Former Nottingham Forest striker Jason Lee has spoken about the abuse he suffered from comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner in their hit BBC football show in the 1990s and the effect it had on him and his family.
Lee was often the target of ridicule on the comedy duo’s popular Fantasy Football League show, which then led to the player receiving torrents of abuse from fans at actual games.
‘Three Lions’ singers Baddiel and Skinner mocked Lee for his apparent lack of ability at Nottingham Forest – where he scored 14 goals in 76 league appearances – and often replayed clips of some of his awful misses in a Tricky Trees shirt.
They paired this with a parody of Lee, played by Baddiel, who would miss the target in every day situations, such as throwing rubbish in the bin, a sugar cube in his tea, and even banging a tambourine.
Admittedly, that part of the sketch was pretty funny, but the clips have aged badly as Baddiel darkened his skin with make-up and sported a pineapple on his head, as he mocked the player’s appearance and hairstyle.
During one episode of the show, Baddiel and Skinner even said they’d written Lee a letter in response the media attention on their constant jibes.
“We wrote him a letter, actually,” said Skinner. “It said: ‘Dear Jason… come on!’”
To which Baddiel added: “He hasn’t sent us one back. Apparently he tried to but he couldn’t quite get it in the mail box.”
Their constant jokes on Fantasy Football League led to fans hounding Lee with chants of: ‘He’s got a pineapple on his head’, to the tune of ‘He’s got the whole world in his hands’.
Lee didn’t see the funny side, and neither did his family and friends, saying they Baddiel and Skinner took the jokes ‘too far’.
“I tell you what, you couldn’t get away with that now, could you? Blackfaceing up,” the former striker told Kick Off on talkSPORT.
“At the time I could have done without it, I’m not going to lie.
“I was a young player, 23 years of age, and playing in the Premier League, and I’d worked hard to get to the Premier League by the way.
“I started at Charlton and went to Lincoln at the age of 19 to play in the fourth division for two years. Then I went to Southend, played in Division One and got a move to the Premier League with Nottingham Forest where I played for three years.
“The actual adverse affects of being ridiculed for missing, listen, Darren has been there [he said to talkSPORT co-host Darren Bent], as a striker you miss opportunities, these things happen and I could deal with that all day.
“But then people are ridiculing you because of your appearance, and I knew a lot of people close to me, a lot of family members and friends, so many people who were upset by that.
“They were going too far. Just talk about the football, talking about someone’s appearance is something else.”
Lee’s comments came after ex-Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick spoke out about the anxiety and self-confidence issues he developed over the torment he faced from comedy panel show ‘They Think It’s All Over’.
Chadwick’s honest account of how he was affected by being constantly hounded on national television led to public apologies from the show’s host, Nick Hancock, and regular guest, former England striker Gary Lineker earlier this week.
Lee says he was tough enough to personally handle Baddiel and Skinner’s jibes, but warns not all players have such thick skin.
He added: “We’ve had Luke Chadwick talking about the stick he received, and if you’re a weaker person and you haven’t got the resilience, you could probably go under.
“I received abuse before, during and after all that, so it was never going to stop me.
“At the end of the day there were far worst things happening in my person life that I had to contend with, than two people on a TV show trying to drive me out of the game.
“That was never going to happen.”
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