Arsenal fan and YouTube sensation Robbie Lyle has told of his experiences with racism in football in a revealing documentary set to air on ITV on Monday night.
Lyle has risen to prominence since founding AFTV in 2012, a YouTube channel that follows and airs the views of passionate Arsenal fans throughout the club's season. The channel has more than 800 million views on YouTube.
The 48-year-old was formerly a radio DJ and an underground reggae star, known as Crucial Robbie. ITV cameras spent time with Lyle to learn of his experiences as a black football fan in Robbie Lyle: Football Fans Under Their Skin, which airs tonight at 10.45pm.
'When professional footballers get racist abuse, they can leave the pitch and get home on the team bus whilst the black fan is left in the stands to fend for themselves,' he said.
'When you went to football back in the day as a black fan it was dangerous. Dangerous. It was tough, it was hard, sometimes you were frightened. You stood out like a sore thumb and there were people who wanted to knock your head off only because you were black.
'It was bleak. I don't want to see those days return for my children. But sadly I now believe that racism is creeping back into the game.'
Lyle recalls how it was unusual for black fans to attend football matches and reflects on conversations he had with friends urging him not to go to watch his beloved Arsenal. Lyle also reveals he never went to a game with his father, due to his dad's fears over racist abuse.
'My friends in the music industry, many a time I'd say to them… 'Yeah, tomorrow I'm going to Arsenal.' They genuinely thought I was nuts. They were like, 'Are you mad? Why do you want to put yourself through that?''
'The fact that I won't probably get to experience that [going to a game with his father], is a real shame. I'm standing here now and I'm thinking about that. I could have been here with my dad. It's a shame. He got me into football in the first place by his love of sport.'
As a prominent figure on social media, Lyle has had to confront lots of racist messages aimed his way.
He says: 'When I see some of these Tweets, some of these messages, people calling me 'black monkey', 'black b******', 'n*****', you know I've kind of forgotten about some of these things but as I see them again, it makes me feel bad. It makes me feel disappointed that people can still have these sorts of attitudes.'
Lyle talks to a group of fellow black fans including Kick It Out head of development and Spurs supporter Troy Townsend. He also meets Pete Bassi from Punjabi Wolves, a supporter group of Wolverhampton Wanderers which aims to integrate fans of all races.
Robbie Lyle: Football Fans Under Their Skin airs tonight (Monday 30 March) on ITV at 10.45pm
Source: m.allfootballapp.com