Jenni Murray, the presenter of Woman’s Hour on Radio 4, certainly found that puzzling during a debate on misogyny in football. ‘The FA has a campaign called Kick It Out, which includes racism and homophobia, but why do sexism and misogyny go unchallenged,’ she asked, not without justification.

Those who equate racist insults to jibes about hair colour or girth are rightly dismissed - there is no historical persecution of the ginger-haired or portly - but the oppression of women cannot be so easily disregarded.

Part of the problem seems to be that if we set racism apart from all other forms of discrimination, we depart from the logical path and undermine our cause.

In football at least, it should not be hard to address this problem, considering that most dressing-rooms are harmoniously multi-racial. For Rio Ferdinand to state that he has perhaps been fooled in thinking the English game has made strides in the fight against racism is genuinely sad.

The Suarez incident and the accusation against Terry give a false impression of a sport in turmoil.

The Twitter abuse is then a product of that: a call to arms for the simplest of mind. There will always be trolls, always be vile little people spitting venom from a distance.

They can only win if their behaviour is perceived to be part of the mainstream and contributes to the isolation of minorities.

But racism is not mainstream: the British National Party are humiliated at general elections.

Ferdinand’s original instincts are right. Attitudes are evolving; there is improvement through generations. Now we must address the process of fruitful correction.

That is what was missing from the aftermath of the Suarez affair, and what is absent from the speculation around Terry’s trial, too.

Education, education, education. For English football to move forwards, it has to first provide a way back. We cannot live but not learn.

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