TO those who say actions speak louder than words, I have just two words of my own: "Ron" and "Atkinson".

In the late '70s, I lived in Handsworth, a vibrant Birmingham suburb well known for its sizeable West Indian population.

It was a short bus ride away was The Hawthorns, home ground of West Bromwich Albion, managed at that time by none other than Big Ron himself, and I'd go along quite often.

The Baggies were good to watch, thanks in no small measure to their three black players - Brendan Batson, a classy full-back; Cyrille Regis, a powerful centre-forward; and my particular favourite, flying winger Laurie Cunningham (who sadly died in a car crash in Spain in 1989).

Nothing unusual in a team having three black players, you might think; but it was unusual back then.

What amazed me was the way many of the fans, even West Brom supporters, would single out the black players for vicious abuse, hurling vile insults along with the occasional banana.

Through it all the lads who Big Ron called "his Three Degrees" (in itself, I suppose, a form of racism, picking out members of his team on the basis of their colour), showed great dignity and, yes, even bravery.

And Atkinson stood by Batson, Regis and Cunningham, showing a cussed determination when many other teams were all-white, and their managers must secretly have sympathised with all the tripe being talked on the terraces about how black lads somehow lacked bottle.

Regis spoke recently about how he and Atkinson would joke about him sitting at the back of the team bus. Batson has said he's "disappointed" by Atkinson's remarks about Marcel Desailly.

But not one of the black players selected by Atkinson (and there were many), has come forward to say he discriminated against them during their careers.

I met Atkinson briefly in the early '80s when he was at Manchester United and they played at Poole, and found him a grumpy sod. His attitudes are old-fashioned and his language in an unguarded moment last week was offensive and indefensible.

But he was brought up in an era when a TV show like Love Thy Neighbour was popular with millions, and even comic Charlie Williams (a black former professional footballer) would warn hecklers that he'd move in next door to them.

I wonder whether the armchair critics have themselves always chosen their words wisely.

Maybe they should look at the way the national press often report on asylum and immigration, and ask whether their witch-hunt isn't a wee bit hypocritical.

First published: April 27