AFL Urged To Act Over Coach Alastair Clarkson’s Homophobic Slur

Image: Alastair Clarkson. Image: North Melbourne FC Media

Former players and sports commentators have called for North Melbourne AFL coach Alastair Clarkson to be fined and banned over a homophobic slur he used against two St Kilda players.

Clarkson – who was also named by former players in the historic racism allegations at Hawthorn Football Club and denied the allegations – used the offensive words during his expletive-laden tirade against St Kilda players. This followed St Kilda player Jimmy Webster bumping Jy Simpkin during a practice match at Moorabbin, which left the North Melbourne player with a head concussion.

During the quarter time, Clarkson confronted St Kilda players and allegedly called Webster and Dougal Howard c*#ksucker.

An Apology

Clarkson subsequently apologised claiming he was “deeply disturbed” to see Simpkin leave the field after suffering a concussion.

“At the quarter-time break, I voiced my displeasure to St Kilda players Jimmy Webster and Dougal Howard as they made their way to the quarter-time huddle. This was an exchange that was emotional in defence of our captain, but unnecessary and the language I used was inappropriate,” Clarkson said in a statement, adding that he had reached out to apologise to St Kilda Coach Ross Lyon, Webster and Howard.

This is not the first time that Howard has faced backlash over his outbursts. He hurled an insult at a reporter in 2013 and the same year verbally abused two Port Melbourne players during a game. Last year, he apologised to a female sports journalist after telling her “Your time will come”.

Clarkson was one of the coaches named over an alleged racism episode at the Hawthorn Football Club. Clarkson denied the allegations. The AFL terminated its investigation into the allegations in 2023 after reaching an agreement with First Nations players.

Please Explain

On Monday, AFL issued a “please explain” notice to Clarkson. AFL CEO Andrew Dillon told AFL 360 that “once we’ve got all that information we’ll look at that and weigh it against what our rules are and then deal with it that way”.

Sports journalist Mark Robinson called for action to be taken against Clarkson. “The community expectation is that you can’t call a person a c***sucker and not be sanctioned,” Robinson wrote.

“Clarkson might say it wasn’t homophobic, but it’s a homophobic word. If he made a racist comment, would the AFL come down heavy on him? Of course they would,” Robinson said on AFL 360.

Former AFL player and coach Rodney Eade said the slur used by Clarkson was “unacceptable”.

“I think Alastair will have to wear this. I don’t think an apology and a [small] fine is strong enough to be honest. I think a really hefty fine to be honest — up towards $50,000 plus,” Eade said on the Footology podcast.