‘Choco Jocko’ – Richard Keys Racist Remark Surfaces, Kills His Career (Again)

Ollie Irish

13th, February 2011

15 Comments

By Ollie Irish

“Some of my best friends are black women…”

Richard Keys’ modus operandi: Casual. Smart casual, casual sexism and – to complete the set – casual racism.

It seems someone at Sky is really out to harpoon Keys’ career (or what’s left of it), after audio of him calling former Ipswich and Nottm Forest striker David Johnson a ‘choco jocko’ (Johnson is black and was courted by the Scottish FA for a time).

The footage is 11 years old, so has someone with a vendetta been sitting on it all this time, waiting to unleash it for maximum damage? As Keys is due to start his new TalkSport radio gig tomorrow (this is awkward), the answer must be yes.

Objectively, I think it’s ridiculous to pillory someone for something they said or did more than a decade ago. But in Keys’ case, I’m happy to make an exception – because the odious stuff that has been caught on camera is probably only the tip of the iceberg, rather than a couple of isolated, out-of-character examples.

I’m also starting to feel a tad sorry for Andy Gray, not only for having to work with a creep like Keys for so long, but also because he lost his job largely as a result of going along with Keys’ banter. I could be wrong there – perhaps Gray is even more of a douchebag than Keys – but certainly I get the feeling that certain people at Sky (Keys and reporter Andy Burton, to name two) overdid the banter in a bid to chum up to Gray and other ex-pros, and Gray – a man raised in the dressing room, where any banter goes – simply went along with it.

The Mirror has the audio

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15 Comments

  1. Del Boy says:

    What a plonker

  2. Walter says:

    Don’t have much sympathy for the man. He had a very high profile position and his ignorance shone through in the end. I cant feel sorry for Gray either if he was just going along with Keys that makes him a bigger idiot. The whole thing was a bit O.T.T but I’m glad to see Gray of the TV with “expert” analysis. Now that he has been knocked of that fence he was on 20 years maybe he’ll go manage a team at some decent level and see if he can put to work the endless drone of his tactical know how. Oh and he could have Keys as his assistant manager of course.
    :0)

  3. EDub says:

    Chocko jocko? WTF? This guy went out of his way to sound like an idiot.

  4. Van says:

    Another crass remark that was also laughed at by his colleagues sadly.

  5. stuart says:

    i don’t want this egotistic self indulged twat on my airwaves tommorow, i want Porky Parry back.

  6. Donner Meat says:

    I have to agree with you on Andy Grey. Feel a bit sorry for him. Keys is a top draw pleb.

  7. Harpoon Richard Keys’ career? This person with the chip toward Harry of the Hendersons is no Ahab, and complete and utter decimation of Keys’ career is far from being a white whale.

  8. Joe says:

    If you read the whole thing, Souness doesn’t come off well either. Keys’ pathetic explanation: “it wasn’t racist because it was off air. And Dion Dublin is my best mate”

  9. Bobbie says:

    Key’s has been in the game for over 20 years, and presenting on Sky Sports since 1992. I don’t think there is any need for him to ‘chum up’ to ex-pro’s in that position. He is just an odious man and TalkSport taking them on is a step backwards for both the game and their brand.

  10. Kevin Barry says:

    it is probably the case that all commentators & pundits make similar comments but only those who get caught are disciplined……….. maybe if the folk complaining had a spell on a factory shop floor they would think the likes of Keys, Gray, Atkinson et al were like saintly choir boys………………
    God bless the likes of Richard, Andy and Big Ron for telling it how is is……
    better still let them take over from the 2 prize wankers of football.Blatter and Platini

  11. Sleeba says:

    Glad to see “douchebag” entering the the lexicon of the English laungage. As for Jim Davidson, sorry Richard Keys….hairy oaf!

  12. George says:

    This just shows what an odious little prick Keys is, and thus why he is perfect for Talksport.

    @ Kevin Barry: If you had actually spent any time on a shop floor then you would know that women and people of colour make up a significant portion of the working class and racism/sexism is not tolerated by the majority of workers.

  13. Carl says:

    Eat your heart out Souness and Keys as we need to go back nearly 150 years to find Scottish football’s 1st Black Scottish International. Andrew Watson was the first black player to represent and captain Scotland and therefore Britain internationally.
    Born in the Caribbean at Demerara – part of the British Guiana, in 1857, Andrew Watson came to England to complete his schooling at a public school and became a successful player for Scotland’s Queens Park and then began studying at Glasgow University aged 19, in November 1875.
    Andrew became;
    • the first black player to play for Scotland, whom he represented 3 times between 1881 and 1882. He played for Queens Park, the top Scottish team of the day.
    • the first black captain of an International team (v England 1881)
    • the first black player to win a major competition (Scottish Cup 1881)
    • the first black player to play in the English FA Cup (London Swifts 1882)
    • the first black football administrator (he was Match Secretary for 5 years at Parkgrove and Queens Park FC).

  14. Kevin Barry says:

    @ George: I did spend many years “on the shop floor” mostly supervising a multi-national staff of which over 90% were female, and we all had a fucking marvelous time with idle banter and taking the piss out of each other…..get a life and chill out man!!!!!!!!!1

  15. Kevin Barry says:

    Anyway, forget the issue of Richard Keys and Andy Gray for a while…..

    Can anyone remember a women playing in the Premier League
    the npower Championship or either of the npower League 1 or 2 divisions?

    Is that not sexism?????

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