Kerry Davis, England’s first-ever black player, has been inducted into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame.
Davis, 60, made her international debut in 1982 for the Lionesses, becoming the first black player to represent her country. Across a 16-year international career, the ex-forward won 82 caps and scored an impressive 44 goals.
Kerry was inducted into the Hall of Fame during the final day of the museum's Football Writing Festival.
Her inclusion received a unanimous vote from judges who recognised her successes as a ground-breaking pioneer in English football and laying the foundations for a more ethnically diverse sporting future.
On her induction, Davis said: “I’m feeling very proud to be inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame. It was a lovely surprise and a great feeling. I feel really honoured to be in there amongst some of the biggest and most important names in football.”
The recognition comes at a time when the England women’s team is facing a reckoning over a long standing lack of representation for black, Asian or mixed heritage players in comparison to the men’s side.
In the summer’s triumphant European Championship, just three players of Black or mixed heritage comprised Sarina Wiegman’s 23-player squad - Nikita Parris, Demi Stokes and Jess Carter -, with 21 minutes of football played between them.
Wiegman admitted earlier this week that she “would love to see more black players" in her team. The comments arrived in response to the backlash surrounding Arsenal and England star Beth Mead 's comments in an interview with The Guardian, in which the forward said the lack of diversity in the squad was “completely coincidental".
Tim Desmond, Chief Executive of the National Football Museum, said of Davis' induction: “In 2019 we relaunched the National Football Museum Hall of Fame to be more representative of our women footballers both past and present.
"As the museum researched the stories around the women’s game for our exhibitions and programmes, more and more legends have come to the fore. We are delighted now to induct Kerry into the Hall of Fame; she is truly a pioneer and now takes her rightful place amongst the greats of both the women’s and the men’s game.”
Among many international accolades, Kerry helped England win the Mundialito tournament in Italy in 1985 and netted for England at Wembley Stadium. She featured in the Lionesses’ inaugural 1984 UEFA Championships final and formed the ranks of the England squad that made a first FIFA Women’s World Cup appearance in 1995.
Davis began her football journey at club level in Stoke-on-Trent, playing for Crewe Alexandra Ladies as a 23-year-old student, before Italian club Roi Lazio swooped her up in November 1985. Davis spent the next four years playing semi-professionally with Roi Lazio, Trani and Napoli.
Davis eventually returned to her roots at Crewe Alexandra, yet by April 1994 she featured for Knowsley United Women in the FA Women's Cup final. Knowsley became Liverpool Ladies that summer and Davis left for Croydon Women in December 1994.
Davis' induction sees her joined star-studded company, most recently Carol Thomas, Walter Tull, Paul Ince and Terry Butcher.F
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