"They intimidated me, screamed vile racist abuse and threw bananas... and that was my own club's fans"
His experience at Chelsea shamed English football in the Eighties, when racism and violence stalked the terraces in the form of National Front skinheads.
Canoville recalls how he felt 'physically sick' after being subjected to racist taunts at Chelsea - by the club's own supporters
His first full season with the club was one of the worst in its history, as the team avoided relegation to the Third Division on the final day of the season.
Plucked from non-league football with Hillingdon Borough in December 1981, he made his first-team debut four months later, at the age of 20, as a substitute, away at Crystal Palace.
When he climbed from the bench to warm up, he was subject to racist abuse from Chelsea fans.
Chelsea supporters screamed: 'Sit down you black c***', 'You f***ing w*g, f*** off'. Then they started to chant: 'We don't want the n****r, we don't want the n****r, la la la la'. A banana landed near his feet.
'I felt physically sick,' recalls Canoville.
'I felt totally numb. To this day, I do not know how I got home. I was living in Slough. I don't think I would have gone on the train. I would have got a lift but I don't know who from.
'All I know was that when I came off I sat in the corner and I was frightened. Was this the end? Will Chelsea say it's a risk and they can't go on with it? There were a lot of things going through my mind.
'I didn't know anything about the fans at Chelsea. I didn't support Chelsea. I didn't go to watch them. When I trained or played in the reserves, I still didn't see them.
'I didn't see the first team until I'd been chosen. I didn't even realise what was coming. I'm in the dressing room thinking, "Yeah, I'm going to put on a performance". Until you come outside and warm up and it's like, "What the hell?".
'This went on for two-and-a-half years. Even when I scored it was like: Nah, it's still 0-0, the n****r scored, it doesn't count. You're going, "What did I hear?" I didn't even go home and tell anybody what was going on.
'People would say, "Paul, how was the game?" and I'd be, "Yeah, wicked man". I didn't want to be negative.'
Canoville built up barriers and blocked out the abuse. Over the years at Stamford Bridge, his ability and effort silenced the racists among the supporters but there were issues in the dressing room, too. 'I still ask myself how I got through it,' he adds.
