Westminster City Council has apologised to Millwall FC after a racism awareness leaflet distributed in schools featured an image linking the club to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
The illustration showed a cartoon figure in KKK-style clothing wearing Millwall’s badge. The local authority admitted the image was “insensitive” and confirmed the booklet would be withdrawn, with remaining copies destroyed.
Millwall described the depiction as “false and damaging” and said it is considering legal action.
The material formed part of an anti-racism programme and was included in a booklet entitled The Paul Canoville Story, written by a council employee. It referenced the experiences of Paul Canoville, a former professional footballer who faced racist abuse during his career, who is quoted in the booklet as saying:
Racism never went away. I was badly abused in a reserve match at Millwall but then I could show the racists my 1984 2nd Division Championship medal.
The Paul Canoville Foundation said it had no role in producing or approving the booklet. Chief executive Raphael Frascogna stated:
This booklet was not produced by, commissioned by, or approved by The Paul Canoville Foundation.
According to reports, Westminster council acknowledged the image was an “insensitive” and “improper” way to address racism in football. It said it had apologised and was reviewing procedures to prevent similar incidents.
In a context where most viewpoints outside of Britain’s left-wing consensus are condemned as ‘far-right,’ fans of Millwall—catchphrase “no-one likes us, we don’t care”—are, like much of English football culture, considered fair game for abuse by the political class.
