Paul Williams: Ex-Premier League player says speaking out against racism caused problems
- Published
Paul Williams played in the top flight for Derby, Coventry and Southampton, as well as a stint with Stoke and a loan spell with Lincoln
Former Premier League footballer Paul Williams says he found it difficult to challenge the racism within the game he experienced during his 16-year career.
Williams, 49, played almost 400 first-team games for five clubs, and made more than 200 top-flight appearances.
Williams played for Derby, Coventry, Southampton and Stoke, and spent time on loan at Lincoln early in his career.
In an interview with BBC Radio Derby, Williams said some team-mates used racist language as "banter".
He added: "It was seen as acceptable for team-mates in the team culture to say that and if you made a fuss about it, you had a 'chip on your shoulder'.
"That was even through school, you'd get 'oh, he's got a chip on his shoulder because you want to stick up for yourself', so it gets knocked out of you.
"You just want to keep harmony with your peers. My dad was trying to tell me 'keep your head down and try to be the best you can be'."
By the time Williams made his senior debut in the 1989-1990 season, players such as Des Walker, John Barnes and Paul Parker were regularly representing England.
Throughout his career, Williams played in teams alongside many fellow black professionals.
Yet, the language came from all sides; from supporters, from colleagues, from opponents.
"I used to get lots of conversations in terms of stereotyping of me being black, that was from team-mates and people around stadiums," Williams continued.
Williams has moved into coaching since his retirement as a player, having a spell as caretaker boss of Nottingham Forest and also working at international level under ex-Derby team-mate Michael Johnson to help Guyana reach the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup.