0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains some strong language
0:00:04 > 0:00:06In 1979, a football match was played at the Hawthorns,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08home of West Bromwich Albion.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12On one side, 11 white players.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16On the other, 11 black players.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Whites versus blacks.
0:00:18 > 0:00:19Yes, really.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25Stranger still, back then, it all felt rather progressive.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Now, the very thought of it makes you wince.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33You didn't realise that we were actually making history
0:00:33 > 0:00:34at that time on that day.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38From the journey of coming over here,
0:00:38 > 0:00:42not seeing black players, and then we can put out a team.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Everyone was of one mind - "We're going to beat them."
0:00:46 > 0:00:51So, what does this tell us about how things were then for black people?
0:00:51 > 0:00:54We don't want these people in our society.
0:00:54 > 0:00:56We will not abide by the Race Relations Act,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00being all true white British people!
0:01:00 > 0:01:02CHEERING
0:01:02 > 0:01:05I was a traitor, I was a white whore
0:01:05 > 0:01:08and he was being ruled by the white girl.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10WHISTLING AND MONKEY CHANTS
0:01:10 > 0:01:12When I was on the pitch, I heard everything.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16They were calling me a coon. "BLEEP off back to your country."
0:01:16 > 0:01:20You would watch amazing football and think, "If only they were white."
0:01:20 > 0:01:22And here's Regis...
0:01:22 > 0:01:25And what can we learn about how far we've come today?
0:01:25 > 0:01:29To see Cyrille and then Laurie Cunningham, Brendon Batson,
0:01:29 > 0:01:31to see them get through, you know that it can be done.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34You can do as many of these documentaries as you like.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36You won't change what's in people's heads right now.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02My football team's been a massive part of my life
0:02:02 > 0:02:05for nearly all my life.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Match days at West Brom takes me right back to being a little kid.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14My grandad used to drive me up here
0:02:14 > 0:02:16about three hours before kick-off,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18give me a bag of chips and curry sauce
0:02:18 > 0:02:20and just leave me in the car for three hours
0:02:20 > 0:02:22while he went for a pint with his mates.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26I'd just sit there eating the chips, doing my homework,
0:02:26 > 0:02:27watching the crowd gather,
0:02:27 > 0:02:29just getting into a frenzy of excitement
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and at about 2.50pm, he'd take me into the ground.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39For as long as I can remember, my club's put me through the mill
0:02:39 > 0:02:43week in, week out, year in, year out.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49My obsession took root very deeply back in the '70s.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51I mean, it's a Hall of Fame.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53To me, it almost feels like a family album.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Look at that for a strike!
0:02:55 > 0:02:57Look at that!
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Tony Brown. He feels like my Uncle Tony.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Here's John Wile.
0:03:02 > 0:03:03I wish he was my uncle, too.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06A heroic figure. It just kind of feels like family.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09I can't express it any other way.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Ally Rob - ferocious.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15Getting in some crunching tackles.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20"Crunching" being a euphemism for fouls.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23And Cyrille.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Look at those biceps there!
0:03:26 > 0:03:28Here's Brendon. Look at that body shape.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Look at the afro. Look at the focus.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32Look at the sweat on his legs.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35He's beautiful, and there's the late great Laurie Cunningham.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42That we had so many black players
0:03:42 > 0:03:45gave the whole experience something extra.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50It made us feel different, special.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57I recall matches where we scaled footballing heights
0:03:57 > 0:04:02and matches where my black heroes were subjected to the vilest abuse.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11But there's one match that intrigues me more than any other,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15that if played today would surely cause an outcry.
0:04:19 > 0:04:241979 - a testimonial for Len Cantello to reward him
0:04:24 > 0:04:26for his long service to the club.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31As for exactly whose idea it was to play blacks against whites,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33no-one at the club can remember.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Nobody wants the credit or, possibly, the blame.
0:04:37 > 0:04:42The first expert witness for my investigation is a man who was there
0:04:42 > 0:04:46and saw it all through his viewfinder - Laurie Rampling,
0:04:46 > 0:04:50unofficial club photographer for as long as anyone can remember.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53This is going to be like an Aladdin's Cave for me.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55This way, Adrian.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59My word! Look at this.
0:04:59 > 0:05:00This is the first little anteroom.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02This is where I do all my work.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- I love that picture. - Yep, it's one of my favourites.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08This must be one the most extensive collection
0:05:08 > 0:05:09of Albion stuff...
0:05:09 > 0:05:12- In all the United Kingdom. - If not the world!
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Is there anything you haven't got?
0:05:14 > 0:05:15This needs a sign on it -
0:05:15 > 0:05:17- the Rampling Albion Museum. - The Rampling Albion Den.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20So, what about pictures of that actual game?
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Yes. I've got pictures here.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26This is from my archive of the game.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28What do you remember about it?
0:05:28 > 0:05:29Do you remember the idea being hatched?
0:05:29 > 0:05:32I do. I remember it and I thought, "What a fantastic idea!"
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Straight away, when you knew what the occasion was about,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37you knew you had to get a picture of the team group
0:05:37 > 0:05:39because it probably wouldn't ever happen again and it hasn't.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Do you remember what you thought when you looked through
0:05:42 > 0:05:44that viewfinder and just saw all those black players?
0:05:44 > 0:05:46The first time you ever saw that happen.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Wow! It was a photograph that had a wow factor
0:05:49 > 0:05:51and I thought, "That's going to be
0:05:51 > 0:05:53"one of the most iconic pictures in football."
0:05:57 > 0:05:59In that era, the National Front still active,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02there was a lot of people who basically wanted to fight,
0:06:02 > 0:06:03whites versus blacks.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05But, obviously, a testimonial game,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09it's a fun game. But was there any kind of racial charge to it?
0:06:09 > 0:06:11If there was, I certainly didn't feel that,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15because by this time, you'd got Brendon Batson,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Albion heroes, if you like, you know.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25So there's a piece in The Guardian from 1979.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27It says the local Community Relations Council said,
0:06:27 > 0:06:28"It can only be an innocent mistake.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30"I hope the club will have second thoughts.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33"A match of this kind could be used by certain sections of the community
0:06:33 > 0:06:37"to make political capital and there could well be trouble in the crowd."
0:06:37 > 0:06:40There were eyebrows raised by certain people
0:06:40 > 0:06:42whether it was a good idea
0:06:42 > 0:06:45and I remember, I said at the time, "Well, why?"
0:06:45 > 0:06:47And even today, I say, "Well, why?
0:06:47 > 0:06:50"Why was it a bad idea?"
0:06:51 > 0:06:56And that's the question - why, arguably, wasn't it a bad idea then?
0:06:56 > 0:07:01And why, in retrospect, does it feel so plain wrong now?
0:07:04 > 0:07:09By 1979, Britain had been through a right old turbulent decade.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11For a generation, the West Midlands,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14where I grew up and the Albion ply their trade,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17had been something of a cauldron of racial tension.
0:07:19 > 0:07:20In the white community,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24there was fear, bewilderment and ignorance in equal measure -
0:07:24 > 0:07:28something our new Prime Minister soon had a handle on.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33People are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped
0:07:33 > 0:07:35by people with a different culture.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43Why should they have our jobs?
0:07:43 > 0:07:45If we start beating them up and that,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48they might get the message to clear off.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Filth!
0:07:51 > 0:07:55With the milk of human kindness running this sour,
0:07:55 > 0:08:00was a whites versus blacks football match really the wisest move?
0:08:07 > 0:08:10To get a sense of how the players felt about it,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14I've arranged to meet three members of the white team that day -
0:08:14 > 0:08:15John Wile, our club captain...
0:08:15 > 0:08:18That's the goal and it's gone to Wile.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22..prolific goal scoring midfielder Tony "Bomber" Brown...
0:08:22 > 0:08:25In goes Brown! Yes, that'll do it!
0:08:25 > 0:08:28..and our frankly terrifying defender Ally Robertson.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32And a free kick against Alistair Robertson,
0:08:32 > 0:08:33which he got the worst of.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Well, I've got three of my heroes here.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40I want you to know you're still my heroes even now.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43My love hasn't waned with time.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44So you all lived around here, didn't you?
0:08:44 > 0:08:46- One big happy family.- Absolutely.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Brendon lived here.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51I lived up here. You lived over there.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53- That's right. - But we all met in there.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55THEY LAUGH
0:08:55 > 0:08:57I want to buy you three a drink.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00- Come on.- That sounds all right to me.- Let's do it.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02You're still in good shape, you three. You're moving very well.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05You've got a new hip or two, haven't you?
0:09:05 > 0:09:07- But you're moving well. - Er, three.- Three!
0:09:07 > 0:09:09THEY LAUGH
0:09:15 > 0:09:17I'm just getting this. Is this yours, Ally?
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Yes, I found that in my dad's loft.
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Just when I see this, you know, I cry.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25There was a semifinal at Highbury.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27That's when you cut your head against Ipswich.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31John Wile being treated for West Brom.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34A fairly horrific sight being cleaned up.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36Have you still got the scar from that?
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Believe it or not, it was very, very small.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42- Was it? - It was just in the wrong place.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45That hasn't been stitched, but in a fight, it would have been stopped.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49We come to Len Cantello's testimonial,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51the black versus white match.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55I remember thinking at the time and I was 12 or something,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58I was like a liberal, white, middle class boy,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01thinking, "Oh, that's really sweet." It felt progressive to me.
0:10:01 > 0:10:02What are your memories of it?
0:10:02 > 0:10:05I can't remember that much about it.
0:10:05 > 0:10:06The only thing I can remember
0:10:06 > 0:10:09is there were more coloured people or black people in the ground.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13The game itself doesn't sort of stick in my memory as something.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17I think, that year, I played something like 76 games.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22It was just another game to us.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25I think it was just a way to get more of a crowd,
0:10:25 > 0:10:27something different, yeah,
0:10:27 > 0:10:29and interest because there were quite a few testimonials.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32- People get fed up of testimonials. - This was certainly different.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34There have not been very many black versus white matches.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36That's what I'm saying. The idea was fantastic.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40I came from a small mining village
0:10:40 > 0:10:44and you never saw a black person up in that area.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48And when I moved down here and my family came down to visit,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51they always used to remark on the fact
0:10:51 > 0:10:53that there's a lot of black people down here.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55I'd never seen a black person.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59I'd come down to West Brom and I was in digs in Handsworth
0:10:59 > 0:11:03and I always remember picking my mum up
0:11:03 > 0:11:05and we brought her down Soho Road.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08She couldn't believe all these Afro-Caribbeans.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11She couldn't believe how many black people there were.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13They're caught square. This is a chance.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18And no-one could believe how many black players we had -
0:11:18 > 0:11:22three of them, when the number of them in all British football
0:11:22 > 0:11:24barely ran into double figures.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26The media loved them
0:11:26 > 0:11:30and the manager, Ron Atkinson, knew how to work the media.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34He dubbed them The Three Degrees, a nickname which stuck fast.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40When those lads come, they were no different to anybody else
0:11:40 > 0:11:42because we saw them dress in the dressing room.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43You dressed with them.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45- You bathed with them. - You saw them undressed?
0:11:45 > 0:11:47You'd never had a black friend, never saw a black man
0:11:47 > 0:11:49and, suddenly, you're in a bath with a black man.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54Little things were said, but it was part of the dressing room banter
0:11:54 > 0:11:55and dressing rooms are completely different
0:11:55 > 0:11:57from anywhere else, Adrian.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Do you know what I mean? Shrugged it off and laughed it off
0:12:01 > 0:12:03and just got on it with, you know what I mean?
0:12:03 > 0:12:04- That's the way it was. - With the banter,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08you're learning about the language, you're learning about each other.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Sometimes, was the line ever crossed?
0:12:11 > 0:12:13You must have seen them angry or upset.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Somebody might have said something which was a bit too much.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Outside the group, yes.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20And I have seen it outside the group,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23but we'd be the first ones to stand in and say, "Go away."
0:12:23 > 0:12:28In our lads, I don't think I've heard one person say a bad word.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Looking back now, do you think you feel any different
0:12:34 > 0:12:37about their experience? Do you ever find yourself thinking,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39"Blimey, it must have been harder for them
0:12:39 > 0:12:41"than we thought actually at the time?"
0:12:41 > 0:12:42I do. Definitely, it must have been.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44We didn't realise at the time
0:12:44 > 0:12:47because it was all this football banter and that,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50but you don't know how they felt inside themselves, you know.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57It's fascinating. They remember lots of it very well, that era,
0:12:57 > 0:13:02but don't remember really anything about that black versus white match.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04That's the white players.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I'll be very surprised if the black players involved,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10every single one of them, didn't remember every detail of it.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14As these black players gathered for that match,
0:13:14 > 0:13:18did they have any misgivings about playing in it?
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Did it feel right? Wrong? Odd?
0:13:20 > 0:13:22Or just a bit of harmless fun?
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Cyrille and Brendon meet me
0:13:27 > 0:13:29in what feels like a different world altogether.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35Their memories of the match and the whole era are as fresh as you like.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38I was watching you in the '70s.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40You were living through that brutal time.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43How could you get across the brutality of it?
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Well, first two, three years as a professional footballer,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50I tell stories, like you go to Millwall, Chelsea, Tottenham,
0:13:50 > 0:13:52you're getting 10,000 people
0:13:52 > 0:13:55singing, "Nigger, nigger, lick my boots."
0:13:55 > 0:13:57I mean, 10,000 people!
0:14:00 > 0:14:05Having three black players in a side in the late '70s was radical.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07In those days at West Ham,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09just a hail of bananas are coming towards us.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11I remember throwing one to Cyrille,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14I think you put it down your shorts and I peeled one.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18But I look back and I'm thinking, "What else could I have done?"
0:14:18 > 0:14:19Could you show hurt?
0:14:19 > 0:14:24It made you angry, but we learned to channel the anger to motivation.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26We go, "Right, we're going to show you how good we are."
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Has he got the poise?
0:14:28 > 0:14:30He has!
0:14:30 > 0:14:33The hurtful part was that my wife wouldn't come.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35She came a couple of times and said she wouldn't come again.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38She went, "I'm not going to go again, Brendon,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40"because it's disgusting."
0:14:40 > 0:14:43It's the volume that suddenly is a shock.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45- BOOING - The booing of the black players...
0:14:45 > 0:14:48repaid by Tony Brown!
0:14:48 > 0:14:50My kids go, "Blimey, Dad,
0:14:50 > 0:14:53"we can't understand how you've managed to come through that."
0:14:53 > 0:14:56But that was our life and that's what we had to deal with.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Either you're determined and you want to make it
0:15:00 > 0:15:03or you're not and you fade into the background...
0:15:03 > 0:15:05It's survival of the strongest.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07What it comes to is you've got to overcome.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11You have these barriers, you have these...
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Either you give up and you go, "I can't take this no more,"
0:15:14 > 0:15:16and you give up or you say, "You know what,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19"despite these barriers, despite the racism, despite this,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22"I'm going to overcome this by my ability and my sheer will
0:15:22 > 0:15:25"and desire to be a professional footballer,"
0:15:25 > 0:15:26and that's what we done.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30So when the idea of this game was floated, a black versus white game,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33without hindsight, what was in your mind then?
0:15:33 > 0:15:34You just think, "Why not?"
0:15:34 > 0:15:38We all thought, great idea, great idea.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41But it was just a novelty and we never once thought
0:15:41 > 0:15:43- about any of the social aspects of it.- No.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46We didn't hear any dissenting voices.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48There was never anybody who rang us up and said,
0:15:48 > 0:15:49"Do you realise the implication?"
0:15:49 > 0:15:51Nothing at all, it was just a novelty thing.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53- And it was fun.- It was fun.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Don't forget, we were always in the minority -
0:15:57 > 0:15:59from a kid, only black player
0:15:59 > 0:16:01and, suddenly, this is a whole team of us.
0:16:01 > 0:16:03That was one of the attractions of it.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06We were actually playing in a team made up of black players who,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08only a few years ago, there were hardly any of us.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12Did the game matter, the outcome of the match matter to you?
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Oh, big-time. Because for us, it was historic,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19to get from the journey of coming over here, playing,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23getting told you're not good enough, not seeing black players
0:16:23 > 0:16:25and then we can put out a team.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27It was great.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29Everybody was of one mind -
0:16:29 > 0:16:31- "We're going to beat them." - "We're going to beat them."
0:16:34 > 0:16:39Some marmalades get some of their tang from added flavouring.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42The further we move away from the '70s,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44when Cyrille and Brendon were playing,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46the more culturally cruel it feels.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49They're quite jolly, really, aren't they?
0:16:51 > 0:16:54What on earth were the Black and White Minstrels about?
0:16:56 > 0:16:58And Love Thy Neighbour, for heaven's sake!
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Equal rights does not entitle nig nogs to move next door.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09Black people were invited to turn the other cheek
0:17:09 > 0:17:11and join in the laughter.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Some found this harder to do than others.
0:17:17 > 0:17:18Up the road from the Albion
0:17:18 > 0:17:20are our arch-rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers,
0:17:20 > 0:17:25and in the centre of their defence and that of the black team of '79,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28George Berry and Bob Hazell.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35This picture here, what are your memories of that?
0:17:35 > 0:17:37What is your emotional response to seeing that?
0:17:37 > 0:17:41It's fantastic. It just brings back memories, great memories.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45- Of a great day. - It was a great occasion
0:17:45 > 0:17:47that everybody wanted to be a part of.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49And we also wanted to win.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53More so than the Albion team!
0:17:53 > 0:17:56It's interesting. The white players involved were very hazy
0:17:56 > 0:17:59about the whole thing, but the black players
0:17:59 > 0:18:02absolutely remember it completely. It was significant, wasn't it?
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Actually, we didn't realise
0:18:04 > 0:18:09that we were making history at that time, on that day.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11There was plenty of racial strife about
0:18:11 > 0:18:13and there was some unease.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16It could kick off between black fans and white fans,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18the National Front could get involved or something.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Did you remember feeling that?
0:18:20 > 0:18:22No, I think the black fans were still too shit scared
0:18:22 > 0:18:24to come to games during that time!
0:18:24 > 0:18:28That's how it was because with all the violence that took place
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and I know many black people who wanted to come to games,
0:18:31 > 0:18:36but because of the way the violence was, they just wouldn't come.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39MONKEY CHANTING
0:18:39 > 0:18:43When did you see the red mist over monkey chants,
0:18:43 > 0:18:46a bananas being thrown, whatever horrors you had to go through?
0:18:46 > 0:18:47How did you deal with it?
0:18:47 > 0:18:49Did you ignore it? Could you hear it?
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Yes, when I was on the pitch,
0:18:52 > 0:18:55I heard everything.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58We heard every chant and every racial chant, we definitely heard.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Sometimes, when I was getting the abuse,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04I felt isolated in so much as
0:19:04 > 0:19:09the opposition players would be giving me stick,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13but my team-mates were laughing.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16I was at Leicester City
0:19:16 > 0:19:20and the Leicester fans were racially abusing other black players.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22I cannot for the life of me
0:19:22 > 0:19:27see how they can racially abuse other players and it not affect me.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30I remember the manager had a dig at me.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33"Oh, Bob, they're just very small minded people.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36"Ignore them." I said, "You ignore them
0:19:36 > 0:19:38"because you can ignore them,"
0:19:38 > 0:19:42but I says, "Me, I'm out there, I feel it."
0:19:42 > 0:19:46You can see I'm getting a little bit worked up now, can't you?
0:19:46 > 0:19:48But that's how I felt about it.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51I felt completely let down by them.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58We were playing against Watford in the cup.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Right at the end of the game, I went to clear a ball,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02which was one of my trademarks.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I actually scuffed it and it went to Luther Blissett,
0:20:05 > 0:20:07who smashed it in the top corner.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09That's a dangerous one from Berry.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11Blissett... 3-0.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Well, that was a pretty dreadful mistake,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16an unfortunate error by George Berry.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20The game was finished and I was obviously very disappointed
0:20:20 > 0:20:22walking off the pitch. We were out of the cup and everything.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27As I was walking, this bloke, a fairly big geezer,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30he was giving me so much abuse.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32What was he saying? Don't be afraid of using the words.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37He was calling me a black bastard and a fucking disgrace to the club
0:20:37 > 0:20:39and "fucking fuck off back to your country"
0:20:39 > 0:20:42and "you coon" and everything, the whole lot.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47Everything. Anything that could have been classed as racial, he said it.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49I thought, "Actually, I ain't taking that."
0:20:49 > 0:20:53So I confronted him and I said, "What did you say?"
0:20:53 > 0:20:55He says, "You fucking..."
0:20:55 > 0:20:58I just jumped into the crowd and give him a right hook.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01I was a bit of a boxer when I was a youngster!
0:21:01 > 0:21:04So, you both still seem quite bitter and angry?
0:21:04 > 0:21:08I'm bitter and angry when we talk about the past,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11racist things that we had to go through,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14in what was the best time of my life.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17It's very well put, that,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20cos these were the greatest times of your life
0:21:20 > 0:21:23and you weren't robbed of them, but they were sullied.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Mm-hm.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31As tough as things were for the black footballers,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35at least they could show two fingers to the racists
0:21:35 > 0:21:37by socking it to them on the pitch.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Up in the stands, their families -
0:21:40 > 0:21:43at least those who could bear to be there -
0:21:43 > 0:21:45were ploughing lonelier furrows.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51Bob and George's wives, Joy and Maureen, are still best of friends.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Well, I felt like a minority within the football club
0:21:55 > 0:21:57because I think the majority of the time,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00I was the only black wife
0:22:00 > 0:22:02and you would scour the room,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05just to hopefully see another black face.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08Inevitably, that never happened.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13So, you would really and truly rely on other wives or girlfriends
0:22:13 > 0:22:17to approach you because you'd want to feel accepted.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21One option is just not to go to the matches.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26For that reason, and also I'm sure all the abuse that you heard?
0:22:27 > 0:22:31I would want to go. We would have to support him.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Here's Berry... There's Richards.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36Beautiful goal!
0:22:37 > 0:22:42We chose to live in an area as well near Alton Towers.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45I think we were the only black family in the village.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47So, that was really difficult
0:22:47 > 0:22:51and I think some of the acceptance came from the fact
0:22:51 > 0:22:53that George was a footballer
0:22:53 > 0:22:55and I wonder what it would have been like for somebody
0:22:55 > 0:22:58who was just an ordinary working class person
0:22:58 > 0:23:01and not George Berry, the footballer.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08George is, and was, an uncompromising figure.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12Not for him any attempt to fit in, keep his head down and conform.
0:23:14 > 0:23:15You say "George Berry" to anyone
0:23:15 > 0:23:20and you know the first thing you're going to hear is, and quite rightly,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23I mean, that hair arrangement is simply magnificent.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25It was one of the best in the world!
0:23:25 > 0:23:30- Yes.- I wonder if the Jackson Five were getting copies
0:23:30 > 0:23:33of Shoot or something, but it's all... Respect to George Berry.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35And all his as well.
0:23:35 > 0:23:39No pretending, yeah. He used to have his Afro comb and it would be there.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41It was my job to plait it every so often
0:23:41 > 0:23:43to make sure we could comb it through properly.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45It's almost like dreadlocks.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47Interestingly, you didn't really see dreadlocks
0:23:47 > 0:23:50until Ruud Gullit about 15 years later.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52Bob did want to locks his hair.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56- Did he?- But, at that time, the FA would not allow it.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Did they construct some sort of health and safety argument?
0:23:58 > 0:24:00I really don't know what it was,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03but I cannot put my finger on their exact reasonings for it.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06But because they were so old school,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09I think that if it was a case of making a statement about yourself
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and you wanted locks, it was too much for them to handle.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17While the racist abuse hung heavy in the air,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20there were many random acts of kindness and solidarity.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Bob went through a particularly unpleasant patch
0:24:24 > 0:24:28after a sending off with, it was said, racist undertones.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32A lot of it came from one time when Bob was playing against Arsenal
0:24:32 > 0:24:34and things were said to him.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36And there's some trouble,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38tensions boiling up right at the end.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40And Hazell really has lost his cool.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42- CHEERING - And he's off.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44I was able to keep some of the clippings
0:24:44 > 0:24:49and the hate mail came because he was sent off
0:24:49 > 0:24:51and as soon as he got sent off,
0:24:51 > 0:24:56the goal was scored and Wolves were out.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58It was an awful time.
0:24:59 > 0:25:00- BOOING - Bob Hazell going off.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Arsenal winners by two to one, right at the death.
0:25:07 > 0:25:08You got this one. This is after...
0:25:08 > 0:25:10This was after that game.
0:25:10 > 0:25:11Snoopy-headed paper.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14- That's right.- Well, that's not going to be hate mail, is it,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16- on Snoopy paper.- No, no, no. - Just read it to us.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20"Dear Bob, I was a member of the North Bank at the Arsenal cup tie.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23"I would just like to tell you that not all of those at the match
0:25:23 > 0:25:27"shared the opinions of the minority who are giving you stick.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30"I am not coloured or foreign in any way.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32"Take no notice of any crowds
0:25:32 > 0:25:35"and answer their jeers with skill and with best wishes."
0:25:35 > 0:25:39And what was really beautiful about this letter, it's from a girl.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41And at the time, she was aged 14 and a half.
0:25:41 > 0:25:42I was really touched by it.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44For a kid who goes to a game,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48it might have been quite frightening for her, seeing such a thing happen.
0:25:48 > 0:25:49I don't know.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Perhaps the most dazzling of all the black players among these pioneers
0:25:58 > 0:26:02was the son of a Jamaican jockey -
0:26:02 > 0:26:05Laurie Cunningham, our third Degree.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13He had the skill and speed to bewilder defenders.
0:26:13 > 0:26:14Cunningham again.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18And have us rubbing our eyes in disbelief up in the stands.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21He was the first British footballer
0:26:21 > 0:26:24of any colour to play for Real Madrid.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32He was killed in a car crash in Spain in 1989, aged just 33.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Laurie's career began at Leyton Orient,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43where a statue of him will soon grace that corner of East London.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48'Today, his family are seeing it for the first time.'
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Hello, everyone. Sorry to intrude.
0:26:51 > 0:26:55I don't feel worthy to be sharing this moment with you, actually.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57- Why not?- I'm not part of the family,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00but it's 40 years ago I was looking at him in the flesh as a...
0:27:00 > 0:27:01You know, mouth wide open.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04- None of us could believe what we were seeing.- Stunned.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09I feel like crossing myself or something!
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Is it emotional when you first clapped eyes on it?
0:27:12 > 0:27:13- Yeah.- It's real.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16- It's captured the moment, hasn't it?- Larger than life.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19So there's pride, but there must be sadness as well.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24- Yeah.- He was so young, you know, to be taken like that so tragically.
0:27:24 > 0:27:25But not just a great player,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28he was influential in a wider sense, wasn't he?
0:27:28 > 0:27:30A pioneering figure for so many black players.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34I mean, everybody wanted to play like him. Every footballer wanted...
0:27:34 > 0:27:36They wanted to get some of his skills.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39But they can't, because you can't be trained to do that.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42He would do something, pick the ball up and then that's it.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44Players standing there, looking, "How did he get there?"
0:27:44 > 0:27:45You know? That was it.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49And his personality was different to Brendon and Cyrille's.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52He was quite a flamboyant dresser, wasn't he?
0:27:52 > 0:27:54He had style. He had a lot of style.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57Mixed his clothes together, his colours together, you know.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59And that is how he was, man.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02- That is how he was. - He stood out from the crowd
0:28:02 > 0:28:05- and you knew it was Laurie. - It must be quite emotional now.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07I mean, you lost him. He was so young. I was just...
0:28:07 > 0:28:11It touched me. I mean...
0:28:14 > 0:28:18Yeah, it touched me, you know? I miss him very much, you know?
0:28:18 > 0:28:20- Yeah.- I miss him, man.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22He just went suddenly, just like that.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Left me the Monday and he's dead Saturday.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27I've never seen my mum and dad crying.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31It touched us all, losing him. It touched us all.
0:28:31 > 0:28:32It touched us all.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37The whole world knew about Laurie's football skills
0:28:37 > 0:28:40and his friends are adamant he was no less gifted
0:28:40 > 0:28:42with his dancing shoes on.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47As a teenager, as he was making waves at Orient,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50he was grooving with the best of them on London's dance floors.
0:28:52 > 0:28:57Laurie met his first proper girlfriend, Nicky Brown, in 1974.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Not the easiest time to embark on a mixed-race relationship.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04So when did you first clap eyes on my hero?
0:29:04 > 0:29:06Tottenham Royal.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09The Tottenham Royal, soul/funk night
0:29:09 > 0:29:11and that was my love
0:29:11 > 0:29:14and I was dancing, and some of the moves he was doing,
0:29:14 > 0:29:16and, somehow, we migrated
0:29:16 > 0:29:18and, as crowds did then, they gathered round.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20So we kind of did a bit of a dance-off,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23where he'd do a move and I'd do move and you have a dance-off
0:29:23 > 0:29:25in a friendly way with each other.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28And then a Marvin Gaye tune came on and we had a slow dance
0:29:28 > 0:29:30and seven tunes later, we were still dancing.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32And it was just right.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35Seeing through your eyes,
0:29:35 > 0:29:39what was the experience like of being a black player at the time?
0:29:39 > 0:29:41These were hard times, the '70s.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43It was a tough period.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48It was hard, anyway, walking down the road as a mixed-race couple.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50I was a traitor.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52I was a nigger lover or a white whore
0:29:52 > 0:29:56and he was a traitor, being ruled by the white girl
0:29:56 > 0:29:58who was only after his money.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00So, it came from both sides.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03So, how did you deal with it?
0:30:03 > 0:30:04It depended on the circumstances.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08I did a quick risk assessment and it depended on the circumstances.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11I loved him, so I didn't want anything to hurt him.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14But then, sometimes, a line would be drawn?
0:30:14 > 0:30:17Yeah. We went to our favourite takeaway in Birmingham,
0:30:17 > 0:30:19along the Hagley Road,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23and we'd just got our takeaway and three big blokes came down the road.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26And as we walked past, one spat towards me
0:30:26 > 0:30:30and said, "Nigger lover, white whore."
0:30:30 > 0:30:32And I said to Laurie, "Leave it."
0:30:34 > 0:30:39And he looked, turned and looked and he said, "I can't leave it."
0:30:39 > 0:30:41And so I turned round and they'd already stopped
0:30:41 > 0:30:43and were turning and coming back, anyway.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45One of them went to head-butt him.
0:30:45 > 0:30:46It happened so quick.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48But Laurie, being like he was,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51ducked to one side and cuffed the back of his head
0:30:51 > 0:30:54and the man's own force threw himself on the ground.
0:30:54 > 0:30:55And then he threw the other one on top of him
0:30:55 > 0:30:57and the other one on top of him, Laurie did.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59Where one of them had fallen, his nose was bleeding
0:30:59 > 0:31:03and then he was the one that turned round and said,
0:31:03 > 0:31:07"That's Laurie Cunningham, I love you.
0:31:07 > 0:31:08"Sorry, Laurie."
0:31:08 > 0:31:10And Laurie's going, "Look at your nose."
0:31:10 > 0:31:13And then what? All shake hands, "Lovely to meet you" and off you go?
0:31:13 > 0:31:15I just don't get it!
0:31:15 > 0:31:17And that's what I'm saying to you. You never really get it.
0:31:17 > 0:31:22Cos then when we did jump in the cab and go home...
0:31:22 > 0:31:24you can't really... You don't say anything.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26There's nothing you can say.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29- Because you can't work it out. You can't...- You can't compute it.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31So you'd do things,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33like I went, "Oh, no, you've got his blood on your shirt."
0:31:33 > 0:31:36So we discussed what would be the best thing to get it out.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38And then it's only later on that night,
0:31:38 > 0:31:41a few hours later when you've processed it.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43And it's like, "Whoa!"
0:31:43 > 0:31:44What fascinates me,
0:31:44 > 0:31:46there's some guy in his 60s somewhere in Birmingham now.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48Does he tell the story in a pub?
0:31:48 > 0:31:50"You know, this one time, there was this black bloke,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52"I was going to beat him up.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54"And you know who it was? Laurie Cunningham!
0:31:54 > 0:31:55And he was ever so nice!
0:31:55 > 0:31:57I wonder if he's dined out on it, yeah!
0:31:57 > 0:31:59I do. And he probably has.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04Or... But maybe that has led to him evolving.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Or maybe he hasn't and he just tells it as a funny story
0:32:07 > 0:32:10and doesn't realise what a racist he sounds.
0:32:10 > 0:32:11You'll never know.
0:32:11 > 0:32:13Will you? You'll never know.
0:32:15 > 0:32:21This casual racism, for all its evil banality, was only half the problem.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25Darker, more organised forces were at work, too.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29We've created a powerful movement out of nothing!
0:32:29 > 0:32:33No power on earth is now going to stop this movement!
0:32:33 > 0:32:36We'll carry on marching like a great army
0:32:36 > 0:32:39towards the Britain of our dreams!
0:32:39 > 0:32:41CHEERING
0:32:44 > 0:32:48The word "nigger" means a person of a black face.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52And I will always call that person of a black face a nigger!
0:32:52 > 0:32:54CHEERING
0:32:54 > 0:32:57The far right were about more than mere rabble rousing.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02The National Front waded into football fans
0:33:02 > 0:33:06as part of a deceptively sophisticated recruitment campaign.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12We will recruit patriotic, pro-British youngsters
0:33:12 > 0:33:14because we need everybody in the National Front.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17I think there's a lot you can do with a soccer hooligan
0:33:17 > 0:33:23and we feel that the very, very fanatical adulation by supporters
0:33:23 > 0:33:26with their particular club is a sort of sublimated patriotism.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31SIRENS WAIL
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Nigel Bromage says he was targeted and groomed by the NF
0:33:40 > 0:33:43to be one of their foot soldiers.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45We meet outside his old battleground -
0:33:45 > 0:33:48St Andrew's, home to Birmingham City.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50So, the atmosphere in there,
0:33:50 > 0:33:53what words would you use to describe it, then?
0:33:53 > 0:33:55You could feel the hatred.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57It was horrific. When you were coming in,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59there was NF lads who had gone down to Birmingham market
0:33:59 > 0:34:03and they would basically get a massive amount of bananas
0:34:03 > 0:34:05and they would then be giving them out
0:34:05 > 0:34:07or they'd be giving them out at the front of the Kop
0:34:07 > 0:34:10and then saying, "Here you are, lads, take these in with you."
0:34:15 > 0:34:17So, how was it organised round the ground?
0:34:17 > 0:34:20When we go in, people would be positioned around the ground.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22So you tend to have five at the back,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24split to have sort of two corners
0:34:24 > 0:34:26where there'd be five in each corner there
0:34:26 > 0:34:29and then you'd basically start a chant from the back
0:34:29 > 0:34:31and then each of the different groups would start to involve
0:34:31 > 0:34:35and then the whole idea, then, the chant would get bigger and bigger
0:34:35 > 0:34:37as normal supporters got involved,
0:34:37 > 0:34:38and then the idea, then,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41it would look like it's hundreds, if not thousands.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45And, in reality, it was organised by a core of 40 or 50.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47- That's skilfully done, in a way. - Yeah.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53The violence at that time could be anything
0:34:53 > 0:34:56from mass brawls on the terraces itself
0:34:56 > 0:34:59and it wouldn't just be fists and boots.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01You know, I've witnessed Stanley knives used
0:35:01 > 0:35:04and when somebody is standing next to you,
0:35:04 > 0:35:08and then they have their face slashed with a razor blade,
0:35:08 > 0:35:12a Stanley knife, and that just spurts all over everybody.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15I was probably here as well. But you must have seen my team here,
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Cyrille, Brendon, Laurie come and play.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Yeah. And you would watch amazing football.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21You'd look at it and then a lot of the time,
0:35:21 > 0:35:23you'd think, "Oh, if only they were white."
0:35:23 > 0:35:27And that was your feeling, if they were white, yeah,
0:35:27 > 0:35:29they could be accepted then.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31So you monkey-chanted at my heroes, then.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33- How could you do that?- Yeah.
0:35:33 > 0:35:34Yeah, I'm afraid I did.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39Nigel doth repent.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41He now runs an organisation
0:35:41 > 0:35:43devoted to teaching about the dangers of racism.
0:35:45 > 0:35:50It's fascinating that it turns out there was kind of more to it
0:35:50 > 0:35:53than a load of football fans just being sort of casually racist.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55I mean, there was a lot of that happening.
0:35:55 > 0:35:56It was a disgrace, awful for the players
0:35:56 > 0:36:00and horrendous for the black fans in amongst them.
0:36:00 > 0:36:03But there was also far right elements
0:36:03 > 0:36:06intent on actually organising it,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09positioning themselves around, doing the monkey chants
0:36:09 > 0:36:12and then getting everybody involved.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15There were dark forces at work, really.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21As determined and noisy and violent as the far right were,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25they were on the losing side in this war.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29By the time of the whites versus blacks match,
0:36:29 > 0:36:32relations between whites and blacks and Asians
0:36:32 > 0:36:34did seem to be changing for the better.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39And football, not least West Brom,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42was playing no small part in drawing them together.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51The Deol siblings lived above their parents' paper shop
0:36:51 > 0:36:53just near the Albion.
0:36:53 > 0:36:56It became a meeting point for fans of all colours.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01So this is it, this is where the Deol commercial empire...
0:37:01 > 0:37:02- It was!- All change.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Yeah. We used to have "Sandwell Evening Mail" across there.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08There'd be, like, newspaper boards here.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12- Express and Star board there. - The ice cream van was there.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14Yeah, the Walls sign was there.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16It just all looks changed now.
0:37:16 > 0:37:21It feels really small now, but then it was a really big shop, wasn't it?
0:37:21 > 0:37:23It was kind of the hub of the community.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25Inside what was their shop,
0:37:25 > 0:37:29the family take me back to 1970s Smethwick.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Find the one of you outside the shop in your West Brom kit.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35- That's my favourite. So... - That's what the shop looked like.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37- Can you see that?- That's 1977.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40- Brilliant.- You can see that pose, that's John Travolta's pose.
0:37:40 > 0:37:42- Yes!- Whatever.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45- Oh, wow!- That's me and Dad outside the shop.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Most of the window was full with footballs.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50You know, it wasn't just us who wanted them.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52All the kids bought the footballs to mess about
0:37:52 > 0:37:55in the park around the corner or in the car park opposite.
0:37:55 > 0:37:56Before we get into cliches,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58- "it was tough for you as an Asian family"...- Yeah.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01I'm sure there were challenges. But you had a very happy time
0:38:01 > 0:38:03from day one, as I understand it, your family?
0:38:03 > 0:38:05It was just fit in, buckle down.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09- Get on with it. - "We've made this place our home and we are going to fit in."
0:38:09 > 0:38:12It didn't matter what background you came from.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14Around here, it was football.
0:38:14 > 0:38:16- It was a religion.- Yeah.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Because it was what everyone talked about and everyone did.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20- It was the glue.- Yeah.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25I bet you there weren't more than ten Asian females in that crowd.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27- No.- No, there wouldn't have been.
0:38:27 > 0:38:28You were quite ballsy, weren't you?
0:38:28 > 0:38:31There were not many Asian girls there, for definite.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33I don't remember seeing any others.
0:38:33 > 0:38:34That was the nice thing about Dad.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38If I wanted to go to the football, as long as he knew who I was with,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40- where I was going... - And it was daytime.
0:38:40 > 0:38:41He was quite brave, doing that.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44He would say to me, "Go to a policeman if there's a problem."
0:38:44 > 0:38:46- Yeah.- "Look out for the horses,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48"cos they'll be doing all the security.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51"I want you back straight after the match."
0:38:52 > 0:38:54Did it have particular resonance in you,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57seeing black men playing for West Brom when you're Asians?
0:38:57 > 0:38:59Yeah, big-time, cos it was someone of colour.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01- Yeah.- So you kind of felt that that was the change.
0:39:01 > 0:39:02You were the foreigners.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04"Look, someone of colour's there, someone of colour is valued."
0:39:04 > 0:39:07Someone else who's come to this country is doing really well.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09It definitely gave you a bit of pride.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12I remember... That's where we used to play across the road, football,
0:39:12 > 0:39:15and kids would want to be Kevin Keegan or Andy Gray or Bomber Brown.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Suddenly, they wanted to be Laurie Cunningham.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Even though they were still in a tiny minority,
0:39:22 > 0:39:26with the Three Degrees playing, black and Asian fans began to feel
0:39:26 > 0:39:30the Hawthorns was a safer place to be.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37Herville Hector was 19 years old in 1979.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41He's one of the very few black men who dared to go to games.
0:39:43 > 0:39:47So, the black versus white game, what did you think when you heard
0:39:47 > 0:39:50that was happening for Len's testimonial?
0:39:50 > 0:39:52I just thought, "Blimey!"
0:39:52 > 0:39:53You know, a black team against a white team.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55"Let's see how they get on."
0:39:55 > 0:39:57And there's a massive buzz around the ground,
0:39:57 > 0:39:58the fans were all talking about it,
0:39:58 > 0:40:00and it was just great going to the game,
0:40:00 > 0:40:02wondering, "Well, let's hope they can beat them."
0:40:02 > 0:40:04Let's hope they can beat them to show the black players
0:40:04 > 0:40:07- coming more and more into the game. - So, what made you a West Brom fan?
0:40:07 > 0:40:10I mean, you're in 25,000 white people.
0:40:10 > 0:40:11Were you ever frightened?
0:40:11 > 0:40:14People go on about how the black players got abused,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16bananas thrown at them, other stuff said to them.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18The same happened to us as supporters
0:40:18 > 0:40:20and obviously when we went to those games,
0:40:20 > 0:40:24we relied on the white guys that were with us to sort of protect us.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27Did it feel wrong at all to have a black versus white match?
0:40:27 > 0:40:29Or did it feel like a nice thing to you?
0:40:29 > 0:40:31It felt nice to me, because all the things that were going on,
0:40:31 > 0:40:33the racism that was going on at the time,
0:40:33 > 0:40:35and you felt that there was nothing being done about it,
0:40:35 > 0:40:37for that to be at the forefront of the football,
0:40:37 > 0:40:41saying, "Well, hang on, maybe this is the start of change."
0:40:43 > 0:40:48Increasingly, black players were getting backing from the terraces.
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Where once they'd been abused,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53banners were now waved celebrating their brilliance.
0:40:54 > 0:40:55The players in our black XI
0:40:55 > 0:40:58were all about proving they had the talent
0:40:58 > 0:41:02and just about the numbers to play in the white man's game.
0:41:02 > 0:41:07There were legends like Cyrille and Brendon and Bob and George.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10Remi Moses, who went on to play for Manchester United.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13Garth Crooks, too.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15Others weren't so well known.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17Stewart Phillips was at Hereford United.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23Ian Benjamin went on to play for Northampton Town.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26And there was a small, timid-looking left back
0:41:26 > 0:41:28from the Albion's reserves, I must confess,
0:41:28 > 0:41:30I'd never come across until now.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34Though I'm always fascinated about the views of the famous players
0:41:34 > 0:41:37and what they remember of that game,
0:41:37 > 0:41:41this guy has really captured my imagination now -
0:41:41 > 0:41:43the so-called Fourth Degree.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45His name's Vernon Hodgson.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47Just kind of a bit part player, basically a reserve player.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Career didn't go anywhere
0:41:49 > 0:41:51and I've heard that he's been a bin man all his life,
0:41:51 > 0:41:5330 or more years since this game,
0:41:53 > 0:41:58so I'd absolutely love to track him down.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03And I didn't have to go far to find him -
0:42:03 > 0:42:08hard at work on the industrial estates around West Bromwich.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10Vernon? Is it you?
0:42:10 > 0:42:12It's Vernon.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15- Hello.- Did you play for the Albion, by any chance?
0:42:15 > 0:42:16Yes, I did, yes.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18Amazing. The Fourth Degree.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21- Are you the man? - Yes, I'm the Fourth Degree.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23And did you play in the black versus white Len Cantello testimonial?
0:42:23 > 0:42:26Yes, I did, yeah. I came on for 20 minutes in that.
0:42:26 > 0:42:27I had 20 minutes.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31We head to Vernon's sister's hairdressing salon
0:42:31 > 0:42:32round the corner in Tipton.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36So, who spotted you?
0:42:36 > 0:42:37Where did your football career begin?
0:42:37 > 0:42:41Birmingham City, a chief scout for Birmingham City in 1974.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44- How old were you then?- About 14, 15.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46I was the first black professional at Birmingham City.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48What was the atmosphere like in the dressing room
0:42:48 > 0:42:51when you had a black player for the first time in yourself?
0:42:51 > 0:42:52What was the reaction?
0:42:52 > 0:42:55Well, it was almost like you get a minute's silence
0:42:55 > 0:42:56when you first walk in.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58And when I first started for the reserves,
0:42:58 > 0:43:00I remember the coach jumping up and down.
0:43:00 > 0:43:01And I thought, "What's happening?"
0:43:01 > 0:43:03I remember him going, "Leave him alone,
0:43:03 > 0:43:05"he's only bloody 16, give the lad a chance!"
0:43:05 > 0:43:08And then I listened to what they were saying and they was shouting,
0:43:08 > 0:43:10- "We don't want a wog playing for us," blah-blah-blah.- Yeah.
0:43:10 > 0:43:11But by the end of that game,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13I had people coming up and shaking my hand.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16- They liked me in the end. - It's almost heart-warming,
0:43:16 > 0:43:17but it would be a nicer story
0:43:17 > 0:43:20if they weren't calling you a wog in the first place.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22Vernon's from West Bromwich.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26Signed by Birmingham City, he was promisingly talented.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29But he did his knee in when he was 17,
0:43:29 > 0:43:32which, at that time, more or less meant your career was over.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35After a brief spell at Lincoln,
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Ron Atkinson gave him a trial at the Albion,
0:43:39 > 0:43:41right at the time of Len Cantello's testimonial.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45So, what do you remember of the black versus white game?
0:43:45 > 0:43:47You were playing alongside the superstars, then?
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Yeah. I thought, "My God!" It was ground-breaking.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53I can remember having a laugh with Cyrille and all of them.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56We was all joking about, like, when we would run about passing the ball,
0:43:56 > 0:43:58we would shout for the ball in Jamaican.
0:43:58 > 0:44:00We only joked about that.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03So, I've got this picture of you.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06Here you are. I just want to give you a hug for some reason!
0:44:06 > 0:44:09You look a bit lost and nervous, just sort of staring down here.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12Gosh. I think I was worrying about my knee.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15A lot of times back then when I played in the reserves,
0:44:15 > 0:44:16it might sound sad now,
0:44:16 > 0:44:17but I'd have a drink in the night-time
0:44:17 > 0:44:19- to try and forget the niggle in my leg.- Right.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21In the morning when I'm playing in the reserves.
0:44:21 > 0:44:22But it never went away.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24It just grinded and grinded until in the end,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27I felt like I wanted my leg off from the knee down.
0:44:27 > 0:44:28- Really?- Seriously, yeah. - It's that painful?
0:44:28 > 0:44:31So, what on earth is it like to have tasted
0:44:31 > 0:44:35being a professional footballer and then your career is knackered?
0:44:35 > 0:44:37Nightmares for the rest of your life, every so often.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39I wake up and think, "I've got training today."
0:44:39 > 0:44:41- Really?- Never goes from you.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45- Never goes from you.- So, you've had a life's work on the bins.
0:44:45 > 0:44:47And you seem very happy with it.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50Well, as soon as football was over, I turned into, like, a town drunk.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52I drank a lot. Really a lot.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56A lot of people gave me until I was 27 and I'd be dead.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58What got you out of that?
0:44:58 > 0:44:59I'd say the bins.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02It changed my life, my job has, definitely.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08The black players of the '70s,
0:45:08 > 0:45:10legends and unknowns alike, were pioneers.
0:45:12 > 0:45:18They forced the door ajar for the likes of Ian Wright and Dion Dublin
0:45:18 > 0:45:21in the '90s, with anger to burn, to kick that door right down.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31So, what's your response when you see that from 1979?
0:45:31 > 0:45:34- Unbelievable. - Hairstyles! Hairy afros!
0:45:34 > 0:45:36You're a teenager in the '70s.
0:45:36 > 0:45:38What did watching the Three Degrees mean to you?
0:45:38 > 0:45:42Well, it was simply inspiring and Cyrille Regis was the one
0:45:42 > 0:45:45because of the goal he scored that used to start Match Of The Day.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49- Smashed it home.- You heard him hit the ball, strike the ball.
0:45:49 > 0:45:51Lovely piece of control by Regis.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53Oh, and what a great shot!
0:45:53 > 0:45:56Oh, one of the goals of the season! Cyrille Regis!
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Laurie Cunningham got his second with this header from a corner.
0:46:02 > 0:46:044-0.
0:46:04 > 0:46:05I think with Laurie,
0:46:05 > 0:46:08this guy is one of the best I've ever seen
0:46:08 > 0:46:11in respect of left foot, right foot, pace.
0:46:11 > 0:46:13Still with Cunningham. Oh, he did so well there.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16My team was West Brom, only because of the Three Degrees.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19They were opening new doors for black players, black people,
0:46:19 > 0:46:20to try something new.
0:46:20 > 0:46:22If he can do it, I'm going to have a go.
0:46:22 > 0:46:23From Cyrille Regis...
0:46:23 > 0:46:27To see Cyrille, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson get through,
0:46:27 > 0:46:29you know that it can be done.
0:46:29 > 0:46:32You know it's hard, but you knew that there was people
0:46:32 > 0:46:34that were an exception to the rule.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36If you're good enough, you can get there, as hard as it is.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39The players I've talked to from that era are different to you two.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42Famously, Cyrille had a lot of bananas thrown at him.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46Cyrille picked one up and ate one. In a million, million years,
0:46:46 > 0:46:47I can't imagine you doing that.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49I came rough and raw.
0:46:49 > 0:46:54I was still fighting in car parks at 19, 20, 21 before I got to Palace.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56And all of a sudden, I've gone from a builder
0:46:56 > 0:46:59to a professional footballer and I would get the ball for a throw-in
0:46:59 > 0:47:02and that, and you're getting vitriolic abuse, there to here,
0:47:02 > 0:47:05and you're thinking to yourself, "If I ever saw you..."
0:47:05 > 0:47:08You know what I mean? That's what I'm thinking.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Whereas Cyrille and all of them lot,
0:47:11 > 0:47:14it was literally like a Martin Luther King.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17- Turn the other cheek.- But you're not Martin Luther King, then.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19No, I was Malcolm X at them times, you know what I mean?
0:47:19 > 0:47:22I didn't want that to happen to me. I didn't want that.
0:47:24 > 0:47:29Ian and Dion's generation marked the transition from black footballers
0:47:29 > 0:47:31being a shining if beleaguered minority
0:47:31 > 0:47:34to an era when they are merely the norm.
0:47:34 > 0:47:40In 1993, Kick It Out was started to try to tackle racism in football.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43That year, Paul Ince became the first black player
0:47:43 > 0:47:46to captain England.
0:47:46 > 0:47:47By the turn of the century,
0:47:47 > 0:47:51around 10% of professional footballers in England were black
0:47:51 > 0:47:54and black culture became a big part of the game -
0:47:54 > 0:47:58a far cry from 1979 when the FA told Bob Hazell,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01"No, you can't have dreadlocks."
0:48:01 > 0:48:04Now, as the most marketable man on the planet showed,
0:48:04 > 0:48:08you can do what you like with your hair, whatever colour you were.
0:48:08 > 0:48:09So, what about culturally?
0:48:09 > 0:48:12I imagine that white players of that era
0:48:12 > 0:48:15listen to Elton John and Billy Joel and Neil Diamond
0:48:15 > 0:48:17and stuff like that. What were you listening to?
0:48:17 > 0:48:18Did you change anything?
0:48:18 > 0:48:22I was going to the Wag, going to Crazy Larry's, Brown's,
0:48:22 > 0:48:24listening to soul and funk.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26But were you bringing the white boys with you?
0:48:26 > 0:48:29They were following our lead.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31They'd be going, "What's this rubbish?"
0:48:31 > 0:48:33And when you got in their car to go to training,
0:48:33 > 0:48:35they're playing that rubbish in their car.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42So, culturally, you brought new music into the dressing room.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44What about goal celebrations?
0:48:44 > 0:48:49You know what? I think Shearer, Al, he copied one of my celebrations.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53- How did that celebration go? - I scored a goal and done this dance.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00And I saw Al score a goal where he'd done something,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03where it wasn't his normal five finger,
0:49:03 > 0:49:05right arm up, bent like this.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07He'd done something like...
0:49:07 > 0:49:09- I saw it.- He tried to copy you?
0:49:09 > 0:49:12When I saw it, I laughed at him. It was only the other day.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15I was like, "Al, I'm sure I saw you do a celebration."
0:49:15 > 0:49:19- "No, I didn't!"- Did he remember? - Course he remembered!
0:49:21 > 0:49:25Today, around 30% of professional footballers in Britain are black.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31Many of them are among the brightest stars in the game's galaxy.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38As for racist chanting, if it happens now,
0:49:38 > 0:49:41it tends to make national, even international news.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44So, problem solved?
0:49:44 > 0:49:46Or perhaps not.
0:49:46 > 0:49:49Jason Roberts is Cyrille Regis' nephew.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51Racism sorted?
0:49:51 > 0:49:53Job done?
0:49:53 > 0:49:55Not for Jason. Not a bit of it.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57So, when you started playing,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00the days of monkey chanting were long gone.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04When did you first come across blatant racism?
0:50:04 > 0:50:06One thing that really changed the way it worked
0:50:06 > 0:50:09was Twitter and online and the internet,
0:50:09 > 0:50:11because that was when you were able
0:50:11 > 0:50:14to receive abuse in a very direct way.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16You literally had to look at that.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18On social media, people are emboldened.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21They're in their room by themselves, they're not engaging with you
0:50:21 > 0:50:24and it's much easier to show their true feelings.
0:50:24 > 0:50:26And their true feelings is they tweet me
0:50:26 > 0:50:28and say I'm a fucking nigger or I'm this, or I'm that,
0:50:28 > 0:50:29or my family are this.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32What kind of thing? Don't spare us. What kind of things have you...?
0:50:32 > 0:50:36I mean, black bastard, you know, fucking nigger, whatever it may be.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38- "Go home". - Yeah, all of that kind of stuff.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40So we have the Twitter terrace, then.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44The racist terrace is on Twitter now.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Absolutely. It kind of felt like people's feelings,
0:50:47 > 0:50:49they knew they couldn't vent them on match day,
0:50:49 > 0:50:53so they find a way to be able to voice their displeasure at you
0:50:53 > 0:50:55or how they felt about your culture or your race
0:50:55 > 0:50:57on their phones or at their computers at home.
0:50:57 > 0:50:58Did you think that'd gone?
0:50:58 > 0:51:00Did you think that had disappeared from society
0:51:00 > 0:51:02until it came up on Twitter? Because I kind of thought it had.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04I can't believe, still, people are saying it.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06I have to be honest - from the black players' perspective,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09it was somewhat of a unifying experience because all of us
0:51:09 > 0:51:11were going through this thing in front of each other.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13And I think it's sort of told the truth that,
0:51:13 > 0:51:16no matter what you are, whether you were a Premier League footballer
0:51:16 > 0:51:18or a bus driver or a janitor, the fact is,
0:51:18 > 0:51:20you were just a black bastard at the end of the day
0:51:20 > 0:51:23and this was the forum where we all shared that experience.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29No-one's saying things aren't miles better.
0:51:29 > 0:51:31But neither can anyone pretend
0:51:31 > 0:51:34old school racism isn't alive and well on social media.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37And while every other player is black,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40what does it say about the game that such a tiny minority of black men
0:51:40 > 0:51:43are to be found in dugouts or boardrooms?
0:51:44 > 0:51:48Les Ferdinand is director of football at Queens Park Rangers.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52One of the very few black men in such a role in this country.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54To cut straight to the chase, then, a third of the Premier League,
0:51:54 > 0:51:56for example, is black.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00- Mm-hm.- And none of the managers are, and hardly any of the coaches,
0:52:00 > 0:52:02in the Premier League, really, that I can think of.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05You're about the only black bloke
0:52:05 > 0:52:08in directors boxes all over the country.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10Yeah, in most of them, yeah.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12When I look now, I don't know how many black players
0:52:12 > 0:52:15have tried to get into roles as directors of football.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18I'm not sure there's too many, because perhaps they feel,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21like management, like coaching,
0:52:21 > 0:52:25that...that door won't be open for them.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28And, you know... I was once asked by someone at the FA,
0:52:28 > 0:52:32"Is there a problem with black players believing
0:52:32 > 0:52:36"that they won't get an opportunity to be managers and coaches?"
0:52:36 > 0:52:38And I said, "The mere fact you're asking me that question,
0:52:38 > 0:52:40"you know there's a problem."
0:52:41 > 0:52:44So he said, "Well, this is what we're trying to change."
0:52:44 > 0:52:49And that was in...1998.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54Hardly anything's changed.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56Exactly. And we're now in 2016.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59So, what's it going to take?
0:52:59 > 0:53:01We won't be able to change boardrooms now.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03Don't matter how many programmes we do.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05We ain't going to be able to change boardrooms now.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07It's years down the line that this is going to happen,
0:53:07 > 0:53:09this is where the change is going to take place.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12You can do as many of these documentaries as you like.
0:53:12 > 0:53:13You ain't changing that.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16You ain't changing what's in people's heads right now.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25My journey back into the weirdly monochrome world
0:53:25 > 0:53:30of 1979's whites versus blacks match is nearly at an end.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38Ever since I was a little kid...
0:53:38 > 0:53:41empty football grounds, obviously especially this one,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44absolutely transfixed me.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48It's like you can smell, you can feel
0:53:48 > 0:53:51the joys and horrors of all the years.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53I just get slightly overwhelmed.
0:53:53 > 0:53:54It's particularly moving today,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57because having become slightly obsessed
0:53:57 > 0:53:59with this testimonial we've been talking about,
0:53:59 > 0:54:02black versus white, we're having a bit of a reunion.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05We've tried to get hold of as many players who were here that day
0:54:05 > 0:54:08to come along and some of the supporters, too.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11I can't wait to see who turns up.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16'First to arrive are Cyrille and Brendan.'
0:54:16 > 0:54:19Hello, how you doing?
0:54:19 > 0:54:21- All right.- Better for seeing you. - Nice to see you.
0:54:21 > 0:54:22What do you feel when you're here?
0:54:22 > 0:54:26Look at the pitch, you know, you get itchy feet.
0:54:26 > 0:54:27I do, anyway.
0:54:27 > 0:54:30'Then Tony "Bomber" Brown and Ally Robertson.'
0:54:32 > 0:54:35Big man!
0:54:35 > 0:54:36You all right?
0:54:36 > 0:54:37'Next, Vernon Hodgson.'
0:54:37 > 0:54:39It's the fourth Degree.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43- Vernon, how are you, mate? - Nice to see you.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47'Ian Benjamin and Stuart Phillips.'
0:54:49 > 0:54:51Just this, look. Here you are, on here.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53You just, you look so sort of...
0:54:53 > 0:54:56If you actually looked closer to that...
0:54:56 > 0:54:59- Yeah?- ..I am looking down at Cyrille and Laurie Cunningham and thinking,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01"What the hell am I doing here?"
0:55:01 > 0:55:05- Is that right?- It was just amazing to be there.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07Hello, mate. How you doing?
0:55:07 > 0:55:10'Herville Hector turns up to represent the black fans.'
0:55:11 > 0:55:14'And finally, Laurie Rampling, Albion's photographer.'
0:55:22 > 0:55:25And to thank them for turning up at this little reunion,
0:55:25 > 0:55:28'I've a little something for them.'
0:55:28 > 0:55:29Here, you are.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32I've just got something to show you on here, if you...
0:55:32 > 0:55:35'I've got hold of some news footage from the match that day.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37'Suspecting, rightly, as it turns out,
0:55:37 > 0:55:39'that none of them have seen it before.'
0:55:39 > 0:55:42OK, everyone, have a look at this.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45- NEWSREADER:- 'The black players have been mustered
0:55:45 > 0:55:47'from seven different English League clubs.'
0:55:47 > 0:55:50Ten years ago, you'd have been lucky to find half a dozen throughout the country.
0:55:50 > 0:55:55But, today, they feature in such unlikely sides as Hereford United.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58Albion's Len Cantello was celebrating ten years with the club,
0:55:58 > 0:56:01and had in his line-up old favourites like Johnny Giles.
0:56:01 > 0:56:02But, as we were to discover,
0:56:02 > 0:56:05the collective skills of the All Blacks proved too much on the night.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11Cunningham opened the scoring. A neat shot from 20 yards.
0:56:14 > 0:56:16- There you go!- Hooray!
0:56:19 > 0:56:22'Cantello's XI took the lead, but Garth Crooks levelled the score.'
0:56:27 > 0:56:30It had been an entertaining night and when it looked as if the game
0:56:30 > 0:56:34would end in a draw, Stuart Phillips of Hereford United made it 3-2.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40The innovation had proved attractive to the 7,000 who'd turned up
0:56:40 > 0:56:43and had given an insight into the deepening reservoir
0:56:43 > 0:56:45of black talent within the English game.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48That was fantastic. I'd never seen that footage.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51Just a feeling, speaking personally, I just had a feeling,
0:56:51 > 0:56:54this is special. It's unique.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57- Have you seen that, Cyrille? - No, it's the first time.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00A bit of history like that,
0:57:00 > 0:57:02- it's fantastic. - Have you seen that before?
0:57:02 > 0:57:05- No, never seen that before. - Must be strange.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07Don't know at the time that it was going to be something,
0:57:07 > 0:57:10like, so important.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13I just basically turned up with my boots.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15I think it's only now, just looking back,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19on the occasion that I realise the importance of it.
0:57:19 > 0:57:24What I recollect, Adrian, actually, after all these years in the game,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28before the game, in the dressing room, we were told to let them win.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33LAUGHTER
0:57:33 > 0:57:35Only joking!
0:57:41 > 0:57:43'So the black team got the victory they wanted...'
0:57:43 > 0:57:46Oh, you hear the creaks!
0:57:46 > 0:57:51'..And Laurie gets another memorable picture for his archive.'
0:57:53 > 0:57:55That's it, job done. Got them together.
0:57:55 > 0:57:58I tell you what I won't miss, fascinating though this has been,
0:57:58 > 0:58:01I'm sick of talking about people in terms of whites and blacks.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03So I don't have to do that now for a while.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08There are reasons to believe there will be a happy ending
0:58:08 > 0:58:10'to the story of black footballers in Britain,
0:58:10 > 0:58:13'even if we are further away from it than I thought.'
0:58:14 > 0:58:18'Football can often feel way behind the rest of society.
0:58:18 > 0:58:19'On days like today, though,
0:58:19 > 0:58:23'it feels like it may actually always have been a few steps ahead.'
0:58:23 > 0:58:25LAUGHTER