership and Nationwide League, and thousands taking part in soccer at every level throughout the country, moronic abuse continues to be hurled from the terraces and touchlines.

These people need to be weeded out. But even more important, the views they promote need discrediting and banishing from every part of life.

The supporters of some clubs are worse than others. Bradford City have a good track record on race relations. They have nothing to prove on that score. So all the more credit to them, then, for volunteering to be the first club in the country to take the anti-racism message to the place where it can do most good - the grass roots.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.