If you boo taking the knee, for whatever reason, we all get tarred with the racist brush - Stuart Rayner

Seven days later, a group of Owls fans blotted the club's copybook.

The Sheffield Star's Alex Miller, who was at their League One game at Wycombe Wanderers – I was not – wrote, "There were once again boos from a small but audible minority of travelling Sheffield Wednesday supporters when Wycombe 'took the knee' on Saturday."

It keeps happening, and by no means just at Owls games, even though the gesture is now sporadic.

There is usually an excuse. Sometimes it is objecting to the political views supported by Black Lives Matter (BLM). The last notable outbreak at Hillsborough was because supporters were unhappy how long it was taking to kick off.

There is usually an excuse because even most racists do not like being called racist.

Even if we believed you were stupid enough not to comprehend as Wednesday manager Darren Moore and many others regularly explain players are taking the knee purely to protest against inequality yet politically savvy enough to be up to speed on BLM’s stance on Marxist ideology; even if you do think some of Britain's richest young millionaires are secret communists; even if we thought you genuinely were that angry about Shrewsbury Town faffing about, the excuses are running out.

It is okay to think taking the knee is not a great idea. Wilfried Zaha does. Mallik Wilks opted out at Hull City. But booing from a stand does not just send a message out about you, hidden away, it is about all of us.

Booing does not do nuance, so when you boo an anti-discrimination gesture we assume you are pro-discrimination; we go even further and assume you are racist.

We might be completely wrong, but that is how it is.

If it was just you, that is one thing.

As football fans we are used to be looked down on by people who do not share our love of the game. Every boozed-up bozo being anti-social on a train, every stadium disorder, reflects on all of us in the eyes of those who want to think less of us.

It is why millions of sensible football fans cannot have a beer as they watch in the stands, yet louts at rugby or cricket can.

You probably did not raise an eyebrow when I wrote how excellent Wednesday fans were against Newcastle. Some probably grumbled about a lack of substitutions, others were maybe too nervous to cheer but we group them together.

It goes for all walks of life.

The unintended consequence of calling a newspaper "the voice of the racists", as The Yorkshire Post was in a Department of Culture Media and Sport hearing into the Azeem Rafiq scandal, is it can tar all its writers and even readers in some minds.

So if you boo the taking of the knee, you do not do it as Joe Bloggs, racist or Joe Bloggs, anti-Marxist or anti-pre-match time-wasting.

You boo it as a fan of your club.

You boo it as a representative of its town or city.

You boo it as a football fan.

And if you do it supporting a Yorkshire team, it reflects on all of us.

The necessary but painful damage caused by the scandal Rafiq exposed at Yorkshire County Cricket Club means we as a county – regardless of beliefs or if we even like cricket – are tarnished in the eyes of those already suspicious of us.

Ironically, those who stand against prejudice can show prejudice too and some are influenced by bad experiences at the hands of the racists who live in Yorkshire, just as they do in every other county.

What if Liam Palmer, one of Wednesday’s best players, no longer wanted to play for supporters who apparently do not respect his skin colour? A top white player could just as easily get sick of it.

It drowns out debate too.

When fans complain about Moore, people might look at the Owls winning more points than anyone in 2022 and scoring more goals than anyone bar Manchester City and instead of considering your argument about the football not being great just assume you are picking faults because of his skin colour.

There are 168 hours in a week. You might spend two, maybe four in a football stadium. That leaves plenty to express neandarthal views without tainting fellow supporters, to let everyone else see it is you who thinks that, not hiding in a crowd.

Just keep them to yourself for the short period on a Saturday or whenever when you are on duty, like you probably bite your tongue around your boss, HR manager or people with different coloured skin.

Because you are on duty. Like it or not, when you buy a ticket you are representing your club, its town or city, and Yorkshire.

Most of us do not want to be associated with your backward, cretinous views. So either keep quiet for the 30 seconds or so as players take a knee or find something else to do on a matchday.