“In the 1970s it was what you had to go through to survive - I just desperately wanted to be a professional footballer.” The words of the first black man to play for the senior England team - Viv Anderson - have a steely, serious and thought-provoking undertone. Meeting and interviewing him was a cathartic experience for me - he was a black footballing trailblazer that every Caribbean household cherished.
It was the year of my birth, 1978, when Anderson walked out for England against Czechoslovakia at Wembley, taking his place in history. “To be the first at anything is an unbelievable honour - to be honest I don’t know where it comes from because my dad was always into cricket - I broke the mould there," Anderson recalled. “The Queen and Elton John sent me a telegram of congratulations - my mum and dad were interviewed all week - it was a big thing.
” For Anderson, it was all about the football. But almost unbeknown to him, his inclusion within the England team had ramifications that travelled far beyond the pitch. Not only did he help open the door for other talented black players to be considered for England, but for myself and many other families of British-Caribbean descent, he helped legitimise our place within wider society.
The former Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Manchester United full-back was one of the first that we saw simultaneously represent England and ‘us’ on the field of play. It was an empowering moment of validation - a moment of feeling tr.
