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Aston Villa star Jack Grealish hits back as fans jeer knee-taking

Jack Grealish has told fans England’s players don’t want to hear booing when they take the knee before matches.

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Loud jeering could be heard around the Riverside Stadium when Gareth Southgate’s team made the anti-racism gesture before Wednesday’s 1-0 friendly win against Austria.

Though it was eventually drowned out by applause from other supporters, Villa skipper Grealish admitted players were disappointed.

He said: “I was obviously aware of it, I heard it. I didn’t like it at all. None of the players like it.

“I think that will get talked about in the next few days. It’s a thing we don’t want in football in general and especially in our England games.”

Grealish captained Villa when they, together with Sheffield United, became the first teams to take the knee before their Premier League fixture a year ago this month.

The gesture has since been made at every subsequent top flight fixture and international matches, England boss Southgate believes some fans do not understand the message behind the gesture.

Players have been taking a knee before kick-off as a protest against racial inequality but Southgate said some fans view it as a “political stand” they do not agree with.

“That’s not the reason the players are doing it. We are supporting each other,” he said. “I was pleased it was drowned out by the majority of the crowd but we can’t deny it happened.

“It’s not something on behalf of our black players that I wanted to hear because it feels as though it is a criticism of them.

“I think the majority of people understand it. Some people aren’t quite understanding the message and I suppose we are seeing that across a number of football grounds at the moment.

“I think the most important thing for our players to know is that all of their team-mates and staff are fully supportive.”

Taking the knee is used as a symbol against racial inequality and has been enacted widely following the murder of George Floyd in the US last year.