I’ll never forget my first game at White Hart Lane. As I walked to the stadium, my hand in my father’s, I could feel the crowd swelling around me, the language as colourful as the sea of flags swimming in the air. This was a world detached from everyday reality. The environment was electric. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I was terrified and exhilarated at the same time.
When I reached the stands, I saw my heroes for the first time in the flesh. As a young boy, watching Tottenham play was a chance to see myself in something that I could never find in TV or books. Garth Crooks, a young black English centre-forward, played alongside Argentinian players Ossie Ardiles and Ricardo Villa. My parents came to the UK from Guyana, a black-majority country on the South American coast; this was representation like nothing I’d experienced before.
Crooks was an idol for young supporters like me. He was the forward in a Spurs team that won back-to-back FA Cups and a European trophy. But behind the glory, Crooks experienced such rampant abuse that he couldn’t talk about it. For so many black people like me who worshipped the game, football has always been a world of paradoxes. A New Formation explores these paradoxes and complexities in the stories of black footballers in Britain. A mixture of interviews and analysis by authors such as Musa Okwonga and sports broadcaster Jeanette Kwakye MBE, collated by editor and writer Calum Jacobs, it delves deep into the lives of these individuals as well as the trials and tribulations of what it means to be black in the beautiful game. It does not aim to explain these lives solely through the lens of racism, but instead tells multifaceted stories of individuals who lived lives of both triumph and torment. It is not a story of despair. It is a story of struggle.
Take the life of Justin Fashanu, thoughtfully analysed by Okwonga in the second chapter. Fashanu became Britain’s first £1m black footballer when he signed for Nottingham Forest, who had won the European Cup the year previously. In 1990, he became the first, and only, professional English footballer to publicly come out. But the backlash that stuck wasn’t the jokes from his fellow players. It was the way that the tabloids dragged the story through the dirt. Tony Sewell, who would go on to release a report denying the existence of institutional racism in the UK, wrote in response to Fashanu coming out: “We heteros are sick and tired of tortured queens playing hide and seek around their closets. Homosexuals are the greatest queer-bashers around. No other group of people are so preoccupied with making their own sexuality look dirty.” Fashanu’s life ended tragically in suicide and there has still not been a black professional footballer who has come out since.
Although elements of overt racism still occur, some of the abuse that fans and players experienced in the era of the dark old days has gradually faded thanks to several factors, including the modernisation of stadiums and the exceptional work of activists, former footballers and pressure groups such as Show Racism the Red Card. But as Jacobs rightly identifies: “This fixation on the obviously racist hooligan obscured the more nuanced and complex forms of racist expression that permeated British football.” It is the manifestation of subtle forms of abuse, through the words of the media and often those involved in the game, that seeps into the population and social media.
This is well reflected in the final chapter, which focuses on the life of Raheem Sterling and is written by Jacobs himself. Sterling was born in Jamaica but moved to Neasden, in London, at the age of five. The winger broke into the Liverpool first XI quickly, becoming a regular starter and England international at the age of just 17. But in these early years of his career, the tabloids constantly criticised Sterling’s personal life, becoming overtly racist when the Sun ran the infamous headline “Prem rat of the Caribbean” on its front page. Acutely aware of the backlash many face when speaking out, Sterling’s decision to push back against those who had sought to bring him down by shining a spotlight on the abuse that he and other black players have experienced showed true bravery. Unafraid to combine the pride of his ancestral history with his reputation in British society, Sterling has immeasurably changed the lives of those inspired by his courage by bending the arc of history in the right direction.
Sterling’s story reflects a theme that runs throughout this powerful book. Black players have their lives picked apart in ways that simply do not exist for their white counterparts. Demba Ba, for instance, whose award-winning performances and exceptional goal-scoring record at Newcastle earned him a move to Chelsea, was described as “sluggish” by his own manager due to fasting during the month of Ramadan. Whether they like it or not, black players have scrutiny thrust upon them.
The experiences of black footballers are nuanced and varied. By ignoring the rich complexity of black British society, our institutions and leaders constantly cast black people as a monolith; the policies of our government and the words in our newspapers reflect this. A New Formation powerfully pushes back against this narrative by exploring the lives of black women, black Muslims and the black LGBTQ+ community, all within the context of football. There are many factors that bind these groups together but also important stories that need to be heard and understood individually and on a personal level.
Each tale brings with it a sense of optimism that things will be better for the successors of these players. Anita Asante, a Champions League-winning defender at Arsenal, describes her hope that “the younger generation now feel more empowered” and that they have the self-confidence to achieve their goals by merit. However, change does not come about through hope alone. There is a common understanding among these players that they are blazing a trail, but with this leadership comes responsibility. Many have no choice but to be a role model; by being successful and black, you have already become one.
In my lifetime, I have seen the success of black footballers from Archway-born Real Madrid forward Laurie Cunningham to GB star and pundit Alex Scott. Times have changed. New heroes have been born. A New Formation tells the stories of these legends in their own words on their own terms. This is cultural expression, social history and black pride at its finest.
• David Lammy is the MP for Tottenham and author of Tribes
• A New Formation: How Black Footballers Shaped the Modern Game, edited by Calum Jacobs, is published by Cornerstone (£16.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply
