We were delighted when Viv Anderson, the first black player to win a full England cap, agreed to provide a foreword for the book. 
Viv Anderson’s Foreword
Everyone needs a role model and, in many ways, the Pioneers in this book were role models for those who followed. I am proud that I am regarded as a Pioneer both for Nottingham Forest and England. I hope that I showed young black footballers that, unlike in 1925 when Jack Leslie was dropped from the England squad for the ‘crime’ of being black, the colour of your skin did not prevent you from representing your country. Yet all I was doing was handing the baton that was passed to my by earlier Pioneers; Arthur Wharton, Walter Tull, Jack Leslie, Eddie Parris, Lindy Delapenha, Charlie Williams, Albert Johanneson, and many others.
Things were not easy for these Pioneers, they suffered discrimination and racism. This book is a reminder of how things once were and a stark warning that we must never return to those days.
The stars of the book are each of the players who overcame prejudice to achieve great things and change the face bof British football forever. But, in many cases, we must not forget the bravery and initiative of their parents. Men such as Eugene Brown, the father of Stoke City’s Roy Brown who came to England from Nigeria in 1912 and along with many other black soldiers fought for the Mother Country in World War I.
I include my mum and Dad, Myrtle and Audley, in the category of heroes. They came to Nottingham in the 1950s with nothing. They certainly were not always made welcome. Yet, along with the rest of the Windrush Generation, they worked hard to create a loving and safe environment without which I could not have achieved all that I did.
As well as being a good read, this book is an important historic record of the first black footballer at each Football League club, but what next? When I was appointed manager of Barnsley in 1993 I was one of only two black managers, the late Keith Alexander being the other. Almost 30 years on, things haven’t really changed. That simply cannot be right.
We need to ensure that it is not too long before we are celebrating a follow-up book about the first black manager at each of the 92 Football League clubs.
In the meantime, enjoy this book and celebrate what each of these brave Pioneers achieved.
Viv Anderson MBE
Reviews
Just some of our great reviews:
- “an incredibly timely release…now more than ever this is an important book.” (Paul Hawksbee – TalkSPORT)
- “The human stories are pretty unbelievable. Really, really fascinating to read.” (Nick Hatton, BBC Radio Leeds)
- “There are always stories that crop up that make you scratch your head and think, really? Is that what was going on back in the day?” (Jules Bellerby, BBC Radio York)
- “Learn about the unsung black trailblazers of the game. ‘Football’s Black Pioneers’ profiles the first black player at each of the 92 league clubs.” (Kick it Out)
- “Looks as though ‘Football’s Black Pioneers’ is going to have a huge impact in bringing to the surface the story of black footballers in the UK.” (Stanchion Books)
- “Highly recommend this… features a chapter on Jack and other great stories, and the authors have been incredibly helpful to the campaign.” (the Jack Leslie Campaign)
- “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.” (Gul Nawaz Hussain, BBC Radio Leeds)
- “‘Football’s Black Pioneers’ book is amazing. Four years of research went into finding the history of every first black player to play for each football league club. This book should be in every school and family home.” (FootballShorts.org)