Pioneering black footballers who endured the worst excesses of racism recall their traumatic experiences in a newly-released landmark film.
League Two AFC Wimbledon have produced a moving feature-length film to showcase their black players, staff and fans who followed in the footsteps of the Windrush generation. Released to coincide with Black History Month, the harrowing documentary features some of the first black footballers to play for the Dons and revisits the ignorance and racial intolerance they encountered.
In Black, Yellow and Blue, former Dons winger Barry James weeps as he remembers constant racial abuse from one of his opponents in a CHARITY match. James said: “I did get abuse from players I played against – one in particular I'll never forget because it was in a charity match for Ted Drake, the old Arsenal legend.
“We were playing at Motspur Park against a TV commentators team, with a lot of well-known commentators taking part in that game. I was on the right wing and back in those days I was known as the 'Black Flash' – and that in itself was an oxymoron because I was quick.
“Their left-back was marking me, and when I went past him he kept repeating the same insult over and over - 'Come on, you black b ** , f ** try to get past me’.
"It wore me down and in the end I just turned round and hit him. I got sent off for it, and I kind of regret it, but in a way I didn't. I just had to show him I wasn’t going to take it.”
Other players talk about bananas being thrown at them from the terraces and a constant tirade of insults. In one game, a spectator even ran on to the pitch so he could hit one of the black players.
Striker Francis Joseph, who played for Wimbledon, Brentford and Reading, suffered torrid abuse at The Den playing for the Bees. Now 62, Joseph said: “I remember playing for Brentford against Millwall at The Den – George Graham was their manager at the time – we beat them 2-1 and I scored both our goals.
“After the first goal I've gone to the crowd (blows a kiss)... what a mistake! Everybody rushed to the front of the terrace, shaking the fence and going, 'You black b ** ! I'm going to kill you!' And you think, 'What did I do?'
“When I got the second goal, I just ran back to the halfway line, but one of our players, Paul Roberts – who had played for Millwall the season before – he made (a gesture) to the crowd and one supporter came on to the pitch and punched him.
“On the final whistle, everyone was sprinting for the tunnel. Very, very disturbing, Millwall. Always was.”
The 67-minute film was screened at a premiere before an invited audience at the Cherry Red Records stadium in Plough Lane on Thursday. To watch the film in full, head to AFC Wimbledon TV's YouTube channel.
