Another Special One

“Hearts footballer Craig Thomson has been placed on the sex offenders register after pleading guilty to two charges of indecent behaviour. The 20-year-old was also fined £4,000 for his lewd, libidinous and indecent behaviour towards two girls, aged 12 and 14, over the internet. The 20-year-old footballer was kept on by the club despite admitting sexual offences against two young girls.”

It seems our game of football is in the news, and for the wrong reasons yet again. We have a backdrop of alcohol abuse, and sectarian chanting to cope with already, and as if that wasn't enough, we now have a row over a convicted paedophile who initially would not be sacked from his Scottish Premier Club, Hearts of Midlothian. The club management supported him fully and therefore endorsed his behaviour.

Two (could there be others?) under-age girls were groomed on the internet by Thomson and will now be coming to terms with their stupid internet encounters. They could have been much closer to other more damaging actions by him. The fans wanted the player sacked. The girls' parents wanted him sacked. The main sponsor withdrew and wanted him sacked. A leading children's charity wanted him sacked. Like the three 'wise monkeys' the club could not see anything wrong with keeping the player on their books, after all, 'he was a good footballer' they said.

What does it take for football clubs to take ownership for their problems, whether by their staff, or fans, and do something about it? The latest news is that Thomson has been suspended, well that is a start. They now need to apologise to the fans and parents, and try to distance themselves from their initial foolhardy support. If our so called 'beautiful game' is going to improve as a family sport in the UK, the clubs, players and fans will have to take some responsibility, and not just nod knowingly on the sidelines, which we are very good at already.

As Christians, shouldn't we take note of the lives of celebrities and 'stars' and shine a light on their indiscretions? After all, like it or not, they are role models to many young people in our society. We desperately need more good examples for our youth, and it seems that these are in short supply right now, especially in football.