Kick it out! Football really does have a role to play.

Stories of alleged (and actual) racist language used by footballers have been headline news in the UK for a number of weeks now and it has been interesting (and sad) to hear some Public Bar apologists for these cases claiming it was merely language used in ‘the heat of the moment’ and so, in turn, was understandable on the field of play.

I strongly disagree.

While I don’t necessarily believe that the perpetrators are out-and-out racist bigots (and would prefer to question their intellectual capacity), I do believe that using this type of abuse is the thin end of a very sinister wedge. For this reason it cannot be seen to be condoned.

If kids see high profile public figures doing this – and getting away with it – and consequently are brought up believing that they too can target others with vitriol, merely because of the colour of their skin, then some of them may not grow up knowing where the line is when it comes to decent human behaviour.

Two men who were either never told where that line was - or told not to cross - it were convicted yesterday for the senseless murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence over eighteen years ago - for no other reason than the colour of his skin differed from theirs.

Coincidentally the subsequent news reports cited both of these thugs as having met at, or played for, local football teams as fourteen year olds. I say 'coincidentally' becasue I'm not in any way suggesting that this was the breeding ground for their sick views, but it was certainly an area of their life where an oppotunity existed to drum in to them acceptable behaviour - something that obviously wasn't being done in their home lives.

And while you cannot possibly directly compare footballers lashing out verbally in a highly charged atmosphere of a Premier League stadium with the taking of a young boy’s life, I believe that the death of Stephen Lawrence was the thick end of that very same sinister wedge.

When our kids play football or watch their heroes on television, they need to learn more than just how to kick a ball and tackle - they need to learn discipline and what is right, what is wrong and what is acceptable.

Tell a youngster off during a game for using abusive language in front of twenty-one of his peers and all twenty-two kids get the message. Rap a multi-millionaire player over the knuckles publicly for using racist language and tens of thousands of kids get it. It might mean that someone playing for 'our' club receives a ban and/or a fine, but frankly that it a small price to pay when you consider the wider - and far more important - picture.

We’ll never eradicate racism overnight, but we can continue to chip away at the number of bigots if we show we’re not prepared to tolerate it at any level of football or in any area of society.

Maybe if we do that we’ll get to a point whereby we never see another victim like Stephen Lawrence.