It is 2026, the racism must end NOW. Sporting Immigrants who are British Heroes.

The tragic, horrendous and horrific attack on Monday night in Belfast has rightly been condemned by all, and there is no doubt that the perpetrator must be brought to justice and face the full force of the law. An attack of that nature does sow fear that others may happen in your local area, but the scenes we saw on Tuesday night in Belfast were absolutely unacceptable under any circumstances, and there can be no doubt whatsoever that in 2026 we are in the midst of a new racism epidemic.

'Protests' also took place across Scotland on Tuesday evening specifically in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Ayr, and several people have been attacked due to the colour of their skin. This is Scotland, this is Britain, a quarter-of-a-century into the third millennium, and after decades of progress, racism of an extreme kind has returned to our streets. It is shameful.

We can debate the problems of immigration, we can debate the merits of immigration, but what there is no debate about is if you judge a person by the colour of their skin rather than the content of their character then it is you who has no place in this society. There are horrendous people in all parts of the world, and it is irrelevant what colour their skin is, they are just horrendous people with next to no morals or regard for life, and the two incidents over two nights in Belfast prove that point. In the past we have seen mass shootings in this country, two in particular spring to mind - Dunblane 1996 and Hungerford 1987 - both of which were committed by white, British men.

Northern Ireland is a place I have been privileged to spend a lot of time in, working there for two summers and visiting on three other separate occasions, and it has a place in my heart for being a welcoming, tolerant and open place. Of course, it has had its difficulties more than most over the last 50-60 years, but it is also a place with centuries of immigrant communities including Polish, Chinese, Lithuanian and Indian. My life has also been enhanced by spending a great deal of time with immigrants from Poland, Czechia, Portugal, Nigeria, Netherlands, Austria, Latvia, USA, Canada, France and Spain. I lived in the now defunct St Andrews Tourist Hostel for nearly 2 years, and there were several other long term residents, many of which were immigrants, working in our hospitality industry. There are bad apples in every single nation on this earth, and there are some great people in every single nation on this earth. There are bad immigrants to every country on earth, and there are great immigrants to every country on earth.

Linford Christie wins Olympic Gold / Getty Images

One of my first sporting memories as a child was 1992 and the Barcelona Olympic Games on BBC, and in particular the success of Linford Christie in the 100 metres. Christie was born on 2 April 1960 in Saint Andrew, Jamaica, where he was brought up by his maternal grandmother. At the age of seven he joined his parents, who had emigrated to Acton, London, England, five years before as part of the Windrush Generation. He took up Athletics relatively late at the age of 18, but went on to have a truly stellar career, the pinnacle of which came on August 1, 1992 in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

Christie won with a time of 9.96 seconds, beating Frankie Fredericks and Dennis Mitchell to claim his second Olympic medal in the 100 metres, and first Gold. Overall in his career Christie won 19 Major Championship Medals representing Great Britain, including the 1993 World Athletics Championship in Stuttgart, Germany. He also won 6 medals, including 3 Gold in the Commonwealth Games, representing England, and in 1993 was voted by the British public as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Linford Christie was born in Jamaica, but has been a British citizen from birth as a Commonwealth citizen / Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies under the nationality laws of the British Empire. Jamaica was colonized by the British in 1655 and remained a part of the British Empire until it gained Independence in 1962. Jamaica has remained a member of the Commonwealth and its head of state is King Charles III.

20 years on from the Linford Christie gold in Barcelona, another immigrant became a British sporting icon, on Saturday 4 August 2012 at the London Olympic Stadium in the London 2012 Olympic Games. Mo Farah, born as Hussein Abdi Kahin, and now known as Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah, was born in Gabiley, Somaliland and was illegally trafficked to the United Kingdom via Djibouti, where he was given the name Mohammed Farah and was forced to work as a domestic servant. Farah was flown from Somalia by a woman he had never met and was made to look after another family's children. He obtained British citizenship in July 2000 under the name Mohamed Farah.

Farah became a long distance runner after taking up Athletics as a child, and competed in the London Youth Games at the age of 13. His victory in the 10,000 metres in the London Olympic Stadium was the culmination of 'Super Saturday' which is one of the great sporting events of my lifetime, with 80,000 fans roaring him home to the title, following the Gold Medals achieved by Jessica Ennis and Greg Rutherford. It was a spine-tingling atmosphere and one of the truly joyous days in British sporting history. Absolutely nobody was criticizing Mo Farah for being an immigrant from Somalia.

Farah went on to claim the 5,000 metre Gold later in the 2012 Olympics, and defended both titles successfully in Rio 2016. He won 6 World Championship Golds, alongside 5 European Championship Golds, and a total of 36 medals in his career, all representing Great Britain.

Lennox Claudius Lewis, born in West Ham, London to Jamaican immigrant parents, is pretty much inarguably the Greatest British Boxer of all-time, becoming Undisputed Heavyweight Champion in 1999, and ending his career as a 3-time World Heavyweight Champion, winner of the WBC, IBC, WBO, IBF, WBA and the RING World Heavyweight Championships. His fights with Evander Holyfield saw thousands of British fans travel across the Atlantic to support him, and witness him become the first British winner of the Undisputed title in more than a century.

Prince Naseem Hamed, born as Naseem Hamed in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England to Yemeni parents is one of the most popular and successful British Boxers of all-time, and had huge support from the British public at the peak of his career. He was a winner of the WBO, IBF, WBC and IBO World Featherweight Championship belts, a 2-time World Champion, and Lineal Champion for 5 years.

Anthony Joshua, born as Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua in Watford, to British Nigerian parents is arguably the most well-supported British Boxer ever to grace the ring. He has headlined 7 Major, sold-out stadium shows at Wembley, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Millennium Stadium, and 8 of his fights old more than 1 million pay-per-view sales. He is a 2-time World Heavyweight Champion, winner of the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles, and kicked off his career by winning Gold at the London 2012 Olympics.

Other sporting immigrants to enjoy great success include John Barnes, John Charles Bryan Barnes, born in Kingston, Jamaica and went on to earn 79 England caps. Kevin Pietersen, born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and was a key member of the 2005 and 2011-12 England Ashes winning teams, and Mike Catt, born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa and part of the 2003 England Rugby World Cup winning team, and 1997 winning Lions Tour to South Africa.

All of these immigrants, or children of immigrants are proud of their heritage. Are we seriously asking people who come to this country to leave their heritage at the door and never celebrate it? What makes Great Britain Great is the diversity, is that we are all from different backgrounds, and that we can achieve our dreams in relative safety and out of absolute poverty. I venture so say that many of the absolute cretins who have torn Belfast to pieces over the last 24 hours will have cheered on any number of the sporting immigrants I have mentioned. The double-standard is truly breathtaking.

Many of them will be Rangers supporters, a club which has club legends from around Europe and the world. Are we really saying that if you are immigrant, but not famous or a sports star then your life is worth less?

The crime committed on Monday night was horrific, and that brutal, monster of a human should be behind bars somewhere in the world, and most likely deported. But he is a brutal monster not because of the colour of the skin, but the content of his character. Many millions of immigrants have made a profound, and fantastic impact upon the nations of these islands. From owning a corner shop, which we all take for granted, or the takeaway which we all treat ourselves to, to being doctors, nurses, dentists, vets, business owners, and sports men and women.

All should be celebrated. We face many challenges in this country, and this world. They need to be approached with an open mind, cool head and a warm heart.

GRNDSTND, by Matt Hooper

Matt Hooper is an Associate Member of the Sports Journalists Association.