My stay with Hearts of Midlothian was positive - Laryea Kingson

Former Black Stars winger Laryea Kingson has a nomadic playing career playing for clubs in Russia, Scotland, Holland among others.

He says that racism was very rife in Russian and it made him very defensive but his move to Scotland where he played for Hearts of Midlothian was very positive.

But he recounts an incident with a referee where he felt he was being abused but later felt very bad for the referee during a Hearts vs Aberdeen game while he was playing in Scotland.

He was sent off by referee Steve Conroy and later accused the official of being a racist something which he regrets ever doing.

“In my time with Hearts, I didn’t experience any racism or comments against me. Before Hearts, I was playing in a country where racism is huge – over in Russia. I experienced it there, so after moving to Scotland I thought, ‘Wow, this is a place that is accepting’. I really enjoyed my time there and experienced no racism whatsoever.

“There was one time something happened between me and the ref Conroy. I felt he treated me unfairly but because I’d just come from Russia, I was very defensive.

“So any time I felt like I’d been treated unfairly, I tried to defend myself or say something back to the person I was receiving abuse from. That’s the only time I thought that.

“Afterwards he explained to me that his wife was black and he didn’t mean it that way. That made me feel I’d got it wrong.

“But throughout my stay in Scotland I felt only positive energy towards me as a black person,” he concluded.