BRITISH football has made giant strides in combating racism since the low point of the 1970s and 80s. Speak to the likes of Gary Bennett or Chris Hughton and they will tell you tales of vitriolic abuse from the terraces, monkey chants taken up by hundreds if not thousands of bigots and bananas being flung on to the pitch with abandon.

Thankfully, those days are gone. But that does not mean England's footballing authorities can afford to become complacent about a stain that could reappear at any time.

In the last month, high-profile accusations of racism have been levelled against the Liverpool striker, Luis Suarez, and the England captain, John Terry.

Both, it must be noted, are vigorously denied. Investigating the incidents, which involve alleged comments made to Patrice Evra and Anton Ferdinand respectively, will not be easy.

The clubs involved have opted to back their player and turn down the option of an internal investigation, the incidents involve contested comments that cannot be corroborated by an independent witness and, in the case of last weekend's game between QPR and Chelsea, the events could also be the subject of an independent police inquiry.

However, it is imperative that the Football Association adopts as vigorous a stance as possible and does not attempt to sweep an uncomfortable issue under the carpet.

Anything else would send out entirely the wrong message, both at home and abroad.

In recent years, English football has led the campaign to eradicate racism from the international arena, and only last month, the FA made a formal complaint to UEFA about the monkey chants that could be heard at England's European Championships qualifier in Bulgaria.

It is refreshing to see as conservative an association as the FA adopting such a progressive and proactive stance, but how can English football possibly take the moral high ground if it is unwilling to actively pursue allegations of racism on its own soil?

Incredibly, even in this day and age, there are those who would urge the FA to turn the other cheek.

The Daily Mail ran a particularly polemic opinion piece this week in which Ferdinand and Evra were told to "put up with it and get on with the game".

The world of Twitter and Facebook has been awash with expressions claiming that "footballing banter" should remain exactly that, with this month's complainants accused of stirring up issues that should remain in the past.

It would be nice to think that racism in football could be locked away in a box marked ‘ancient history', but for every high-profile incident that goes uninvestigated, there will be those who feel empowered to indulge in their own racist activities.

Perhaps we will never truly know what Terry said to Ferdinand five minutes from the end of last weekend's game at Loftus Road, but thanks to Sky Television and the proliferation of video sharing sites on the internet, millions have now formed their own opinion about what went on.

Confusion reigns and, unfortunately, mud sticks. If Terry is innocent, and at this stage there is no reason to think he might not be, it is imperative the FA moves to clear his name. If he isn't, it is even more important that action is taken.

At the moment, the FA has attempted to adopt a softly-softly approach. Its disciplinary department is reviewing video footage and preparing to interview players and officials.

That is a decent start, but previous FA inquiries have been allowed to drift on interminably before petering out to a thoroughly unsatisfactory end. This one is far too important to allow that to happen.

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FROM a working perspective, Wednesday's game between Newcastle and Blackburn was a nightmare. Late goals scored as a deadline approaches are a sports writer's nightmare. Throw in two in the space of five injury-time minutes and you're staring at more rewrites than there are keys on a keyboard.

But from the perspective of anyone associated with Newcastle, the end of the club's superb unbeaten run could hardly have been more uplifting.

Yes, the unbeaten start is over. Yes, dreams of a Carling Cup final at Wembley have been shelved for another year.

But if ever there was an example of unshakable belief and team spirit having an impact, Wednesday's game at Ewood Park was surely it. This is a Newcastle side that revels in confounding expectations at every turn.

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WITH his side 14th in the Blue Square Bet Premier table, there was a certain inevitability about Raj Singh's decision to dismiss Mark Cooper earlier this week.

Having sat through last week's home defeat to Barrow, it was hard to avoid the conclusion that a fresh approach was required.

However, nothing that has happened this season should be allowed to overshadow the memory of what took place at Wembley in May.

As a North-East sports writer, it's incredibly rare to see any of the region's teams win anything, so the sight of silverware being raised is something to be cherished.

Cooper was the driving force behind Darlington's FA Trophy triumph and, for that alone, his place in the club's history books is assured.

Just as Steve McClaren was never fully appreciated by Middlesbrough supporters until a few years after he left, perhaps Cooper's reputation will gradually be restored over time.