Myah Walters caused something of a stir when she took a copy of her grandfather’s autobiography Wingin’ It in to her school for her teacher to read to her class mates during Black History Month last October.
Being told about the contributions which prominent figures like Dr Paul Stephenson, Dame Malorie Blackman, Lubaina Himid, William Robinson Clarke and Mary Seacole have made to British society proved to be fascinating for them.
So, too, was learning about the civil rights movement in the United States, the Bristol bus boycott and the Windrush generation during the annual awareness-raising event.
But hearing about the shocking abuse which Mark Walters was subjected to by opposition supporters in Scotland – and even a few fans of his own team - after he joined Rangers from Aston Villa on New Year’s Eve back in 1987 left them shaking their heads in disbelief.
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“My granddaughter and her friends couldn't believe those things had actually happened to me,” said the former winger earlier this week. “There is still work to do in the battle against racism in football, but it is a lot better now than it was for sure.”
The Rangers players who will take to the field for the William Hill Premiership match against Celtic at Parkhead tomorrow afternoon are guaranteed to receive a hostile welcome from the 58,000-strong home support.
There will be no away fans inside the ground and emotions are currently running high in the wake of the humiliating 3-0 defeat that Martin O’Neill’s team suffered at the hands of Derek McInnes’s side in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final at Ibrox last weekend.
Yet, Dujon Sterling, Olewethu Makhanya, Emmanuel Fernandez, Kim Min-Su, Djeidi Gassama and Badredine Bouanani will not have to endure what their famous predecessor did when he made his debut for Rangers in the East End of Glasgow a couple of days after he arrived in this country if they feature.
The £500,000 acquisition, who was just 23 at the time, had monkey noises aimed in his direction by a small number of Celtic supporters whenever he received the ball during the 2-0 loss his side suffered. Shamefully, bananas and other pieces of fruit were thrown at him from the stands as he broke down the wing.
Walters, the first black footballer to play for the Govan club in their entire history, took it all in his stride. He would go on to enjoy an enormously successful and trophy-laden three-and-a-half year spell before departing for Liverpool. The classy, technically-gifted, agile wide man is remembered fondly by their followers to this day.
But penning his memoirs – which are being re-released in paperback this month – forced him to reflect on what he went through during that less enlightened era and made him appreciate just how much British football and society has changed for the better in the decades since despite the issues which still exist in certain quarters.
“It was really interesting writing my book actually,” he said. “There were a lot of issues and incidents which I think, looking back, I suppressed at the time. Going over them again was really, really interesting. It was very cathartic for me.
“I even found out a few things I didn’t know – like why it took so long for the game to restart after half-time when I made my Rangers debut in the Old Firm game against Celtic. Instead of having the traditional 10 minutes, it was 20. I didn’t know why.
“It was because they were clearing up all of the fruit and debris that had been thrown at me on the pitch. I honestly didn't realise it at the time, I just thought it was a thing up in Scotland. As the old saying goes, the first one over the hill takes all the arrows. It was definitely scary at the time.
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“But Graeme Souness, my manager, was especially helpful. He warned me what was going to happen beforehand. He said, ‘Forewarned, forearmed’. But I didn't expect it on the scale I got it. It had happened a little bit in England before that, but not on that level. But it helped me knowing it was coming. I took it on the chin.
“I never thought that it would affect me because of my upbringing. My mother is Jamaican, went to church a lot, was very proud of her background. So I was never embarrassed or ashamed that I had a West Indian heritage.
“That always helped me to deal with anybody who thought they were better than me. I knew they weren't. If anything, the opposite was the case.
“We had some great characters in the dressing room at that time, guys like Ian Durrant, Derek Ferguson, Ally McCoist. All the lads helped me through it too. They took me out, made me feel really welcome, did things to make me feel at home. I appreciated that at the time and I still do frankly.”
Walters has been an inspiration - as his own hero Cyrille Regis, the former West Bromwich Albion, Coventry City and England forward, was for him when he was growing up in Birmingham during the 1970s – for many players of a black and ethnic minority background who came after him.
His decision, though, to follow his compatriots Terry Butcher, Trevor Francis, Graham Roberts, Ray Wilkins and Chris Woods north of the border and become part of the Souness Revolution at Ibrox was purely a sporting one.
“I was just doing what I thought would help my career,” he said. “I had loved playing for Aston Villa, but English clubs had been banned from Europe following the Heysel Disaster. I had been involved in continental competition and realised that if I moved to Scotland I could do it again.
“So that is the reason I even gave it a chance. As one door closed another one opened. I never saw myself as a trailblazer as such, I just saw myself as someone who was trying to further his career. But the best thing I ever did was move to Rangers and join Souness. I really enjoyed it.
“We had some of the best players in Britain, in the world even, at that time. There was a real feelgood factor. On top of all that, the fans were absolutely immense, especially to me.
“They obviously knew that I was having a hard time with all the stick I was getting. They took to me because of that as much as anything else. It was a really good time, a great time, to be up there.
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“My family had initially been a bit sceptical about me joining Rangers. But once they came up and saw how well the club looked after them and saw how fantastic everything was they were happy I'd made the move.”
Walters’ late mother Ivy – who brought him up herself after his father, the former Nigerian internationalist Lawrence Wabara, walked out on his family when he was young – arrived in England from Jamaica during the late 1950s.
She only avoided getting caught up in the Windrush scandal, which saw many people of the Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom threatened with deportation as a result of the “hostile environment” immigration policy Theresa May brought in during her time as Home Secretary, because she had the documentation which proved she had the right to live and work here.
Her son has been saddened to see the animosity which has been aimed at hard-working and law-abiding migrants in recent years as a consequence of the reckless rhetoric that is voiced by many far right politicians and activists. He witnessed just how much his mother and many others from the same background contributed to the country they made their home.
“My mum was invited over here to work for West Midlands Transport which she did,” he said. “It was her intention to go back to Jamaica after a few years, but she enjoyed being here and decided to stay. That was quite common at the time.
“Immigration is a difficult subject. I can understand why a lot of people aren't happy with people who are coming here illegally. I don’t agree with that. They are creating problems for themselves as much as anything because it is very dangerous thing to do. But, at the same time, they are looking for a better future for themselves.
“A lot of people don't see the full story. As a second generation immigrant if you like, I understand the problems my own parents had. Not necessarily getting here, but what they had to deal with in their own country.
"I think that people who come here legally should be made to feel welcome, if they have been invited to work here as nurses and doctors especially. Coming from my background means you want to help if you can, you want to do things well, you want people to be proud of you.
“I never really regarded myself as a role model, but because I was in the public eye during my football career I think that some people saw me like that. I always wanted to set a good example.
“I have children and a grandchild myself now and I have always wanted to make them feel proud of me as well. All those things definitely add up. You want to be an asset to society as opposed to the opposite of that.”
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Walters was certainly a major asset to Rangers. He helped them to win the first three Premier Division titles of their Nine-In-A-Row run and lift the League Cup twice. He is pleased to see his old club enjoy a real resurgence under new manager Derek McInnes in the last few weeks and is optimistic about what the future holds.
“Once you've played for Rangers it's part of your DNA,” he said. “I have always looked out for their results since I left and have tried to get up whenever possible. I have been pretty disappointed with how things have gone in the last few years.
“When they beat Celtic on Sunday there was nobody happier than me. I had taken to turning my phone off during the Old Firm games in the past because we never seemed to get a result and I would always get stick. But last week my phone was well and truly on. I was ringing up a few people who'd been giving me a hard time over the last few years.
“I think Derek knows what's expected at Rangers, no doubt about that. He knows just how important challenging for the top honours is not only to the fans but for the club itself.
“The fact they haven't won the league for so many years will be disappointing to him as well as many others. Hopefully, there's a bit of stability there now and he can get the club back up to where it belongs, which is winning the league. Second place is no good to us.”
Wingin’ It made quite an impact when it was first published eight years ago and not just for the author’s honest and uncompromising account of the racism which he suffered after he had signed for Rangers either.
He revealed that a team mate in his Dunlop Terriers youth side had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of their paedophile coach Ted Langford – who was jailed for three years in 2007 and died in 2012 - when he was a boy.
“I definitely saw things that I knew weren’t right,” he said. “It transpired the coach was taking advantage of the children. Fortunately for me, he didn't cross my path. I think these people know who to mess around with, know who the vulnerable kids are, know who the ones are who have problems at home.
“I was lucky because my home life was quite stable. Unfortunately, the lad who he interfered with didn't have the same stable background and he was able to take advantage of him.
“I asked the boy's permission when I was writing the book. He didn't want his name to be used, but he's subsequently come out and told his story. If writing about what happened prevents even one person from going through the same thing then it is job done for me.”
The Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers at Parkhead tomorrow afternoon will pass off without the repeat of any of the horrible incidents which marred Mark Walters’ debut nearly 40 years ago – but his story remains as inspiring and important now as it has ever been.
Wingin’ It: The Mark Walters Story by Mark Walters and Jeff Holmes is published by Pitch Publishing and is available to buy for £16.99 now. Signed copies are available from jeffholmes.co.uk
