Just before kick-off at every Premier League game this past weekend, all players and officials went down on one knee to reiterate their commitment to “fight racism and all forms of discrimination”. It is a familiar sight, but no less significant for that.

While today’s football grounds are not the rancid cauldron of racist chants and deplorable behaviour they once were, neither would you confuse going to, say, a Manchester derby with afternoon tea at a private member’s club.  

I go to football with my adult daughter quite a lot, and it’s rare that we see or hear something genuinely shocking. We know that, in the heat of the moment, committed fans lose their place and say things they would never dream of saying outside the confines of a football ground. Yes, I’ve even been guilty of that myself.  

Once, I found myself having to apologise to a friend when one of my fellow

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