Millwall are considering legal motion against Westminster Council after their club badge was placed on a Ku Klux Klan member in a children’s education booklet distributed in schools across London.
The image appeared in ‘The Paul Canoville Story’, a booklet written by Peter Daniel, who’s an education and interpretation officer for Westminster City Council.
Canoville, who was the primary black player to make a first-team appearance for Chelsea in 1982, endured racist abuse throughout his profession, even fromsupporters of his own team.
The booklet about Canoville’s profession has been issued in schools as a part of an anti-racism scheme run by Westminster Council.
Nonetheless, page 20 of the booklet shows a KKK figure with Millwall’s crest on their white outfit next to a picture of Canoville and a speech bubble which read: ‘Racism never went away. I used to be badly abused in a reserve match at Millwall, but then I could show the racists my 1984 second Division Champions medal.’
A source at Millwall told Metro that the club are furious with the image and are in search of an evidence from Westminster Council as to the way it became approved for publication.
Millwall, who still remain in with a likelihood of securing automatic promotion to the Premier League this season, have worked tirelessly to enhance the club’s image from the Seventies and 80s and have won multiple awards from the EFL in recent seasons in recognition of their matchday experience for families.
Last month, Millwall’s community trust also won Community Project of the 12 months on the London Football Awards for his or her work with young people offering tailored careers advice, employability training and pathways into work.
A spokesperson for Millwall said: ‘The club has received a full apology from Westminster Council following their serious misuse of a registered club badge, which was placed on an illustration of a white supremacist hate group member in a children’s education booklet distributed in schools, making a false and damaging image of the club.
‘The council have confirmed no more copies of the image with the club’s logo will probably be made or distributed by them and all remaining material of their possession will probably be destroyed.
‘The club continues to be considering its legal position on the matter and are unable to comment further.’
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A Westminster City Council spokesperson said: ‘We accept using this image was an insensitive solution to illustrate the historic problem of racism inside football. We’ve apologised to Millwall Football Club for the improper use of their logo and for any offence caused.
‘The booklet has been faraway from circulation, and we’re reviewing processes to make sure this doesn’t occur again.’
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