Football manager wins £30,000 award in racist slur tribunal

Graham Roberts, who played for Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and England, had claimed he was the victim of the "biggest set-up ever" when he was sacked by Clyde Football Club.

The employment tribunal yesterday ruled that his employers failed to convince that he made the comments, saying the claims were highly exaggerated or possibly not true.

The former defender always denied making the remarks during a match in Canada last May.

He was alleged to have called one opposing player in Toronto a "Jew boy" and threatened to put him in a gas chamber, and called another player with dreadlocks "pineapple head".

It was also said that he swore at a boy in a wheelchair and threatened to let his tyres down.

The allegations were sent in a letter to Clyde FC which were then investigated by the club's directors.

Roberts was sacked in July last year after a series of meetings. But tribunal chairman Hugh Murphy said the club had not carried out a reasonable investigation of the allegations.

In particular, he said the club failed to watch a crucial DVD of the match in question, despite it being available at the time.

Mr Murphy said: "No reasonable employer could have failed to realise that some of the allegations against Roberts were, at the very least, highly exaggerated or possibly not true. The respondents have not satisfied us that the claimant made these statements. It negates our view of a finding that he contributed to his own dismissal."

The tribunal heard that Roberts had a run-in with his former Clyde assistant Joe Miller before the allegations were made.

Roberts told how his relationship with the former Celtic and Aberdeen player ended after he accused the assistant of stealing money earned from giving training sessions during their tour.

Roberts admitted that on the tour he called a rival team player, who had elbowed Clyde's Neil McGregor in the face, a donkey. Clyde's player had just returned after a fractured cheekbone. But he denied making donkey noises.

"It is just a figure of speech. I did it in the Celtic game but I'm not prepared to say who I said it about in the Celtic game.''

He added "I did not make any anti-Semitic remarks and find the suggestion totally offensive.'' He further denied he referred to a gas chamber. "I totally deny that. I played for one of the biggest clubs in the world which had a Jewish community and I captained them and I was very proud of that.''

He further denied he referred to a player with dreadlocks tied up on his head as "pineapple head".

Tribunal chairman Mr Murphy said the directors of Clyde FC should have completed a more thorough investigation into the allegations, including why they were made.

He said: "They [the directors] were aware that there had been a public dispute between [Roberts] and Joe Miller. They were also aware that one source of the allegations against [Roberts] was Joe Miller."

Footage from a DVD of the match was shown to the tribunal revealing discrepancies with some of the allegations made against Roberts.

They included timings of some of the alleged incidents and distances between Roberts and some of the people who claimed they heard him.

Mr Murphy said the failure of the Clyde directors to view the DVD before sacking Roberts for gross misconduct undermined their case.

The tribunal ruled in favour of Roberts's claim for unfair dismissal and breach of contract. He was awarded 32,362, as well as a 1,000 payment for sponsorship monies owed.