Thursday 24th February 2005
Livingston FC anti-racism presentation
Almondvale, Livingston

The event at Almondvale Stadium on the 24th February was the first one of its kind held at the club. Despite this fact, it was an immediate success and the club has announced that they would like to host one for next season.

Two of the four schools who were invited had to cancel due to the poor weather conditions, but the remaining two, St. Andrews Primary and James Young High School, both local Livingston schools, thoroughly enjoyed the event, the highlight of which was the poster signing session by Livingston player Gustave Bahoken and under 19 team coach Alex Cleland.

The event was hosted by SRTRC’s Imran Alam, and the panel consisted of Margaret Penketh from West Lothian Council, Gustave Bahoken and Alex Cleland. After a short introduction by Imran on the organisation’s history and work, the SRTRC educational video was aired, which was followed by a short question and answer session on the video.

Margaret Penketh gave a few words to the young audience on the evils of racism and why it is important to inform a teacher or parent if one is the victim of racial abuse or to report the incident if one witnesses it. It was then Gustave and Alex’s turns to answer the excellent questions put forward to them by the school kids. Despite Gustave’s inconsistent English, he still managed to answer the questions well. Thankfully he said he had been fortunate enough not to have experienced any racial abuse during his life or playing career.

The afternoon concluded with lunch, kindly provided by Livingston FC, and then a chance for the kids to have their SRTRC squad posters signed by Alex and Gustave. An autographed football was raffled off and the lucky number drawn by Gustave, ensured the prize went to a young St Andrew’s pupil who was delighted with the win.

The school kids and the two Livingston FC members then took part in a photo shoot for the local West Lothian Gazette newspaper, before it was time for the Primary pupils to go for a tour of the stadium itself.

Overall a highly enjoyable event, in which the kids asked some excellent questions. Hopefully the message was made clear by all present that racism is not welcome in football or in society. A big thank you to Leigh Robertson, Communities Director at Livingston FC for helping organize the event, Margaret Penketh, West Lothain Council for arranging the schools to participate, and to both Gustave Bahoken and Alex Cleland for taking time out of their busy training schedules to attend.