Birmingham revival is overshadowed by racist abuse claims

BIRMINGHAM CITY’S last-gasp FA Cup draw with Blackburn Rovers was marred after goal- keeper Neil Etheridge suffered alleged racial abuse from a home supporter behind his goal.

Jordan James’s injury-time strike to make it 2-2 was overshadowed when Etheridge ran straight to referee Keith Stroud, who reacted by immediately speaking to both managers, Jon Dahl Tomasson and John Eustace.

A brief melee then followed between both sides before Stroud blew the final whistle shortly afterwards.

Birmingham boss Eustace was delighted by his team’s efforts in coming from behind at Ewood Park but the racist incident left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He said: ‘Neil was racially abused which is bang out of order. There is no room at all for racism in society, let alone football, so we are really disappointed that that’s happened. We are fully behind Neil.

‘He would be [extremely angry]. There is no room for it in football and it’s completely wrong.

‘It is a very, very, very serious issue. Neil was shook up a little bit after the game and rightly so.

‘The lads got right round him and made sure he was OK and we will speak to him on the bus and see how he is. The referee will report it, then it will be up to Blackburn as a club to deal with the situation.’

Earlier, Reda Khadra, a former Blackburn loanee, gave Birmingham a third-minute lead as he

picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area and his tame 20-yarder somehow dribbled over Thomas Kaminski’s outstretched right arm and into the back of the net.

Birmingham’s bright start came on the back of an interesting week off the pitch when the club announced that new investment and a buyer for St Andrew’s might be on the cards.

Fans of the Midlands club have been complaining about the lack of investment for a long time — but they were more than a match for promotion-chasing Blackburn early on.

However, Tomasson’s men inched their way back into the contest and equalised before half-time through Bradley Dack, who got the final touch after Joe Rankin-Costello’s volley had bounced back off the woodwork.

Dack saw the ball fall nicely to him in space and he did the rest from two yards out.

Straight after the restart, RankinCostello gave Rovers the lead as he curled a right-foot shot past Etheridge. It gave Blackburn a dream start to the second half and although Birmingham were full of running, it looked as if they lacked the class to force a replay.

However, with 91 minutes on the clock, James popped up on the edge of the area and brilliantly beat Kaminski to earn a St Andrew’s rematch on Tuesday.

Tomasson said: ‘We made some mistakes and they cost us. We should probably have won the game so I am disappointed.’

In a statement on the racism allegations, Blackburn said the club were ‘aware of allegations of racist abuse reported to the match officials by Birmingham City goalkeeper Neil Etheridge during today’s FA Cup fourth-round tie.

‘Referee Keith Stroud notified the players and managers of both clubs of the alleged incident, which will now be fully investigated by Blackburn Rovers and the relevant authorities.

‘Allegations of this nature are taken extremely seriously. The club has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of abuse and discrimination, and will take the strongest possible action against any individuals identified for committing such offences.

‘No further comment will be made at this time.’

Birmingham also issued a statement, echoing what Blackburn had said, adding that after the incident referee Stroud ‘delayed the restart and spoke to the head coaches and captains of each side as per competition protocol. This will be included in the official’s match report and the club will assist the FA and the authorities accordingly.

‘(Birmingham give their) full support to Neil. There is no room for racism in the game.

‘No further comment will be made at this time.’