Football's Black Pioneers

Plymouth Argyle’s Jack Leslie was selected to play for the England football team against Northern Ireland on 25 October 1925, then inexplicably dropped – the reason being, he was black. In the event, Leslie ended up scoring twice for Argyle, who cruised to a 7-2 victory over Bournemouth on the day of the England game. England drew 0-0. The story of Leslie is one of the many fascinating accounts contained in Football’s Black Pioneers by Bill Hern and David Gleave. There has certainly been some painstaking research gone into this book, that tracks down the first black player to turn out for all of the 92 league clubs. There are accounts of players, like Laurie Cunningham (first black player for West Brom and England Under 21), Viv Anderson (first black player for Nottingham Forest and England) and Brendon Batson (first black player at Arsenal, though later as part of the famous West Brom trio together with Cunningham and Cyrille Regis). A particularly interesting chapter for West Ham supporters is the one featuring Clyde Best, who was not the first black player to play for the club but a real pioneer. The year was 1968, when Clyde came over at the age of 17 from Bermuda to play for West Ham. Clyde was playing for the first team a year later. I remember seeing Clyde, who played for the club until the mid-1970s, scoring lots of goals and becoming a firm fans’ favourite. He did also have to endure some horrendous racism. The authors recall one occasion, when Clyde received a letter, with a threat that acid would be thrown at him, as he came out of the tunnel onto the pitch. The police took the threat seriously, creating a cordon between players and fans, as they emerged. West Ham were the first club to field three black players, when Best, Ade Coker and Clive Charles took the field against Spurs in 1972. clubs. The period stretches back right into the 19th century for some clubs. There are stories like that of Lindy Delaphena, who was the first black player at four clubs, making his debut for Portsmouth in 1948 before going on to Middlesbrough, Mansfield Town and Burton Albion. Among other highlights, are Roland Butcher who played for Stevenage, before making his name as the first black cricketer to represent England in a test match in 1981. Also, Charlie Williams MBE, who played for Doncaster Rovers, though possibly made a bigger name for himself later as a comedian. Hern and Gleave provide a real insight into the struggle of so many black players over the years to make their way in the game. An excellent read. Racism is still ofcourse rife, though not as bad, as in the days of the likes of Clyde Best, Laurie Cunningham and Paul Canoville. This is testimony to the bravery and resilience of so many players down the years. The change of attitude, though, is nicely noted by the authors, in the example of the tributes paid by clubs across the country at the time of Cyrille Regis's death in 2018 - a far cry from the days when as a player Cyrille was greeted with banana skins and worse. *Football's Black Pioneers by Bill Hern and David Gleave published by Conker Editions Ltd price £16