Bill Hern made such an impression on BBC Radio Leeds that he was invited back for a discussion on their Sunday evening show. The presenter made some perceptive points: ‘your book comes in a timely fashion given everything that’s being discussed … Empire has played a huge role in shaping quite literally the world that we live in but also the country that we live in. I for one think it’s a travesty that it isn’t taught, warts and all, in the school curriculum to help young children understand why the world looks the way that it does and why England and the UK looks the way that it does.’ Amen to that. As someone else has commented elsewhere ‘Football’s Black Pioneers’ is a book that every school should have!
Bill spoke about his chat with Neville Chamberlain, part of the Chamberlain footballing dynasty that includes England internationals Mark Chamberlain and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Neville told Bill that managers would often ask him to switch wings towards the end of games so that he would be near the players’ tunnel at the final whistle, enabling a quick exit before opposing fans could invade the pitch to spit at him. Just one of the shocking stories in the book.