Raheem Sterling Chelsea abuse: Invisible banana skins thrown at black people every day, says John Barnes

Former Liverpool player Barnes experienced racism throughout his career, famously backheeling a banana skin thrown at him during a game against Everton in 1988

John Barnes has said that racism is still rife in British society even if the problem is not overt as it once was, explaining: “black people go through invisible banana skins being thrown at them and unspoken racial abuse every day of their lives.”

Raheem Sterling was allegedly racially abused during his side’s 2-0 defeat by Chelsea on Saturday, with the Manchester City forward later accusing the media of ‘fuelling racism’ in their negative coverage of young black players.

Former Liverpool player Barnes experienced racism throughout his career, famously backheeling a banana skin thrown at him during a game against Everton in 1988.

And Barnes believes that racism is still present in everyday British life even thirty years later.

“It's been well documented over the years,” Barnes told the BBC. “For any black player in the 1980s it would have been the same old racist chants, bananas on the field - just something that was an accepted part of society and football.

“Maybe the overt racism that I experienced, you may not have seen in the last 20 years. Now, with the Raheem Sterling incident, maybe it has reared its ugly head again.

“I, for one, never thought that it had went away - you just never heard it because people kept their mouths shut.”

Barnes added that he was “not surprised” when a banana was recently thrown at the Arsenal player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the recent north London derby.

“It didn't surprise me because black people go through invisible banana skins being thrown at them and unspoken racial abuse every day of their lives,” Barnes said.

“The very fact that now a real banana skin came on and there was real abuse doesn't surprise me at all. I just thought it was to be expected.”