First black player for England not a ‘trailblazer’
VIV Anderson never saw himself as a ‘trailblazer’ when he became the first black player to earn a full senior England international cap 40 years ago.
A telegram from the Queen, and another from Elton John, were both sent to the then 22-year-old Nottingham Forest defender to mark the occasion on November 29, 1978.
But four decades on, former United ace Anderson feels football still has a long way to go to help BAME (Black, Asian, and minority ethnic) coaches get over ‘the next hurdle’.
Anderson was called up by England manager Ron Greenwood for the game against Czechoslovakia at Wembley, which put the young defender firmly in the spotlight.
The significance of the occasion, though, was the furthest thing from his mind at the time.
“I was just a young black kid who wanted to play football, that was it. Trailblazer, or whatever, it never entered my head for one second, even with all the publicity we had beforehand,” Anderson said.
“The only thing at the forefront of my mind was the match – make sure you have a first touch, the first header is a good one, all the basic things. Everything else on the periphery went over my head.”
Anderson went on to be part of England’s 1980 European Championship squad, the only black player included, and again at the World Cup in Spain, before winger John Barnes joined him for Mexico ‘86.
He hopes it will not be such a long wait for a BAME coach to be given a chance in the England hotseat.
“Young black kids wanted to see Clyde Best, to be like him, other kids like Rio (Ferdinand) said they wanted to be like Viv Anderson. Now on the management side there is very few to chose from, so that is the next hurdle,” he said.