UK Black History Month 2024: ‘Reclaiming the narratives’ around Black British footballers

There can be a tendency to focus on telling traumatic stories during UK Black History Month. We seem to find it easier to talk about pain and anger than Black excellence. This applies across different sectors including education, the film industry and in sports.

This year’s official theme for UK Black History Month, which runs throughout October, is “reclaiming narratives”. That means Black people taking ownership of their stories and ensuring they are not misrepresented.

In the summer, anti-discrimination group Kick It Out wrote an open letter to the media following England’s 1-0 defeat by Iceland at Wembley. An image of Bukayo Saka was used prominently after the game, even though he was not on the pitch when England conceded as he only came on in the 65th minute. A Black player was effectively held up as the face of England’s misfortune, forcing media outlets to confront whether they had fallen foul of unconscious bias.

People will understandably feel upset that Nuno Espirito Santo and Darren Moore are the only Black managers at the 92 clubs across England’s top four divisions. Deji Davies, who is a non-executive director at Brentford and chair of the Football Association’s (FA) inclusion advisory board, is the only Black boardroom member at a top-flight team. All of this does not reflect that, according to a study commissioned by the Black Footballers’ Partnership, 34 per cent of players in the EFL were Black in 2021 and that figure stood at 43 per cent for the Premier League.

A study by RunRepeat in partnership with the Professional Footballers’ Association, which was released in June 2020, discovered that when commentators spoke about a footballer’s ‘power’, they were 6.5 times more likely to be talking about a Black player and that figure was 3.3 for speed. When commentators spoke about intelligence, 62.6 per cent of praise was aimed at players with a lighter skin tone and 63.3 per cent of criticism was aimed at those with a darker complexion.

Black players are often judged on their physical characteristics and it is long overdue that we moved away from this. Something like Ivan Toney’s penalty technique should be appreciated for the genius it is and we should celebrate the beauty on offer from Trent Alexander-Arnold as he reinterprets the full-back role in front of our eyes.

As well as these narratives that develop, there are also stories that emerge that show how much still needs to be done to tackle issues involving football and race. It is only just over two months, remember, since Chelsea opened disciplinary proceedings against Enzo Fernandez after the midfielder livestreamed his Argentina team-mates singing an offensive chant about French players with African heritage in the aftermath of his country’s Copa America triumph. Fernandez later apologised and is now Chelsea’s captain.

Writing and talking about difficult topics is important. Attempting to shine a light on the key issues that impact the Black community, challenging harmful stereotypes and reframing people’s understanding of historical events is critical to moving forward. In the past, The Athletic has written about why football crowds are so white, the lack of diversity in the Women’s Super League and the low level of representation of people with Black heritage at boardroom and management level.

But it can be tiring taking on that burden. An equal amount of space and time should be given to uplifting and inspirational stories — we cannot move forward if we are constantly looking back. Last year, we told the stories of the Windrush generation of footballers — including Brendon Batson, Viv Anderson and Clyde Best — highlighted the story of Andrew Watson, who was the first Black international, and visited the unmarked grave of Arthur Wharton, the Football League’s first Black professional footballer.

There has been lots to celebrate over the past 12 months, including Sam Allison becoming the first Black referee to officiate a Premier League game since Uriah Rennie in 2008 when he took charge of Luton Town’s 3-2 victory over Sheffield United in December. The former firefighter can now be seen ordering players around on the pitch or the touchline as a fourth official on a regular basis in the top flight or the Championship.

Ademola Lookman, Calvin Bassey, Ola Aina and Alex Iwobi all grew up close to each other in London in Nigerian households. Affectionately dubbed ‘The ‘Innit Boys’, they played a major part in Nigeria reaching the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, which they lost 2-1 to the hosts Ivory Coast. Lookman’s performances for Nigeria — he scored three times in the knockout stages of AFCON — and hat-trick for Atalanta in the Europa League final in May mean he has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or.

In April, former England international Eni Aluko made history by being appointed to the board of Italian top-flight club Como’s women’s team. Aluko is part of the investment firm Mercury/13, which is aiming to finance multiple women’s teams across the world and become a multi-club ownership group. Ashley Cole has joined the FA as a full-time national coach, while Joleon Lescott is an assistant to England’s interim head coach Lee Carsley.

It is essential we talk about the full spectrum of the Black community’s diverse experiences to inspire, educate and empower the next generation. That means we should decide which stories are told and stay true to making sure that they are presented authentically, which is what we are aiming to do at The Athletic over the next month.

We hope that you enjoy our content and that it prompts healthy discussions. If there are any stories you would like us to write about, please tell us in the comments below.

(Top photos: Getty Images; design Dan Goldfarb)