As a statue of England’s first black footballer was unveiled at St George’s Park on Thursday, it brought into focus the strides on racial inequality that have been made in our game and also the steps that still need taking.
This 16ft bronze replica of Arthur Wharton stands like a lightning rod for current debates about representation at the place where new generations of football minds will come to develop.
One black player in the Football League in 1889. Two black managers in the Football League in 2014; Chris Powell at Huddersfield, Keith Curle at Carlisle. More than a century of radical change has left some statistics looking static.
Cyrille Regis and Brendon Batson were not aware of Wharton’s story when they were playing for West Bromwich Albion in the late 70s and early 80s, subjected to racist abuse from the terraces.
They did not know how he had come to Britain from Ghana, aged 19, set a world record for the 100-yard sprint and then begun playing as an amateur for Darlington.
They did not know he subsequently moved to Preston North End, then signed professional forms as a goalkeeper for Rotherham and Sheffield United in the top flight.
They do know, some 125 years later, that the landscape of modern coaching is imbalanced and are able to detail why the Rooney Rule is needed to provide equilibrium.
‘The unveiling of Arthur Wharton’s statue is a really good touchstone for the contribution black footballers have made,’ said Batson, who works with the Football Association on a consultancy basis. ‘All of us have experienced racism, we know what we had to put up with. I can only imagine what he had to put up with in those days.
‘The significance is that while it has got a lot better over the years, it is still there in more subtle forms. We know the integration of black players has been phenomenal but there are still issues around inclusion. There is a parallel when you see a lack of black managers.’
This subject is live. Football League chairman Greg Clarke faced calls to resign after failing to raise the issue at the governing body’s AGM last month, but has now launched a review into under-representation.
Replying to Jose Mourinho’s insistence there is ‘no racism in football’, Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb said racism was ‘overt’ in the English game and highlighted Chelsea youth coach Eddie Newton’s inability to get job interviews.