One positive that has been passed on to our generation of 'sporting-celebrities' is that we have a premiere league that employs without prejudice and seems to pay their stars with just as little bias. We are even starting to see managers who are... erm...how do I put this....Oh whatever the p.c. term of today is, for a "black man".

I hate to keep having to make this distinction and it just goes to show how far we haven't come. But why are we still so awkward, when it comes to the simple subject of black and white? After all this time, surely we should see one another as equals and no different to our white-cousins in Europe.

Truth be known, I am not one that pays attention to the colour of someones skin. We are all products of our environment, but under the surface we are nothing more than human beings. We all have ass-holes no matter what part of the world you are from and that is what I judge someone on.
Hold on... that sounds bad... I don't want to check you ass-hole... I'm not like that...Oh god now I'm offending the Homos....

Lets just get on with the story, shall we...?

West Bromwich Albion Football Club.

Team photo, before the charity match.

Now before you start to try and make sense of all this and possibly fall into the usual traps, I want you to think about why a match was, willingly, organised between the light-skinned players and the dark-skinned players of the same team...
Now I need say no more, other than this was a charity-match, probably for some figure-head of the club who had passed away. I could look it up and sound all factual, but it really doesn't matter... What does matter is what had happened in the years previous, what it meant to those who played in the game and how it was that West Brom' F.C. had enough black players to field a whole team... Considering that the number of top-flight footballers who were dark of skin was still just a handful, it appears that we could be getting the wrong message out of all this...

Now I'm treading on thin ice... Maybe it would be better for me to rewind and explain what had gone on in the years before this infamous match.

source

The immigrants are named after the Empire Windrush, one of the first ships to bring Caribbean migrants to Britain in 1948.This was when Commonwealth citizens were invited to fill labour shortages and help rebuild the economy after World War Two.
According to Britain’s National Archives, almost half a million people left their homes in the West Indies to live in Britain between 1948 and 1970.
source

Under Tyndall's leadership, it capitalised on growing concern regarding Asian migration to Britain, rapidly increasing its membership and vote share in urban areas of East London and Northern England. Its public profile was raised through street marches and rallies, which often resulted in clashes with anti-fascist protesters, most notably the 1974 Red Lion Square disorders and the 1977 Battle of Lewisham. In 1982, Tyndall left the National Front to form his own British National Party (BNP).
source

Now, I am going to cut a long story short here and offer you all my theory on what was really happening.

In the 12 years between the NF's conception to 1979, this divisive group have, and still are today, keeping the country divided and diverting our attention away from the real issues. As you have just read in the statement above, the NF were attacking the Asian community and not those who had already settled here after the Windrush docked. Maybe that is because there was no real sentiment of anger between our two races. Strong insults may have still been traded, but the arguments were ones had by all men and women. Regardless of colour and faith, most arguments between people will inevitably descend into verbal insults, or at least a conversation that is spited with a few mean observations, ie

"Boris! Stop giving away control of our military, you floppy haired pudding..."

Let's leave Boris to it and get back to the point I was making in the first place.

By the time West Bromwich Albion Football Club had decided to host a match between it dark-skinned players and their white teammates, relations had moved forward a lot more than you are led to believe. These good relations between the separate cultures of the 70's was widely a result of football clubs accepting "black footballers". Football was a huge social gateway and being talented at this game gave folks instant respect. As this eventually filtered through society it was discovered, to some peoples absolute amazement, that dark-skinned men and women were just like us white folk... and they even enjoyed similar activities...
Well who would have thunk that, eh?

"In the morning they were saying they didn't want a "Wog" on their team and by the end of the day they were shaking my hand..."

Quoted from the documentary "Whites vs Blacks How Football changed a nation

This adolescent friendship was certainly bad for business over at NF HQ and I think this is one reason why they set their targets on the Asian community. Britain had a new influx of migrant workers, mainly from India and Pakistan. I remember hearing many jokes about corner shops in the 80's, and as amusing as these jokes were, I also had very good friends who were the butt of these jibes.

If you know anything about the people of the UK, you will know we are renowned for our sense humour. This is quite a generalisation to make, but in some ways it is true. Having jokes made about you or your community is almost a right of passage and I know we laugh at ourselves just as heartily. I have witnessed thousands of incidents where racial slurs have been uttered and this has been from all sides too. I have worked with almost every race there is during my career as a mechanic and I can confirm that they are actually not that much different from us "whiteys"...
While words have been exchanged, I have NEVER witnessed anyone saying that they want to hurt someone, strictly because of their skin colour. I am not saying that is doesn't happen, I am just saying that this mind-frame is only held by the minority. I can only assume that this is the same for other cultures. I have my own views on the lifestyles of those I have worked with and some I can say that I didn't agree with.But when you work in a close group you learn that subjects like this cannot be ignored and sooner or later our differences need to be discussed.
But please, I want you to go back and read that last sentence again. Just this time, try to say it in a hopeful way.

😍"Our differences need to be discussed"😍

Humans do not have instincts for war and destruction, greedy people do. You could say that it just boils down to them protecting their own family fortunes, which would be some form of survival instinct, however warped.

So being in a minority, like the NF were in 1979, they had to fight with cunning. In the documentary I will share with you all, at the end of this post, you will hear a member of the NF admit that the small number of racists would go to the stores and buy bananas, by the box-load. Then the NF foot-soldiers would stand at the gates of the ground, handing the fruit to the supporters going into the ground.
I will remind folk that the manipulation of mankind has been studied more than any other subject on the planet, which means groups like the NF know exactly how to get pleasant-folk doing things they never would normally do
(WWI uncovered this basic instinct & WWII perfected it. After the war was over, this mind-fuckery was utilised by capitalist and rather than wanting to stick a bayonet through a strangers face, our instinctive urges were concentrated on the ever-absorbent consumer lifestyle) .

"I would just like to tell you that not all of us shared the opinions of this minority who were giving you stick(English slang for verbal abuse). I am not coloured of foreign in any way. Take no notice of any crowds and answer their jeers with skill..."

Now before I lose your attention to the kisses of a loving partner, time with the kids or maybe even smoke from the oven, (if you have been that entertained) please just take a moment to digest the next two statements, made by the players who helped their team win on this most incredible day. I hope these statements serve as message to all of us, that there is no rule book to learning how to get along with others. When two communities are suddenly thrust together, without full disclosure of the truth, the people directly effected then begin to work things out for themselves and the natural process of this can appear to be almost child-like.

Exactly why this football match came to be will never be known for sure,maybe it was supposed to fan the flames of segregation, I suppose somebody must know...
Whatever the intent may be, it only served to prove a positive and help bring "Blacks" and "Whites" closer together.

Interviewer: "So, when you look at that picture, what do you remember feeling at the time?"

I was going to end this post on the quotes I have just mentioned and then ask you to join me in part two, where I will discuss the dynamics of what must have taken place during the match. Things, such as...

• Did the "Blacks" have a group of supporters on the day?

• Where they heading for a ambush, by the NF supporters, if they did attend?

• Did the crowd cheer and shout racial chants on the day?

• Was the game played in good spirit?

• And how did the crowd react to the result??!!

... But instead of simply feeding you the information, I will ask you all to watch this amazing documentary and see for yourself what the players made of that day....

As promised, here is the documentary that was first aired on the BBC in 2016, thanks to 'Sugar Films'

This is how we get to the moon, folks!