I’ll be joining supporters of the ‘Let’s Kick Racism Out of Football’ campaign at Leyton Orient football ground this Saturday.

Kick It Out is football’s equality and inclusion organisation funded by the Football Association.

The campaign was established in 1993 in response to calls from clubs, players and fans to tackle racist attitudes, inequality and exclusion.

Great strides have been made in this area, however, there remains much progress to be made both in an out of the game.

In the Premier League a quarter of players are black — but not a single manager.

This has led to calls for the FA to adopt the Rooney Rule, used in the NFL since 2003, to ensure ethnic minority candidates are represented in the interview process for coaching positions.

In politics in this country, the days of racist slogans such as that which blighted the 1964 Smeth- wick General Election are behind us.

But more needs to be done to encourage Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic candidates to enter the political field at all levels.

And in the media, Jeremy Clarkson’s recent racial slur whilst filming for Top Gear, was met only with a ‘final warning’.

On the field of play Clarkson would have been sent off. No replay needed.

Saturday’s campaign is about fighting racism wherever we see it – on the terraces, in playgrounds or boardrooms – the ghosts of Walter Tull and Justin Fashanu demand nothing less.

Cllr Stuart Emmerson, William Morris ward, Labour, Waltham Forest council