BEFORE LAURIE & VIV, THERE WAS SCHOOLBOY BEN
Clough inspired him. Anderson – at Barnsley – and former Lincoln boss Keith Alexander were the first two, 25 years ago.
“The feeling at the time was it could be the start of a new revolution,” Anderson added.
“Twenty-five years on, we still haven’t made any progress. So clearly the stereotype is ‘ they can play football but they can’t manage.’ We’ve got to get over that. Black kids have got to have role models in management, just as I had on the playing side with Clyde Best all those years ago.
“Chris Hughton is doing a terrific job at Brighton. The same goes for Darren Moore at West Brom. But all these years later there should be more.
“It’s a crying shame that Rio Ferdinand, Paul Ince, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke and so many others are not involved.
“Look at the level they played at. The wealth of knowledge they picked up. They played in cup finals, European Cups, won titles. It is such a waste.
“Sol Campbell is working with the Under-21s but that should have been done years and years ago.
“Instead you have so many black ex-pros thinking, ‘What’s the point of doing my badges when I am never going to get a job?
“It’s up to the owners and people who are running clubs to provide those opportunities.” HE was the forgotten striker who made it into the history books for England, even before Viv Anderson and Laurie Cunningham.
Ben Odeje was a south-east London schoolboy when he became the first black player to appear at any level for the Three Lions in 1971. He made his debut against Northern Ireland schoolboys in front of 70,000 fans, helping England to a 1-0 win.
Six years later, Cunningham would famously wear the shirt for the Under-21s while Anderson would make his debut for the seniors in 1978. Odeje is now recognised as the man who actually blazed the trail. The records have been amended to mark his achievement.
“I think people forgot me because Viv made his debut for the senior team,” he said. “I understand that. But I am proud to have broken the mould.
“I do feel disappointed my achievement hasn’t been highlighted like the rest of them. It hurts that I did what I did and yet people don’t know who I am.
“When my children were young at school, they’d say, ‘My dad did something really good, he was the first black footballer to play for England’.
“But people would laugh and ask why they were telling such lies. Because it wasn’t on Google. We tried to find it. It wasn’t on YouTube until five years ago.”
Nigerian-born Odeje went on to represent England in five schoolboy internationals but not before being mysteriously dropped after making an impressive debut. “I’d been made man of the match,” he added. “One of our coaches resigned when they wouldn’t give him an explanation. Later, though, I was recalled and played a few times more.”