Racial abuse aimed at black or foreign players at British football grounds is still rife, according to researchers who carried out a survey of 33,000 fans.
Fans from Everton, Rangers and Celtic topped the league table for making the largest number of rascist comments heard, the survey found.
Arsenal, Charlton Athletic and Wimbledon won praise for reducing racism through campaigns inside their grounds, but according to Sean Perkins, of the Sir Norman Chester centre for football research at Leicester University, racism overall has remained much the same since the last survey, in the 1996-97 season.
Perkins said the fears of football fans had also changed. "Before the Hillsborough disaster people were scared of being beaten up in grounds or crushed. Now it is more about lifestyle and sensibilities. Women and children, for example, who are now far more numerous in grounds, are offended by swearing, whereas men regard this as part and parcel of being a football fan."
Another new factor, caused by all-seater stadiums, was that fans could no longer move away if a fan next to them was offensive, as they had been able to on the terraces.
