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Troy Deeney Vows To Walk Off Pitch If Racially Abused At Millwall As He Reacts To Boos

Troy Deeney Vows To Walk Off Pitch If Racially Abused At Millwall As He Reacts To Boos

“We’re not here to be racially abused, we’re here to play football and entertain."

Thomas Harvey

Thomas Harvey

Watford captain Troy Deeney says he will walk off the pitch if he is racially abused by supporters.

A small number of football fans have been allowed to return to games in some sections of the country as Covid restrictions are loosened.

However, when Millwall and Derby players took the knee to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement ahead of their Championship clash at The Den on Saturday, home supporters were heard to loudly boo their actions.



Watford travel to Millwall later this month, and Deeney admits he already expects to hear booing when he takes the knee before kick-off.

He intends to play on if that happens, but insists he and his teammates will draw the line at racial abuse.

"When they boo, I'll still be there," the 32-year-old Hornets striker told talkSPORT. "But if it gets to that line of racial things being said to me or my players, we've already had a conversation about what happens. We walk, simple.



"We're not here to be racially abused, we're here to play football and entertain.

"There's a lot of things you can call me. You can call me a big head and say I've got teeth like a shark but if you racially abuse me, I'm not going to stand there and take it.

"If I turn around and get physical with that person, I get in trouble and the club gets in trouble, so the only thing I can do in that moment is report it and leave.

"That's all I can do, so that's what we will do."

Millwall's Mahlon Romeo issued an emotional statement after the game and Deeney continued: "I'm not massively shocked. I don't want to put this on all the Millwall fans or the club. There's a certain amount of people who found a reason to boo, which I don't really want to get into because I think we're giving them too much energy.

PA

"It shows that those advocating for equality must keep going. This is the reason why.

"I'm getting bored of repeating myself for the same people who don't want to hear it. It is a case of understanding that conversations need to be had.

"We don't have to agree on everything - it is part and parcel of it - but we can't sit and keep saying, 'what's the next step'. The next step is to keep pushing, to keep having these conversations."

Featured Image Credit: talkSPORT/Pa

Topics: Watford, Black Lives Matter, Millwall, Troy Deeney