Frank Sinclair issues stunning rebuke to Kick It Out campaigner.

In the wake of Chris Ramsey’s sacking by QPR and that of Chris Powell by Huddersfield, Kick It Out Education and Development Manager Troy Townsend issued a predictable response.

“People will look and think ‘Is it worth it? Is it because of the colour of their skin? Or is it because they are bad managers?” said Townsend.

“I know people will say results are not right but there is a lot more to it than that. Today is disheartening without a doubt.”

In football claims like this are normally left unchallenged, but Sinclair stepped in to call Townsend ‘out of order’.

“They [Powell and Ramsey] are both terrific lads who have given me advice in the past, and you’re disappointed that they lost their jobs, but you’ve got to be realistic,” he told BBC Radio Northampton.

“To make a statement that more or less says ‘is it because of their colour that they’ve been sacked?’ is something that I had to make a response to because I totally disagree.

“It can be damaging. I don’t question a chairman’s integrity.

“I’ve been very close to getting a couple of jobs recently, and out of 35-40 applicants, I’ve got to the final two twice. There’s encouragement that if I keep doing the right things, then I’ll get the opportunity to manage at the level that I want to.

“[Townsend’s comments] are damaging. People could read that and think: ‘If I take on a black manager is he going to turn around if it doesn’t go well and say ‘the reason I got sacked is because of the colour of my skin’?

“That is out of order and you can’t have statements made like that.”

Frank Sinclair will of course remember playing under Ruud Gullit at Chelsea. Appointed in 1996, nobody batted an eyelid at the colour of Gullit’s skin when he took over one of the biggest Premier League clubs, and one which in the 70s and 80s had been among the most frightening places in England for black players to ply their trade.

This is one of many examples that shows the tragic reality of football today. Prejudice against black coaches and managers is indeed growing, but only because of those self-righteous individuals who want to turn black managers and the chairmen who appoint them into ambassadors for a whole race of people rather than letting them get on with running a football club.