MY HEROES WILL CHANGE WORLD

Southgate says black England stars make a real difference

ENGLAND manager Gareth Southgate is backing his band of BAME stars to change the world.

Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Tyrone Mings and Jadon Sancho have all taken a stand against racism as the Black Lives Matter movement accelerates.

On BBC’s Newsnight, Manchester City’s Sterling spoke eloquently about the lack of BAME representation at management and FA boardroom level.

And Southgate, whose players came close to walking off after black players were subjected to racial taunts by fans in Bulgaria last year, believes his players possess the will and tenacity to make a lasting change.

‘It’s important they recognise that they shouldn’t just sit back and be happy to be players, they can make a difference, they recognised the journeys in their own lives that they have been through,’ the England boss said. ‘They see other kids in those areas where they grew up, the chance to make a difference for them, so it definitely is an area that will add to the

team. It’s important people speak out. A lot was said about our night in Bulgaria, I come back to the Bulgarian player (Ivelin Popov) who went over and confronted his own fans. ‘That is the sort of powerful, uncomfortable but quite brave move that needs to happen across the board. ‘I do feel there is a moment for change but I’m also conscious that we’ve kind of been here before. But there are generations of people now who are saying, “Hang on a second, we’ve lived through this, I’ve seen my kids live through this, I’m not prepared to see my grandkids live through this”.’