BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : BLACK FOOTBALL PLAYERS IN THE ENGLISH GAME:

73 Black Players have appeared for England through to the match against Sweden on the 14th of November 2012. The first black player at senior level is Viv Anderson, was the 936th player to appear for England since their first match in 1872. It may have been possible to have seen the first black footballer playing for England back in the 1920's with London born Jack Leslie, a prolific striker for Plymouth Argyle between 1925 and 1935 scoring over 400 goals. Leslie had been informed by his Manager Bob Jack that he has been selected to play for England. He later received communication cancelling his call up to the England team stating that they did not realized he was a man of color. Jack Leslie later remarked in 1982 to Brian Woolnough " They must have forgotten I was a coloured boy.

Perhaps race will be irrelevant one day, but that time has not yet arrived. While racism remain a problem in English Football these numbers indicate great strides forward have been taken at the level national team. England national side is possible the best apart from France with a significant number of Black players in the national side apart from France who has similar numbers in all of Europe.