Elliott resigns over Rufus text incident

Paul Elliott, who was talked of as a possible Charlton chairman last year, has resigned from all his posts at the FA after allegedly sending former Charlton defender Richard Rufus a racist text over a failed business venture. Elliott has expressed his regret and admitted that he used a term that is derogatory 'in our community': Elliott

According to the Sunday Times, Elliott texted to Rufus: 'Ur a stupid man n*****. You dog. Ur history my friend.' He concluded the pleasantries with, 'This will follow you scumbag.'

Elliott in as chairman

As we revealed a few weeks ago, Paul Elliott is set to be chairman of Charlton, subject to the final agreement of financial terms: Elliott

Here is the Mirror story: Welcome back

It should be noted that in the earlier stories Elliott himself gave no confirmation. The story was prematurely leaked to the Mirror from within the club, I am given to understand.

Predictably the media is going to focus on the black manager/black chairman angle, but I think of them as former Charlton players.

Elliott move tokenism?

The Paul Elliott story has, I understand, just being mentioned by Richard Keys on TalkSport in a discussion with a journo about racism in sport. It was suggested that his appointment might be tokenism.

This is the problem with the way in which this story is perceived in the media. To most Addicks, Paul Elliott is a respected former player who has continued doing important community work. Much of that is directed at racism, but people do not think of him in terms of the colour of his skin but what he has achieved.

Further checking has led me to believe that the Paul Elliott story arose from someone in the club talking to the Mirror journalist. It is not my belief that this person was Rick Everitt, now on his bike in the Isle of Thanet, contrary to suggestions elsewhere. I think that what happened was that someone let the cat out of the bag too quickly. That of itself might make it more difficult to proceed. But whilst I do not think it will happen in the immediate future, Elliott's appointment as executive chair remains an option.

Elliott in as chairman

Paul Elliott is to become chairman of Charlton, replacing Michael Slater who wants to take more of a back seat role (and possibly to have more freedom to watch Manchester City): Elliott

Catering staff are currently taking a well-earned break, but there is a suggestion that Elliott will serve as executive chairman and there will be no chief executive officer, thus solving two problems at once.

The media emphasis will no doubt be on the fact that he will be the first Afro-Caribbean chairman of a major club, alongside one of the few black managers. For me, it is record as a former Addick that is at least equally significant, although I admire his efforts to fight racism.