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<\/p>\nChris Kamara detailed the horrific racial abuse that saw him told to \u2018go back to where he came from\u2019 and spat at during his playing days.<\/p>\n
The much-loved former Sky Sports pundit revealed how he was racial abused by a neighbour who lived just five doors down from him as an eight-year-old. Kammy also spoke about the sickening abuse he received from the stands during his playing days.<\/p>\n
Kamara revealed his story of discrimination in an extract of his book, titled Kammy, serialised in the Mirror, where he has also detailed his struggles with a slurred speech condition called apraxia. <\/p>\n
READ MORE: Chris Kamara recalls fans thought he was 'drunk' on Soccer Saturday during health battle <\/b><\/p>\n
READ MORE: Chris Kamara says Soccer Saturday became 'awful and terrifying' as he battled apraxia <\/b><\/p>\n
His passage reads: \u201cI\u2019ll never forget the first time I encountered racism. I was eight and, as often happened, had been sent to the corner shop to buy cigarettes \u2013 ten Woodbines for Mum, 20 Full Strength Capstan for Dad. I\u2019d just given the note to the shopkeeper \u2013 I was way too timid to ask \u2013 when a woman pushed in front of me and asked for a pint of milk and a loaf of bread.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2019I\u2019m serving this young man here,\u2019 the grocer pointed out. She looked at me. \u201cHis lot should go back to where they came from,\u201d she said. \u201cI live five doors away from you,\u201d I thought. \u201cI\u2019m not from somewhere else.\u201d The shopkeeper stood his ground: \u201cNo, no, I\u2019m serving him.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cShe stormed out \u2013 \u201cThese Blacks shouldn\u2019t be here.\u201d I took the cigarettes and went home, her words still ringing in my ears. I\u2019ve tried to blank such incidents from my mind \u2013 carrying that weight of negativity around in life isn\u2019t useful \u2013 and have largely succeeding in doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kamara recalled the other disgusting incidents of racial abuse he faced from the stands during his career, he wrote: \u201cCertain other incidents stand out, like the day a banana was thrown at me at Millwall. The Den was a tough place for any visiting footballer \u2013 it could even be a tough place for their own players \u2013 but it was especially so for a young Black lad in the mid-seventies.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI made the mistake of going over to take a throw-in and was met with a volley of abuse and monkey chants. Then, suddenly, the back of my shirt was covered in spit and a banana landed at my feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never took a throw-in at the Den again. People told me when I was a kid that I would find it hard to play football professionally because of my colour. I did it.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople told me I would find it hard to become a manager when I retired from playing because of my colour. I did it. Then people said it would be hard for me to go into the media. I did it. Then people said it would be hard going into mainstream. I did it."<\/p>\n
KAMMY: My Unbelievable Life by Chris Kamara is published by Macmillan on November 9, \u00a322.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n