Back in October, Off The Ball sat down with former Wales international rugby player Gareth Thomas to talk about his life and career.
During the course of in-depth chat (which you can listen to here), he spoke about a former team-mate called Glen Webbe at his club Bridgend and the racist abuse the latter had to put up with.
Speaking in the context of his decision not to come out as gay during his early career, Thomas recalled some of the things Webbe had to contend with, saying: "He stood on the wing and had bananas thrown at him. [At the time] it was okay and you could get away with it. So for me, could I get away with it and would I want to get away with it? Would I want to come out and every week be the subject of abuse and negativity?"
Tonight on Off The Ball, Webbe joined us on the show to talk about his experiences and explained how he used humour to stand up to racism.
"I do remember the incident with the bananas and basically I picked one up, peeled it and chucked it back in the crowd," he recalled, and said that the incident was part of a local grudge match.
"I suppose it was just a coping mechanism. But there were a couple of the lads - black players as well - who went the other way but I tend not to rise to situations. If someone wanted to hurt you physically, well they can, but you're in a no-win situation when you're a player amongst the crowd. They're all faceless and gutless and they can shout the chants. You'd be a fool to play right into their hands to rise to everything single thing you hear."
Webbe also talked about the slow process of making it onto the Wales team, and he admitted that he did occasionally question some of the selection decisions which could have been rooted in discrimination.
But he also feels that nowadays things can be too politically correct, highlighting the controversy over Wales international Liam Williams who dressed as Ivory Coast footballer Wilfried Bony for a fancy-dress party.
Meanwhile, he believes education is the only way to truly stamp out racism and other forms of discrimination.
"You cannot make people feel a certain way," he said. "Education is the only way that you're going to break some barriers down and integrate."
Webbe also looked ahead to his nations's game against Ireland this weekend.
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