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John Terry has said he would support a move to walk off the pitch should England's black players be again subjected to abuse from the stands in Spain, but that would be the worst possible course of action to take.

By walking out, the players would effectively be admitting defeat to the minority of racist fools who insist on turning up at football grounds around the world.

The best way to counter these people is to stand firm and show them up for what they are - nothing more than mindless idiots.

I idolised the likes of Luther Blissett, Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis when I was younger; they would never have entertained the idea of walking off in protest at the bananas thrown in their direction.

Instead, they picked them up, peeled them and took a bite - a humorous two-fingered salute at the idiots who had lobbed them in the first place.

Those actions brought a laugh from the more intelligent members of the crowd back then, and that is still the best way to deal with racists - laugh at them, mock them and ridicule them.

But don't turn your back and walk away from the pitch.

That sends out entirely the wrong message, one that admits the senseless abuse has succeeding in having its desired effect.

Players can't allow the mindless minority to affect them, in any way.

I remember being targeted in Yorkshire early on in my career - a song about there being no black in Union Jack or some such rubbish - but instead of letting it get me down, it only served to fire me up and make me even more determined to succeed.

Of course, racism remains an issue that needs to be tackled, but on the pitch is neither the right time nor right place to do so.

It's up to football's governing bodies to make a difference - real progress has to come from the corridors of power, not from the players out there on the pitch.

We all know that the suits in charge of the game have failed to impose stiff enough sanctions against those found guilty of racist abuse in recent times, but there are better ways to embarrass them into action than walking off the pitch midway through a game.

Boycotting major tournaments would be one way to kick start some real action. Should England threaten to stay away from the 2010World Cup in South Africa, just imagine how much those UEFA fines for racist chanting would increase in size.

No one deserves to be ridiculed on the pitch, for any reason. But walking off in the heat of battle in Seville would let down all those black players who have stood firm in the face of adversity for so many years.

Paul Parker / Eurosport