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| Steve Clarke charged over bigotted comments |
Our report exposing the activities of Clarke, a member of the Portsmouth Division of the racist English Defence League [EDL], and comments calling for all homosexuals to be murdered and "muzzies" [muslims] to be gagged was brought to the attention of Hampshire Football Association, who immediately took action launching an enquiry into our findings.
The story also featured in the local paper, the Portsmouth News, who felt the accusations serious enough to splash it over their front page on 16 March.
Oddly we had received an apology from Clarke, 45, for making the comments shortly after running our initial story, so were somewhat bemused to read the web of dishonesty he presented to the local press as his defence, claiming his account on the Facebook social networking site had been hacked. As we revealed in our previous story, not only had he already apologised for the racist and homophobic comments that he then went on to deny, he also has a long history of activity in the far-right EDL, which he also denied. We published proof that he could not deny, exposing his big fibs.
Following our further revelations about Clarke, he then bombarded us with emails and messages, addressed to "Mohammed" [and he claims he isn't a racist] and making threats to the editorial team at Portsmouth Nazi Watch. Amusingly one such post even stated that "Steve is a good man"...which he then signed Steve Clarke.
Considering he bragged at the time of making the original offensive remarks "charged me and see if I care" he has now been charged...and now does appear to care.
Please be aware that making bigoted comments online is neither big nor clever and can get you into serious hot water. Don't do it!
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| Clarke [right] with fellow Portsmouth EDL Racist James Reid |
A YOUTH football team manager whose Facebook page had racist and homophobic comments on it has been charged by Hampshire Football Association.
Steve Clarke, who manages the under-15s squad at Havant & Waterlooville Youth FC, faces two charges. He is accused of improper conduct and of making comments deemed to be of a racist nature.
Hampshire FA and the Football Association last month launched an investigation after Havant & Waterlooville Youth FC passed on information regarding allegations made about Mr Clarke on an internet blog.
When he was approached by The News, Mr Clarke, from Havant, strongly denied making any racist or homophobic comments.
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| Nazi Watch revealed Clarke thinks all homosexuals should be "put down" |
He said the only explanation he could think of for the comments appearing on his page was that his profile on the social networking website had been hacked. He told The News he no longer holds a Facebook account.
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| Clarke with Youth Team |
A spokesman for Hampshire FA said: ‘He has got the choice of whether to plead guilty or not guilty.
‘He can either have the matter dealt with at a personal hearing or dealt with in his absence. If he requests a personal hearing, we have to give 14 days’ notice of the date of the hearing.
‘It all depends on how quickly he responds as to how quickly the case gets dealt with.
‘There isn’t a maximum penalty set down. It would be at the discretion of the panel that deals with it. It’s not something we deal with very often.’
Should Mr Clarke decide to opt for a personal hearing, it could be held before a four-strong disciplinary panel.
The panel would consist of specially-trained members from across the county who would be charged with considering the allegations made against Mr Clarke. The case could either be dealt with at county level or by the national FA.
The News tried to contact Mr Clarke, but he was unavailable for comment.
A Havant & Waterlooville Youth FC spokeswoman said the club was unable to comment at this stage. The youth football club has no links with Havant & Waterlooville FC – who are also known as the Hawks.
Source: Portsmouth News
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