Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink didn’t get a job at Port Vale because the chairman of the club feared he would be subject to racist abuse.
Norman Smurthwaite, chairman of Port Vale Football Club, has revealed he passed up the opportunity to give Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink a job as manager in 2013 because he was scared the club's own fans would be racist towards the Dutch legend.
Subsequently, Hasselbaink took on a job at Burton, and is now the manager of Queens Park Rangers.
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Smurthwaite says he was ready to give Hasselbaink a job at Port Vale, but chose not to because the club was under investigation by the FA for racist chanting.
"I didn't take him [Hasselbaink] because of the racial issue the club had got. I didn't think it was fair on him," Smurthwaite told the Mirror.
"Can you imagine the poor bloke getting abuse, along with the normal abuse if results were going against him?"
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Smurthwaite said he felt Hasselbaink would have done well at the club, but a "small minority" of fans would have reacted negatively to his appointment as manager.
"He would have been right for the club without doubt but I don't think the club would have been right for him.
"Ninety-nine per cent of our fans are excellent but a small minority leave us with policing and other issues."
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