Podcast: Black Pioneers of the Football League

Our guests are Bill Hern and David Gleave as they discuss the experience of the first black professionals at each of the 92 league clubs in England and Wales. Their new book Football’s Black Pioneers charts the story of black footballers right from the first professional, Arthur Wharton.

The authors have spoken to some big names in putting their book together, including Viv Anderson and Chris Kamara, as well as the families of many of the players featured. We discuss key moments, such as the selection – then dropping – of Jack Leslie from the England team in 1925, apparently due to the colour of his skin. We also look at what needs to be done to make management far more accessible to black players.

You can learn more over on the Football’s Black Pioneers blog and get hold of the book over at the publisher’s website, Conker Editions.

We release a new podcast every Monday, so be sure to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform. We’re on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Player.FM and Anchor. Look for us in Google Podcasts too. We’d really appreciate a rating or view if you like what we’re doing as it helps others discover our podcast.