Townsend’s Palace team-mate Wilfried Zaha was the first Premier League player who chose to stop taking a knee. The initiative was adopted last year to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but Zaha feels more needs to be done to fight racism.
When fans were briefly allowed to return to games last year, some Millwall supporters booed players taking a knee before their Championship game with Derby in December.
Townsend, whose father Troy is the head of development for the anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, said: “People are starting to fail to see the relevance of taking a knee – ‘it’s a flippant gesture, it doesn’t mean anything, nothing’s being done’.
“But if fans do return next season and we hear booing, it would show the importance of taking a knee, wearing the badge, the campaigns. Hopefully it doesn’t happen, but it could end up being a positive.”