Jareth Posted July 31, 2020 VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2020 I'm doing a bit of research, and would appreciate anyone's recollection of any BAME footballer who came through from the 70s/80s and the key moments they faced in their careers and lives. There are some obvious contenders from our own club for instance, but I'm sure there are more obscure players who faced the same challenges. Thanks for any input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 Paul Canoville, who was Chelsea's first black footballer, used to get horrible abuse from his own fans. https://www.thepfa.com/news/2019/12/16/where-are-they-now-paul-canoville Had it tough both before and after his time at Chelsea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted July 31, 2020 Author VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2020 3 minutes ago, Xela said: Paul Canoville, who was Chelsea's first black footballer, used to get horrible abuse from his own fans. https://www.thepfa.com/news/2019/12/16/where-are-they-now-paul-canoville Had it tough both before and after his time at Chelsea. That is a hell of a story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 3 minutes ago, Jareth said: That is a hell of a story. It certainly is. Must be horrendous to get abuse like that from anyone, let alone your own fans. Especially as he had come through so much to get into the team Mark Walters had dogs abuse from crowds when he went to Rangers,. John Barnes as well, including being booed by England fans 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted July 31, 2020 Author VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2020 7 minutes ago, Xela said: It certainly is. Must be horrendous to get abuse like that from anyone, let alone your own fans. Especially as he had come through so much to get into the team Mark Walters had dogs abuse from crowds when he went to Rangers,. John Barnes as well, including being booed by England fans It's a different world now, for sure, but Zaha got racist abuse, sadly from a supposed Villa fan (dumb-ass kid) - and also Ian Wright recently. If anything it's coming back. I think folks would be shocked to see what happened back then - and even more shocked to realise it hasn't gone away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted July 31, 2020 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2020 There was Clyde Best at West Ham in the 70's Regis, Batson, Cunningham AKA "the Three Degrees" at West Brom and they are still refered to by that nickname today in places (they have an entry as part of the Three Degrees disambiguation page on Wiki for example). I thought it was pretty racist back then and I still do today 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted July 31, 2020 Moderator Share Posted July 31, 2020 Then earlier, there was Gil Heron (Gil Scott-Heron's Dad), who played a few games for Celtic in the fifties, then played a few games for Third Lanark and then moved to Kiddie Harriers. He scored on his Celtic debut too iirc. First black Celtic player and first black player in Scotland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted July 31, 2020 Author VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, bickster said: There was Clyde Best at West Ham in the 70's Regis, Batson, Cunningham AKA "the Three Degrees" at West Brom and they are still refered to by that nickname today in places (they have an entry as part of the Three Degrees disambiguation page on Wiki for example). I thought it was pretty racist back then and I still do today Fair play Harry Redknapp (Moore and Bonds) - who've have known that ever happened? Edited July 31, 2020 by Jareth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted July 31, 2020 Author VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2020 4 minutes ago, bickster said: Then earlier, there was Gil Heron (Gil Scott-Heron's Dad), who played a few games for Celtic in the fifties, then played a few games for Third Lanark and then moved to Kiddie Harriers. He scored on his Celtic debut too iirc. First black Celtic player and first black player in Scotland Just an incredible life - thanks for pointing this out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 God himself turned up in the 80s at United Btw i think Big Ron made a stupid comment about Desailly nobody can defend that but he was one of the pioneers for black players in England 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 3 hours ago, Xela said: Paul Canoville, who was Chelsea's first black footballer, used to get horrible abuse from his own fans. https://www.thepfa.com/news/2019/12/16/where-are-they-now-paul-canoville Had it tough both before and after his time at Chelsea. Excellent interview with him on a recent Football Ramble podcast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted July 31, 2020 Author VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2020 3 minutes ago, Hornso said: Excellent interview with him on a recent Football Ramble podcast. Do you have the link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornso Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 1 minute ago, Jareth said: Do you have the link? Not sure if you are on Spotify, but if so... https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ADuxdjT77LpgqPNQJ196i?si=8fBaJz7uTWOkXTUDHb9nuw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jareth Posted July 31, 2020 Author VT Supporter Share Posted July 31, 2020 Just now, Hornso said: Not sure if you are on Spotify, but if so... https://open.spotify.com/episode/7ADuxdjT77LpgqPNQJ196i?si=8fBaJz7uTWOkXTUDHb9nuw Thanks for that 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicVillan Posted July 31, 2020 Share Posted July 31, 2020 I remember Jimmy Carter playing for Arsenal at Villa Park. Must have been early 90s . I think it might have been his debut but apparently he was the first British Asian to play in the Premier League. Don't recall him getting much abuse ..no chanting or singing which often happened with black players but I do recall the joke going around before kick off that if he got a corner he'd build a shop on it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 17 minutes ago, CosmicVillan said: I remember Jimmy Carter playing for Arsenal at Villa Park. Must have been early 90s . I think it might have been his debut but apparently he was the first British Asian to play in the Premier League. Don't recall him getting much abuse ..no chanting or singing which often happened with black players but I do recall the joke going around before kick off that if he got a corner he'd build a shop on it. according to Wikipedia he didnt tell people about his Asian heritage at the time. Its quite strange that not many players of Asian heritage play professionally though a lot more seem to play cricket, I think Chopra was one of the 1st high profile players 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CosmicVillan Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 13 hours ago, Zatman said: according to Wikipedia he didnt tell people about his Asian heritage at the time. Its quite strange that not many players of Asian heritage play professionally though a lot more seem to play cricket, I think Chopra was one of the 1st high profile players I tell a lie, I just did a bit of digging and it was Liverpool not Arsenal ! Memory playing tricks on me....a forgettable nil - nil clearly. But I was right it was his debut 1ST DIVISION VILLA PARK | SAT 12 JAN 1991 AT 15:00 Nigel Spink Chris Price Kevin Gage Paul McGrath Andy Comyn Kent Nielsen Dwight Yorke David Platt Tony Cascarino Gordon Cowans Nigel Callaghan Bruce Grobbelaar Glenn Hysén David Burrows Steve Nicol Steve Staunton Jimmy Carter Jan Mølby Ian Rush John Barnes Steve McMahon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 13 hours ago, Zatman said: according to Wikipedia he didnt tell people about his Asian heritage at the time. Its quite strange that not many players of Asian heritage play professionally though a lot more seem to play cricket, I think Chopra was one of the 1st high profile players Vikash Dhorasoo was quite good and even got a few caps for France, never played in England thou (I think). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 20 minutes ago, sne said: Vikash Dhorasoo was quite good and even got a few caps for France, never played in England thou (I think). No but he was one of the classic random Villa links in the day though some reason I think he played for Blackburn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted August 1, 2020 Share Posted August 1, 2020 2 hours ago, CosmicVillan said: I tell a lie, I just did a bit of digging and it was Liverpool not Arsenal ! Memory playing tricks on me....a forgettable nil - nil clearly. But I was right it was his debut 1ST DIVISION VILLA PARK | SAT 12 JAN 1991 AT 15:00 Nigel Spink Chris Price Kevin Gage Paul McGrath Andy Comyn Kent Nielsen Dwight Yorke David Platt Tony Cascarino Gordon Cowans Nigel Callaghan Bruce Grobbelaar Glenn Hysén David Burrows Steve Nicol Steve Staunton Jimmy Carter Jan Mølby Ian Rush John Barnes Steve McMahon I was there that day. A credible 0-0 as Liverpool were still the team to beat (with Arsenal) at that point. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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