Whites vs Blacks: How Football Changed a Nation


Whites vs Blacks: How Football Changed a Nation

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This programme contains some strong language

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In 1979, a football match was played at the Hawthorns,

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home of West Bromwich Albion.

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On one side, 11 white players.

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On the other, 11 black players.

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Whites versus blacks.

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Yes, really.

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Stranger still, back then, it all felt rather progressive.

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Now, the very thought of it makes you wince.

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You didn't realise that we were actually making history

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at that time on that day.

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From the journey of coming over here,

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not seeing black players, and then we can put out a team.

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Everyone was of one mind - "We're going to beat them."

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So, what does this tell us about how things were then for black people?

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We don't want these people in our society.

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We will not abide by the Race Relations Act,

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being all true white British people!

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CHEERING

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I was a traitor, I was a white whore

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and he was being ruled by the white girl.

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WHISTLING AND MONKEY CHANTS

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When I was on the pitch, I heard everything.

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They were calling me a coon. "BLEEP off back to your country."

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You would watch amazing football and think, "If only they were white."

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And here's Regis...

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And what can we learn about how far we've come today?

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To see Cyrille and then Laurie Cunningham, Brendon Batson,

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to see them get through, you know that it can be done.

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You can do as many of these documentaries as you like.

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You won't change what's in people's heads right now.

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My football team's been a massive part of my life

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for nearly all my life.

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Match days at West Brom takes me right back to being a little kid.

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My grandad used to drive me up here

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about three hours before kick-off,

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give me a bag of chips and curry sauce

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and just leave me in the car for three hours

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while he went for a pint with his mates.

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I'd just sit there eating the chips, doing my homework,

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watching the crowd gather,

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just getting into a frenzy of excitement

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and at about 2.50pm, he'd take me into the ground.

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For as long as I can remember, my club's put me through the mill

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week in, week out, year in, year out.

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My obsession took root very deeply back in the '70s.

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I mean, it's a Hall of Fame.

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To me, it almost feels like a family album.

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Look at that for a strike!

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Look at that!

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Tony Brown. He feels like my Uncle Tony.

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Here's John Wile.

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I wish he was my uncle, too.

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A heroic figure. It just kind of feels like family.

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I can't express it any other way.

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Ally Rob - ferocious.

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Getting in some crunching tackles.

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"Crunching" being a euphemism for fouls.

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And Cyrille.

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Look at those biceps there!

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Here's Brendon. Look at that body shape.

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Look at the afro. Look at the focus.

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Look at the sweat on his legs.

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He's beautiful, and there's the late great Laurie Cunningham.

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That we had so many black players

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gave the whole experience something extra.

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It made us feel different, special.

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I recall matches where we scaled footballing heights

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and matches where my black heroes were subjected to the vilest abuse.

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But there's one match that intrigues me more than any other,

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that if played today would surely cause an outcry.

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1979 - a testimonial for Len Cantello to reward him

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for his long service to the club.

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As for exactly whose idea it was to play blacks against whites,

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no-one at the club can remember.

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Nobody wants the credit or, possibly, the blame.

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The first expert witness for my investigation is a man who was there

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and saw it all through his viewfinder - Laurie Rampling,

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unofficial club photographer for as long as anyone can remember.

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This is going to be like an Aladdin's Cave for me.

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This way, Adrian.

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My word! Look at this.

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This is the first little anteroom.

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This is where I do all my work.

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-I love that picture.

-Yep, it's one of my favourites.

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This must be one the most extensive collection

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of Albion stuff...

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-In all the United Kingdom.

-If not the world!

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Is there anything you haven't got?

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This needs a sign on it -

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-the Rampling Albion Museum.

-The Rampling Albion Den.

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So, what about pictures of that actual game?

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Yes. I've got pictures here.

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This is from my archive of the game.

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What do you remember about it?

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Do you remember the idea being hatched?

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I do. I remember it and I thought, "What a fantastic idea!"

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Straight away, when you knew what the occasion was about,

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you knew you had to get a picture of the team group

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because it probably wouldn't ever happen again and it hasn't.

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Do you remember what you thought when you looked through

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that viewfinder and just saw all those black players?

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The first time you ever saw that happen.

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Wow! It was a photograph that had a wow factor

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and I thought, "That's going to be

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"one of the most iconic pictures in football."

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In that era, the National Front still active,

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there was a lot of people who basically wanted to fight,

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whites versus blacks.

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But, obviously, a testimonial game,

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it's a fun game. But was there any kind of racial charge to it?

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If there was, I certainly didn't feel that,

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because by this time, you'd got Brendon Batson,

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Cyrille Regis and Laurie Cunningham.

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Albion heroes, if you like, you know.

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So there's a piece in The Guardian from 1979.

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It says the local Community Relations Council said,

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"It can only be an innocent mistake.

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"I hope the club will have second thoughts.

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"A match of this kind could be used by certain sections of the community

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"to make political capital and there could well be trouble in the crowd."

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There were eyebrows raised by certain people

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whether it was a good idea

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and I remember, I said at the time, "Well, why?"

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And even today, I say, "Well, why?

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"Why was it a bad idea?"

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And that's the question - why, arguably, wasn't it a bad idea then?

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And why, in retrospect, does it feel so plain wrong now?

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By 1979, Britain had been through a right old turbulent decade.

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For a generation, the West Midlands,

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where I grew up and the Albion ply their trade,

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had been something of a cauldron of racial tension.

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In the white community,

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there was fear, bewilderment and ignorance in equal measure -

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something our new Prime Minister soon had a handle on.

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People are really rather afraid that this country might be rather swamped

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by people with a different culture.

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Why should they have our jobs?

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If we start beating them up and that,

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they might get the message to clear off.

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Filth!

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With the milk of human kindness running this sour,

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was a whites versus blacks football match really the wisest move?

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To get a sense of how the players felt about it,

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I've arranged to meet three members of the white team that day -

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John Wile, our club captain...

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That's the goal and it's gone to Wile.

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..prolific goal scoring midfielder Tony "Bomber" Brown...

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In goes Brown! Yes, that'll do it!

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..and our frankly terrifying defender Ally Robertson.

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And a free kick against Alistair Robertson,

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which he got the worst of.

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Well, I've got three of my heroes here.

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I want you to know you're still my heroes even now.

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My love hasn't waned with time.

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So you all lived around here, didn't you?

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-One big happy family.

-Absolutely.

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Brendon lived here.

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I lived up here. You lived over there.

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-That's right.

-But we all met in there.

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THEY LAUGH

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I want to buy you three a drink.

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-Come on.

-That sounds all right to me.

-Let's do it.

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You're still in good shape, you three. You're moving very well.

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You've got a new hip or two, haven't you?

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-But you're moving well.

-Er, three.

-Three!

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THEY LAUGH

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I'm just getting this. Is this yours, Ally?

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Yes, I found that in my dad's loft.

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Just when I see this, you know, I cry.

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There was a semifinal at Highbury.

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That's when you cut your head against Ipswich.

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John Wile being treated for West Brom.

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A fairly horrific sight being cleaned up.

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Have you still got the scar from that?

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Believe it or not, it was very, very small.

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-Was it?

-It was just in the wrong place.

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That hasn't been stitched, but in a fight, it would have been stopped.

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We come to Len Cantello's testimonial,

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the black versus white match.

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I remember thinking at the time and I was 12 or something,

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I was like a liberal, white, middle class boy,

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thinking, "Oh, that's really sweet." It felt progressive to me.

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What are your memories of it?

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I can't remember that much about it.

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The only thing I can remember

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is there were more coloured people or black people in the ground.

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The game itself doesn't sort of stick in my memory as something.

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I think, that year, I played something like 76 games.

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It was just another game to us.

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I think it was just a way to get more of a crowd,

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something different, yeah,

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and interest because there were quite a few testimonials.

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-People get fed up of testimonials.

-This was certainly different.

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There have not been very many black versus white matches.

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That's what I'm saying. The idea was fantastic.

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I came from a small mining village

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and you never saw a black person up in that area.

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And when I moved down here and my family came down to visit,

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they always used to remark on the fact

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that there's a lot of black people down here.

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I'd never seen a black person.

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I'd come down to West Brom and I was in digs in Handsworth

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and I always remember picking my mum up

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and we brought her down Soho Road.

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She couldn't believe all these Afro-Caribbeans.

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She couldn't believe how many black people there were.

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They're caught square. This is a chance.

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And no-one could believe how many black players we had -

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three of them, when the number of them in all British football

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barely ran into double figures.

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The media loved them

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and the manager, Ron Atkinson, knew how to work the media.

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He dubbed them The Three Degrees, a nickname which stuck fast.

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When those lads come, they were no different to anybody else

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because we saw them dress in the dressing room.

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You dressed with them.

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-You bathed with them.

-You saw them undressed?

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You'd never had a black friend, never saw a black man

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and, suddenly, you're in a bath with a black man.

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Little things were said, but it was part of the dressing room banter

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and dressing rooms are completely different

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from anywhere else, Adrian.

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Do you know what I mean? Shrugged it off and laughed it off

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and just got on it with, you know what I mean?

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-That's the way it was.

-With the banter,

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you're learning about the language, you're learning about each other.

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Sometimes, was the line ever crossed?

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You must have seen them angry or upset.

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Somebody might have said something which was a bit too much.

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Outside the group, yes.

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And I have seen it outside the group,

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but we'd be the first ones to stand in and say, "Go away."

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In our lads, I don't think I've heard one person say a bad word.

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Looking back now, do you think you feel any different

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about their experience? Do you ever find yourself thinking,

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"Blimey, it must have been harder for them

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"than we thought actually at the time?"

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I do. Definitely, it must have been.

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We didn't realise at the time

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because it was all this football banter and that,

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but you don't know how they felt inside themselves, you know.

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It's fascinating. They remember lots of it very well, that era,

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but don't remember really anything about that black versus white match.

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That's the white players.

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I'll be very surprised if the black players involved,

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every single one of them, didn't remember every detail of it.

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As these black players gathered for that match,

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did they have any misgivings about playing in it?

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Did it feel right? Wrong? Odd?

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Or just a bit of harmless fun?

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Cyrille and Brendon meet me

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in what feels like a different world altogether.

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Their memories of the match and the whole era are as fresh as you like.

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I was watching you in the '70s.

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You were living through that brutal time.

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How could you get across the brutality of it?

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Well, first two, three years as a professional footballer,

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I tell stories, like you go to Millwall, Chelsea, Tottenham,

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you're getting 10,000 people

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singing, "Nigger, nigger, lick my boots."

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I mean, 10,000 people!

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Having three black players in a side in the late '70s was radical.

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In those days at West Ham,

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just a hail of bananas are coming towards us.

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I remember throwing one to Cyrille,

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I think you put it down your shorts and I peeled one.

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But I look back and I'm thinking, "What else could I have done?"

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Could you show hurt?

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It made you angry, but we learned to channel the anger to motivation.

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We go, "Right, we're going to show you how good we are."

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Has he got the poise?

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He has!

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The hurtful part was that my wife wouldn't come.

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She came a couple of times and said she wouldn't come again.

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She went, "I'm not going to go again, Brendon,

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"because it's disgusting."

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It's the volume that suddenly is a shock.

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-BOOING

-The booing of the black players...

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repaid by Tony Brown!

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My kids go, "Blimey, Dad,

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"we can't understand how you've managed to come through that."

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But that was our life and that's what we had to deal with.

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Either you're determined and you want to make it

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or you're not and you fade into the background...

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It's survival of the strongest.

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What it comes to is you've got to overcome.

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You have these barriers, you have these...

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Either you give up and you go, "I can't take this no more,"

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and you give up or you say, "You know what,

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"despite these barriers, despite the racism, despite this,

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"I'm going to overcome this by my ability and my sheer will

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"and desire to be a professional footballer,"

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and that's what we done.

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So when the idea of this game was floated, a black versus white game,

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without hindsight, what was in your mind then?

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You just think, "Why not?"

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We all thought, great idea, great idea.

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But it was just a novelty and we never once thought

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-about any of the social aspects of it.

-No.

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We didn't hear any dissenting voices.

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There was never anybody who rang us up and said,

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"Do you realise the implication?"

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Nothing at all, it was just a novelty thing.

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-And it was fun.

-It was fun.

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Don't forget, we were always in the minority -

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from a kid, only black player

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and, suddenly, this is a whole team of us.

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That was one of the attractions of it.

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We were actually playing in a team made up of black players who,

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only a few years ago, there were hardly any of us.

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Did the game matter, the outcome of the match matter to you?

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Oh, big-time. Because for us, it was historic,

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to get from the journey of coming over here, playing,

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getting told you're not good enough, not seeing black players

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and then we can put out a team.

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It was great.

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Everybody was of one mind -

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-"We're going to beat them."

-"We're going to beat them."

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Some marmalades get some of their tang from added flavouring.

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The further we move away from the '70s,

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when Cyrille and Brendon were playing,

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the more culturally cruel it feels.

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They're quite jolly, really, aren't they?

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What on earth were the Black and White Minstrels about?

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And Love Thy Neighbour, for heaven's sake!

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Equal rights does not entitle nig nogs to move next door.

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Black people were invited to turn the other cheek

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and join in the laughter.

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Some found this harder to do than others.

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Up the road from the Albion

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are our arch-rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers,

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and in the centre of their defence and that of the black team of '79,

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George Berry and Bob Hazell.

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This picture here, what are your memories of that?

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What is your emotional response to seeing that?

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It's fantastic. It just brings back memories, great memories.

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-Of a great day.

-It was a great occasion

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that everybody wanted to be a part of.

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And we also wanted to win.

0:17:470:17:49

More so than the Albion team!

0:17:490:17:53

It's interesting. The white players involved were very hazy

0:17:530:17:56

about the whole thing, but the black players

0:17:560:17:59

absolutely remember it completely. It was significant, wasn't it?

0:17:590:18:02

Actually, we didn't realise

0:18:020:18:04

that we were making history at that time, on that day.

0:18:040:18:09

There was plenty of racial strife about

0:18:090:18:11

and there was some unease.

0:18:110:18:13

It could kick off between black fans and white fans,

0:18:130:18:16

the National Front could get involved or something.

0:18:160:18:18

Did you remember feeling that?

0:18:180:18:20

No, I think the black fans were still too shit scared

0:18:200:18:22

to come to games during that time!

0:18:220:18:24

That's how it was because with all the violence that took place

0:18:240:18:28

and I know many black people who wanted to come to games,

0:18:280:18:31

but because of the way the violence was, they just wouldn't come.

0:18:310:18:36

MONKEY CHANTING

0:18:360:18:39

When did you see the red mist over monkey chants,

0:18:390:18:43

a bananas being thrown, whatever horrors you had to go through?

0:18:430:18:46

How did you deal with it?

0:18:460:18:47

Did you ignore it? Could you hear it?

0:18:470:18:49

Yes, when I was on the pitch,

0:18:490:18:52

I heard everything.

0:18:520:18:55

We heard every chant and every racial chant, we definitely heard.

0:18:550:18:58

Sometimes, when I was getting the abuse,

0:18:580:19:01

I felt isolated in so much as

0:19:010:19:04

the opposition players would be giving me stick,

0:19:040:19:09

but my team-mates were laughing.

0:19:090:19:13

I was at Leicester City

0:19:140:19:16

and the Leicester fans were racially abusing other black players.

0:19:160:19:20

I cannot for the life of me

0:19:200:19:22

see how they can racially abuse other players and it not affect me.

0:19:220:19:27

I remember the manager had a dig at me.

0:19:270:19:30

"Oh, Bob, they're just very small minded people.

0:19:300:19:33

"Ignore them." I said, "You ignore them

0:19:330:19:36

"because you can ignore them,"

0:19:360:19:38

but I says, "Me, I'm out there, I feel it."

0:19:380:19:42

You can see I'm getting a little bit worked up now, can't you?

0:19:420:19:46

But that's how I felt about it.

0:19:460:19:48

I felt completely let down by them.

0:19:480:19:51

We were playing against Watford in the cup.

0:19:550:19:58

Right at the end of the game, I went to clear a ball,

0:19:580:20:00

which was one of my trademarks.

0:20:000:20:02

I actually scuffed it and it went to Luther Blissett,

0:20:020:20:05

who smashed it in the top corner.

0:20:050:20:07

That's a dangerous one from Berry.

0:20:070:20:09

Blissett... 3-0.

0:20:090:20:11

Well, that was a pretty dreadful mistake,

0:20:110:20:14

an unfortunate error by George Berry.

0:20:140:20:16

The game was finished and I was obviously very disappointed

0:20:160:20:20

walking off the pitch. We were out of the cup and everything.

0:20:200:20:22

As I was walking, this bloke, a fairly big geezer,

0:20:220:20:27

he was giving me so much abuse.

0:20:270:20:30

What was he saying? Don't be afraid of using the words.

0:20:300:20:32

He was calling me a black bastard and a fucking disgrace to the club

0:20:320:20:37

and "fucking fuck off back to your country"

0:20:370:20:39

and "you coon" and everything, the whole lot.

0:20:390:20:42

Everything. Anything that could have been classed as racial, he said it.

0:20:420:20:47

I thought, "Actually, I ain't taking that."

0:20:470:20:49

So I confronted him and I said, "What did you say?"

0:20:490:20:53

He says, "You fucking..."

0:20:530:20:55

I just jumped into the crowd and give him a right hook.

0:20:550:20:58

I was a bit of a boxer when I was a youngster!

0:20:580:21:01

So, you both still seem quite bitter and angry?

0:21:010:21:04

I'm bitter and angry when we talk about the past,

0:21:040:21:08

racist things that we had to go through,

0:21:080:21:11

in what was the best time of my life.

0:21:110:21:14

It's very well put, that,

0:21:160:21:17

cos these were the greatest times of your life

0:21:170:21:20

and you weren't robbed of them, but they were sullied.

0:21:200:21:23

Mm-hm.

0:21:230:21:25

As tough as things were for the black footballers,

0:21:290:21:31

at least they could show two fingers to the racists

0:21:310:21:35

by socking it to them on the pitch.

0:21:350:21:37

Up in the stands, their families -

0:21:380:21:40

at least those who could bear to be there -

0:21:400:21:43

were ploughing lonelier furrows.

0:21:430:21:45

Bob and George's wives, Joy and Maureen, are still best of friends.

0:21:460:21:51

Well, I felt like a minority within the football club

0:21:510:21:55

because I think the majority of the time,

0:21:550:21:57

I was the only black wife

0:21:570:22:00

and you would scour the room,

0:22:000:22:02

just to hopefully see another black face.

0:22:020:22:05

Inevitably, that never happened.

0:22:060:22:08

So, you would really and truly rely on other wives or girlfriends

0:22:080:22:13

to approach you because you'd want to feel accepted.

0:22:130:22:17

One option is just not to go to the matches.

0:22:170:22:21

For that reason, and also I'm sure all the abuse that you heard?

0:22:210:22:26

I would want to go. We would have to support him.

0:22:270:22:31

Here's Berry... There's Richards.

0:22:310:22:34

Beautiful goal!

0:22:340:22:36

We chose to live in an area as well near Alton Towers.

0:22:370:22:42

I think we were the only black family in the village.

0:22:420:22:45

So, that was really difficult

0:22:450:22:47

and I think some of the acceptance came from the fact

0:22:470:22:51

that George was a footballer

0:22:510:22:53

and I wonder what it would have been like for somebody

0:22:530:22:55

who was just an ordinary working class person

0:22:550:22:58

and not George Berry, the footballer.

0:22:580:23:01

George is, and was, an uncompromising figure.

0:23:030:23:08

Not for him any attempt to fit in, keep his head down and conform.

0:23:080:23:12

You say "George Berry" to anyone

0:23:140:23:15

and you know the first thing you're going to hear is, and quite rightly,

0:23:150:23:20

I mean, that hair arrangement is simply magnificent.

0:23:200:23:23

It was one of the best in the world!

0:23:230:23:25

-Yes.

-I wonder if the Jackson Five were getting copies

0:23:250:23:30

of Shoot or something, but it's all... Respect to George Berry.

0:23:300:23:33

And all his as well.

0:23:330:23:35

No pretending, yeah. He used to have his Afro comb and it would be there.

0:23:350:23:39

It was my job to plait it every so often

0:23:390:23:41

to make sure we could comb it through properly.

0:23:410:23:43

It's almost like dreadlocks.

0:23:430:23:45

Interestingly, you didn't really see dreadlocks

0:23:450:23:47

until Ruud Gullit about 15 years later.

0:23:470:23:50

Bob did want to locks his hair.

0:23:500:23:52

-Did he?

-But, at that time, the FA would not allow it.

0:23:520:23:56

Did they construct some sort of health and safety argument?

0:23:560:23:58

I really don't know what it was,

0:23:580:24:00

but I cannot put my finger on their exact reasonings for it.

0:24:000:24:03

But because they were so old school,

0:24:030:24:06

I think that if it was a case of making a statement about yourself

0:24:060:24:09

and you wanted locks, it was too much for them to handle.

0:24:090:24:12

While the racist abuse hung heavy in the air,

0:24:130:24:17

there were many random acts of kindness and solidarity.

0:24:170:24:20

Bob went through a particularly unpleasant patch

0:24:210:24:24

after a sending off with, it was said, racist undertones.

0:24:240:24:28

A lot of it came from one time when Bob was playing against Arsenal

0:24:280:24:32

and things were said to him.

0:24:320:24:34

And there's some trouble,

0:24:340:24:36

tensions boiling up right at the end.

0:24:360:24:38

And Hazell really has lost his cool.

0:24:380:24:40

-CHEERING

-And he's off.

0:24:400:24:42

I was able to keep some of the clippings

0:24:420:24:44

and the hate mail came because he was sent off

0:24:440:24:49

and as soon as he got sent off,

0:24:490:24:51

the goal was scored and Wolves were out.

0:24:510:24:56

It was an awful time.

0:24:560:24:58

-BOOING

-Bob Hazell going off.

0:24:590:25:00

Arsenal winners by two to one, right at the death.

0:25:030:25:07

You got this one. This is after...

0:25:070:25:08

This was after that game.

0:25:080:25:10

Snoopy-headed paper.

0:25:100:25:11

-That's right.

-Well, that's not going to be hate mail, is it,

0:25:110:25:14

-on Snoopy paper.

-No, no, no.

-Just read it to us.

0:25:140:25:16

"Dear Bob, I was a member of the North Bank at the Arsenal cup tie.

0:25:160:25:20

"I would just like to tell you that not all of those at the match

0:25:200:25:23

"shared the opinions of the minority who are giving you stick.

0:25:230:25:27

"I am not coloured or foreign in any way.

0:25:270:25:30

"Take no notice of any crowds

0:25:300:25:32

"and answer their jeers with skill and with best wishes."

0:25:320:25:35

And what was really beautiful about this letter, it's from a girl.

0:25:350:25:39

And at the time, she was aged 14 and a half.

0:25:390:25:41

I was really touched by it.

0:25:410:25:42

For a kid who goes to a game,

0:25:420:25:44

it might have been quite frightening for her, seeing such a thing happen.

0:25:440:25:48

I don't know.

0:25:480:25:49

Perhaps the most dazzling of all the black players among these pioneers

0:25:540:25:58

was the son of a Jamaican jockey -

0:25:580:26:02

Laurie Cunningham, our third Degree.

0:26:020:26:05

He had the skill and speed to bewilder defenders.

0:26:080:26:13

Cunningham again.

0:26:130:26:14

And have us rubbing our eyes in disbelief up in the stands.

0:26:140:26:18

He was the first British footballer

0:26:190:26:21

of any colour to play for Real Madrid.

0:26:210:26:24

He was killed in a car crash in Spain in 1989, aged just 33.

0:26:270:26:32

Laurie's career began at Leyton Orient,

0:26:370:26:40

where a statue of him will soon grace that corner of East London.

0:26:400:26:43

'Today, his family are seeing it for the first time.'

0:26:440:26:48

Hello, everyone. Sorry to intrude.

0:26:480:26:51

I don't feel worthy to be sharing this moment with you, actually.

0:26:510:26:55

-Why not?

-I'm not part of the family,

0:26:550:26:57

but it's 40 years ago I was looking at him in the flesh as a...

0:26:570:27:00

You know, mouth wide open.

0:27:000:27:01

-None of us could believe what we were seeing.

-Stunned.

0:27:010:27:04

I feel like crossing myself or something!

0:27:040:27:09

Is it emotional when you first clapped eyes on it?

0:27:090:27:12

-Yeah.

-It's real.

0:27:120:27:13

-It's captured the moment, hasn't it?

-Larger than life.

0:27:130:27:16

So there's pride, but there must be sadness as well.

0:27:160:27:19

-Yeah.

-He was so young, you know, to be taken like that so tragically.

0:27:190:27:24

But not just a great player,

0:27:240:27:25

he was influential in a wider sense, wasn't he?

0:27:250:27:28

A pioneering figure for so many black players.

0:27:280:27:30

I mean, everybody wanted to play like him. Every footballer wanted...

0:27:300:27:34

They wanted to get some of his skills.

0:27:340:27:36

But they can't, because you can't be trained to do that.

0:27:360:27:39

He would do something, pick the ball up and then that's it.

0:27:390:27:42

Players standing there, looking, "How did he get there?"

0:27:420:27:44

You know? That was it.

0:27:440:27:45

And his personality was different to Brendon and Cyrille's.

0:27:450:27:49

He was quite a flamboyant dresser, wasn't he?

0:27:490:27:52

He had style. He had a lot of style.

0:27:520:27:54

Mixed his clothes together, his colours together, you know.

0:27:540:27:57

And that is how he was, man.

0:27:570:27:59

-That is how he was.

-He stood out from the crowd

0:27:590:28:02

-and you knew it was Laurie.

-It must be quite emotional now.

0:28:020:28:05

I mean, you lost him. He was so young. I was just...

0:28:050:28:07

It touched me. I mean...

0:28:070:28:11

Yeah, it touched me, you know? I miss him very much, you know?

0:28:140:28:18

-Yeah.

-I miss him, man.

0:28:180:28:20

He just went suddenly, just like that.

0:28:200:28:22

Left me the Monday and he's dead Saturday.

0:28:220:28:25

I've never seen my mum and dad crying.

0:28:250:28:27

It touched us all, losing him. It touched us all.

0:28:270:28:31

It touched us all.

0:28:310:28:32

The whole world knew about Laurie's football skills

0:28:340:28:37

and his friends are adamant he was no less gifted

0:28:370:28:40

with his dancing shoes on.

0:28:400:28:42

As a teenager, as he was making waves at Orient,

0:28:430:28:47

he was grooving with the best of them on London's dance floors.

0:28:470:28:50

Laurie met his first proper girlfriend, Nicky Brown, in 1974.

0:28:520:28:57

Not the easiest time to embark on a mixed-race relationship.

0:28:570:29:00

So when did you first clap eyes on my hero?

0:29:020:29:04

Tottenham Royal.

0:29:040:29:06

The Tottenham Royal, soul/funk night

0:29:060:29:09

and that was my love

0:29:090:29:11

and I was dancing, and some of the moves he was doing,

0:29:110:29:14

and, somehow, we migrated

0:29:140:29:16

and, as crowds did then, they gathered round.

0:29:160:29:18

So we kind of did a bit of a dance-off,

0:29:180:29:20

where he'd do a move and I'd do move and you have a dance-off

0:29:200:29:23

in a friendly way with each other.

0:29:230:29:25

And then a Marvin Gaye tune came on and we had a slow dance

0:29:250:29:28

and seven tunes later, we were still dancing.

0:29:280:29:30

And it was just right.

0:29:300:29:32

Seeing through your eyes,

0:29:320:29:35

what was the experience like of being a black player at the time?

0:29:350:29:39

These were hard times, the '70s.

0:29:390:29:41

It was a tough period.

0:29:410:29:43

It was hard, anyway, walking down the road as a mixed-race couple.

0:29:450:29:48

I was a traitor.

0:29:480:29:50

I was a nigger lover or a white whore

0:29:500:29:52

and he was a traitor, being ruled by the white girl

0:29:520:29:56

who was only after his money.

0:29:560:29:58

So, it came from both sides.

0:29:580:30:00

So, how did you deal with it?

0:30:000:30:03

It depended on the circumstances.

0:30:030:30:04

I did a quick risk assessment and it depended on the circumstances.

0:30:040:30:08

I loved him, so I didn't want anything to hurt him.

0:30:080:30:11

But then, sometimes, a line would be drawn?

0:30:110:30:14

Yeah. We went to our favourite takeaway in Birmingham,

0:30:140:30:17

along the Hagley Road,

0:30:170:30:19

and we'd just got our takeaway and three big blokes came down the road.

0:30:190:30:23

And as we walked past, one spat towards me

0:30:230:30:26

and said, "Nigger lover, white whore."

0:30:260:30:30

And I said to Laurie, "Leave it."

0:30:300:30:32

And he looked, turned and looked and he said, "I can't leave it."

0:30:340:30:39

And so I turned round and they'd already stopped

0:30:390:30:41

and were turning and coming back, anyway.

0:30:410:30:43

One of them went to head-butt him.

0:30:430:30:45

It happened so quick.

0:30:450:30:46

But Laurie, being like he was,

0:30:460:30:48

ducked to one side and cuffed the back of his head

0:30:480:30:51

and the man's own force threw himself on the ground.

0:30:510:30:54

And then he threw the other one on top of him

0:30:540:30:55

and the other one on top of him, Laurie did.

0:30:550:30:57

Where one of them had fallen, his nose was bleeding

0:30:570:30:59

and then he was the one that turned round and said,

0:30:590:31:03

"That's Laurie Cunningham, I love you.

0:31:030:31:07

"Sorry, Laurie."

0:31:070:31:08

And Laurie's going, "Look at your nose."

0:31:080:31:10

And then what? All shake hands, "Lovely to meet you" and off you go?

0:31:100:31:13

I just don't get it!

0:31:130:31:15

And that's what I'm saying to you. You never really get it.

0:31:150:31:17

Cos then when we did jump in the cab and go home...

0:31:170:31:22

you can't really... You don't say anything.

0:31:220:31:24

There's nothing you can say.

0:31:240:31:26

-Because you can't work it out. You can't...

-You can't compute it.

0:31:260:31:29

So you'd do things,

0:31:290:31:31

like I went, "Oh, no, you've got his blood on your shirt."

0:31:310:31:33

So we discussed what would be the best thing to get it out.

0:31:330:31:36

And then it's only later on that night,

0:31:360:31:38

a few hours later when you've processed it.

0:31:380:31:41

And it's like, "Whoa!"

0:31:410:31:43

What fascinates me,

0:31:430:31:44

there's some guy in his 60s somewhere in Birmingham now.

0:31:440:31:46

Does he tell the story in a pub?

0:31:460:31:48

"You know, this one time, there was this black bloke,

0:31:480:31:50

"I was going to beat him up.

0:31:500:31:52

"And you know who it was? Laurie Cunningham!

0:31:520:31:54

And he was ever so nice!

0:31:540:31:55

I wonder if he's dined out on it, yeah!

0:31:550:31:57

I do. And he probably has.

0:31:570:31:59

Or... But maybe that has led to him evolving.

0:32:000:32:04

Or maybe he hasn't and he just tells it as a funny story

0:32:040:32:07

and doesn't realise what a racist he sounds.

0:32:070:32:10

You'll never know.

0:32:100:32:11

Will you? You'll never know.

0:32:110:32:13

This casual racism, for all its evil banality, was only half the problem.

0:32:150:32:21

Darker, more organised forces were at work, too.

0:32:210:32:25

We've created a powerful movement out of nothing!

0:32:250:32:29

No power on earth is now going to stop this movement!

0:32:290:32:33

We'll carry on marching like a great army

0:32:330:32:36

towards the Britain of our dreams!

0:32:360:32:39

CHEERING

0:32:390:32:41

The word "nigger" means a person of a black face.

0:32:440:32:48

And I will always call that person of a black face a nigger!

0:32:480:32:52

CHEERING

0:32:520:32:54

The far right were about more than mere rabble rousing.

0:32:540:32:57

The National Front waded into football fans

0:32:590:33:02

as part of a deceptively sophisticated recruitment campaign.

0:33:020:33:06

We will recruit patriotic, pro-British youngsters

0:33:070:33:12

because we need everybody in the National Front.

0:33:120:33:14

I think there's a lot you can do with a soccer hooligan

0:33:140:33:17

and we feel that the very, very fanatical adulation by supporters

0:33:170:33:23

with their particular club is a sort of sublimated patriotism.

0:33:230:33:26

SIRENS WAIL

0:33:280:33:31

Nigel Bromage says he was targeted and groomed by the NF

0:33:360:33:40

to be one of their foot soldiers.

0:33:400:33:43

We meet outside his old battleground -

0:33:430:33:45

St Andrew's, home to Birmingham City.

0:33:450:33:48

So, the atmosphere in there,

0:33:480:33:50

what words would you use to describe it, then?

0:33:500:33:53

You could feel the hatred.

0:33:530:33:55

It was horrific. When you were coming in,

0:33:550:33:57

there was NF lads who had gone down to Birmingham market

0:33:570:33:59

and they would basically get a massive amount of bananas

0:33:590:34:03

and they would then be giving them out

0:34:030:34:05

or they'd be giving them out at the front of the Kop

0:34:050:34:07

and then saying, "Here you are, lads, take these in with you."

0:34:070:34:10

So, how was it organised round the ground?

0:34:150:34:17

When we go in, people would be positioned around the ground.

0:34:170:34:20

So you tend to have five at the back,

0:34:200:34:22

split to have sort of two corners

0:34:220:34:24

where there'd be five in each corner there

0:34:240:34:26

and then you'd basically start a chant from the back

0:34:260:34:29

and then each of the different groups would start to involve

0:34:290:34:31

and then the whole idea, then, the chant would get bigger and bigger

0:34:310:34:35

as normal supporters got involved,

0:34:350:34:37

and then the idea, then,

0:34:370:34:38

it would look like it's hundreds, if not thousands.

0:34:380:34:41

And, in reality, it was organised by a core of 40 or 50.

0:34:410:34:45

-That's skilfully done, in a way.

-Yeah.

0:34:450:34:47

The violence at that time could be anything

0:34:500:34:53

from mass brawls on the terraces itself

0:34:530:34:56

and it wouldn't just be fists and boots.

0:34:560:34:59

You know, I've witnessed Stanley knives used

0:34:590:35:01

and when somebody is standing next to you,

0:35:010:35:04

and then they have their face slashed with a razor blade,

0:35:040:35:08

a Stanley knife, and that just spurts all over everybody.

0:35:080:35:12

I was probably here as well. But you must have seen my team here,

0:35:120:35:15

Cyrille, Brendon, Laurie come and play.

0:35:150:35:17

Yeah. And you would watch amazing football.

0:35:170:35:19

You'd look at it and then a lot of the time,

0:35:190:35:21

you'd think, "Oh, if only they were white."

0:35:210:35:23

And that was your feeling, if they were white, yeah,

0:35:230:35:27

they could be accepted then.

0:35:270:35:29

So you monkey-chanted at my heroes, then.

0:35:290:35:31

-How could you do that?

-Yeah.

0:35:310:35:33

Yeah, I'm afraid I did.

0:35:330:35:34

Nigel doth repent.

0:35:370:35:39

He now runs an organisation

0:35:390:35:41

devoted to teaching about the dangers of racism.

0:35:410:35:43

It's fascinating that it turns out there was kind of more to it

0:35:450:35:50

than a load of football fans just being sort of casually racist.

0:35:500:35:53

I mean, there was a lot of that happening.

0:35:530:35:55

It was a disgrace, awful for the players

0:35:550:35:56

and horrendous for the black fans in amongst them.

0:35:560:36:00

But there was also far right elements

0:36:000:36:03

intent on actually organising it,

0:36:030:36:06

positioning themselves around, doing the monkey chants

0:36:060:36:09

and then getting everybody involved.

0:36:090:36:12

There were dark forces at work, really.

0:36:120:36:15

As determined and noisy and violent as the far right were,

0:36:170:36:21

they were on the losing side in this war.

0:36:210:36:25

By the time of the whites versus blacks match,

0:36:260:36:29

relations between whites and blacks and Asians

0:36:290:36:32

did seem to be changing for the better.

0:36:320:36:34

And football, not least West Brom,

0:36:360:36:39

was playing no small part in drawing them together.

0:36:390:36:42

The Deol siblings lived above their parents' paper shop

0:36:470:36:51

just near the Albion.

0:36:510:36:53

It became a meeting point for fans of all colours.

0:36:530:36:56

So this is it, this is where the Deol commercial empire...

0:36:560:37:01

-It was!

-All change.

0:37:010:37:02

Yeah. We used to have "Sandwell Evening Mail" across there.

0:37:020:37:05

There'd be, like, newspaper boards here.

0:37:050:37:08

-Express and Star board there.

-The ice cream van was there.

0:37:080:37:12

Yeah, the Walls sign was there.

0:37:120:37:14

It just all looks changed now.

0:37:140:37:16

It feels really small now, but then it was a really big shop, wasn't it?

0:37:160:37:21

It was kind of the hub of the community.

0:37:210:37:23

Inside what was their shop,

0:37:230:37:25

the family take me back to 1970s Smethwick.

0:37:250:37:29

Find the one of you outside the shop in your West Brom kit.

0:37:290:37:32

-That's my favourite. So...

-That's what the shop looked like.

0:37:320:37:35

-Can you see that?

-That's 1977.

0:37:350:37:37

-Brilliant.

-You can see that pose, that's John Travolta's pose.

0:37:370:37:40

-Yes!

-Whatever.

0:37:400:37:42

-Oh, wow!

-That's me and Dad outside the shop.

0:37:420:37:45

Most of the window was full with footballs.

0:37:450:37:48

You know, it wasn't just us who wanted them.

0:37:480:37:50

All the kids bought the footballs to mess about

0:37:500:37:52

in the park around the corner or in the car park opposite.

0:37:520:37:55

Before we get into cliches,

0:37:550:37:56

-"it was tough for you as an Asian family"...

-Yeah.

0:37:560:37:58

I'm sure there were challenges. But you had a very happy time

0:37:580:38:01

from day one, as I understand it, your family?

0:38:010:38:03

It was just fit in, buckle down.

0:38:030:38:05

-Get on with it.

-"We've made this place our home and we are going to fit in."

0:38:050:38:09

It didn't matter what background you came from.

0:38:090:38:12

Around here, it was football.

0:38:120:38:14

-It was a religion.

-Yeah.

0:38:140:38:16

Because it was what everyone talked about and everyone did.

0:38:160:38:18

-It was the glue.

-Yeah.

0:38:180:38:20

I bet you there weren't more than ten Asian females in that crowd.

0:38:200:38:25

-No.

-No, there wouldn't have been.

0:38:250:38:27

You were quite ballsy, weren't you?

0:38:270:38:28

There were not many Asian girls there, for definite.

0:38:280:38:31

I don't remember seeing any others.

0:38:310:38:33

That was the nice thing about Dad.

0:38:330:38:34

If I wanted to go to the football, as long as he knew who I was with,

0:38:340:38:38

-where I was going...

-And it was daytime.

0:38:380:38:40

He was quite brave, doing that.

0:38:400:38:41

He would say to me, "Go to a policeman if there's a problem."

0:38:410:38:44

-Yeah.

-"Look out for the horses,

0:38:440:38:46

"cos they'll be doing all the security.

0:38:460:38:48

"I want you back straight after the match."

0:38:480:38:51

Did it have particular resonance in you,

0:38:520:38:54

seeing black men playing for West Brom when you're Asians?

0:38:540:38:57

Yeah, big-time, cos it was someone of colour.

0:38:570:38:59

-Yeah.

-So you kind of felt that that was the change.

0:38:590:39:01

You were the foreigners.

0:39:010:39:02

"Look, someone of colour's there, someone of colour is valued."

0:39:020:39:04

Someone else who's come to this country is doing really well.

0:39:040:39:07

It definitely gave you a bit of pride.

0:39:070:39:09

I remember... That's where we used to play across the road, football,

0:39:090:39:12

and kids would want to be Kevin Keegan or Andy Gray or Bomber Brown.

0:39:120:39:15

Suddenly, they wanted to be Laurie Cunningham.

0:39:150:39:18

Even though they were still in a tiny minority,

0:39:190:39:22

with the Three Degrees playing, black and Asian fans began to feel

0:39:220:39:26

the Hawthorns was a safer place to be.

0:39:260:39:30

Herville Hector was 19 years old in 1979.

0:39:320:39:37

He's one of the very few black men who dared to go to games.

0:39:370:39:41

So, the black versus white game, what did you think when you heard

0:39:430:39:47

that was happening for Len's testimonial?

0:39:470:39:50

I just thought, "Blimey!"

0:39:500:39:52

You know, a black team against a white team.

0:39:520:39:53

"Let's see how they get on."

0:39:530:39:55

And there's a massive buzz around the ground,

0:39:550:39:57

the fans were all talking about it,

0:39:570:39:58

and it was just great going to the game,

0:39:580:40:00

wondering, "Well, let's hope they can beat them."

0:40:000:40:02

Let's hope they can beat them to show the black players

0:40:020:40:04

-coming more and more into the game.

-So, what made you a West Brom fan?

0:40:040:40:07

I mean, you're in 25,000 white people.

0:40:070:40:10

Were you ever frightened?

0:40:100:40:11

People go on about how the black players got abused,

0:40:110:40:14

bananas thrown at them, other stuff said to them.

0:40:140:40:16

The same happened to us as supporters

0:40:160:40:18

and obviously when we went to those games,

0:40:180:40:20

we relied on the white guys that were with us to sort of protect us.

0:40:200:40:24

Did it feel wrong at all to have a black versus white match?

0:40:240:40:27

Or did it feel like a nice thing to you?

0:40:270:40:29

It felt nice to me, because all the things that were going on,

0:40:290:40:31

the racism that was going on at the time,

0:40:310:40:33

and you felt that there was nothing being done about it,

0:40:330:40:35

for that to be at the forefront of the football,

0:40:350:40:37

saying, "Well, hang on, maybe this is the start of change."

0:40:370:40:41

Increasingly, black players were getting backing from the terraces.

0:40:430:40:48

Where once they'd been abused,

0:40:480:40:50

banners were now waved celebrating their brilliance.

0:40:500:40:53

The players in our black XI

0:40:540:40:55

were all about proving they had the talent

0:40:550:40:58

and just about the numbers to play in the white man's game.

0:40:580:41:02

There were legends like Cyrille and Brendon and Bob and George.

0:41:020:41:07

Remi Moses, who went on to play for Manchester United.

0:41:070:41:10

Garth Crooks, too.

0:41:100:41:13

Others weren't so well known.

0:41:130:41:15

Stewart Phillips was at Hereford United.

0:41:150:41:17

Ian Benjamin went on to play for Northampton Town.

0:41:190:41:23

And there was a small, timid-looking left back

0:41:230:41:26

from the Albion's reserves, I must confess,

0:41:260:41:28

I'd never come across until now.

0:41:280:41:30

Though I'm always fascinated about the views of the famous players

0:41:300:41:34

and what they remember of that game,

0:41:340:41:37

this guy has really captured my imagination now -

0:41:370:41:41

the so-called Fourth Degree.

0:41:410:41:43

His name's Vernon Hodgson.

0:41:430:41:45

Just kind of a bit part player, basically a reserve player.

0:41:450:41:47

Career didn't go anywhere

0:41:470:41:49

and I've heard that he's been a bin man all his life,

0:41:490:41:51

30 or more years since this game,

0:41:510:41:53

so I'd absolutely love to track him down.

0:41:530:41:58

And I didn't have to go far to find him -

0:41:590:42:03

hard at work on the industrial estates around West Bromwich.

0:42:030:42:08

Vernon? Is it you?

0:42:080:42:10

It's Vernon.

0:42:100:42:12

-Hello.

-Did you play for the Albion, by any chance?

0:42:130:42:15

Yes, I did, yes.

0:42:150:42:16

Amazing. The Fourth Degree.

0:42:160:42:18

-Are you the man?

-Yes, I'm the Fourth Degree.

0:42:180:42:21

And did you play in the black versus white Len Cantello testimonial?

0:42:210:42:23

Yes, I did, yeah. I came on for 20 minutes in that.

0:42:230:42:26

I had 20 minutes.

0:42:260:42:27

We head to Vernon's sister's hairdressing salon

0:42:290:42:31

round the corner in Tipton.

0:42:310:42:32

So, who spotted you?

0:42:340:42:36

Where did your football career begin?

0:42:360:42:37

Birmingham City, a chief scout for Birmingham City in 1974.

0:42:370:42:41

-How old were you then?

-About 14, 15.

0:42:410:42:44

I was the first black professional at Birmingham City.

0:42:440:42:46

What was the atmosphere like in the dressing room

0:42:460:42:48

when you had a black player for the first time in yourself?

0:42:480:42:51

What was the reaction?

0:42:510:42:52

Well, it was almost like you get a minute's silence

0:42:520:42:55

when you first walk in.

0:42:550:42:56

And when I first started for the reserves,

0:42:560:42:58

I remember the coach jumping up and down.

0:42:580:43:00

And I thought, "What's happening?"

0:43:000:43:01

I remember him going, "Leave him alone,

0:43:010:43:03

"he's only bloody 16, give the lad a chance!"

0:43:030:43:05

And then I listened to what they were saying and they was shouting,

0:43:050:43:08

-"We don't want a wog playing for us," blah-blah-blah.

-Yeah.

0:43:080:43:10

But by the end of that game,

0:43:100:43:11

I had people coming up and shaking my hand.

0:43:110:43:13

-They liked me in the end.

-It's almost heart-warming,

0:43:130:43:16

but it would be a nicer story

0:43:160:43:17

if they weren't calling you a wog in the first place.

0:43:170:43:20

Vernon's from West Bromwich.

0:43:200:43:22

Signed by Birmingham City, he was promisingly talented.

0:43:220:43:26

But he did his knee in when he was 17,

0:43:260:43:29

which, at that time, more or less meant your career was over.

0:43:290:43:32

After a brief spell at Lincoln,

0:43:330:43:35

Ron Atkinson gave him a trial at the Albion,

0:43:350:43:39

right at the time of Len Cantello's testimonial.

0:43:390:43:41

So, what do you remember of the black versus white game?

0:43:420:43:45

You were playing alongside the superstars, then?

0:43:450:43:47

Yeah. I thought, "My God!" It was ground-breaking.

0:43:470:43:50

I can remember having a laugh with Cyrille and all of them.

0:43:500:43:53

We was all joking about, like, when we would run about passing the ball,

0:43:530:43:56

we would shout for the ball in Jamaican.

0:43:560:43:58

We only joked about that.

0:43:580:44:00

So, I've got this picture of you.

0:44:000:44:03

Here you are. I just want to give you a hug for some reason!

0:44:030:44:06

You look a bit lost and nervous, just sort of staring down here.

0:44:060:44:09

Gosh. I think I was worrying about my knee.

0:44:090:44:12

A lot of times back then when I played in the reserves,

0:44:120:44:15

it might sound sad now,

0:44:150:44:16

but I'd have a drink in the night-time

0:44:160:44:17

-to try and forget the niggle in my leg.

-Right.

0:44:170:44:19

In the morning when I'm playing in the reserves.

0:44:190:44:21

But it never went away.

0:44:210:44:22

It just grinded and grinded until in the end,

0:44:220:44:24

I felt like I wanted my leg off from the knee down.

0:44:240:44:27

-Really?

-Seriously, yeah.

-It's that painful?

0:44:270:44:28

So, what on earth is it like to have tasted

0:44:280:44:31

being a professional footballer and then your career is knackered?

0:44:310:44:35

Nightmares for the rest of your life, every so often.

0:44:350:44:37

I wake up and think, "I've got training today."

0:44:370:44:39

-Really?

-Never goes from you.

0:44:390:44:41

-Never goes from you.

-So, you've had a life's work on the bins.

0:44:410:44:45

And you seem very happy with it.

0:44:450:44:47

Well, as soon as football was over, I turned into, like, a town drunk.

0:44:470:44:50

I drank a lot. Really a lot.

0:44:500:44:52

A lot of people gave me until I was 27 and I'd be dead.

0:44:520:44:56

What got you out of that?

0:44:560:44:58

I'd say the bins.

0:44:580:44:59

It changed my life, my job has, definitely.

0:44:590:45:02

The black players of the '70s,

0:45:050:45:08

legends and unknowns alike, were pioneers.

0:45:080:45:10

They forced the door ajar for the likes of Ian Wright and Dion Dublin

0:45:120:45:18

in the '90s, with anger to burn, to kick that door right down.

0:45:180:45:21

So, what's your response when you see that from 1979?

0:45:280:45:31

-Unbelievable.

-Hairstyles! Hairy afros!

0:45:310:45:34

You're a teenager in the '70s.

0:45:340:45:36

What did watching the Three Degrees mean to you?

0:45:360:45:38

Well, it was simply inspiring and Cyrille Regis was the one

0:45:380:45:42

because of the goal he scored that used to start Match Of The Day.

0:45:420:45:45

-Smashed it home.

-You heard him hit the ball, strike the ball.

0:45:450:45:49

Lovely piece of control by Regis.

0:45:490:45:51

Oh, and what a great shot!

0:45:510:45:53

Oh, one of the goals of the season! Cyrille Regis!

0:45:530:45:56

Laurie Cunningham got his second with this header from a corner.

0:45:590:46:02

4-0.

0:46:020:46:04

I think with Laurie,

0:46:040:46:05

this guy is one of the best I've ever seen

0:46:050:46:08

in respect of left foot, right foot, pace.

0:46:080:46:11

Still with Cunningham. Oh, he did so well there.

0:46:110:46:13

My team was West Brom, only because of the Three Degrees.

0:46:130:46:16

They were opening new doors for black players, black people,

0:46:160:46:19

to try something new.

0:46:190:46:20

If he can do it, I'm going to have a go.

0:46:200:46:22

From Cyrille Regis...

0:46:220:46:23

To see Cyrille, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson get through,

0:46:230:46:27

you know that it can be done.

0:46:270:46:29

You know it's hard, but you knew that there was people

0:46:290:46:32

that were an exception to the rule.

0:46:320:46:34

If you're good enough, you can get there, as hard as it is.

0:46:340:46:36

The players I've talked to from that era are different to you two.

0:46:360:46:39

Famously, Cyrille had a lot of bananas thrown at him.

0:46:390:46:42

Cyrille picked one up and ate one. In a million, million years,

0:46:420:46:46

I can't imagine you doing that.

0:46:460:46:47

I came rough and raw.

0:46:470:46:49

I was still fighting in car parks at 19, 20, 21 before I got to Palace.

0:46:490:46:54

And all of a sudden, I've gone from a builder

0:46:540:46:56

to a professional footballer and I would get the ball for a throw-in

0:46:560:46:59

and that, and you're getting vitriolic abuse, there to here,

0:46:590:47:02

and you're thinking to yourself, "If I ever saw you..."

0:47:020:47:05

You know what I mean? That's what I'm thinking.

0:47:050:47:08

Whereas Cyrille and all of them lot,

0:47:080:47:11

it was literally like a Martin Luther King.

0:47:110:47:14

-Turn the other cheek.

-But you're not Martin Luther King, then.

0:47:140:47:17

No, I was Malcolm X at them times, you know what I mean?

0:47:170:47:19

I didn't want that to happen to me. I didn't want that.

0:47:190:47:22

Ian and Dion's generation marked the transition from black footballers

0:47:240:47:29

being a shining if beleaguered minority

0:47:290:47:31

to an era when they are merely the norm.

0:47:310:47:34

In 1993, Kick It Out was started to try to tackle racism in football.

0:47:340:47:40

That year, Paul Ince became the first black player

0:47:400:47:43

to captain England.

0:47:430:47:46

By the turn of the century,

0:47:460:47:47

around 10% of professional footballers in England were black

0:47:470:47:51

and black culture became a big part of the game -

0:47:510:47:54

a far cry from 1979 when the FA told Bob Hazell,

0:47:540:47:58

"No, you can't have dreadlocks."

0:47:580:48:01

Now, as the most marketable man on the planet showed,

0:48:010:48:04

you can do what you like with your hair, whatever colour you were.

0:48:040:48:08

So, what about culturally?

0:48:080:48:09

I imagine that white players of that era

0:48:090:48:12

listen to Elton John and Billy Joel and Neil Diamond

0:48:120:48:15

and stuff like that. What were you listening to?

0:48:150:48:17

Did you change anything?

0:48:170:48:18

I was going to the Wag, going to Crazy Larry's, Brown's,

0:48:180:48:22

listening to soul and funk.

0:48:220:48:24

But were you bringing the white boys with you?

0:48:240:48:26

They were following our lead.

0:48:260:48:29

They'd be going, "What's this rubbish?"

0:48:290:48:31

And when you got in their car to go to training,

0:48:310:48:33

they're playing that rubbish in their car.

0:48:330:48:35

So, culturally, you brought new music into the dressing room.

0:48:390:48:42

What about goal celebrations?

0:48:420:48:44

You know what? I think Shearer, Al, he copied one of my celebrations.

0:48:440:48:49

-How did that celebration go?

-I scored a goal and done this dance.

0:48:490:48:53

And I saw Al score a goal where he'd done something,

0:48:560:49:00

where it wasn't his normal five finger,

0:49:000:49:03

right arm up, bent like this.

0:49:030:49:05

He'd done something like...

0:49:050:49:07

-I saw it.

-He tried to copy you?

0:49:070:49:09

When I saw it, I laughed at him. It was only the other day.

0:49:090:49:12

I was like, "Al, I'm sure I saw you do a celebration."

0:49:120:49:15

-"No, I didn't!"

-Did he remember?

-Course he remembered!

0:49:150:49:19

Today, around 30% of professional footballers in Britain are black.

0:49:210:49:25

Many of them are among the brightest stars in the game's galaxy.

0:49:270:49:31

As for racist chanting, if it happens now,

0:49:340:49:38

it tends to make national, even international news.

0:49:380:49:41

So, problem solved?

0:49:410:49:44

Or perhaps not.

0:49:440:49:46

Jason Roberts is Cyrille Regis' nephew.

0:49:460:49:49

Racism sorted?

0:49:490:49:51

Job done?

0:49:510:49:53

Not for Jason. Not a bit of it.

0:49:530:49:55

So, when you started playing,

0:49:550:49:57

the days of monkey chanting were long gone.

0:49:570:50:00

When did you first come across blatant racism?

0:50:000:50:04

One thing that really changed the way it worked

0:50:040:50:06

was Twitter and online and the internet,

0:50:060:50:09

because that was when you were able

0:50:090:50:11

to receive abuse in a very direct way.

0:50:110:50:14

You literally had to look at that.

0:50:140:50:16

On social media, people are emboldened.

0:50:160:50:18

They're in their room by themselves, they're not engaging with you

0:50:180:50:21

and it's much easier to show their true feelings.

0:50:210:50:24

And their true feelings is they tweet me

0:50:240:50:26

and say I'm a fucking nigger or I'm this, or I'm that,

0:50:260:50:28

or my family are this.

0:50:280:50:29

What kind of thing? Don't spare us. What kind of things have you...?

0:50:290:50:32

I mean, black bastard, you know, fucking nigger, whatever it may be.

0:50:320:50:36

-"Go home".

-Yeah, all of that kind of stuff.

0:50:360:50:38

So we have the Twitter terrace, then.

0:50:380:50:40

The racist terrace is on Twitter now.

0:50:400:50:44

Absolutely. It kind of felt like people's feelings,

0:50:440:50:47

they knew they couldn't vent them on match day,

0:50:470:50:49

so they find a way to be able to voice their displeasure at you

0:50:490:50:53

or how they felt about your culture or your race

0:50:530:50:55

on their phones or at their computers at home.

0:50:550:50:57

Did you think that'd gone?

0:50:570:50:58

Did you think that had disappeared from society

0:50:580:51:00

until it came up on Twitter? Because I kind of thought it had.

0:51:000:51:02

I can't believe, still, people are saying it.

0:51:020:51:04

I have to be honest - from the black players' perspective,

0:51:040:51:06

it was somewhat of a unifying experience because all of us

0:51:060:51:09

were going through this thing in front of each other.

0:51:090:51:11

And I think it's sort of told the truth that,

0:51:110:51:13

no matter what you are, whether you were a Premier League footballer

0:51:130:51:16

or a bus driver or a janitor, the fact is,

0:51:160:51:18

you were just a black bastard at the end of the day

0:51:180:51:20

and this was the forum where we all shared that experience.

0:51:200:51:23

No-one's saying things aren't miles better.

0:51:250:51:29

But neither can anyone pretend

0:51:290:51:31

old school racism isn't alive and well on social media.

0:51:310:51:34

And while every other player is black,

0:51:340:51:37

what does it say about the game that such a tiny minority of black men

0:51:370:51:40

are to be found in dugouts or boardrooms?

0:51:400:51:43

Les Ferdinand is director of football at Queens Park Rangers.

0:51:440:51:48

One of the very few black men in such a role in this country.

0:51:480:51:52

To cut straight to the chase, then, a third of the Premier League,

0:51:520:51:54

for example, is black.

0:51:540:51:56

-Mm-hm.

-And none of the managers are, and hardly any of the coaches,

0:51:560:52:00

in the Premier League, really, that I can think of.

0:52:000:52:02

You're about the only black bloke

0:52:020:52:05

in directors boxes all over the country.

0:52:050:52:08

Yeah, in most of them, yeah.

0:52:080:52:10

When I look now, I don't know how many black players

0:52:100:52:12

have tried to get into roles as directors of football.

0:52:120:52:15

I'm not sure there's too many, because perhaps they feel,

0:52:150:52:18

like management, like coaching,

0:52:180:52:21

that...that door won't be open for them.

0:52:210:52:25

And, you know... I was once asked by someone at the FA,

0:52:250:52:28

"Is there a problem with black players believing

0:52:280:52:32

"that they won't get an opportunity to be managers and coaches?"

0:52:320:52:36

And I said, "The mere fact you're asking me that question,

0:52:360:52:38

"you know there's a problem."

0:52:380:52:40

So he said, "Well, this is what we're trying to change."

0:52:410:52:44

And that was in...1998.

0:52:440:52:49

Hardly anything's changed.

0:52:520:52:54

Exactly. And we're now in 2016.

0:52:540:52:56

So, what's it going to take?

0:52:570:52:59

We won't be able to change boardrooms now.

0:52:590:53:01

Don't matter how many programmes we do.

0:53:010:53:03

We ain't going to be able to change boardrooms now.

0:53:030:53:05

It's years down the line that this is going to happen,

0:53:050:53:07

this is where the change is going to take place.

0:53:070:53:09

You can do as many of these documentaries as you like.

0:53:090:53:12

You ain't changing that.

0:53:120:53:13

You ain't changing what's in people's heads right now.

0:53:130:53:16

My journey back into the weirdly monochrome world

0:53:220:53:25

of 1979's whites versus blacks match is nearly at an end.

0:53:250:53:30

Ever since I was a little kid...

0:53:350:53:38

empty football grounds, obviously especially this one,

0:53:380:53:41

absolutely transfixed me.

0:53:410:53:44

It's like you can smell, you can feel

0:53:440:53:48

the joys and horrors of all the years.

0:53:480:53:51

I just get slightly overwhelmed.

0:53:510:53:53

It's particularly moving today,

0:53:530:53:54

because having become slightly obsessed

0:53:540:53:57

with this testimonial we've been talking about,

0:53:570:53:59

black versus white, we're having a bit of a reunion.

0:53:590:54:02

We've tried to get hold of as many players who were here that day

0:54:020:54:05

to come along and some of the supporters, too.

0:54:050:54:08

I can't wait to see who turns up.

0:54:080:54:11

'First to arrive are Cyrille and Brendan.'

0:54:140:54:16

Hello, how you doing?

0:54:160:54:19

-All right.

-Better for seeing you.

-Nice to see you.

0:54:190:54:21

What do you feel when you're here?

0:54:210:54:22

Look at the pitch, you know, you get itchy feet.

0:54:220:54:26

I do, anyway.

0:54:260:54:27

'Then Tony "Bomber" Brown and Ally Robertson.'

0:54:270:54:30

Big man!

0:54:320:54:35

You all right?

0:54:350:54:36

'Next, Vernon Hodgson.'

0:54:360:54:37

It's the fourth Degree.

0:54:370:54:39

-Vernon, how are you, mate?

-Nice to see you.

0:54:410:54:43

'Ian Benjamin and Stuart Phillips.'

0:54:450:54:47

Just this, look. Here you are, on here.

0:54:490:54:51

You just, you look so sort of...

0:54:510:54:53

If you actually looked closer to that...

0:54:530:54:56

-Yeah?

-..I am looking down at Cyrille and Laurie Cunningham and thinking,

0:54:560:54:59

"What the hell am I doing here?"

0:54:590:55:01

-Is that right?

-It was just amazing to be there.

0:55:010:55:05

Hello, mate. How you doing?

0:55:050:55:07

'Herville Hector turns up to represent the black fans.'

0:55:070:55:10

'And finally, Laurie Rampling, Albion's photographer.'

0:55:110:55:14

And to thank them for turning up at this little reunion,

0:55:220:55:25

'I've a little something for them.'

0:55:250:55:28

Here, you are.

0:55:280:55:29

I've just got something to show you on here, if you...

0:55:290:55:32

'I've got hold of some news footage from the match that day.

0:55:320:55:35

'Suspecting, rightly, as it turns out,

0:55:350:55:37

'that none of them have seen it before.'

0:55:370:55:39

OK, everyone, have a look at this.

0:55:390:55:42

-NEWSREADER:

-'The black players have been mustered

0:55:420:55:45

'from seven different English League clubs.'

0:55:450:55:47

Ten years ago, you'd have been lucky to find half a dozen throughout the country.

0:55:470:55:50

But, today, they feature in such unlikely sides as Hereford United.

0:55:500:55:55

Albion's Len Cantello was celebrating ten years with the club,

0:55:550:55:58

and had in his line-up old favourites like Johnny Giles.

0:55:580:56:01

But, as we were to discover,

0:56:010:56:02

the collective skills of the All Blacks proved too much on the night.

0:56:020:56:05

Cunningham opened the scoring. A neat shot from 20 yards.

0:56:070:56:11

-There you go!

-Hooray!

0:56:140:56:16

'Cantello's XI took the lead, but Garth Crooks levelled the score.'

0:56:190:56:22

It had been an entertaining night and when it looked as if the game

0:56:270:56:30

would end in a draw, Stuart Phillips of Hereford United made it 3-2.

0:56:300:56:34

The innovation had proved attractive to the 7,000 who'd turned up

0:56:370:56:40

and had given an insight into the deepening reservoir

0:56:400:56:43

of black talent within the English game.

0:56:430:56:45

That was fantastic. I'd never seen that footage.

0:56:450:56:48

Just a feeling, speaking personally, I just had a feeling,

0:56:480:56:51

this is special. It's unique.

0:56:510:56:54

-Have you seen that, Cyrille?

-No, it's the first time.

0:56:540:56:57

A bit of history like that,

0:56:570:57:00

-it's fantastic.

-Have you seen that before?

0:57:000:57:02

-No, never seen that before.

-Must be strange.

0:57:020:57:05

Don't know at the time that it was going to be something,

0:57:050:57:07

like, so important.

0:57:070:57:10

I just basically turned up with my boots.

0:57:100:57:13

I think it's only now, just looking back,

0:57:130:57:15

on the occasion that I realise the importance of it.

0:57:150:57:19

What I recollect, Adrian, actually, after all these years in the game,

0:57:190:57:24

before the game, in the dressing room, we were told to let them win.

0:57:240:57:28

LAUGHTER

0:57:280:57:33

Only joking!

0:57:330:57:35

'So the black team got the victory they wanted...'

0:57:410:57:43

Oh, you hear the creaks!

0:57:430:57:46

'..And Laurie gets another memorable picture for his archive.'

0:57:460:57:51

That's it, job done. Got them together.

0:57:530:57:55

I tell you what I won't miss, fascinating though this has been,

0:57:550:57:58

I'm sick of talking about people in terms of whites and blacks.

0:57:580:58:01

So I don't have to do that now for a while.

0:58:010:58:03

There are reasons to believe there will be a happy ending

0:58:050:58:08

'to the story of black footballers in Britain,

0:58:080:58:10

'even if we are further away from it than I thought.'

0:58:100:58:13

'Football can often feel way behind the rest of society.

0:58:140:58:18

'On days like today, though,

0:58:180:58:19

'it feels like it may actually always have been a few steps ahead.'

0:58:190:58:23

LAUGHTER

0:58:230:58:25

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